Go play in the sandbox!

Saturday afternoon at the gaming table, these terrible questions are asked amidst sighs and rolled eyes:

“Do we really have to clear out that keep?”

“A sphere of annihilation in a statue’s mouth, again?”

“Uggg. Ewoks. Seriously?”

“Let me guess: A dark Jedi is behind all of this?”

It really happens more than DMs care to admit. Sometimes the well of ideas runs a little dry DMs end up recycling previous plots. And when most players have their own set of goals for their characters, it happens very often that these goals that can often be ignored in favor of the plot that the DM has lain out.

What is a possible solution then? Crafting engaging storylines can be quite tough for regular gaming groups. It is important to understand that the burden can be shared, and the players can become nearly as responsible as the DM for making sure the game is engaging and challenging.

How so? The possible answer is the use of a setting called a sandbox.

Wiki says that a sandbox is:

The term sandbox refers more to the mechanics of a game and how, as in a physical sandbox, the user is entertained by their ability to play creatively, boundless of artificial structural constraints, and with there being “no right way” of playing the game. Despite their name, many open world games still enforce restrictions at some points in the game environment, either due to absolute game design limitations or temporary in-game limitations (such as locked areas) imposed by a game’s linearity.

In the context of tabletop RPGs, a sandbox setting refers to a setting with no single story, and instead deals with tiny plots and scenarios that are laced throughout. Instead of a single definite storyline as most roleplaying games have, the players are let loose in a malleable setting that reacts to them just as they react to it.

The goal is to let players to “stretch their legs” and think for themselves. In this setting, the only time the players are told to do something or ordered by the “higher-ups” is when their own actions cause it to occur. It is a new type of interaction between the DM and the players – where the players seek out action, and in turn the DM gives them the action they desire.

A sandbox setting has many advantages over what is considered the traditional “storyline” based system of roleplaying. The sandbox setting allows players to feel like their decisions and goals are listened to and are important. The DM shouldn’t need to worry about the much-hated issue of railroading. Here, the setting seems to come alive as things are constantly happening. This way, the players become the real main characters of the story, with their actions driving the story rather than being driven by it..

By eliminating the liner storyline in favor of a player driven plot system, chances are that there won’t be any “Railroading” in the game. Railroading happens (and it happens a lot in D&D 4E) when the DM’s plot becomes so inflexible (because of the adventure itself or the person running it) that they players feel like they have no alternative but to blindly go along. Players don’t want to feel as though they are just riding along. Once the sandbox setting is put in place, the plot becomes the tool of the players just as much as it does the DM themselves.

Granted, a good DM can avoid the inflexibility that some ready-made adventures provide, but sometimes unavoidable events occur that prevent on-the-fly adaptation. By using a sandbox setting, the unexpected ramifications and consequences create new plots for DMs and simultaneously the players get the sense of a setting that grows and changes all the time.

There are different levels of “sandbox” to put into your setting – the two biggest being what I refer to as “active” and “passive”. The former is 100% freedom of movement on the part of the players, and the latter is more “go where you will, but don’t forget what you need to accomplish”.

Every group will find their own happy medium between freedom and structure. It is extremely important to discuss with your group what they feel about it, because the players (and the DM) need to have fun. The DM and players can and should work together to makes sure the setting achieves the goals of everyone involved. It may even be an option to allow a rotating DM chair for each session in the sandbox.

So what makes a good sandbox game?

The NPCs : It is a given that a good setting needs good and compelling NPCs. The NPCs are the backbone to any story, whether it is a “regular” scenario or one that run in a sandbox. But in a sandbox, the NPC plays on additional role: That of plot hook. Every single important NPC should be a plot hook in and of themselves.

I’ll return to the original usage of the term sandbox for the best way to define these NPCs: video games like “Knights of the Old Republic” or “Neverwinter Nights“. When you meet an important NPC in these games, the vast majority have a backstory and (often) optional tasks for the player to follow through with. Once the players have interacted with the NPCs, they give valuable information and possible plot hooks for the PCs to have fun with.

Plots: The lifeblood of a sandbox setting are the tiny plots that lie in wait for the players to stumble upon. These should be tied to the players in some way through their group affiliations or even their personal lives, and are triggered by the players depending on their needs to the story. With these plots the game stays interesting and fresh even as their goals and achievements continue to climb.

A sandbox setting is never really complete. It has to constantly evolve and react to the events that have occurred during play.

In order to keep your players entertained and active in the setting, I recommend:

• Repeating the first two steps (NPCs and Plots)
• Continuously build onto introduced NPCs
• Continue to add new NPCs
• Find new plots to be uncovered

Notice the above? It is wash, rinse, and repeat. NPCs / Plots / NPCs / Plots…

When a sandbox works, it works great, but when a sandbox fails, it fails horribly. Improvisation and adaptability are just as important to a sandbox setting as the planning and preparation is.

Improvisation represents the most important aspect of the sandbox setting. Usually when a game in a sandbox setting begins there is no set opening storyline, only an opening scene. This means that every moment past that opening is completely improvised. A DM running a sandbox game needs to be able to adapt quickly and improvise things he is not fully prepared for.

Experienced players can usually readily take to a sandbox, because they already have their own ideas of what they want to do with their characters and are waiting for the chance to take the lead. When beginning to run a sandbox setting, it is important that the players understand their obligations. They need to know that their pro-activity is expected and encouraged for the story to continue forward. As well, each player should consider both in-character and out-of-character goals that they have. These goals can help them decide on the actions they wish to take in-game.

The group dynamic itself also plays a more important role in the sandbox setting than in traditional ones. It is absolutely imperative that the players sit down together before starting a sandbox style game and determine their reasons for being together other than “we’re the PCs.”

There are no “best systems” to run sandbox games in. While I used the term “DM” (Dungeon Master) in the above post, it can very well be interchanged with Game Master, Game Operations Director, Referee, or Storyteller. It’s worked very well in the past for groups I have played in for Dungeons & Dragons (1st and 3.5), Pathfinder, Star Wars, and Shadowrun.

The only problem that I have experienced is that when the term gets bandied about, a lot of players freeze up, thinking that we’re going the White Wolf “The Storyteller is God” angle, and it can take some work to convince them that isn’t at all the case.