The Key Ingredients of A Fantasy Sandbox RPG Campaign
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- Опубліковано 17 лип 2024
- Online D&D "experts" who have never experienced a well constructed sandbox campaign state the structure is boring and sandbox campaigns fall apart quickly.
Those DMs are missing key ingredients in their sandbox. There are a lot of moving parts in a proper sandbox but there are four basic ingredients that are required. If you don't have these, your sandbox will be boring, bland, and, fall apart quickly.
Here's a blog post on the the topic with a slightly different frame.
grumpywizard.home.blog/2022/1...
I publish essays each week on my blog.
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This information was very helpful and clearly communicated brilliant yet simple ideas. Thanks for sharing this Travis, it's so rare to find concise information like this. It even gave me a few ideas for my next campaign, which I'm currently in the process of drafting. I'll definitely check out all of your other videos too!
Thank you for the comment! I appreciate and I'm glad that it was helpful.
This is GREAT!!!!! Some of this might be familiar to old hands, but I feel it's presented here with enough depth and breadth to push players and DMs a little bit further. Also, it's nice to see a video that gets right to the point without bunch of extra BS! Very well done!
Thank you!
Im new to the OSR style of play. This was very helpful and to the point. Thank you. I tip my hat to you and your awesome beard.
Thanks! I'm glad you found it helpful.
A truly phenomenal video, wise wizard. I've been a sandbox enthusiast for years, but this video created an excellent checklist that even I can utilize to more quickly cover my bases.
Thank you!
Thank you Travis - very well summarized.
Knowing what motivates your players (and their Characters), means you can align incentives and rewards, means the setting comes alive. Emergent Play in a complex system - hooray!
You're welcome. I'm glad it make some sense. Learning what motivates the players also helps the referee be more efficient and effective with prep time. If you know the players are more into fighting crime than they are delving dungeons, you can create more of those types of adventures and develop the NPCs more deeply and limit dungeon creation. I have some sandbox creation videos planned. I'll develop that idea more.
Thank you, Rasputin
Pozhaluysta!
Underrated D&D channel. Excellent advice as always.
It really is. Travis never disappoints.
Thanks. That's very kind.
Thank you! I need to put more material out, it would be better still.
Sound advice! I have def mired my players in the swamps of choice paralysis a couple of times.
I ran 2 games where I granted the players a plot of land with good prospects for trade or a ruined fortress they have to fix up because the surrounding land is hostile and it just so happens to be in the middle of the provided campaign map.
Put a little silver mine close by so they can strike some deals with dwarves, have them meet traveling traders they can point the right direction, maybe a bandit raid or two to threaten their save space and having the adventurers look for bandit camps.
Nothing gets those player agency gears turning like growing and improving their own little hub.
Fear of loss tends to be a better motivator than seeking gain.
I like the idea about Helpful NPCs to aid players in stablizing or moving on when they need to. Liked and Subscribed.
They are very versatile. Former allies can also become enemies when PCs and NPCs have a disagreement, or the NPC turns to have been using the PCs for their own sinister schemes all along.
Hi Travis , Glad to see you're still out there producing.
Fundamental and vital information presented concisely.
Keep it up.
Thanks! I appreciate the encouragement. It means a lot.
Great video! I think people get caught up in the railroad style game vs sandbox but i find the best is somewhere between. Giving players lots of options and choice while still having some leads to content so they don't get stuck.
Thanks! The issue of players getting stuck and Railroad Vs. Sandbox are somewhat different issues from my POV. Players can get stuck , and often do , in a railroad because railroads are narrative puzzles. They have a story with a plot point that the players are supposed to find, when they don't find the narrative beat, the DM has to give them the puzzle piece and put them back on the rails. A properly constructed sandbox shouldn't have players getting stuck or bored because they should have multiple options, and active NPCs creating problems the PCs have to deal with or face repercussions. If players get stuck in a sandbox, both the players and DM are being passive and waiting for something to happen rather than causing something to happen.
