Previously in Chatty’s Game
Our heroes were transported into a monstrous city ruled by a mad, fascist Mind Flayer called The Overmind. After learning that there were pieces of a key to the Flayer’s castle strewn all over the city, the adventurers set out to seek them out. They obtained one from a friend and ally and the second was forcibly removed from the bloodied fingers of a unhinged Merchant Princess. While looking for the third, they were caught sneaking in the Sewers of the city’s Re-education centre. After a fight against very strange creatures, they went back to the surface…
When OK is adequate
They are unavoidable. They happen for multiple reasons. But last Friday’s game was OK rather than great. People had fun, we laughed and we had a good combat encounter… but that certain spark that was there 2 weeks before wasn’t there. And that’s all right. The game ended earlier than planned and we played some Rockband Beatles before ending the evening.
Like last time, here’s the story first, the play by play will come after.
The Brain Wash Amusement Park
The PCs exited the Sewers, negotiating a trapped circle of glowing runes, to find themselves on a water tower overlooking a large yard filled with monsters standing idly, staring into space. The surrounding was a fortified camp featuring barbed wired fences, large pavilions and several glowing arched portals covered in runes. The same type of runes that they dealt with in the sewers.
Right then, Fangs (the shifter Warden) spotted another very familiar shifter and left the group to chase it, leaving the party stranded in a wall of thorns of his making to prevent them from following. Once the Warden and his quarry were gone and the alerted guards returned to their posts, the heroes sought out the key part into the camp’s headquarters.
There they faced off and defeated the camp’s foreman, a Beholder and his Foulspawn guards. They obtained the 3rd part of the key and started studying the Runic archways found all over the camp. They were elaborate, multi-stage Brainwashing devices used to re-program the camp’s monsters.
After working out their function, the heroes sought out and found a safe place to rest (minus a brush up between Nanoc and a Medusa masseuse that left the barbarian with a case of stiff muscles).
The next day, the heroes snuck up to the city’s central plazas and tinkered with the brainwash portals to break the Overmind’s mental hold on the general population. As the citizens’ voices rose in stupefaction and anger, the party moved on to the Vats, where a grisly scene awaited them… the eviscerated body of Fangs along with all his equipment.
When you prep the wrong thing
I had trouble getting into prepping mode last week. I had Dungeons & Dragons Online going on and I had a lot of ideas for blog posts and such. When I did get into prepping, I created a map of the Re-education camp, complete with clearly defined stages where monsters go through to be deprogrammed, re-programmed and sent to 3 teleport circles to go back and serve the Dungeon.
I even added a little complication by having an agent of the Master (My campaign’s shadowy villain) ‘steal’ the best monsters for his boss. I also prepared a set-piece encounter where the PCs would fight the Camp’s guards in the camp’s main yards while minions would man boiling water canons…
… but I seem to keep forgetting that Set piece encounters aren’t part of the ‘Player-driven” style of play.
Plus I wanted to be clever. Eric (Fang’s player) couldn’t make it this week so I decided to explain his absence by having his PC spot one of his clones and chase it while the rest of the party did their thing.
Thus, I set the start of the adventure on top of one of the water towers overlooking the Camp’s main yard and I described how Fangs ran after his clone. I must have felt theatrical (or felt the need to control the situation) so I described that Fangs used one of his powers to slow/hinder against the party so they couldn’t follow.
In hindsight, I realize that this wasn’t necessary, had the PC chased the agent too, I could have gone through a chase scene that could have lead to a much more interesting situation that we ended up playing.
When I described the guards coming to investigate the fracas, the very same guards I had planned for the Set-piece battle, the players, in a bad tactical position to start with, wisely decided to wait it out and remain in hiding in the Water tower.
So in essence, my own use of narrative control prevented me to trigger my set-piece and more or less prevented some cooled stuff from happenning. As I’ve said before, no big deal, but I have to note it.
This makes me realize that if I want to run a Sandboxy type of adventure and let the story be shaped by the players, I have to fight my habit of inserting elaborate story elements of my own. Keeping things simple is paramount in such adventure as story will spring up from the players themselves.
I’ll stop here today with a question.
If you were running my game, how would you prep it?
Share some tips and tricks that could help me (and any other DM tempted to try the same thing) have an easier time at the table.
Up Next: Paging Dr. Beholder!
In answering your question, I’ve found that with a sandbox style campaign you have to have at least an idea for each path/spot on the map/etc. that the PCs can go. On top of that (which basically just amounts to tons of prep work, most of which may not come to be) is the need to be able to improvise. With basic ideas as the framework for each direction they can go, you at least aren’t blindsided by their choices (usually). As they pick their path, I always then try to think how I can link it back to where I have the most planned – as long as it makes some sort of sense.
It’s because of the time it takes to prep that I’ve gotten away from running a true sandbox myself. Additionally, I’ve handed over DMing to someone else so they can run a module or something while I recharge my batteries.
