Three Hexes. If you are using a 30 mile per hex scale that is 2,700 square miles. Most people don't understand how much territory this is. In my real world home, a 30 mile hex centered on my home town contains Coastal Ocean, 5,000' mountains, a couple of deep valleys, rolling hills with scrub terrain, a couple mid size cities and several towns. Probably enough fertile ground for a couple months of adventuring without ever leaving the hex. Within two hexes, there is a major city, more tall mountains, more coast, higher rolling hills (low mountains) a large flat valley with arid terrain. Food for thought: a square mile has 640 acres, (a typical city block is 2.5 acres or about 17 blocks per mile).
My notebooks are endless bullet points that are just ideas I think are cool or in keeping with the setting. Then you read through them later and a couple leap out at you and seem to connect. Before you know it you have an adventure staring back at you. This improves with time as the players influence the world and create more and more of the interactions themselves. Great vid.
I wish you (and TH-cam) had been around when I started 40 years ago. Would have saved me literal years of learning this LOL Excellent stuff, as always, Daniel. Great advice for GMs of any genre. Thank you for the content!
Comparatively new GM with only 37 years and I second this sentiment. A genuinely well meaning approach to sharing your experiences. We don't agree on everything, but you make every point thought provoking.
Always be prepping - Glengarry Glen Ross: A - Always, B - Be, P - Prepping. Always be prepping. A I D A. A - Activities, I - Interests, D - Dungeons, A - Action. Activities, what activities can the PCs do? Interests, what can I present to the players that will interest them. Dungeons, when in doubt present a dungeon. Action, if no one has touched their dice in 5 minutes make something happen. A I D A grab a pen and pencil you’ve got players showing up to the table. You think they’ve got nothing better to do? A player doesn’t show up to the table unless they want to roll some dice. They’re sitting there waiting to do something, but you didn’t prepare anything. Are you bold enough to prep something?
My prep is quite similar to yours, a permanent loop. My notes are primarily on a meta level, not going to much into detail. Details are improv during the session, as you never know, what the players are up to or which way the scene will evolve. Levels of Campaign Prep 1. always-on prep [collate]: keep a notebook handy for ideas, fragments, sparks. Write them down for later use. (external influences) 2. regular prep [integrate]: from time to time, take the notes from the always-on and post-session prep and see, how and where they fit into the campaign. Structure and expand on them. Add locations to the map, create or modify factions, create an NPCs, … 3. session prep [consolidate]: right before running the next session, take a look at the notes and jot down some points of relevance in this session. 4. post-session prep [emanate]: write down loose ends, rumors, truths, things the PCs did or learned about or are interested in. (internal influences)
Whenever I have spare time, I'm usually finding time to pre-write up random encounters off of the charts I usually use. Also, some of the monsters in the manual.....for example....an orc tribe, a merchant caravan, a group of bandits or brigands, maybe a pirate group.....as I get time, I can flesh them out further and place in an appropriate location on my map. Their treasure hordes might trigger a thought for a story hook later. For example, randomly rolling a really good magic item in someone's horde....this also gives you time to plan and tweak the future encounter for balance and fairness.
Yes!! Sorry I’m late to this video, but I’ve played this style - with my own little quirks blended in - for almost 40 years. I cut my teeth on AD&D and 2e, but I now simply allow anything from any edition any way you want it - we simply have to mechanize & balance it. Since I’ve used the same setting since the 90s, it’s easy to keep up with developments & changes, and improv is smooth & easy. Über Sandbox! (now, if only I could get my players to be more imaginative & their characters more ambitious…)
Tip 1: Create a big list of points of interest. Major points of interest get mapped. Minor points get dropped in at random. Tip 2: Towns are tiny & don't have the best stuff (no plate armor, no potions). Cities each have a specialty: Bruntley has great armorers; Darnival has fine musucal instruments). That forces the heroes to travel to get things they want.
Another great video, sir. The sweet spot is generally in the middle, using premade mods, winging it and prepping. Keeping a notebook or something handy nearby to jot down ideas is a killer tip! \m/
Hey Daniel! Great advice as always. I have a biweekly session campaign because it allows me time to develop. The campaign has shifted away from where I thought it might go when it began in 2020 based on the play. Following your line of thinking, the campaign has been organically driven by the interactions with the players all the while my notes are building more and more of the world around them. This is great because I am beginning to envision deeper truths about the history that the hex they are in interacts with the world in its culture and history. The situations are endless
It took me a while to get to this point in DMing. The players do most of the work. I just need to take better notes, but I've a very good note taker playing in all my games. He's such a good reference when I forget.