As always Random tables are your friends, and never be afraid to tell your players you need a few minutes to look over some notes (I.E make some shit up)
Thanks for the video! I love running sandbox campaigns and have been doing so since the 70s. It winds up becoming a pile of useful material, most of which doesn't get directly used but informs how I run what does get seen at the table.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video Travis. Extremely practical advice for referees/GMs and helpful in addressing the conundrum of players/PCs “sitting around waiting for things to happen.” A healthy balance of 2-3 strong hooks and NPCs with dynamic motivations is amazing advice. Too many hooks with unmotivated NPCs can be a cause for apathy or player paralysis.
Thanks! I'm glad you found it helpful.
right to the point and keeps on topic the whole time! LOVE IT!
Thanks!
There are only two basic ingredients for an omelette: eggs and a sprinkle of salt. Everything else is optional. Especially cheese.
Here are my ingredients for a sandbox campaign:
1. Factions with conflicting agendas who provide a story that runs in the background. A faction can be a small or large group, a nation, a powerful individual, or even a god. Their conflicts provide either "background noise" in the world that players just see come and go, or they affect the players more directly and give them a personal reason to intervene.
2. NPCs that the players want to interact with. Some helpful, others just because they are fun to have around.
3. Locations that are exciting to (re)visit.
4. Events in your world that the players hear about. New discoveries, a missing expedition, a plague.
5. Something to kick the campaign off, a short "non-sandbox"-adventure. Most players need a few sessions to get warm with their characters, the world, the party composition, until they develop some sort of group agenda that really drives the story.
6. Lastly, the rarest ingredient of all, worth more than their weight in saffron: players who don't need to be spoon-fed ideas.
Thanks
Very well put and concise.
Sometimes players don't know how to play in a sandbox as they have only experienced "adventure paths" and such. It takes a little work to get them to come out and play so to speak.
This is the first video of yours I stumbled upon, and its nice to see a bookshelf of books rather then game books placed as props. I think being well read helps a lot in engaging in the rpg hobby especially as a Dungeon Master
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. I am a believer in reading widely. I find that I start noticing patterns of ideas when I read a book about writing, a book about history, and a book about cooking. They aren't always obvious but over time I've learned lessons that I've been able to apply to gaming.
Very eye-opening. Thank you!
You're welcome!
This channel is a great find, it's awesome to support and listen to someone from my own neck of the woods.
Thanks!
Thanks Travis, some good ideas in there.
You're welcome. I'm glad you found it helpful.
Great timing for this useful video as I'm just thinking about this stuff. Thank you!
You're welcome! I'm glad it is helpful.
Just found your channel. This video really is a gem. Some really great ideas and advice. Thank you!
You're welcome. I'm glad you find it helpful
Exceptional, sir. Very well done and said.
Glad you liked it!
Fantastic advice! Thank you!
You're welcome
@@grumpy_wizard_blog I'm watching this whole series of videos on sandbox, adventure and encounter design. It's pure gold! Will check out the blog as well.
Thank you for this insight! Currently formulating a sandbox campaign around the barrowmaze blended with keep on the Some major locations with smaller hooks sprinkled around. This is also assisting me in fleshing out my own homebrewed locations.
You're welcome. I have some more articles about sandboxes on the blog and if you get stuck drop me a line. I'll try to answer your question on a post or video.
Great info
Thanks! I hope you find it useful
Thanks! Been getting into the old school method of dnd gaming recently and using the gygax 75 method. The AD&D DMG has also been an amazing resource but it's been quite harder to get the OD&D books.
The DMs guild sells a PDF and Print on demand version that is very reasonable and good quality.
@@grumpy_wizard_blogThank you for telling me! On top of the $200 for acks I will also have to buy those
@@grumpy_wizard_blogfound out the print on demand isnt avaliable anymore, very sad!
Just subscribed. Good stuff. I have the same opinion about developing a sandbox. Looking forward to your other videos.
Thanks! Long time fan of your work. I have used some of your micro adventures in my sandbox games.
@@grumpy_wizard_blog that's great to hear. I hope they served you well. We're kinda talking about this campaign building tonight with Joe the lawyer in his channel. I found your channel because I was doing some research.
Sandboxes are the best adventures. They allow the most versatility and opportunities for everyone to be surprised. I much prefer having the chance to improvise encounters and activities instead of just plotting every turn of the story. If players did everything I expected, I would probably not even bother to play the game. I'd just read a book instead.
