Running a Sandbox Campaign - D&D/OSR

[@Darkwullfster]

Free DM tip: Pocket size graph paper notebook. 10 minute break at work, sketch out a one page dungeon. Minor details only, 'trap here' you can figure out what it is when you run it. Encounter here, 2d6 level/scenario appropriate monsters. One or two sentence descriptions of a room. And 'dungeon' doesn't need to mean 'dungeon' exactly, you can sketch out a one page 'dungeon' encounter for a roadhouse, forested glade, etc. Point is, do that a few times a week and pretty soon, you'll have a travel notebook full of options that are easy to run in whatever random direction your party decides to take you.

[@LokisLair]

Fantastic stuff. Thanks!

[@madeline569]

Great suggestion thanks friend

[@nonya9120]

Geezer here.... The sandbox is all I have run for years. The only thing I have any interest in. I realize it can be intimidating, many burn out and over the prep work. They over prep. Way over prep. Bullet points as you mentioned. However, it really is far less work. The players do almost all of it. At the table, through play. Easiest thing for new people. But it has to be a good fit. Some players just insist on being led by the nose. Almost always complaining about a "lack of choice". I invite such not to partake. It's a waste of the groups time. Great vid as always, good points. Gaming on.

[@satsebeli]

I just sat to make a sandbox campaign, and KZbin algorithm blessed me

[@sw33n3yto00]

Growing fast, Mate. I am truly enjoying your short and simple delivery. No fluff, just advice.

[@LokisLair]

appreciate it buddy, thanks for the support.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

That’s how it’s done! Loving this.

[@LokisLair]

@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 Thanks!

[@originaluddite]

Ha! I have problems with puzzles too. Luckily there are plenty out there to draw on from other creators, but another thing I've done is present my players with a real world puzzle, and then incorporate that into the game. Only once they've solved it, will their characters solve it.

[@MrRJPE]

I was running this video in the background while working on my campaign, listening but not fully focused on it. When you got to the part about a "rebellious house" trying to assassinate the king, for some reason my mind went to an animated house that was trying to commit regicide. It painted a very different picture than the red wedding that you mentioned.

[@jiapark4180]

This video was so helpful! Sandbox campaigns are definitely my favorite kind as they feel the most realistic and least restrictive. I can’t wait for Thursday to see where our party wants to go in your world. Keep up the great work Loki! 😁

[@brunop.8745]

I used to run/play storybook-style campaigns in 5e and while I no doubt had _fun_ with those (some of them had my favorite moments in any of my time playing ttrpgs) it definitely felt exhausting and restrictive sometimes. Then I started running sandbox campaigns using OSR systems and I fell in love with DMing all over again!

[@LokisLair]

I'm happy for you Bruno. D&D can feel so restricting sometimes, especially when you've got players who are "rules lawyers". When I started running games my way and got rid of the players who were restricting my creativity and enjoyment, I started having a much better time running games. It's crazy how much switching things up can improve our games.

[@williamozier918]

One trick: Give each player an adventure hook or rumor up front in session 0. Also, if the character finds the mcguffin of the rumor they earn an inspiration token. Just this little bit of up front info can give a player a direction of their own to pursue.

[@zantharian57]

06:49 - You didn't post the random encounter video in the description like you said! This is the kind of trickery I would expect from someone called Loki!

[@LokisLair]

😂😂😂

[@mistergoats4380]

The art you use is top tier for inspiration

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

I like the bullet points, that’s what I do for prep. Yes I like the random tables for characters in the books

[@MrRourk]

Beware the Christmas Pudding Monster

[@TKFKU]

Build your world up just enough to get the pcs to third level, have that much down solid. Keep on plotting and making death traps etc etc as you would normally do but do not set it in stone. By third level most of what you planned has gone out the window. At that point you and the pcs are making the world as you go or at least the parts that matter to those pcs.

[@davidmorgan6896]

If you are running a sandbox then, surely, your PCs can just decide to go throw stone at a dragon at any level.

[@davidmc8478]

Rather than a central tension you can run five factions in a manner similar to blades in the dark. The players actions then choose which of those is “central”

[@LokisLair]

Not a bad idea, means you gotta come up with some factions though. Might try it sometime.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

I love spell casting dragons who study their books and rob wizards instead of kings

[@davidcook8230]

After a 30 year break, I got back into D&D recently. 5e put me off, and I went Old School Essentials. Sandbox was what I used to do, so I quickly got tired of the way most 5e groups were conducted as modules or aggressively linear. I found the OSR crews to be mostly sandbox and quickly jumped ship. Is there a fear of improv in 5e groups, or is that the younger crowd only wants Lord of the Rings? I would like to hear and see your world building video. The music was good, but it tended to drown you out at times. I humbly suggest dialing it down a little. You had good use of pictures from the old books... amazing how burned into my memory they are.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Just started a sandbox Old School Essentials campaign this week. Created a sketch of a few local nations, built the society of the nation they’re starting in, created a starting town, and then filled out the hexes within a day’s travel of the town. Created some factions with tensions and made a bunch of rumors based on the factions and the local hexes. Tome of Adventure Design, Perilous Wilds, and Worlds Without Number have been indispensable for random tables to spark creativity. One key to sandbox encounters is having interesting things for your players to find around most every corner. Also not introducing a time limited central quest early (if you do it at all). Both major failings of Tomb of Annihilation…

[@mnm1273]

I misread it as ruining. I still clicked. Thought it'd be entertaining.

[@LokisLair]

HAHAHAHA

[@bearthegenxgm]

Another great video! So amazing watching your channel grow. If we can work out the time difference, would love to have you on as a guest for the Four Colour Café!

