PDA

View Full Version : [3.5] Oh the hazards of being a sandbox DM...



Pika...
2009-09-06, 01:45 PM
Some of you may remember my recent threads (the mule, the Gnoll B#### Queen, Gnoll settlements, etc). I appreciate all the help I got in there from the folks here, and I wish I can return the favor on here over time. :smallsmile:

However, that all went up in the air. >.>

It's true what they say, players will find that 1 out 100 thing you did not plan for.

So, picking up where we left off the first session they immediately decide to go AWAL from the military, and steal the loot.

But they turned on each other, and the ranger became a slave for some Gnolls he had PO's earlier.

The remaining two then proceed to seek travel on a ship heading to a completely different empire (the High Elf One), after I had put much work int the "home" kingdom and the Gnolls & Orcs.

THEN, this is all still in one session and at level one, manage to royally PO the Darfellan's NPC nemesis (what was revealed by good roleplaying and lucky rolls on their part much earlier than I was planning...) a powerful pure black KRAKEN with enough divine power from it's unknown deity to break through the temple of Silver Moonbow's pool/viewing pool in the middle of the Elf holy city and snatch the Darfellan PC who would not stop "talking smack" at it, then pulling him into unknown dark water. Meanwhile, as a bit a stress relief for me after all this (we were near wrapping up) I had all those PCs splashed by the "dark water" roll on the Warp Touched table in the Book of Vile Darkness (one got horns for a gore attack, one became colorful and is able to turn into a candy elemental [aka a poring], and the Darfellan got a third eye).

So now we might be meeting again early on Monday, and I need to weave this bit of improvising and character actions into a plot to continue. I am not even sure where the pure black kraken is/took the PC. :smalleek:

But all in all this is why I run sandbox games. I enjoyed it, even if it means a bit of headaches planning between sessions now and then.

What are they like for those other DMs who run sandbox games?



p.s. Anyone got some ideas for where I left things off? :smallbiggrin:

Myou
2009-09-06, 01:53 PM
Reminds me of Darths and Droids. xD

Pika...
2009-09-06, 01:54 PM
Reminds me of Darths and Droids. xD

What's that?

Myou
2009-09-06, 01:58 PM
What's that?

http://www.darthsanddroids.net/

A webcomic using captioned screenshots of the Star Wars films to tell an original story, a PnP campaign where the players are basically just like yours.

Ridureyu
2009-09-06, 02:02 PM
Let's be honest.


When you've put all your work into the Gnoll kingdom and none into the elf kingdom except for flavor, and your players who are used to having zero boundaries say "let's go to the elves! Hur hur!", it is NOT railroading to take them aside and say, "Now guys, before we go, realize that I haven't developed this area. I've put my limited RPG time into making the Gnoll kingdom. You might enjoy it more if you stay here. If not, I am going to have to put a lot of effort into quickly developing the elves."

Myou
2009-09-06, 02:03 PM
Let's be honest.


When you've put all your work into the Gnoll kingdom and none into the elf kingdom except for flavor, and your players who are used to having zero boundaries say "let's go to the elves! Hur hur!", it is NOT railroading to take them aside and say, "Now guys, before we go, realize that I haven't developed this area. I've put my limited RPG time into making the Gnoll kingdom. You might enjoy it more if you stay here. If not, I am going to have to put a lot of effort into quickly developing the elves."

Yeah, I've subtly hinted at things like that myself.

Pika...
2009-09-06, 02:07 PM
http://www.darthsanddroids.net/

A webcomic using captioned screenshots of the Star Wars films to tell an original story, a PnP campaign where the players are basically just like yours.

Seems funny. Thanks. :smallbiggrin:





Let's be honest.


When you've put all your work into the Gnoll kingdom and none into the elf kingdom except for flavor, and your players who are used to having zero boundaries say "let's go to the elves! Hur hur!", it is NOT railroading to take them aside and say, "Now guys, before we go, realize that I haven't developed this area. I've put my limited RPG time into making the Gnoll kingdom. You might enjoy it more if you stay here. If not, I am going to have to put a lot of effort into quickly developing the elves."

Well, I already had their forest territory and most of their settlements already mapped out on the overland map, and I already had a list of the settlements which were there, along with their highest level rulers and military generals. They are right to the west of the Gnoll and Orc conflict after all, and are on the southern part of my continent which is what I have been trying to finish.

So I guess subconsciously nudged them toward somewhere slightly built up? Such as the holy elf city, whih I had daydreamed of the fluff quite often.