Awesome commentary. I like the method described, and used similar means for many years. My last few campaigns, I began with a dramatic opening, and leave a mighty cliffhanger. The initial sessions are spent scrambling to survive, and gelling as a party. The quick pace out of the gate engages the players. Once they achieve some safety and stability, the sandbox phase begins, with multiple quest line options, and dynamic npc responses to player choice.❤
Great video! Lately I've been using the D30 Companion books a lot for inspiration as well as various blogs I've found. Unfortunately, my group no longer wants to play so I'll be running a 1-on-1 campaign with my friend since he is still interested in playing which I'm excited for since I'll be able to really cater to both of our interests. I also have been working on some custom race-as-class options based off of medieval folklore which has been a fun challenge.
Great video, made me realise how important it is not to try and face overwhelming prep as that will lead to creative block. I have been stuck on factions, and now I realise I need to start small. I thought all factions needed goals and clocks and portents. But actually some factions can be passive and just be there, like the king or the town guard. May be a passive faction gets activated in the future and becomes a passive faction. Inspiring as always
I've been trying to get a new campaign started. I am planning in a published world and adding in many modules in the area I want to start. I've also been deciding my house rules, making custom tables, trying to decide some regional powers, want to create rumors about the legendary dungeons about... I basically do way more than I need and never feel it is enough. But I could start any time, if only I had players.
This is great. My issue is, for my parties, halfway to the sword burial they'll change their minds and go into the forest after some Fey, and then change their minds again and go back to town, on the way to which they'll decide to chase bandits back to their hideout. So, I have to plan LOTS of stuff to account for my ADHD parties.
@@BanditsKeep Likely partly that, and some just only partially paying attention to the game. Some of them do seem to get distracted by stuff off camera. Lately, I've just taken to having local authority give them a task, a quest if you will, and that has squashed some of the wandering. So much for the sandbox - back to railroading.
Great video, Daniel. I use many and more of these ideas. The Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Mystara's known world and many, many more. The latest D&D movie, 80's fantasy, action/adventure and Sci-Fi and Horror movies. Just a basic concept, or idea. A treasure, a character, a location, a trap. Piecemeal from here and there and they end up slotting; into a punchy, shorter narrative. Small and manageable, plenty of notes to keep it all straight.
I've also been sourcing old modules; walk throughs and reviews to, port/drag and drop into my home-brewed campaigns. My Last group have kinda stymied, the plans of the 'Cult of the Reptile God' and will have freed the township of Orlane. For now.....
GM notebook is crucial. Great advice Daniel. Starting small and growing the world along with the players is one of the best ways to start a campaign. I always go with the method of only prepping 2 weeks (2 game sessions) ahead of the players. Keeps me in line with the players and helps me not burn out from over prep.
Interesting. I pretty much DM like you Daniel, in an ongoing many years on campaign and I have to admit nonetheless, I do over prep. I have been reminding myself for years now, and literally have a mantra for myself before a game, to prep less. It's tough.
I bought a reusable notebook called rocketbook that I always have open and beside me at all times for when inspiration strikes I can jot whatever it is down, then when I sit down to do my day before prep I check my notes, pull what I am feeling for that session and save the rest for later.
@@BanditsKeep Could have sworn I replied to this but it seems that youtube ate my comment so I will just retype it lol. The rocketbook is reusable as when you write on it with a certain type of pen (that you can get almost anywhere for pretty reasonable prices) that erases by simply spraying the page with water (or using a damp rag if you want more control) and then you simply wipe the old notes away and the page is good as new and ready to be written on again. It also has a companion app that you can save the notes into and upload them to a variety of services so that you can keep your notes long term (or transfer them to a digital medium with out needing to retype them). It comes in a variety of sizes and you can get them from Amazon but they run deals on their website pretty regularly as well so if you are patient you can usually score a good deal depending on what you are looking for in terms of note taking!
I like the idea of lower prep or having regular incremental prep, but I wonder if GMs might need more advice on how to be flexible and spontaneous when things go off course during a session?
