I'm running my group through Strahd and my players just arrived at Valliki. Valliki, a sandbox town of dozens of NPC's, a half-dozen locations, different plot lines, different story threads to pick up on. It's taken me hours and hours to prep three or four sessions worth of material since I have no idea what locations the players are going to visit or what they're going to do.
Some of you might be asking what the issue is? Just read the effing text boxes. Yeah, I wish. I'm an idiot because I prep. I use lots and lots of handouts to bring flavour to the game. I score different locations differently (say what you will about Roll20, its jukebox is excellent). I use voices and accents and I freely edit the main story to fit the story I have in my head.
Now, yes, I'm putting in extra effort to bring to my players what I consider a better game. But let's say I wasn't- there's still a shitton of prep work to be done to accommodate a sandbox-y game. If you've got tips and tricks on how to simplify my prep, I'd love to hear it.
The best thing is to have the session end with the players deciding what they'll do next. Then you only have to prep for that one path instead of leaving it open.
And be very blunt with them: "Folks, we're doing this because it takes a lot of time to prep for a session, so I need you to make the choice now before we leave, and I need you to actually stick to it when we meet up again." A little meta-game guilt can go a long way.
The best way to prep a sandbox is to know your NPCs as if they were your friends. Know everything you can about them, right down to what they each carry in their pockets. A railroad has a plot and a story progression, sandboxes don’t. So the best things to know about are what all they are each motivated towards and by. If you know what all the NPCs are doing at any given point, then it’s easier to make sure they are all doing what they would to accomplish what they want to accomplish.
And at the end of every session, ask the players what they want to do next session. I also find it advantageous to have more going on at any given time than what the party can address since it’s more realistic. (I always have more to do than time to do it.)
About Vallaki, in particular, I think it's great to do the research because its big and complex, but also I think the adventure contemplates the characters visiting several times, crisscrossing through on their way to Kresk or the vineyard, then back to Ravenloft, or the mountains. Some of the story, imo, should be proceeding in the background. So, if your players got invested in the bones side quest and ignored the Wachter/Baron feud, the next time they come to town, it's a whole different place; either Wachter has won and they see the Baron's head on a stake as they ride in; or the Baron has won and Wachterhaus is a smoking crater.
For you, this means not having to prep all 4 in detail all at once, although you have to learn them all to see what the next trip to Vallaki could and couldn't look like.
Yeah, I’ve sort of taken that approach because good god there’s a lot to do (and prep) in Valliki. I moved Rictavio to Kresk and the thought of having the PC’s return later is a tremendous idea. Plan on having something happen after X days or sessions that forces the narrative forward. Plan a sneak session that results ultimately in the party getting caught and having to leave town, realize later there’s something back in town they need, and have to figure out how to make that happen when they get more experienced. Or have the situation change after one side annihilates the other.
I don’t have the time or energy to learn, score, homebrew, and edit every session. Your idea’s a great one.
What I wouldn’t give to run, or even better, PLAY a dungeon crawl…
Great. So now, since van Richten's gone, you've already simplified his Vistani-hunting tiger subplot, too. You may need to prep a bit more about the Martikovs, since they are now the players' most important allies in town, but if you have the vineyard in the tarokka reading, the better acquainted with the Martikovs the players are, the better prepared they'll be going into that situation.
Muddled through the first session of Vallaki. Poorly. Did a tour of town to give the PC’s a basic view of what sites might be interesting, they went to the Inn, interacted with the Martikovs, did some nighttime sleuthing, and ended at Blitsky’s. Felt overwhelmed by the choices out there and I’ll be honest, by hour two I was tired of roleplaying NPC’s. Ended with what thought as my mediocre-est session to date.
In bed last night, the solution presented itself.
Along with not having to do everything the first time the characters are in town, I had the brilliant idea to tie the locations to an in-town plot line and have the players make decisions based on that. Put simply, instead of saying “you’re in Vallaki, what do you want to do?”, next session they’re going to meet the Baron, briefly, and Fiona Wachter, briefly, set them up to want to sneak and investigate one or, ideally both of the mansions, have the caper blow up and get the PC’s the hell out of town by way of a chase encounter.
