Apparently one of my first posts on the ole Tumblr blog was about sandbox campaigns! Since I'm going to be starting another campaign soon, I guess it's time to take another look at it!
What is a Sandbox?
A sandbox setting for an RPG is where the players decide where they go and what they do in a massive world seemingly without limitation. Video games can come close, but a tabletop game can be much broader, given enough prep time! Most tabletop RPGS are already sandbox games. Players have theoretically unbridled freedom, but a GM could also be forcing them on their railroad of a storyline. However, it's also considered bad form to actively avoid and ignore leads given by the GM.
Both statements are true! Railroading is bad, and so is avoiding the plot. So how does a GM run a campaign that feels open-world, but also stays on some sort of plot? First and foremost is creating a foundation. Once a foundation is made, the driving mentality is to hint at the broad, plan for the immediate.
Foundations: Campaign Prep and Session Zero
Sandbox Session Zero
The concept of Session Zero is pretty well-established now, so I won't dwell on what it is. However, there are some aspects I want to hone in on in terms of making a deliberate sandbox campaign.
Establish Group Cohesion. The party needs to have a strong bond keeping them together for a game where players can do anything and go anywhere. Characters don't innately have a reason to adventure together, so the players should establish one during a session zero. Perhaps they are all part of the same faction, perhaps they were all conscripted by the same patron, or perhaps they all know each other from past adventures. The strongest bond, of course, is to have matching ideals, but that also reduces group friction and makes individual stories less interesting. I believe a good, cohesive group will have a rainbow of different reasons for exploring together.
Establish Game Style. In order for players to effectively explore a sandbox, they need to have the same frame of mind. They need to be telling the same sort of story. Game styles can range from political intrigue to mystery to eldritch horror to a simple beat-em-up skirmish game. Make sure everyone is on board and treating the narrative the same way, and make sure you are using a good RPG system for that style of gameplay. If players are expecting one sort of game and the GM gives them another, both are going to get frustrated when something happens they didn't expect. If players and the GM are at odds on game style, players will try and avoid their plot hooks or run from them or rebel against them.
Sandbox Campaign Prep
Surely the GM has to plan something about their world other than the next session. True! However, its not nearly as much as you would think. The GM just needs to let players believe that they have a whole world for them to explore.
The main thing a GM can do to prep a sandbox game is throw away any grand plotline they have in mind. In a true sandbox game, the GM cannot force a plotline on their players. They will resent them for it. The GM's job in a sandbox game is giving them choices, and that helps create a world of plenty. Each choice players didn't take is more world they could have explored. Throw the plot out the window, and instead focus on creating those choices.
One way to present choices to players is by handing them a menu: the map! So many places to go, and with such cool names! I recommend if a GM puts time and effort into something, make it the map. First, just make a map for the immediate area, be it a city or a town plus its surrounding wilderness. Then, once players have grown comfortable and wish to move outward, create a larger map. By that time, plot hooks will have been laid and other locations will have hints dropped, and now those places can be baked onto a region map for the players to boldly go. It likely won't go further than a regional map, but if it does, simply repeat this expansion to a world map or even a planar map!
At each of these stages, name a bunch of stuff. Not everything needs to be fleshed out, but at least provide a name, plus rumors about the place. What is it famous for? What are the people like? Why do people go there, or why do they avoid it? Think of something to draw in the players. The GM is a travel agent for their world trying to pitch it to the characters. Players must decide on their own to visit a place, so they will need a strong reason to get off their butts and go. Agency doesn't create itself!
Drive: Hint at the Broad, Plan for Immediate
Dropping Hints
To make a world seem broad, just invent some facts for NPCs to throw into casual conversation or for populating tavern bulletin boards. They can be small pieces of trivia, like "this type of spicy citrus seasoning comes from a distant land to the north," or they can be quest hooks, like "the king of the eastern territories has suddenly become a tyrannical warmonger seemingly out of the blue."