Great video. I don't have an active group but I do keep a notepad on me for GM ideas when they strike. Want to have a few one shots prepared for when the scheduling gods actually aline for once.
This is very close to my prep, but I usually do about 2-3 hours on game day to detail locations, NPCs, combat tactics and stat blocks, etc. The “always prepping” just makes places more detailed as they get closer/more likely.
Hey there Loki! 😁👋Narp you don't need a whole world, I start state size. But one settlement and it's immediate surrounds are first. The township/village itself and 2-3 sites, of interest within about a half day travel in any direction. 300 square miles, total. They will never see and explore it all. For inspiration I use a lot of 80's media and much earlier. Robert.E.Howard and other pulp novelists, Gary's own Greyhawk, History channels Vikings series. Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Action movies; are all fair game for idea theft, I mean inspiration sourcing.😂
I've had yrs to collect things and put it all together. I've created my own world. It's been 10+ years. Now running the world. Finding players in my area has been hard. And I like meeting up and not an online game. I use journals aswell. All my locations, and important npcs are written down. My thoughts are always jumbled up so I have to have a rough draft written up it's organized and then is cleared to be written in the journal
I am a chronic over-prepper. But I learned long ago that players will do what they want rather than what you expect them to do. So I take the unused matereal that I prepared and save it to be used at a later date. Nothing gets wasted.
I love your game design and game philosophy vlogs. Though I have been playing various RPGs (mostly B/X) For about 30 years I still fund useful nuggets. Thanks
Awesome. It’s nice to see others who think, imagine, prepare, organize, and play the way I do! Still trying to get my players to embrace the open-ended nature of our Sandbox. Still kinda leading them around - even by the nose, at times - but at least they make some effort to choose plot hooks from the ones I bring. I try to encourage them to create their own PC activities, but - sigh - still no takers…
I build stuff for key scenarios. I prepare a few threads leading up to them and else try to improvise but based on alternative bullet points. The obvious bases are the character ressources available to make progress. Social skills plus highest spell lvl. or best divination spell available. This is always my chosen way easiest or most direct progress. Secondary are NPCs who might be helpful. Tertiary are external sources like local sources of knowledge like archives, guilds etc. Secondary ressources only have a minimalist stat block and a short description. Tertiary ressources are bullet points with a bonus to a essential roll. Depending on the group's behavior I elaborate on those ressources maybe even build an archive or paint a mini of that frequently bisited NPC. That way I focus on the important stuff to prepare.
I think overprepping is possible, but the key is to keep your preparation flexible so it doesn't go to waste. If the party doesn't go they way you planned, the dungeon/encounter relocates. Sandbox games tend to feel like pointless wandering if not done correctly. Characters reach 7th or 8th level and the game dies out. It's happened so many times that we started running published adventures so there was an end goal. It's worked out great so far. I'll never understand DMs that wing everything. Not putting any thought into encounter design makes everything pointless.
I’ve never had a sandbox become pointless wandering - the players always find a goal they want to dig into and typically the campaigns end in some epic fashion.
@@BanditsKeep - Then you are very fortunate. That's not the normal way games tend to work in my experience. Someone has an idea for a campaign, runs it for a while, and then loses steam after a year or so. Rarely are the games touched again, and by then, someone else wants to run a game, so we'd move on.
I am curious about the slavers module. Seems like you could make at least a couple cideos out of that: 1, how do you prep to run it. 2, how do you change or alter it to fit into your campaign, and why? 3, how did it go when you ran it?
Hey Daniel, I love all Bandit's Keep videos. Just wondering about the quality of that notebook you referenced in this video. On more than one occasion, the elastic band has broken on similar notebooks I've had. But, if you feel that the one you have is of good quality and haven't had a strap break yet, I'd love to have a link to the exact product if you have it.
Knowing that no adventure survives contact with the players, I plan, but I keep things very loose. Once I get a feel for the players, and their characters, I can usually predict a handful of possible actions that I suspect they'll do, and plan for them. This does not stop them from hurling monkey wrenches, but you learn to pivot and adapt.
I’m guessing “this guy” is me? Currently my players are forming a religion involving a dragon turtle, while trying to stop a major cult who is summoning demons as “old gods” - so yeah, no apes currently. Not sure if you were trying to be a “cool kid” and put me down, but I’ll assume not and that we are sharing fun player stories.