I think where I went wrong this last session was neglecting some good advice I rely on: if you can’t describe something in a sentence or two, you either don’t know it well enough or need to fix something. I couldn’t have said in a sentence or two what was to happen last night and it showed. Won’t do it again.
So I suppose my advice to myself on how to prep sandbox session is that “sandbox” doesn’t mean “do whatever you want”, though I suppose it’s an option. Sandbox can mean pick a door: 1, 2, or 3. Saves time, allows the DM to focus prep effort, and tailors the adventure to the particular group.
Still love to hear how other DM’s prep heavily-sandboxed sessions.
This has helped both me and my players a ton. I couldn't recommend it enough. One other benefit worth mentioning here is it sometimes helps keep players motivated and excited for the next session, which helps limit schedule conflicts or last-minute cancellations of the session.
If your players could choose any of, say, 4 paths, it might seem like you as the DM need to prep all 4 paths before they decide, but that way madness lies.
Instead, I'd just recommend prepping the first section of each path. That way you have content prepared in every direction but not at the cost of your sanity. You can plan to have a little less than a whole session prepped in any direction prepped, taking into account the time the players will spend discussing and roleplaying before choosing, giving you a pretty good margin for leeway. Then, after the session, spend the time in-between prepping the rest of the path the party selected.
If your players could choose any of, say, 4 paths, it might seem like you as the DM need to prep all 4 paths before they decide, but that way madness lies.
Instead, I'd just recommend prepping the first section of each path. That way you have content prepared in every direction but not at the cost of your sanity. You can plan to have a little less than a whole session prepped in any direction prepped, taking into account the time the players will spend discussing and roleplaying before choosing, giving you a pretty good margin for leeway. Then, after the session, spend the time in-between prepping the rest of the path the party selected.
I agree with this completely. It takes players a lot longer then you think to do things. Even when you think you know your groups pacing... I thought they were going to reach a specific point within 2 sessions. Both sessions have occurred and their still 2-3 sessions away from reaching it. This is absolutely not a problem, and the players have made great choices and gave me ideas that we've taken further together. Suffice to say, I did not need to have prepared all the way up to the end of that point like I did!
The best thing is to have the session end with the players deciding what they'll do next. Then you only have to prep for that one path instead of leaving it open.
And be very blunt with them: "Folks, we're doing this because it takes a lot of time to prep for a session, so I need you to make the choice now before we leave, and I need you to actually stick to it when we meet up again." A little meta-game guilt can go a long way.
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Hi all,
I'm running my group through Strahd and my players just arrived at Valliki. Valliki, a sandbox town of dozens of NPC's, a half-dozen locations, different plot lines, different story threads to pick up on. It's taken me hours and hours to prep three or four sessions worth of material since I have no idea what locations the players are going to visit or what they're going to do.
Some of you might be asking what the issue is? Just read the effing text boxes. Yeah, I wish. I'm an idiot because I prep. I use lots and lots of handouts to bring flavour to the game. I score different locations differently (say what you will about Roll20, its jukebox is excellent). I use voices and accents and I freely edit the main story to fit the story I have in my head.
Now, yes, I'm putting in extra effort to bring to my players what I consider a better game. But let's say I wasn't- there's still a shitton of prep work to be done to accommodate a sandbox-y game. If you've got tips and tricks on how to simplify my prep, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks in advance!
The best thing is to have the session end with the players deciding what they'll do next. Then you only have to prep for that one path instead of leaving it open.
And be very blunt with them: "Folks, we're doing this because it takes a lot of time to prep for a session, so I need you to make the choice now before we leave, and I need you to actually stick to it when we meet up again." A little meta-game guilt can go a long way.
The best way to prep a sandbox is to know your NPCs as if they were your friends. Know everything you can about them, right down to what they each carry in their pockets. A railroad has a plot and a story progression, sandboxes don’t. So the best things to know about are what all they are each motivated towards and by. If you know what all the NPCs are doing at any given point, then it’s easier to make sure they are all doing what they would to accomplish what they want to accomplish.
And at the end of every session, ask the players what they want to do next session. I also find it advantageous to have more going on at any given time than what the party can address since it’s more realistic. (I always have more to do than time to do it.)
