A sandbox world in gaming provides an interactive choose-your-own-adventure where gameplay writes the story, and Ignacium is my attempt to create a fantastical world where the players' story can thrive. A large reason why I'm committed to keeping this blog is to record an account of the story as it happens.
The alternative gameplay to sandbox is to develop the story and guide the gameplay to fit within that story. This can be especially hard to resist
when the GM has created a world where events are happening
outside of the adventurers control and their actions will ripple through
the society...or not, based upon what they accomplish.
For
example, say there is an ancient map hidden in a dungeon that provides
important information for the group to continue on a quest line. If they don't think to search for a secret door or one of the elves fails to see it in
passing, then the entire module's affects on the game may be
lost. Luckily for me, the elves in my party easily spotted the hidden
doors, so I didn't have to resist the temptation to fudge the dice.
The main problem with developing the story first and having the gameplay come second, is that there is no true risk in playing. For the game to be a dynamic, fun experience, there must be responsibility in the party's actions and how they treat each other, along with the very real risk of injury and death.
A sandbox world allows the players to make mistakes and learn from them
and grants them more responsibility for gameplay, while influencing the
major events of the world and writing their own story within it.
I've found though, even after only two sessions, that keeping to a sandbox world is incredibly difficult. There have been more than a few times already that I've wanted to throw my hands in the air and yell, "Noooo! What are you doing!" But so far, I've been able to resist temptation by knowing how fantastic a true sandbox experience can be.
Ignacium uses the Adventurer Conqueror King system, and is very much inspired by their default, sandbox setting: the Auran Empire. I was fortunate to have Alex, one of the ACKS creators, as Game Master of the Auran Empire campaign I played in for over a year, which ended with my character Zeodari as queen of the moon.
Generally, after a session I would return home and immediately launch into detailed descriptions of the amazing encounters, feats and shopping trips that occurred during the night's session. My goal for Ignacium is to provide a gameplay experience that will also inspire players to share their adventures.
It will get easier for me to resist temptation, but for the time being I hope that the players continue to roll high when searching for traps and hidden doors...
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