I am working on a series of videos about my method of creating a sandbox campaign. I am four videos into the series. I have seven more shot and I'm releasing them as I get them edited. https://youtu.be/P9SygS7OwRw I originally published this information in a fairly long document in my newsletter archive. If you'd like …
Category: game mastering advice
How I Use Published Adventures In A Homebrew Sandbox
Adventures written by other people can be hard to fit into a sandbox campaign I build myself. There are ways of doing it but it also requires picking adventures that fit the setting I've created. If I create a setting that is very different from the implied or intended setting of the game I'm running then I'll have an even harder time finding an adventure that fits.
What I Look For When I Shop For Published Adventures
An "adventure", in roleplaying game lingo, is a situation or scenario intended for play with a particular roleplaying game within an implied or specific setting. An adventure, as a product class, has a few characteristics that make it different from most forms of written entertainment. What is an adventure for? An adventure scenario is a …
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How I Do Worldbuilding For My Sandbox Campaigns
Starting game masters often build too much of their world before their campaign starts. Too much world building can produce a lot of stuff that players never engage with in play. It can make it hard to use material I find after the campaign starts because I'll have to revise elements of my world or …
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Why are Non-Player Characters My Main Focus in a Sandbox Campaign?
Non-player characters are where I put my main effort when I create a sandbox campaign. There's an old how to post on how I create NPCs but in this one I'm going to tell you a bit about why I put so much effort into non-player characters. Non-player characters are the most important thing in …
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One Way to Use Dungeon Room Ideas that Don’t Fit
I went to a seminar given by a cozy mystery writer in Cleveland a few years back. She starts writing her books by writing the dialogue scenes as they come to her. They are totally out of order when she writes them. When the shape of the book starts to make sense to her, she …
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How I Referee Large Groups of Players in Old School D&D
A reader named Pete sent me a question about how to manage a group of six players. He is new to DMing and groups of more than five is giving him some trouble. Good question Pete, thanks for asking! I'm going to assume Pete is running a face to face game. Personally, I won't run …
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