Playing Around with a Sandbox Campaign

Having fielded a few questions off line about the how and why behind the Hill Cantons campaign, I felt that it would help to have a short note right up on the campaign blog about the style of play involved.

A good deal of inspiration was drawn from the recent online enthusiasm for West Marches-style campaigns (a more intentional and well thought out way of running the kinds of campaigns we ran back 20 years ago in teen years). We essentially had no prefigured plotline in place at the start. The campaign setting was limited to three paragraphs and I tried to pare back all the over-deterministic world-building impulses to a minimum.

Taking a different tack, I sketched out a good old-fashioned sandbox complete with a hand-drawn players' map highlighting a number of obvious dungeons (two big ones and several smaller ones), numerous vaguely-defined points of interest, and a handful of civilized habitations. After handing over the map, I explained that they were free to explore, but that the encounters would not be scaled to be totally appropriate to their level. If they ignored the obvious warning signs of an area above their heads then it fell on them to figure out how to get themselves out.

Interestingly enough, as nature abhors a vacuum, a vague storyline is seeming to develop from the bottom up as the play sessions unfold. Players have started to ascribe meaning and patterns to the characters, monsters, histories, sites, and events (the moving parts behind the scene) they discover--and a player-centered "plot" begins to be born.

You can check out some other interesting examples of the thinking behind sandbox-style games on the links below:

How to Set Up a Sandbox Campaign

Sandbox Play

Old Schoolin' How to Get Started

Cautionary Tales from the Sandbox

Old School Campaign Tent Poles

Session Five: Chamber of the Red Planet

Two days later they begin exploring the western sets of rooms. Most are relatively empty with ancient wooden furniture that collapses on touch from the centuries of neglect. Behind several sets of doors at the western end they hear shifting noises. Opening one of the doors the Black Ratter narrowly avoids being buried by rubble tumbling out of the collapsed room behind. Even more dangerous seems the trail of shifting movement right under the surface of the rubble. Rapidly backing off the party pushes back grabs one of the bodies of the spearmen they now dub “elves” and comes back to heave one onto the rubble pile. A two-foot diameter, eight-foot long “mauve” worm snatches up the corpse in its ravenous mouth. Pavise the fighter sinks an arrow into it, but the party backs off thinking the fight not worth the gain of exploring a collapsed room.

Backtracking to the first chamber they enter the eastern set of double doors, yet another large chamber very similar to the last one lies beyond. Like the last there is a simple marble dais and an intricate floor mural (this one charting constellations unknown to the skies of the Overkingdom—and the movement of an unknown scarlet planet). And like the other, there are eight red-robed guardians. Unlike the other though they are armed with long bows and clustered in the two far corners. As the Black Ratter enters the room looking for traps he is hit and nearly killed by one of the barrage of eight arrows let loose by the silent archers. Erak slams the doors shut and the heroes retreat for a war-room session.

After healing the Black Ratter back from the edge of death, Mattias calls on the Black Ratter to help use his bow to take out a few of the archers in their newest “cunning plan.” The thief in a fit of bad morale and sardonic agnosticism tells him where to go. Whereas the resulting theological argument proceeds in a draw for the monk, the promise of a bigger share of the gold mask haul speaks more convincingly.

They decide on forming up a shield wall made up of the tear-drop shaped shields looted from the previously-slain “elves”. For the most part it works, magic missiles and other spells bash out one group and the arrow barrage mostly miss the mark. The barbarians and the fighter bum rush the group in the other corner and swiftly dispatch them.

The mostly-empty eastern chambers are similar to the last set with a one notable exception: a lead-sealed glyph-warded door in one of the middle hallways. After much deliberation—and trap-searching—they simply decide to ax it open. The lead seal breaks free and a broad marble staircase with frescos detailing processions red-robed spearmen looms before them.

Session Four: “Blood and Glory”

When we last knocked off (so much for the “you have to make it back to town at the end of the night” rule), or brave heroes (and lone heroine) were just entering the large pillared chamber lying behind the mysterious giant doors. Mattias the monk was probing the hell out of all things statue and had just reached out the tip of his staff to knock on the golden masks of the alabaster statue closeted to him.

The rest of the party suddenly remembering Old School Dungeon Rule #138 (That All Statues Must Come to Life and Try to @#$&* You Up) have all gingerly stepped around a sinking soft spot in the wooden floor of the chamber and backed up behind the double doors they came in. They are duly not disappointed then when with a soft, whirring sound up swings the sword arm of the statue. Mattias makes a hasty retreat back to doors as the eight warrior statues slowly lower themselves from their pedestals and begin clumping their way over to the party.

Closing one of the set of doors, they try and set up a chokepoint to battle the mindless automatons one at a time. A loud crashing noise from inside signals the collapse of a section the floor as two of the statues slide off into the nether regions of the cave system below.

