Please stop running “sandbox” games like this

Comments · 433

• TH

  @theDMLair · 2 years ago · pinned

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• MM

  @mmhcodex · 1 year ago (edited)

  Making a sandbox isn’t about planning for every possibility. It is built on three main components: a populated world with an internal narrative and cool things in it, great random encounter lists, and the sensitivity to make the world respond to player choices.

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• RO

  @RottenRogerDM · 2 years ago

  Players if you have accepted the plot hook, follow it the next session. &nbsp;AKA don&apos;t waste the DM&apos;s prep.

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• RI

  @RimeoftheAncientGamer · 2 years ago

  &quot;Never present a client with an option you can&apos;t live with.&quot; &nbsp;I learned this in web design. &nbsp;If you have two designs you like and you throw in some rushed third design to pad things out, then sure enough, that&apos;s what they pick. &nbsp;Every damn time.

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• RA

  @randallbaumgardt3424 · 2 years ago

  When starting a sandbox campaign I ALWAYS stress to the players to let me know what they are planing to do so I can do the needed work to make the game better for them. Open communication so important.

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• DO

  @donalddouds6033 · 2 years ago

  Sand box requires MORE PREP; here is why <br>1) it’s a living world <br>2) there are factions and realms that have their own agenda and machinations<br>3) you have to set a specific goal or agenda that the players want to “do” in the campaign. This is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL <br>4) you have to use consequences and &nbsp;have them noted and referenced often to use when things get a bit “well shit now what” this will happen no matter what you prepare or set up

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• CH

  @chnijssen · 2 years ago

  Running a sandbox right now, the trickiest thing is to know where to end the session. You need them to end with a plan for the next session, or you don&apos;t know what to prepare. For the rest, I don&apos;t know why people think sandbox games don&apos;t have a plot. They can have a lot of plot, you just don&apos;t know what direction the plot is going. That&apos;s dependant on the players.

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• CH

  @chrisray7728 · 2 years ago

  Things I’ve done in “sandboxes” include having the world map in mind and including NPC and villains in set points, nothing big, just “a dragon here” or “ohh lich tower” there. Maybe they get there, maybe they don’t.<br><br>Open with about 3-4 sessions worth of the “inciting incident “ in my open world the first thing that happened was finding a half elf girl who’d been kidnapped by demons and told that they need to get her home.<br><br>And of course, make the world feel alive. If they do X, then Y happens. (Two citystates &nbsp;in a cold war, both with pretty awful leaders, taking one down causes the Cold War to go hot)

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• VI

  @viciousrodent · 2 years ago (edited)

  I run a lot of sandbox-ey games, and honestly for the &quot;howw to start&quot; problem, I&apos;ve settled on having them start already on the first adventure -- which usually, nvolves them travellning to a place together, and running into trouble along the way. <br>It also works really well as a way to give the group a tutorial level to establsh any house rules, stylistic stuff, try out their character abilities, get some world familiarity from the NPCs they meet along the way, etc.<br>Once they get through the tutorial advenure, they have a bit of a sense of orientation in the world, know at least a couple NPCs, are in a location, and usually have come across a couple plot hooks or potential next adventures along the way. And then the sandboxy part actually starts. After the first adventure, which usually only lasts one or two sessions.

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• CL

  @ClarkyClark · 2 years ago

  I run an open world for my players. They specifically requested it, and didn&apos;t want to do some big story line. It&apos;s working great so far. They&apos;re creating their own stories, mostly by traveling from arena to arena, getting kicked out of cities, and being general menaces. It&apos;s relaxed and fun. Now I do have to prepare a bunch of stuff for the area, which only about 50% get used, but my players feel relaxed and happy to just muddle about. It certainly doesn&apos;t work for everyone, but for this group, it&apos;s been good.

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• SL

  @SlinkyTWF · 2 years ago (edited)

  In one campaign I ran, they players all said they wanted a sandbox game. So I gave them a sandbox game. They couldn&apos;t figure out what they wanted to do. So I ditched the sandbox and just ran a normal campaign without telling them. They didn&apos;t notice.

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• SE

  @SethTheGnosticKitty · 2 years ago

  I ran a sandbox game that was based on trading and kingdom building. &nbsp;It went from level 1 up through level 12. &nbsp;It was the longest campaign I ever ran. &nbsp;There was plenty of dungeon delving and I relied heavily on adventure modules to gives some semblance of structure.

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