Recently, however, I’ve been starting to let the players take control of where they want to go again I and I have to say that I winged it in letting them choose what lead they wanted to follow and then for the next session found I wasn’t prepared and just whipped something together in 5 minutes. Granted, I knew that the NY/Dallas game was going to come on and I didn’t need more than one encounter, but it worked out pretty well. In those 5 minutes though, I also jotted down ideas of what I put them through next week too (which is good because I’ll have no time to prep again until about an hour beforehand).
I think Rauthik posted some good advice, but I’d argue that instead of having specific places planned out incase the PC’s go there you should have general ideas of “a place” and not specifically know where that is. Example: if I have brainstormed an arabian inspired city, a medieval town with a castle, and a collection of old ruins – don’t necessarily have each of those placed on a map but have them in stock to pull out if the PC’s choose some random place to go. Those are extreme examples, but it works really well with specifics such as “one town has a vicious queen and men are often imprisoned” and then you can apply that to a town if given the chance.
The essential idea is: don’t be afraid to make stuff up, you’ll often be able to tie it into the future of the game in very cool and fun ways.
Another good idea is to have regions with themes, such as larger monarchies or a region called “the beast lands”. Just from those simple ideas you can have at least 1/4 of the important details about that location already figured out. I’m focusing a lot on location because I think that’s the toughest part people have with the sandbox concept, if there’s something else that people have a lot of trouble with please bring it up so we can discuss!
.-= Bartoneus´s last blog ..Inq. of the Week: Tears or tiers? =-.
Sandbox is nuts! Too many things! AARGGHHH lost all sanity!!!
I do like to dabble with it though. First of all I tend to limit the geographic freedom to something containable. A city, a valley, but not a detailed kingdom with loads of locations I dont know much about either.
Second I need some forces that create motion in the geographic area. A ruler, his aids, merchant houses and guilds, an army, priests of various religions and I need tensions between them. Who is blackmailing who, bribes, family ties, bastard sons, watch 10 minutes of your moms favorite soap serie and you’ll have a ton of ideas. But they have to have links.
Third I’ll pick one of the idea’s I liked best and make it a major issue in the world and something the players will have to deal with. If they dont really start doing stuff themselves I can hit them with this. And if they do get themselves in trouble quickly I will still hit them with this problem too.
For sandbox games I also force the players to have tight and robust ties with each other. Especially in sandbox enviroments its natural for ‘random characters’ not to form a party and do stuff together. Family ties seem to work the best in my experience, allowing for some distrust/tension while keeping it very natural to stick together.
Once a sandbox is running I usually try to prepare stuff that is along the lines of the current PC plans and have a thing or two ready that shifts the assumptions their plan was based on a bit. For example, once they have decided to fortify their family manor and go out to search for contractors, materials and the like I will let one of them run into an army officer who is on a mission to find a good location for a rearguard garison and HQ. Now if they dont want that I will not force it on them, but it offers an opportunity and a threat in one package and they like that kind of stuff the best.
It also involves me getting the beers as the players are too busy arguing amongst themselves if they should offer the officer to see the manor or absolutely not do that!
Reading your excelent Sandbox comments (thanks you 3) I realize a few things.
My current model is more of a pocket-sandbox where Players Set the MInor Quests and where the story comes out of achieving objectives and meeting complication along the way.
In that sense, if I decide to create a Set-Piece, I must place it at a Crucial point that PCs will go through and it allows to add more climactic scenes to enhance the story they created… As long as the encounter does not choke the emerging Story…
And that is the big challenge I think.
[quote] This makes me realize that if I want to run a Sandboxy type of adventure and let the story be shaped by the players, I have to fight my habit of inserting elaborate story elements of my own. [/quote]
Don’t know if I agree on that beeing a bad habit, as you are the prime person to add powerfull colours and flavours to your setting. So keep adding new cool stuff 🙂
You don’t get to use it all, at least in the session you prepared for.
For players the fun from sandbox style play doesn’t really derive from beating set-pieces I think. They can be cool and add fun, but the real sense of accomplishment comes from realising the goals you have set for yourself. If I was a player in your campaign this would have been my best moment of the eve:
[quote] the heroes snuck up to the city’s central plazas and tinkered with the brainwash portals to break the Overmind’s mental hold on the general population. As the citizens’ voices rose in stupefaction and anger, the party moved on[/quote]
But I would not have moved on. I would have gotten stuck in that mob and use it for the next phase of my (not so evil) plans. That action totally changed the whole city in one stroke! The power! Amazing! 🙂
My favorite way to prepare for a sandbox game, is to over prepare. Of course, I need to have sufficient time to do so.
The principal person who benefit from this is me, the DM. How? Knowing how the world evolve around the PCs, the decision they make has an impact on what I’ve prepared. How far they go will shape what will happen next and how great the impact on the world around them will be.