The world becomes filled with small mundane details from which players can infer the rest. More importantly, the players learn about the problems facing the world and can choose for themselves whether they want to jump on that lead. They choose their own agency by choosing how they want to influence the world. If the party expresses this interest, the GM can then prepare for them to travel that way, or throw some random encounters to pad their travel time! A GM need only hint at the broad, because that's their bait! And not every player will bite every piece of bait, but it convince players they aren't being railroaded.
Rule of Three
When a GM needs to lead players towards a specific location, they should follow the Rule of Three. Usually I attribute this to mystery plots for TTRPGs, where three clues should be left for every conclusion so that players have a better chance of not missing any. Futhermore, players are stupid. I mean, not literally. What I'm saying is that players don't see exactly what is in your head, or what's in each other's heads for that matter. The players at a table do not share a consciousness, so each individual is bound to miss something. So leave three clues that can help reinforce each other and paint a bigger picture in the greater scheme.
In much the same way as a mystery, leave three clues/hints/incentives to lead to each plot hook. Players might gloss over individual clues and not realize it's a hook. If they hear it once, it's a minor detail. Hear it twice, it could just be a coincidence. If they hear it three times, surely the GM has something prepped out in that direction. Like this:
Prepping for the Immediate
Most of what the GM needs to plan for is for whatever will be happening during the upcoming session. There's plenty of content about prepping tips, but here's the sort of stuff I prep for (if prepping for the immediate future):
Conclusion
Create a foundation for a game by making sure the group is cohesive and on the same page, as well as by investing time in making a map. During the game, plan for the immediate future while laying multiple hints for future adventures and plotlines. Hopefully this is enough to help a GM start planning a sandbox game and then keep it running for some time. Feel free to share your own stories from your own sandbox campaigns in the comments!
What is a Sandbox?
A sandbox setting for an RPG is where the players decide where they go and what they do in a massive world seemingly without limitation. Video games can come close, but a tabletop game can be much broader, given enough prep time! Most tabletop RPGS are already sandbox games. Players have theoretically unbridled freedom, but a GM could also be forcing them on their railroad of a storyline. However, it's also considered bad form to actively avoid and ignore leads given by the GM.
Both statements are true! Railroading is bad, and so is avoiding the plot. So how does a GM run a campaign that feels open-world, but also stays on some sort of plot? First and foremost is creating a foundation. Once a foundation is made, the driving mentality is to hint at the broad, plan for the immediate.
Foundations: Campaign Prep and Session Zero
Sandbox Session Zero
The concept of Session Zero is pretty well-established now, so I won't dwell on what it is. However, there are some aspects I want to hone in on in terms of making a deliberate sandbox campaign.
Establish Group Cohesion. The party needs to have a strong bond keeping them together for a game where players can do anything and go anywhere. Characters don't innately have a reason to adventure together, so the players should establish one during a session zero. Perhaps they are all part of the same faction, perhaps they were all conscripted by the same patron, or perhaps they all know each other from past adventures. The strongest bond, of course, is to have matching ideals, but that also reduces group friction and makes individual stories less interesting. I believe a good, cohesive group will have a rainbow of different reasons for exploring together.
Establish Game Style. In order for players to effectively explore a sandbox, they need to have the same frame of mind. They need to be telling the same sort of story. Game styles can range from political intrigue to mystery to eldritch horror to a simple beat-em-up skirmish game. Make sure everyone is on board and treating the narrative the same way, and make sure you are using a good RPG system for that style of gameplay. If players are expecting one sort of game and the GM gives them another, both are going to get frustrated when something happens they didn't expect. If players and the GM are at odds on game style, players will try and avoid their plot hooks or run from them or rebel against them.
Sandbox Campaign Prep
Surely the GM has to plan something about their world other than the next session. True! However, its not nearly as much as you would think. The GM just needs to let players believe that they have a whole world for them to explore.