The first statue through the door is a tough opponent though. And to the chagrin of the barbarians stationed near the chokepoint successful hits with their axes and swords (and failed Dex checks) mean that their edged weapons remain inexplicably lodged into the bodies of the statues for the duration of the fight. A number of quick, hasty (and hilarious) improvisations follow with the party making full use of various kinds of tackles, trips, pushes to knock down and pin their slowly advancing foes. Sister Anya with her trusty blunt-edged mace (and several marvelous to-hit rolls) serves a number of coup de graces. The barbarians and fighter take a number of hits, but the party ultimately triumphs again with no fatalities (it always seems close though).

Searching through the carnage the players find heavy-metal sealed cylinders inside the statues and salvage what they can of the valuable gold masks. Now they have some time to thoroughly explore the chamber beyond. A second pair of giant carved double doors lies along the opposite wall and is barred from their side. Two other sets of doors lead out on the side doors.

Opting for the side door on the west they enter another equally massive chamber. Elaborate mosaics with swirling planets and galaxies smashing into a super nova cover the floor. A dias with simple marble benches and two short honey-combed pillars are also in the room as are the room guardians: eight crimson-robed face-veiled lithe spearmen standing at attention against the opposite wall. Centuries of dust cover most undisturbed areas of the room. The spearmen make no noise nor any movement at all as the monk and mage examine the pillars, which they now notice to be filled with ancient scrolls. Removing the venerable scrolls proves to be real problem as many of them crumble to dust (failed Dex saving throws) on contact. What is salvaged proves to be complex mathematical calculations and charts of elliptical orbits. Happily for the mage he also discovers arcane scrolls detailing Water Breathing and Tiny Hut spells.

When the party steps beyond the plane of the pillars all eight spears lock down in simultaneous unison and the spearmen advance toward them rapidly. In the ensuing fight a number of characters take a good deal more hits as their Sleep and Sound Burst spells prove to be ineffective against the silent warriors. Lifting back the veils on the bodies (they do bleed like living creatures, they note) they find pale-skinned thin-boned humanoids akin to the statues.

Taking stock of the declining health of all their frontline fighters they decide to hoof it back to the partially-collapsed underground tower for a couple eerie nights of dungeon camping.

Campaign Map

Map courtesy of AKS Mapper, a nifty (and free!) map-making software package.

Session Three: “Around Town and Back”

Party additions
Black Ratter (1st level NPC Thief substituting for Von Schadenfreude). The Black Ratter is the loyal follower of Pavise.

Hightailing it back to Ostrovo, the party finds that actions in the past adventures have triggered events in the present. A sobbing old man near the landsknecht watchtower bemoans a plague of goat-headed humanoids raiding the scattered hillside huts of local shepherds. Vengeful landsknechts also reportedly hung four young villagers in (misplaced) retribution for their fallen comrade. On returning to Ostrovo they also note signs of a recent battle between the town's militia pikemen and the soldiers of the Overking.

The adventurers spend a week selling off some of their small store of loot and finessing various cunning plans. Mattias, convinced that holy water will vanquish the disturbingly unclean fish demons, has a local glassblower manufacture special glass balls to hold the sacred liquid. Meanwhile, August and Sister Anya hunt for local information to help them to take stock in what they face. After an unsuccessful attempt to find the local hedge wizard and a successful attempt (thanks to the influence of the Sister) to find the local women's knitting circle for Celestial Lady worshipers and witches. The two discover that a ominous, cosmic alignment of celestial bodies is causing great consternation in these circles. A large gathering of secret society mages, initiates, and clergy to counter this is expected in the region soon. The two convince Anya's contact to get themselves on the invitation list.

After much bickering back and forth about the relative dangers of a second approach to the Ennsmuth dungeon, the party makes its way back to the village. Skirting the main centers of the now-roused town, they make a wide detour around the ravine and back to the cave mouth.

At first, Mattias' view that they should go straight back to cleaning up the foul unclean lower caves prevails, only to be abandoned after the new thief hears bellowing, stamping sounds at the base of the chute entrance. Under August's insistent urging, they instead decide to lower themselves a further 40 feet down to the floor of the entrance cave.

On the cave floor they encounter a curious sight—the conical roof of a rickety ancient tower protruding from the center. Carefully lowering themselves down to the precarious floor and to the relative safety of the tower's circular staircase they make their way down to the rubble strewn base floor. In the rubble, they find a gold ring on the finger of a skeleton and an obstructed door leading out.

