Quote Originally Posted by Pex View Post
I'm also in the camp of needing a campaign plot. I prefer linear campaigns. Avoid the railroad by letting the players Save The World how they want to, but I'll follow the plotline. For me to enjoy a sandbox game I need two things. Plot hooks and consequences.

Sandbox is not necessarily the players go someplace and see what's there. Give me reasons to go someplace. Offer different and interesting stories to do that I'll care about. If another player cares about something more than I do that's fine. I can play along to play the game, and ideally I get to do what I care about in turn. I may even start to care about what the other player is interested in as the adventure plays out.

However, once that particular adventure is done there needs to be consequences. That means, presuming we Saved The Day, those NPCs we helped remember us. We hear from them again and have good relations. Our reputations grow so when we go someplace new those NPCs are glad to see us because they have confidence we can help them. More plot hooks develop as people purposely seek us out for help. We have downtime activities depending on the players - start a business, gain land to become a Lord, become a celebrity, gain social status, the typical stuff you'd find in linear campaigns. Being in a sandbox allows for such ties.

Maybe, just maybe, a campaign plot develops anyway. The players chose it. Maybe we tend to do plot hooks of similar theme. Maybe the players talked too much inventing a hypothetical BBEG behind it all. The DM never had one, but he now exists because the DM thought it cool what the players discussed. The sandbox became a quasi-linear game because the players chose to pursue this one idea out of interest and fun of the game.
To me, sandbox means it's not all on the DM to chart the course. The players have to decide what the goals are and the DM then knows where to focus his attention and keeps track of the fallout. I.e. I know it was fun to burn that village, but there was a survivor that will now do whatever they have to, make any bargains they have to make in order to make you suffer as they and their people have.