@ jindra34: Yeah, and I do try to avoid stasis. On the other hand, it loses the sandboxy feeling if everything is just as pwerful as the PCs at all times. There should be some variation, so the players can decide to try something hard for great reward, or they can go stomp some goblins if they feel like squashing easy prey for mostly humorous reward.

@ Ravens_cry: True on the goals thing. I'm just worried whether my players fear they'll miss out on something important if they don't go into every nook and cranny. If they feel obligated to go everywhere, there's no real choice - and giving them meaningful choices to make was the idea in making a sandbox.

@ nedz: Good thinking. We did get to a point where certain random encounters in the lower CR zones were announced, and we looked at the sorcerer and I asked him if he'd spend a fireball on it. No rolls needed, just murder them and get on with it.