The main thing a GM can do to prep a sandbox game is throw away any grand plotline they have in mind. In a true sandbox game, the GM cannot force a plotline on their players. They will resent them for it. The GM's job in a sandbox game is giving them choices, and that helps create a world of plenty. Each choice players didn't take is more world they could have explored. Throw the plot out the window, and instead focus on creating those choices.
One way to present choices to players is by handing them a menu: the map! So many places to go, and with such cool names! I recommend if a GM puts time and effort into something, make it the map. First, just make a map for the immediate area, be it a city or a town plus its surrounding wilderness. Then, once players have grown comfortable and wish to move outward, create a larger map. By that time, plot hooks will have been laid and other locations will have hints dropped, and now those places can be baked onto a region map for the players to boldly go. It likely won't go further than a regional map, but if it does, simply repeat this expansion to a world map or even a planar map!
At each of these stages, name a bunch of stuff. Not everything needs to be fleshed out, but at least provide a name, plus rumors about the place. What is it famous for? What are the people like? Why do people go there, or why do they avoid it? Think of something to draw in the players. The GM is a travel agent for their world trying to pitch it to the characters. Players must decide on their own to visit a place, so they will need a strong reason to get off their butts and go. Agency doesn't create itself!
Drive: Hint at the Broad, Plan for Immediate
Dropping Hints
To make a world seem broad, just invent some facts for NPCs to throw into casual conversation or for populating tavern bulletin boards. They can be small pieces of trivia, like "this type of spicy citrus seasoning comes from a distant land to the north," or they can be quest hooks, like "the king of the eastern territories has suddenly become a tyrannical warmonger seemingly out of the blue."
The world becomes filled with small mundane details from which players can infer the rest. More importantly, the players learn about the problems facing the world and can choose for themselves whether they want to jump on that lead. They choose their own agency by choosing how they want to influence the world. If the party expresses this interest, the GM can then prepare for them to travel that way, or throw some random encounters to pad their travel time! A GM need only hint at the broad, because that's their bait! And not every player will bite every piece of bait, but it convince players they aren't being railroaded.
Rule of Three
When a GM needs to lead players towards a specific location, they should follow the Rule of Three. Usually I attribute this to mystery plots for TTRPGs, where three clues should be left for every conclusion so that players have a better chance of not missing any. Futhermore, players are stupid. I mean, not literally. What I'm saying is that players don't see exactly what is in your head, or what's in each other's heads for that matter. The players at a table do not share a consciousness, so each individual is bound to miss something. So leave three clues that can help reinforce each other and paint a bigger picture in the greater scheme.
In much the same way as a mystery, leave three clues/hints/incentives to lead to each plot hook. Players might gloss over individual clues and not realize it's a hook. If they hear it once, it's a minor detail. Hear it twice, it could just be a coincidence. If they hear it three times, surely the GM has something prepped out in that direction. Like this:
- "Sorry we don't have more food, our last shipment never arrived."
- "We've had to divert forces to reinforce supply lines against pirate attacks."
- "Did you hear there's a bounty for every pirate ship taken down?"
Prepping for the Immediate
Most of what the GM needs to plan for is for whatever will be happening during the upcoming session. There's plenty of content about prepping tips, but here's the sort of stuff I prep for (if prepping for the immediate future):
- 5x NPCs to meet (plenty of extra. Any unused can be reserved for later)
- 3x Locations to visit (in immediate vicinity, anyway)
- 1x Plot-relevant encounter, 2x other encounters (filling about 3 hours of playtime)
- 1x Pivotal Choice (to guide where the players go next or defines something about their morality)
- (sometimes) Narration for specific story beats or setting intros
Conclusion
Create a foundation for a game by making sure the group is cohesive and on the same page, as well as by investing time in making a map. During the game, plan for the immediate future while laying multiple hints for future adventures and plotlines. Hopefully this is enough to help a GM start planning a sandbox game and then keep it running for some time. Feel free to share your own stories from your own sandbox campaigns in the comments!