Well... I didn't agree with the assumption that a sandbox has to be random and level insensitive.
My interpretation of sandbox is one where there are main adventure(s) or side quests. All do require dome thought or adaptability from a DM. If you are using random number/encounter generation to create your world you are not DMing in the first place and might as well be playing with the others. The real world isn't filled with totally random events and encounters, and I suppose my imagination works along the same lines. My fantasy people live in places where they know what creatures and locales are around them.
I guess the article showed as the "compromise" what I considered to be sandbox in the first place and my general idea of adventures that I've run or been in in the past. DM has a general idea for a campaign or world that gets fleshed out as the party explores or ignores prompts with encounters that are doable unless the party is really trying to be dumb. Even then things can be resolved without TPK with some imagination in most situations, and it can help develop the world or characters in an interesting way too.
I probably should have posted this over there rather than here.
Well, JamesI, you might be right. But I think what Donny meant wasn't just random.. just that the world is what it is, and those hills over there are dangerous as hell and if that Level2 party travels through them... there will be consequences. Basically, my view of a sandbox game encompases a bunch of things, and one of them is that, from region (hex) to region (hex), the threat levels don't adjust to the party level; they are what they are.
Thank you jon, you are the bees knees :)
ReplyDeleteNow the trolling can start :(
Gaming is all about compromise.
Well... I didn't agree with the assumption that a sandbox has to be random and level insensitive.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of sandbox is one where there are main adventure(s) or side quests. All do require dome thought or adaptability from a DM. If you are using random number/encounter generation to create your world you are not DMing in the first place and might as well be playing with the others. The real world isn't filled with totally random events and encounters, and I suppose my imagination works along the same lines. My fantasy people live in places where they know what creatures and locales are around them.
I guess the article showed as the "compromise" what I considered to be sandbox in the first place and my general idea of adventures that I've run or been in in the past. DM has a general idea for a campaign or world that gets fleshed out as the party explores or ignores prompts with encounters that are doable unless the party is really trying to be dumb. Even then things can be resolved without TPK with some imagination in most situations, and it can help develop the world or characters in an interesting way too.
I probably should have posted this over there rather than here.
Well, JamesI, you might be right. But I think what Donny meant wasn't just random.. just that the world is what it is, and those hills over there are dangerous as hell and if that Level2 party travels through them... there will be consequences. Basically, my view of a sandbox game encompases a bunch of things, and one of them is that, from region (hex) to region (hex), the threat levels don't adjust to the party level; they are what they are.
ReplyDelete