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About Vallaki, in particular, I think it's great to do the research because its big and complex, but also I think the adventure contemplates the characters visiting several times, crisscrossing through on their way to Kresk or the vineyard, then back to Ravenloft, or the mountains. Some of the story, imo, should be proceeding in the background. So, if your players got invested in the bones side quest and ignored the Wachter/Baron feud, the next time they come to town, it's a whole different place; either Wachter has won and they see the Baron's head on a stake as they ride in; or the Baron has won and Wachterhaus is a smoking crater.
For you, this means not having to prep all 4 in detail all at once, although you have to learn them all to see what the next trip to Vallaki could and couldn't look like.
Yeah, I’ve sort of taken that approach because good god there’s a lot to do (and prep) in Valliki. I moved Rictavio to Kresk and the thought of having the PC’s return later is a tremendous idea. Plan on having something happen after X days or sessions that forces the narrative forward. Plan a sneak session that results ultimately in the party getting caught and having to leave town, realize later there’s something back in town they need, and have to figure out how to make that happen when they get more experienced. Or have the situation change after one side annihilates the other.
I don’t have the time or energy to learn, score, homebrew, and edit every session. Your idea’s a great one.
What I wouldn’t give to run, or even better, PLAY a dungeon crawl…
Great. So now, since van Richten's gone, you've already simplified his Vistani-hunting tiger subplot, too. You may need to prep a bit more about the Martikovs, since they are now the players' most important allies in town, but if you have the vineyard in the tarokka reading, the better acquainted with the Martikovs the players are, the better prepared they'll be going into that situation.
So, quick update.
Muddled through the first session of Vallaki. Poorly. Did a tour of town to give the PC’s a basic view of what sites might be interesting, they went to the Inn, interacted with the Martikovs, did some nighttime sleuthing, and ended at Blitsky’s. Felt overwhelmed by the choices out there and I’ll be honest, by hour two I was tired of roleplaying NPC’s. Ended with what thought as my mediocre-est session to date.
In bed last night, the solution presented itself.
Along with not having to do everything the first time the characters are in town, I had the brilliant idea to tie the locations to an in-town plot line and have the players make decisions based on that. Put simply, instead of saying “you’re in Vallaki, what do you want to do?”, next session they’re going to meet the Baron, briefly, and Fiona Wachter, briefly, set them up to want to sneak and investigate one or, ideally both of the mansions, have the caper blow up and get the PC’s the hell out of town by way of a chase encounter.
I think where I went wrong this last session was neglecting some good advice I rely on: if you can’t describe something in a sentence or two, you either don’t know it well enough or need to fix something. I couldn’t have said in a sentence or two what was to happen last night and it showed. Won’t do it again.
So I suppose my advice to myself on how to prep sandbox session is that “sandbox” doesn’t mean “do whatever you want”, though I suppose it’s an option. Sandbox can mean pick a door: 1, 2, or 3. Saves time, allows the DM to focus prep effort, and tailors the adventure to the particular group.
Still love to hear how other DM’s prep heavily-sandboxed sessions.
This has helped both me and my players a ton. I couldn't recommend it enough. One other benefit worth mentioning here is it sometimes helps keep players motivated and excited for the next session, which helps limit schedule conflicts or last-minute cancellations of the session.
If your players could choose any of, say, 4 paths, it might seem like you as the DM need to prep all 4 paths before they decide, but that way madness lies.
Instead, I'd just recommend prepping the first section of each path. That way you have content prepared in every direction but not at the cost of your sanity. You can plan to have a little less than a whole session prepped in any direction prepped, taking into account the time the players will spend discussing and roleplaying before choosing, giving you a pretty good margin for leeway. Then, after the session, spend the time in-between prepping the rest of the path the party selected.
I agree with this completely. It takes players a lot longer then you think to do things. Even when you think you know your groups pacing... I thought they were going to reach a specific point within 2 sessions. Both sessions have occurred and their still 2-3 sessions away from reaching it. This is absolutely not a problem, and the players have made great choices and gave me ideas that we've taken further together. Suffice to say, I did not need to have prepared all the way up to the end of that point like I did!
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I came here to say this, and it has already been said. But This!
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