Like the chaos theory, one move from them can have a huge impact in the end.
The players are usually not aware of everything they got an influence on, but it satisfy the storyteller inside of me.
If I don’t have enough time to do this kind of preparation, I prefer to go the complete opposite. No prep at all. I use what the players say to shape the story.
For each character come up with a small number of things they react strongly to. Three to five should be plenty. Asking the players is not a poor idea.
Combine the strong stimuli so as to create situations where you do not know how the players will react.
Prepare some random NPCs and combats and other interesting bits that you can add as consequences for failures or taking risks and you should be all set.
.-= Tommi´s last blog ..D&D 4e and social conflicts? =-.
The “pocket sandbox” as you so perfectly described it, I think is the best place to start with for DMs who want to get more into it. It’s what I’m mostly sticking to lately (as to why Bartoneus picked up on my attachment to specific locations). It’s a little easier to control. I used to use the old Greyhawk Maps and let the characters decide what they wanted to do with their lives and make adventures according to what their aims were (sometimes only being told upon their arrival to the game.. talk about losing sanity!). Now, I make a region, briefly detail the major areas and peoples, give them an adventure to start and during that quest/delve I start “throwing pebbles in the water”. As they flesh out their characters, the adventures write themselves.
Truthfully, some of the best advice for this comes directly from Chatty. Something he mentions offhand a couple of weeks ago, I believe it was for the sewer encounter with the squid head zombies. A folder/binder/collection of just maps and vague scenerios. Any time I get an idea (especially when reading this blog, critical hits, at-will, etc… you guys never fail to inspire my creative side) I jott it down and file it away. Every so often, you can just go back and re-write and condense the notes on to one or more pages instead of the scraps of paper that tend to accumulate. I’ve posted some stuff for my campaign on htt://thegamerdome.wetpaint.com under ‘Thousand Mountains’ for people to peruse and steal from and basically look to do the same to other people’s campaigns. Unfortunately, Obsidian Portal doesn’t seem to have a lot of stuff to view with out signing up (at least as far as I’ve seen), but sites like that are rife with ideas for DMs. The trick to really to see an idea and remember it when right time comes around.
Definitely for those who are new to or unsure of sandboxes, starting with the ‘pocket’ version is the best way to go. Oh… also, think of games like Fallout 3 (and then rip them off if it fits). Perfect example of how going to one place and interacting with someone leads to a whole other storyline/quest.
Okay… lunch is over and I’ll stop rambling now.
When I think about it, what it boils down to is that I should not create set-piece encounters if I don’t make sure that they will occur. In the case of my adventure, I made an encounter and I somehow expected/wished that the conditions would be brought together for it to come into play… and I didn’t want to make those conditions happen…
That’s just toxic.
No I need to change my expectation. What we gain in freeform crazy storytelling, we lose in elaborate combat scenarios and such.
I have a huge set-piece ready for the next game and I’ll basically say “This is your Extended Skill check: Kill the monster and the objective is yours”
Oh hell… I’ve got a better one… I’ll put objectives in the fight and hitting the player goal means getting to each objectives of the fight.
HA! Now I’m 100% happy!
I’ve tried asking the players at the end of the session what the PCs plan to do next time. This gives me some ideas for preparation. My intent is to prep a mini mission for each session. Based on the player suggestions, I would introduce the next session with a scene that sets a direction for the PCs to follow. Of course this depends on a group who is willing to follow that lead. I have only used it a couple of times and need to practice some more to see if it’s workable as a compromise between player-driven story and DM-prepared set pieces.
I think Kevin Richey has it pretty much right… you have to ask your players what they plan to do in the next session. But then, I think you have to distort it so they will think “great! this is what i wanted…. (and then later)… whoa! ok, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but its cool!”
@Chatty… I think you’re building up more momentum to have a one-page random encounter contest. Such a collection would pretty much be mandatory for an improv GMing style. hehehe 🙂
Chatty, I don’t see in the previous blog posts about where the PCs got the key from the merchant princess.
@Rechan: that was the Drow clean freak somewhat-dominatrix… ‘she ended’ the fight because her place was getting too messed up. lol
@Kevin: I think that cooperative game-building where player-driven goals meet DM prep halfways is a great compromise. In fact, getting players for personal goals was asking them. Stopping the game in the Sewers… where I had nothing prepped to go forward was probably not ideal.
Hopefully the setup for the next game will work better.
@Tiorn: I’ll grant you that this has been a persistent idea. I’m just not sold on it. 🙂 I have a much more evil contest brewing… 🙂
@Rechan & Tiorn: Yeah, that was the one, although she was a Cambion in a Drow house… close enough!
@Chatty: That is where I have had similar trouble (if I understand you), ending a session mid-way through a goal or mission, so I don’t know exactly how to pick up the next session. Especially with 4e, encounters always take longer than I expect.