Despite numerous definitions, sometimes I think of sandbox as "you can go anywhere in here" and railroads as "you can ONLY go this way".
But last week the PCs were exploring an unknown area of the hex map, looking for a ruined castle of legend.
They were surrounded by forests, and had no exact clues about the location of the castle (only that it is "near the river" and a couple of clues they can find in the way), so they just wandered around a bit, looking for more information, "opening" new hexes.
(BTW, Hextml has this cool "fog of war" effect that can help you manage that).
So, you could say they are in a sandbox... they can go anywhere, but... until they find the castle, there is no difference. There is just more forest and rolling for random encounters.
This is not exactly a railroad, but the result is the same no matter the direction they go (again, until they find the castle).
Let me illustrate this:
Lets say the green area is a forest, brown is mountain, blue is sea.
In an hex map, if you're going from "B" to "A", you can try different ways - assuming you cannot simply draw a straight line because you don't know the EXACT location of B.
But it doesn't make a difference. It is all forest. Same speed, same chances of getting lost, same random encounters.
In fact, even if the PCs suddenly decide to go THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, to C, or if they get lost and wander into the mountains of the North, or travel South until they see the ocean... you STILL know exactly what is going to happen in the next week or so (if that's the distance from A to B).
Of course, this does not feel like a railroad if you have interesting, preexisting, features in EACH hex (which I don't).
Random features and random encounters, however, do not change the railroad "format" of this experience. If you roll to find out there is a cottage or an ogre in the new hex, it still doesn't matter if the PCs went North or South: the result would be the same.
Anyway, I don't think this is an actual railroad, because, while the PATH seems identical, the destination is different. The PCs haven't had their choices negated. Their choices are irrelevant for this week (they literally have a random encounter with an ogre whichever direction they go), but ultimately they'll arrive in a different destination.
But this is an interesting aspect to consider. There are SEVERAL dungeons scattered across my sandbox, and I'm always a bit worried that the PCs choose to go to a dungeon I'm not entirely familiar with (I cannot memorize all this stuff, TBH).
I don't want to "force" them into a dungeon , but I'd really like to spend at least half an hour reading it before they enter.
The fact that I know exactly what happens on the way to the dungeon - NO MATTER WHICH WAY - might be an interesting tool to give me time to prepare.
Maybe I could even roll/prepare half a dozen encounters beforehand (I'm currently using this) and know exactly what is coming in the next session - regardless of the direction the PCs take.
It'd be a bit more work, but you could prepare series of encounters for each cardinal direction; e.g. if the party goes generally north, they'll have these encounters, if they go east, those other ones, and so on. Knowing what lies in which direction, you could foreshadow those encounters, or have ready answers if the players try to determine what lies in their path, which would grant them some additional agency and dilute the railroadiness somewhat.
ReplyDeleteIt takes more time, but it could work!
Deletehttps://itch.io/jam/martian-community-hexcrawl
ReplyDeleteNeat! I'll get in touch if I can continue participating, but looking forward regardless. Thank you!
DeleteI consider "railroad" to be a verb and "sandbox" to be a noun. To me, railroading is a method of running a campaign no matter what the structure which can be linear, web, or sandbox. Sandbox, to me, is a campaign structure.
ReplyDeleteIt is the organizational structure of how different adventure locations and encounters. A series of connected adventures is a campaign. A series of connected encounters is an adventure.
One can attempt to railroad a sandbox campaign by pushing player characters to the next encounter or adventure or by deciding the outcomes of an encounter or adventure. This usually doesn't last long because players who are paying attention at all will realize what's happening and the campaign may fizzle.
I wouldn't say the player choices were irrelevant. They may be less significant because they weren't altering the state of the sandbox to any significant degree since they didn't come across any major factions, NPCs, or locations with important elements but their choices had some minor relevance to the future outcomes because they (I would assume) used resources, learned what was in a particular hex (which may be nothing much) and learned what was not in that hex (the dungeon they're looking for).
I suspect there are a few issues. You probably don't have enough density of encounters both pre-placed and random. You may not be giving the players enough information for them to make good choices about which way to go or the players may not have done enough information gathering or planning (hiring a guide, seeking a sage etc), to make their trip to the dungeon more efficient.
I like to have a lot of small encounters in a given hex that not only provide challenges but also communicate information to players about what is in neighboring hexes and what's going on in the region.NPCs and monsters who live in particular place are going to have some awareness of each other and interact. If there is some trade or travel between locations, there will be little game trails, tracks and other spoor that can tip off adventurers and get them on the right track. If the party talks instead of killing everything, they can learn from a creature they encounter where the thing they are looking for is at and maybe get a guide.
I don't use the standard wandering monster tables for this reason. I create pre-written random encounters which also give the players information about the area they are in or NPCs active in the area. I am able to give the players little bits of information about the sandbox and its inhabitants.
https://grumpywizard.home.blog/2024/02/22/sandbox-vs-railroad-is-a-false-dichotomy/
"Railroad(ing) is a verb. Sandbox is a noun.". Great point and great post!
DeleteI don't think my example was actually a railroad - I just noticed that, whichever direction the PCs chose, they'd meet the "quantum ogre" that I had rolled in the forest encounters.
But that is only because they were surrounded by (mostly featureless) forests.
If I had placed encounters/features in specific hexes, this issue would certainly have been solved, but that's not how I play, due to various circumstances - mostly because, in one week of travel, they only have 2-3 encounters but can visit about seven different hexes.
If you consider they could go any direction, there are dozens of hexes (maybe a hundred) to choose from if they take a one-week trip.
Another problem is my PCs are level 7-8 by now and they can easily destroy any encounter, so it became a bit inconsequential (and they definitely do not care about planning, etc., because of that - the cleric can heal all their wounds in a day). But that's another issue...
One solution might be spreading several monster lairs around. That could affect random encounters and provide a challenge to high-level PCs.
DeleteI agree. I don't think it was a railroad either. You make a good point that the experience of play can sometimes be almost indistinguishable from a railroad from the perspective of a player.
DeleteOne type of encounter I have a lot of fun with higher level characters are large numbers of low HD monsters.
Sure, you can kill a skeleton with one shot. How many can you kill in a round? Can you handle 50 skeletons at one go? How about 200?
A reasonably high level and very misanthropic druid who doesn't want people in his woods is another one I've gotten good use out of. Could be a social encounter. Could be a combat encounter. The druid version of Conjure Earth Elemental is unpleasant if you are on the receiving end.
Yes, definitely, they are taking on armies of goblins and it has been fun - but maybe not as much as levels 5-6.
DeleteBut I think they'll be facing some bigger armies soon...
You bring up a topic that is of great importance but rarely discussed: the communication between players and GM that is relevant to preparation.
ReplyDeleteI try to end each session at a commitment point: they are either mid-adventure or on the way to doing something definite.
If you leave them at a crossroads, as it were, you have to prep for 3 - 4 different outcomes, most of it not needed on the day.
Even if you are in communication between sessions, you can ask about their intent, and even to vote, with it being understood as binding at the table.
Definitively a good idea. If the players tell me one session in advance what they plan to do, I feel much better prepared.
DeleteOnce they decided to change course mid-session, and it was a bit stressful but turned out alright.
If possible, I want to keep both things: some predictability but also the possibility of changing course at any time.