Yesterday, something happened in my game... that might be worth discussing briefly.
The PCs in my sandbox were hunting a few goblin tribes. I had the entire area (hexes) and a couple of goblins caves prepared in advance (adapted from a published module).
But when the game started (right after they had slain one of the goblin tribes - there were two more to go), the PCs suddenly decided to abandon the quest and traveled to the nearby haunted ruins, which they thought would be more profitable.
I had already decided on a module for those ruins... but I hadn't read it.
They had two or three nearby places to go (in addition to goblin territory). The thing is, I'm unable to memorize them all.
[Also, notice, it is USELESS to memorize them; now, the goblin "plotline" became partially obsolete because they will NOT be able to rescue certain hostages anymore, which changes the whole thing... there is little use in preparing too much for things you'll never face].
Sometimes I just need a dungeon that I can read while I'm running it. Or, even better, a complete sandbox like Qelong or Curse of Strahd - it allows me to familiarize with the whole setting at once.
The ideal sandbox would have a significant number of "IFs" so I didn't have to come up with my own. "If the PCs refuse, the hostages die", etc.
[Notice Qelong is surrounded by mountains and Ravenloft by mists; an island would work too. It seems the ideal sandbox is somewhat limited: "we are playing in this area, if the PCs leave the adventure will turn into something else, which requires some time to prepare"].
The game turned out well, although it felt clunky reading and refereeing at the same time. I made a few mistakes (e.g., said a door was open when it was locked) and it took a bit longer to describe each room.
Fortunately, it was a short session, and I had my Basic Wilderness Encounters with encounters for EVERY biome in the setting, which made the wilderness part a breeze.
I will familiarize with the dungeon better for next week, since they are unlikely to change course soon, so things will be smoother.
What I DIDN'T want to do is "improvise" in any way.
I had two goblin lairs ready to go. Should I have used THAT maps for the ruins?
NO! I want my setting to be a real place, not a Schrödinger's simulation.
Could I have rolled a new map randomly?
No, that would be equally bad.
See, they had two nearby dungeons to go, each with its own "backstory". If I generated them randomly as they explore it, their choice would simply not matter.
Anyway, it is fun to have a sandbox and allow them to go anywhere. One of the players started asking, "wait, why don't we BUILD something?".
I have no plans for this type of campaign. Might be fun, I don't know.
One thing I do know is that the players can surprise me - and this makes running the game way more fun for me.
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