They're my favorite as well. The way they go in directions I can't predict makes them a unique experience I don't get from anything else.
Most of those "experts" seem to have gotten used to playing how hasbro said they can. It is almost like the game based on your imagination stopped being imaginative somewhere along the way. I've seen player's go off for a month and a half chasing down some offhand rumor heard in the tavern. Had nothing to do with what was planned and there was no talking them out of it. Ended up being a fun hook and was easy to work into the area, and it came from a toss away line. It was a month and a half I didn't have to plan, and gave me as the DM extra time to put more meat on my main plotline while they messed with a wild goose chase.
Exactly! You set a few things in motion and a sandbox campaign kind of runs itself. The work up front can be a lot but once you get it going the players inspire most of what is going on.
thx for the video. What do you think about random tables?
I'm going to guess you mean random encounter tables. There are a lot of different kinds of random tables for a variety of uses and they all have upsides and downsides.
Random Encounter Tables work well but I don't use them like most referees do. There's nothing wrong with using the standard tables. I have a different preference. I create tables with written up encounters that are more involved than "6 goblins with spears" I create a 2D6 table. 7 is the most common danger and weakest danger in the area. 6,5,4,3,2 are increasing more dangerous. 8,9,19,11,12 are increasingly more helpful or beneficial. 8 is kind of neutral 12 could be a bag of coins that someone dropped in the road. I try to create random encounters that are interesting but the players can also get information about the setting or events happening in the setting in addition to the encounter.
Here is a list of posts that are specifically about random encounters from my blog. grumpywizard.home.blog/?s=random+encounters
Commenting for algorithm
Thanks!
How do you switch your players off of "Adventure/Boxed-Text driven" gaming to this that your talking about here? I guess a weening, maybe? But, how?
Then, as the DM, how do you then run that new style now? Not that I ain't familiar, but quite honestly, it's been a really, really long time. 😅
Thnx! 🤓👊
That's an excellent question worthy of a whole video.
Off the top of my head, If I had I had group that I was trying to convert off of scripted adventures... 1. Conversation with players about what I wanted to do to get buy in. 2. Meet them where they are at... Point out "These are the hooks. Here are your choices. 3. Provide some written notes with suggestions 4. "punish" passivity in the form of bad things happening in the sandbox if players don't do something about active ambitious NPCs causing problems
Thanks for the video. I was doing very well on the checklist until you came to giving players incentive to explore. My players have set themselves up in the homebase town as an entertainment group, and seem to be always waiting for the next gig. I'm struggling to keep things exciting in the town, even throwing in an earth tremor and a very nasty NPC who definitely has it in for them, but still they wait. It's my fault, but I don't know the best way to get them off their tavern seats and into the wide world. Any suggestions?
I wouldn't automatically assume it is entirely your fault. It might be a mismatch in expectations that can be corrected by a conversation with players about what they want and what kind of campaign you are running. In game suggestions... Create connections between things going on outside of town with things going on in town. Clues, (at least three) to things they want (treasure, magic, information, take out an NPC causing them problems) that lead them out of town would be a start. Pain or pleasure. Make staying in town painful and/or make going out to explore and adventure a pleasure. Players generally do what they find most enjoyable, figure out what that is and put the adventure and all the clues leading to somewhere outside of town.
I have an essay on my blog titled How Good Players Play In A Sandbox Campaign, You might share it with your group. I also just posted an essay about evoking emotion in classic fantasy adventure games which may help you come up with some ideas to get players moving.
@@grumpy_wizard_blog Thanls a lot for your time and advice.
@@grumpy_wizard_blog Thanks again, just read and will be sharing with my players. Hopefully it will inspire them as much as your video inspired me. Looking forward to future broadcasts!
You do realize that an omelette does not need cheese?
Nope. I was unaware.
@@grumpy_wizard_blog cheese is absolutely requisite for an omelette.
what's life without cheese?
Exactly. It might technically be an omelet without cheese but I wouldn't want to eat it
I can here to write the same comment. Although omelettes are better with cheese, they can be made without it.