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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 5017433" data-attributes="member: 21169">And if they don't? I'm the GM, I want a goddamn epic quest. If sandbox does not deliver my epic quest then it has failed me! Failed!!Actually, I agree with Hussar. Some campaign concepts are not a good fit for sandbox. James Bond, from what I've seen, is reactive. Bad guy makes evil plot, James is told by M to foil evil plot, James foils evil plot. He's a lot like a superhero. The world of James Bond isn't like that of D&D, there aren't hundreds of different breeds of monster to kill. The sort of situations worthy of his attention are few and far between. In fact, if we go by the films, these situations only present themselves one at a time.A chain-of-command is non-sandboxy in a similar way. In the classic D&D sandbox the PCs are like ronin - they have no master. They are free to loot whatever hole in the ground they choose. With a superior officer, the PCs are no longer free. No freedom means no sandbox. Sure, the adventures may be non-linear, but the campaign isn't. Here I'm assuming the orders given to the PCs are not of a very broad nature, such as - "Go to the West Marches and deal with threats to the Empire however you see fit." That would be a sandbox. I'm thinking of far more specific orders such as - "Assassinate the orc high chieftain."What's that you say? The PCs are free to desert any time they want? Well then it isn't a chain-of-command game. Sandbox, you have failed me again!!My opinion on horror is that the threat has to be very powerful relative to the PCs, such that failure is by far the most likely outcome. If the PCs are wading through hordes of orcs, D&D style, then it ain't horror. But in a sandbox, the PCs can freely choose weak opponents if they want.I concede that zombies are a bit different than most horror, where there is usually a single threat such as a serial killer or monster. Zombies are only really dangerous en masse. However there is a problem with the zombie apocalypse set-up being a sandbox which is that the opposition is too same-y. In D&D the players have potentially the whole Monster Manual to choose from. Here it's zombies, zombies and more zombies. Eh, and maybe some soldiers. RC spoke upthread about the great motivational benefits a sandbox brings due to the players being able to freely choose which adventure to undertake. Here, there is no such multiplicity of choice.I also feel that a lot of horror works by trapping the protagonists somewhere they don't want to be, such as the traditional haunted house setup. How often is the bridge out in a horror movie? This directly goes against the freedom essential to a sandbox.</blockquote>

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