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View Full Version : [3.5]Open ended campaign



Leper Master
2009-01-03, 05:12 AM
Hey, I want to start a campaign that is an open ended world (similar to Oblivion)
and I was wondering if there are any suggestions to how to do this.

If it has been done before, are there any references to be made to help me?

Starscream
2009-01-03, 06:13 AM
You mean just let the players do what they want? Sure, that can be done. Heck, often it's hard to stop them from doing whatever they want. Some players want structure, and a clear storyline from the start. Others want to be the masters of their own destiny.

I had a DM who did something like this. Basically he designed an entire world, with dozens of countries, and tons of potential quests for us. No overall story (at least to start with, we soon got ourselves a recurring nemesis), no plot rails of any kind. He just plopped us in a tavern (traditional but effective) and said "Now what?". He had a bunch of modules as well, and whenever we did something unexpected or went somewhere he hadn't fleshed out enough he could just have us stumble into one of them.

Apparently he'd been doing this for years, with all his groups, and had been developing this massive world the whole time. He'd put so much into it that no group had ever even done a significant fraction of the place, and so he almost never had to add to it anymore. It helps that he was also great at improvising.

So if you are willing to put forth a gigantic amount of preparation, the sky's the limit. Just make certain this is what your group wants to play. Plenty of players chafe at that much freedom, and would prefer a more linear campaign with a clear beginning middle and end. It's more cinematic that way.

bosssmiley
2009-01-03, 08:08 AM
Google "sandbox game", or run the same search in the GITP search function. That'll give you some good starting points for open-ended games.

Cheers.

Leper Master
2009-01-03, 04:12 PM
thanks for the advice, I am preparing to put a lot of time into this and (hopefully) make sure it survives.

I might make progress posts ( if work doesn't stop me). :smallsmile: