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View Full Version : Large world/sandbox improvisation



Ozreth
2010-01-30, 10:24 PM
Heya! So I'm trying to give my players tons of options in my new campaign. There will be lots of story arcs that they can follow and come back, tons of tasks, places for them to go etc.

The game is starting in a HUGE city. Im doing an ok job fleshing it out so far, but I'm thinking I am going to have to improvise a lot of areas and scenes.

So do you guys try to flesh out every neighborhood in your huge cities? How do you deal with travel throughout the city and similar things?

Any pointers would be great. I am not the best at improvising yet, and this campaign will certainly put all of my skill to the test!

Lapak
2010-01-30, 10:41 PM
There's lots of good advice for sandbox campaigns in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126479&highlight=sandbox); I would definitely read through it.

valadil
2010-01-30, 10:58 PM
Everything has consequences. Whenever the PCs talk to an NPC that NPC should tell 3 other NPCs about it, especially if the interaction went badly. Flesh out your NPCs and make them ambitious. Then just roleplay those NPCs and the plot will follow.

Hallavast
2010-01-30, 11:01 PM
Heya! So I'm trying to give my players tons of options in my new campaign. There will be lots of story arcs that they can follow and come back, tons of tasks, places for them to go etc.

The game is starting in a HUGE city. Im doing an ok job fleshing it out so far, but I'm thinking I am going to have to improvise a lot of areas and scenes.

So do you guys try to flesh out every neighborhood in your huge cities? How do you deal with travel throughout the city and similar things?

Any pointers would be great. I am not the best at improvising yet, and this campaign will certainly put all of my skill to the test!

Stat out a bunch of general NPCs that might see combat or have to make important skill checks (soldiers, important merchants, quest givers, community leaders, villains, and so forth). Have a list of these stat blocks handy for when you suddenly need stats for some guy the party decides to fight or steal from or bluff or whatever. Simply adjust the general stats to the NPC in question. I also have a big list of names handy for these people should the need arise on the fly.

Take notes on what your antagonists are doing and their general goals/courses of action. You can't directly control what the party will do, but you certainly have control of how the other side will react.

As far as fleshing out specific areas, I like to set up general events that will take place regardless of the PC's actions (for the most part). For example, if the PCs enter a neighborhood, I'll have a wagon accident take place or a few local gangs exchange insults. Small conflicts that can escalate or diffuse based on PC interaction after the fact is what works for me.

An important note to remember: don't be afraid to ask for a time-out. If the PCs do something unexpected, don't be afraid to ask for a little time to prepare. Having something for the players to do outside of the game helps in these situations (Super Smash bros and other multiplayer console games work nicely).

If you have not done so already, you should set up a preliminary session to discuss the upcoming campaign. This will give your players ideas for a group template (a general reason for the group to party together and often a common backstory), and it will give you a feel for what kind of direction the players will take.

Good luck.