Myou
2009-09-06, 02:09 PM
Seems funny. Thanks. :smallbiggrin:


Enjoy. :smallsmile:
Their fictional GM went through this exact situation.

Myshlaevsky
2009-09-06, 02:10 PM
You seem to enjoy the work for the sake of it, so I wouldn't sweat it too much. If you really want to use the stuff you've already written you could have the Gnolls invade, but you'll probably get a chance to use it at another time/in another game anyway.

Just get cracking on the Elves. :smalltongue:

Darcand
2009-09-06, 02:44 PM
and next time be sure to have two or three portable adventures on hand to sidetrack the players for the rest of the session.

Temet Nosce
2009-09-06, 08:10 PM
Meh, my style runs completely counter to most of this thread. Planning in my experience only suits when you're running a relatively railroaded story. The only thing which sandbox really requires you to have solid information on is what major NPCs are doing while the PCs go off and do their stuff, so you have a general idea of how the two might interact.

Honestly, I have two possible suggestions for you if it seriously concerns you that you haven't managed to plan for your PCs. Either take the advice of an earlier post and ease up on sandbox style DMing (A bit of railroading isn't necessarily a bad thing, and all the word means is trying to alter what the players are doing, which that certainly is), or alternatively practice winging it. Basically, beyond having worked out issues like the major NPCs, don't assume anything where your PCs are concerned and when they do something consider the possible results, and how whether they'd interact with the major NPCs you're keeping track of and react based on that. It takes some practice, but it's the only feasible way of running a sandbox P&P I've seen so far.

Strawman
2009-09-06, 08:52 PM
I would recomend working on individual locations that can fit well anyway. Complex politics and similar stuff usually only work well with linear and/or railroad campaigns. If you have a small town with a secret, you could put that town anyway. Heck, if the players don't find out the secret as they pass through, you could have the town show up again.


Anyway, I heard a story from my friend about a campaign getting away from him pretty crazily. The party was supposed to investigate a haunted house. There they would discover a cult living in the basement, which had secret tunnels leading to a portal brining in an evil army.

The first thing the players did was ask if the house had any residents still in it, and what the house was made of. When they ascertained that it had no one alive in it, and that it was made of wood, they burnt it to the ground. The cult and evil army was trapped underground. They suffocated before digging themselves to the surface. Of course, the players did not know this until the DM had an NPC tell them later on in the campaign.

Captain Six
2009-09-06, 10:02 PM
The first thing the players did was ask if the house had any residents still in it, and what the house was made of. When they ascertained that it had no one alive in it, and that it was made of wood, they burnt it to the ground. The cult and evil army was trapped underground. They suffocated before digging themselves to the surface. Of course, the players did not know this until the DM had an NPC tell them later on in the campaign.

You walked right into that one. "What is it made of?" Is PC for "Can I start it on fire?"

Pika...
2009-09-06, 10:19 PM
Meh, my style runs completely counter to most of this thread. Planning in my experience only suits when you're running a relatively railroaded story. The only thing which sandbox really requires you to have solid information on is what major NPCs are doing while the PCs go off and do their stuff, so you have a general idea of how the two might interact.

Honestly, I have two possible suggestions for you if it seriously concerns you that you haven't managed to plan for your PCs. Either take the advice of an earlier post and ease up on sandbox style DMing (A bit of railroading isn't necessarily a bad thing, and all the word means is trying to alter what the players are doing, which that certainly is), or alternatively practice winging it. Basically, beyond having worked out issues like the major NPCs, don't assume anything where your PCs are concerned and when they do something consider the possible results, and how whether they'd interact with the major NPCs you're keeping track of and react based on that. It takes some practice, but it's the only feasible way of running a sandbox P&P I've seen so far.

I think I should stick to the second one.

However, as Myshlaevsky put it, I seem to enjoy it just for the sake of it. I enjoy mapping my homebrewed world on Fractal Mapper, and putting all the locations with names and some short notes in the Block Text and Notes tabs. Then I like filling folders with text files about NPCs and the locations I put on maps. :smallbiggrin:

Temet Nosce
2009-09-06, 10:27 PM
I think I should stick to the second one.

However, as Myshlaevsky put it, I seem to enjoy it just for the sake of it. I enjoy mapping my homebrewed world on Fractal Mapper, and putting all the locations with names and some short notes in the Block Text and Notes tabs. Then I like filling folders with text files about NPCs and the locations I put on maps. :smallbiggrin:

Heh, well so long as you keep a flexible attitude and don't mind the PCs getting drunk and dancing over all your notes you should be ok. Don't keep doing it if it starts stressing you though, that way lies burnout.