The room beyond the door is even more strange and mysterious. Two large outdoor planters line the sides of the room filled with ash-covered shriveled hedges. Several plaster-cast looking human shapes are curled into fetal positions at their base. And most dramatic of all is the 22-foot wide, 10-foot high double doors on the opposite wall. The doors are carved in intricate patterns with several panels depicting the orbits and trajectories of celestial bodies in the summer and winter skies—and unknown viewpoints. Bands of script in archaic languages and glyphs protecting the structure from the outside world cover the door. All in all a situation which the party treats with great care.

A detect magic spell reveals the door to stink of strong magic and that a magic field keeps the loose soil of the ceiling in place. While remaining safely back in the tower, August casts an open spell on the door. The two giant portals swing open revealing a large, barrel-vaulted chamber inside.

The party cautiously enters to find a large chamber with an carved orange-red wooden floor and a pillared arcade running on both sides. Eight faintly-glowing gold-masked alabaster statues of lithe warriors stamping on fishy/froggy creatures line the walls. Mattias carefully approaches the statues probing with his staff. When his staff to great suspense reaches the gold mask of the statue nearest to him...the scene fades to black and we end the night on a cliff hanger.

Session Two: "Shadows Under Ennsmuth"

Party additions
August (LN, 2nd level Magic User, played by Joshua). August, a former academic and scholar, has been drawn to the arcane arts as magic walks the land more and more. Apprenticing to one of the handful of known mages in the borderlands, he has had a hint of the mysterious underground circles of practitioners of sorcery—and yearns to learn more.

Von Schadenfreude (N, 3rd level Thief, played by Brian). The roguish, black sheep, fourteenth son of the prolific nobleman, Frantisek Von Schadenfreude, wonders how best to advance his career.

Thundarr (now played by Caleb)

What happened
Little does the original party know, but they are not alone in their explorations of Ennsmuth's environs. The apprentice mage August and his thieving companion Von Schadenfreude have also been drawn to the town. The two had glimpsed a hideously-proportioned, yet strangely-attractive gold tiara possessed by August's master and deduced its origins in the decaying village. Hungering for gold and knowledge the two have covertly investigated Ennsmuth for two days. Unfortunately they themselves did not go unnoticed. After finding a ladder leading down to a long tunnel under the fishing huts near the ravine, an angry mob of pitchfork and fishing hook-wieldingvillagers purses them. Running at full steam the two—and their pursuers—run head long into the first party now all down the rope on the first ledge.

The heroes make short order of the villagers with mighty sound bursts from the clerics and a sleep spell from August. But victory comes with a price, a lucky jab from a villager (critical hit, she goes to -2 hp) plants a pitchfork into the neck of Sister Anya nearly killing her. Her wounds incapacitate her for days to come.

Following the battle, the adventurers investigate a nearby cave. Though currently empty, the cave floor contains a steep, circular chute at its end. A rock dropped by the barbarians, brings a creature thundering up the chute—and then inexplicably stops before the chute's entrance. Thundarr breaks off a large piece of limestone from the cave wall to drop it down the chute—and then is promptly beaten by the four strong arms of the Barsoomian White Ape lurking just inside. The ape is a strong opponent wounding many of the fighters before being charged by a staff-wielding Mattias who slays him and knocks him down the chute.

Ignoring the dire warnings of August (who claims a vague knowledge of the powerful horrors of the lower levels of the Undercity), the party slides down the 100-foot chute and finds itself in a cave complex. The crumbly limestone of the upper caves gives way to the volcanic basalt of the lower—and a growing foreboding sense of general unwholesomeness the deeper they journey.

Creeping forward into a torch-lit chamber with a long ladder extending upwards, the point-man thief is ambushed by a largish fish-spawned demon from the long-forgotten nightmares of humanity (etc. etc.). The sight of the Deep One instantly makes him fall to his knees in nausea (failed saving throw). The creature proves to be even stronger than the white ape and both barbarians are beaten to an inch of their lives before the foul beast is slain.

The party ventures on and finds more strange caverns including an underground tidal river complete with coracles and secret doors leading into sloping tunnels downward. One particular door emanates a strong foreboding sense. Perhaps unwisely, they kick the door open and see a room filled with a horribly-proportioned statue to a hideous, bulbous elder god wearing a gold tiara. And more urgently the room is also filled with no less than three of the Deep Ones, contently flaying a human on a stone table in the room's center.

More wisely, the heroes choose discretion this time and flee. A flask of burning oil flung by the thief slows but doesn't stop the demons and the party runs all the way back to the bottom of the chute. Hastily stuffing themselves in the chute and inching their way back up it, their untimely deaths are stalled by the simple fact that the Deep Ones hot on their heels can't fit inside.

Fleeing up the rope and out of the cave, they find Bobo loyally guarding their steeds and the inert body of Sister Anya. But the Deep Ones are not the only thing they have to flee, a large mob of villagers led by tiara-clad half-human priests has gathered in Ennsmuth's square. Galloping full tilt out of town the party barely misses being cut off by the lopping horde.