[@Marcus-ki1en]

Sand Box (AKA Open World) is really the best way to run your world. The players have maximum agency and freedom and you avoid the Rail Road situation that is the bane of any game. Having said that... Is it just us DMs here? Don't lock down some of your dungeons to a specific location. Tombs and Towers should be everywhere. No matter which direction you players travel, they can hit one of your prepared adventures. Incentivize continuing on a plot hook which creates a somewhat linear path (not a RR), but give them the freedom to drop it mid stream to go in another direction and pick it up latter. Remember they don't know what is in your world, you do.

[@LokisLair]

*applauds*

[@DiomedesRangue]

Another great video. Good tips :) I think this is definitely useful information packaged well. Keep it up.

[@TheReverendBread]

I would watch the hell out of those worldbuilding videos

[@leonielson7138]

Random Encounter: Old Man Willow (stolen from 'The Fellowship of the Ring') - the party is venturing through the woods and find themselves wandering in a spiral, passing objects on one side and then passing them on the other side, always in the same order, until they reach the center of the woods, where a corrupted treant and its army of blights attack the party!

[@LokisLair]

nice

[@troyschnierer2940]

Great advice. New subscriber right here.

[@LokisLair]

Welcome aboard!

[@coleallen2989]

Looks killer brother!

[@brooksbank97]

Hiya, just discovered your channel and I'm loving it so far. Its a breath of fresh air to get direct, mature, old school, and actually tried and tested advice from an experienced game master, presented in a way which doesn't make me want to claw my own eyes out! A question I have related to Sandbox campaigns is this: What are the best ways to get the players, and their characters, genuinely invested in the 'main' plot of the game, rather than following their own impulses in circles? I feel like suddenly dropping death squads sent from The Bad Guys(tm) can be a bit cheap? I think what I'm asking for is how you would suggest to make an effective, but not overbearing or 'forced' plot hook?

[@LokisLair]

Consider their motives, what they want to achieve, and make them feel empowered when completing major stories. If the side quests always feel small, they’ll end up wanting to do something big and exciting. They are called side quests for a reason.

[@ADT1995]

I'm running Chains of Asmodeus right now and my players have often described it as "Sandbox Edition" because of my willingness to go off the rails and running sessions partially or completely outside the hells. It's not a sandbox, and I've never claimed it was a true sandbox, but I say that to say that the lessons learned here can be used to great effect even with a pre-written campaign. I'd even say that you SHOULD include sandbox elements in your linear campaigns, but that may just come down to style and knowing your party since not all players do well with being self motivated and others might be like "I signed up to kill devils and stick it to a god, why are we spending like 4 sessions working with the church of Lathander and helping refugees from waterdeep", and it that's your group then fine, run it straight from the book. But for my group I'm only actually following the module about a third of the time, and resources like this are an absolute gold mine of great advice and ideas. Thank you so much!

[@LokisLair]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@srmillard]

Great ideas, thanks. Subscribed.

[@totalpartykill999]

a sandbox campaign really brings to light the importance of levels and levelling, and why the concept exists in ttrpgs to begin with. levelling should never have been about a player looking on how to set up ability combos and such. instead, it is a barometer that serves as an unspoken boundary for where exactly the players can venture without getting immediately killed. sure the players can go anywhere they want on the hexmap. but it is certainly common sense that they stay in the areas that is appropriate for their current power levels until they gain enough XP and loot so they can go to the more challenging areas. that being said, there was never any need for story railroading, because the level system already helps with that.

[@vedadtr3509]

Where do you get the art for your videos mate ?

[@justinfreitas4871]

Good job, thanks.

[@thefinestsake1660]

Number 1 👉 Smotwrep

[@cp1cupcake]

The music in the latter part of the video gets loud enough that I have trouble hearing :(

[@LokisLair]

I'll start making my music a bit quieter, or at least the tracks I use that are typically a bit louder. Thanks for the feedback.

[@bernardobarzottozomer5538]

Lovely music. Source?

[@LittleRyanBlackRiver]

Music: End of the Era - Kevin Macleod Grave Matters - Kevin Macleod Decline - Kevin Macleod Death of Kings - Kevin Macleod Death of Kings - Kevin Macleod: This one has the sad but triumphant trumpets kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnvEg4yXmdyjqKM&ab_channel=KevinMacleod-Topic

[@slashdash846]

Great videos! I'm exploring your channel and it's content and it seems very good! Where do you search for all this old-school art? This is the inspiring stuff)

[@LokisLair]

Google is your best friend honestly. The amount of sites, pages and threads I’ve found over the months is crazy.

[@LittleRyanBlackRiver]

The music in this video is phenomenal! Unfortunately shazam is unable to identify it for me, any chance you could provide some info?

[@theusernameicoodfind]

I thought the title said ruining and my first thought was shit in it

[@LokisLair]

hahahahaha

[@DarkKnightCuron]

World-Building please!

[@twfilmss]

Hey where’s this art from ?

[@jessedevlin9489]

did you voice Henry from KOD?

[@davidmorgan6896]

Your session notes look very railroady. Chase, meet assassin etc.

[@LokisLair]

It's an outline used as an example, if my players decide to do something different, I'll improvise. Because I haven't spent a lot of time or effort preparing my session, I'm not going to be upset if they want to do something different.

[@wanderingwizard8646]

Which do you prefer? D&D or OSR?

[@adampender2482]

Well D&D is OSR if you're playing BECMI, AD&D 1st/2nd edition

[@elgatochurro]

Increase the audio next time, can always lower the volume but I can't go past 100%

[@LokisLair]

You’re watching a old video; audio is a lot better in newer videos. 👍🏻

[@elgatochurro]

@@LokisLair kk