Sandbox/Freeform - Do they work?

[Ace of Hearts]

A broad question, admittedly.

I've been thinking about running a game, just a tad different. There would be a main plot(s), but the characters would be free to create their own storylines, or I myself create some hooks for them to follow.

I'd have no character, but as a general narrator for the story. At times, I'd play certain NPCs. More often than not, however, I'd play 'the world.' Example: Character(s) needs to get into a building, where the only visible entrance is guarded. I would give the player(s) an outline of said building, and make certain suggestions of how to get in. The player(s) think on it, and make their choice/action. I would then narrate the outcome of said action.

Basically, the player(s) engage the world, and I, as the narrator, make the world react in a realistic way.

I'm not sure how a lot of other sandbox games playout, as I've only ever had experience with a more linear game.

Thoughts, Concerns, tips, your experiences, etc? This isn't a question about my idea, specifically, but using it as an example of the general essence of my question seemed the best course of action. All games can work imo if you and your players are dedicated, but still, we're talking general.

[Vilageidiotx]

It's all about the chemistry between the RPers. That, more than anything else, is what you'll want to cultivate. Precipice of War is a sandbox NRP, and it's not only managed to last (in various forms) for a little over five years now, but we've always managed to work a story out of the chaos.

I think the trick is to get your RPers working together, and to shepherd the story not in a pre-decided direction, but in whatever direction it seems to be headed naturally. Let the RPers come up with the story, and work with them to connect the strings so the disparate pieces get sewn into one whole.

[Jerkchicken]

Make shit up as you go is key.

Also give players things to latch onto as well as "tools" to let them start creating things to play with.

Also despite sandbox sort of equating absolute freedom, you still want to maintain some degree of control because if you let everyone try and do their own thing attentions will get to split and you'll lose cohesion and losing direction is something that kills game as well as you're gonna get situations where players might not be feeling it to create their own stuff

[Ace of Hearts]

The way this game would work, there would be a few main storylines (multiple factions) and a few side quests that can be proposed or invented as I go along. Players would be able to control NPCs related to their own character, but the majority of world events would be dictated by myself, in a style I would feel would be realistic.

Telling a guy you don't know to fuck off, he appears later as someone you need to work with, he's not so friendly because of earlier, etc etc.

I'd really stress players to look at all their options, even if I don't present all of them. Using the example above, you could either try to sweet talk your way in, bribe the guard, kill him, etc. Or, look for alternate ways in. You climb up a pipe to a window, but the window is locked from the inside. You could either try to quietly break in, or look for another alternate route.

That's just in terms of how the game is played, I suppose. The above advice of making a cohesive group is much appreciated.

[NuttsnBolts]

I tried something like this once and it seemed to start off quite well from what I can gather.

I think part of the trick is when the person makes their character sheet you need to include something like a motive or mission so that they can start the ball rolling. Some of the hardest aspects about sandbox RPs is that if there isn't much happening at all and the players can run out of ideas very easily. They do need to push themselves and create their own conflict, but they also need a reason for being there in the first place.

When you look at the character sheets you might be able to spot some of these because the player will either design a character that lives within that world, or someone that is simply placed within that world. A character that lives in the world will have a history and aspirations. They could have a desire for revenge, or a sense of justice that pushes them. A character that is placed within the world will almost be like a Mary Sue in a way, a self contained character sheet with some resolve already written into it and no real future to write about.

Eg: Lets say you have a character that lost their family and then trained to get revenge on the killers. You could say that they start their journey on the hunt for these murderers, but what about if they were to go back even further and start their journey just after they lost their family, so they're weak and they don't know who they are chasing. Instantly you have a lot more content to write about and you have a self contained story that can fir into many sandbox scenarios.

So if you're GMing a sandbox I think the best thing would be to make sure that each player will have enough that they can write about and if need be, tell them to wind back their clock and start their adventure earlier in order to give them more content.

[Ace of Hearts]

An idea I had to that very concern was a....'mission board' if you will, that's updated in the main OOC post. Side quests, if you will.

[Shorticus]

An idea I had to that very concern was a....'mission board' if you will, that's updated in the main OOC post. Side quests, if you will.

@Ace of Hearts

I've seen this work in tabletop games, as in real-life sit-around-a-table tabletop games. The DM had a lot of content available that was prepared before each session. If we didn't do certain jobs, there'd be some unforseen consequences. (Our refusal to clean out the sewers once led to an infestation of gelatinous cubes spewing out into the streets.)

[Ace of Hearts]

That's similar to what I had planned. Missions would have a 'countdown', of a sorts, and if you didn't do anything, well, sometimes nothing happened, sometimes an NPC might die, etc. etc.

Of course, I'm not using dice, or a leveling system, equipment stats, etc (chalk it all up to ignorance eventhoughimgearinguptodelveintotheoldworldofdarknessettingandthissettingwouldbevaguelyinspiredbyit) The only real reward from these 'side quests' would be the enjoyment of writing!

[Shorticus]

That's not a bad plan at all.

Another thing I'd suggest is make sure you know how you want the players to operate. Can they run off to play solo? Are you expecting them to work together as a team? Is this a "don't split the party" roleplay? Will there be multiple groups of players? Can they try to split up to tackle different jobs and stop different bad things from happening at the same time?

Ask yourself, too, how much narrative control you want the players to have. One roleplay I'm in right now, Age of Dawn, is really free form and sandboxy, and we players even get to make up lore as we go in a way. The GM lets us write out the results of our actions, even, and has us talk to each other when we have conflict. But the GM also writes personalized responses to everyone's actions which might be only a few paragraphs long or may be a small story in and of themselves. The GM creates events around the world that force us to take action. It works really well.

In that same RP, we have something like what @NuttsnBolts suggested: everyone has a goal. The GM was VERY clear that we needed goals. It's helped a lot.

EDIT: As an aside, strawberry ale tastes odd.