For this one the prompt was “a poster featuring an old man and an evil knight, in the style of illuminated visions, phillippe druillet, fantastical ruins, green academia, pulpcore, whistlerian, hellish background --ar 16:9
What are your 3 best Clark Aston Smith stories to use for building a world or campaign inspiration? Which cycle of his is best for d&d? Thanks Daniel, keep up the good work
Something I used to do but don't anymore, is review current events in the news. Technically, I read the newspaper, but obviously that won't work anymore. Plus, today's news is too depressing. At one point, though, it was a great source of inspiration for adventures and prep.
I moved all my notes taking to digital, so I can have links right there, to the interesting videos (like one or tow from this channel went into my notes to be revisited when needed). But this video here will not, since even though I also run my games very much character driven, I don't do that in a sandbox manner, and thus my prep is very different. However, the advice to not over prep is still good, however my prep time seems to be even less than what you do, but well, I have not to prep a sandbox no matter how small, since all I really need is the theme.
@@BanditsKeep No, I do not, they usually do not fit my thematic interests. In our hobby too few people create thematic works. If I ever get my own system done, then I will also address that with modules that provide thematic play as I envision it.
Hi, sorry, I know this is a random comment, but I can't find the video now, so I'm posting here in hopes you'll be more likely to see it In previous videos, you talked about a book of monsters that was less about the rules of them and more about their lore and vibe. What was that book called?
Hey Daniel! Have been loving your vids for a while now! A bit sad to see you using AI thumbnails though, especially when you've had such wonderful and deep art taste in the past. Would love to see you return to honoring classic genre illustration and all the artists who contribute to roleplaying and fantasy fiction!
GMs today dont prep games. They prep scripts and then freeze/get angry when players go off script. That is so boring because you can see where A leads to B and your agency doesn't matter so you might as well go on autopilot.
I’ve never encounter somehow who has made a script and I’ve played with hundreds of people from all over the world in various editions - I think you assertion might be off 🤷🏻♂️
Three Hexes. If you are using a 30 mile per hex scale that is 2,700 square miles. Most people don't understand how much territory this is. In my real world home, a 30 mile hex centered on my home town contains Coastal Ocean, 5,000' mountains, a couple of deep valleys, rolling hills with scrub terrain, a couple mid size cities and several towns. Probably enough fertile ground for a couple months of adventuring without ever leaving the hex. Within two hexes, there is a major city, more tall mountains, more coast, higher rolling hills (low mountains) a large flat valley with arid terrain. Food for thought: a square mile has 640 acres, (a typical city block is 2.5 acres or about 17 blocks per mile).
Exactly
i definitely prep more than i play, but that's because i actually enjoy prepping and my table only gets to play about once a month.
Prepping can be fun no doubt
I can relate to this.
My notebooks are endless bullet points that are just ideas I think are cool or in keeping with the setting. Then you read through them later and a couple leap out at you and seem to connect. Before you know it you have an adventure staring back at you. This improves with time as the players influence the world and create more and more of the interactions themselves. Great vid.
For sure
I wish you (and TH-cam) had been around when I started 40 years ago. Would have saved me literal years of learning this LOL
Excellent stuff, as always, Daniel. Great advice for GMs of any genre. Thank you for the content!
Thank You!
Comparatively new GM with only 37 years and I second this sentiment. A genuinely well meaning approach to sharing your experiences.
We don't agree on everything, but you make every point thought provoking.
Always be prepping - Glengarry Glen Ross: A - Always, B - Be, P - Prepping. Always be prepping. A I D A. A - Activities, I - Interests, D - Dungeons, A - Action. Activities, what activities can the PCs do? Interests, what can I present to the players that will interest them. Dungeons, when in doubt present a dungeon. Action, if no one has touched their dice in 5 minutes make something happen. A I D A grab a pen and pencil you’ve got players showing up to the table. You think they’ve got nothing better to do? A player doesn’t show up to the table unless they want to roll some dice. They’re sitting there waiting to do something, but you didn’t prepare anything. Are you bold enough to prep something?
My prep is quite similar to yours, a permanent loop. My notes are primarily on a meta level, not going to much into detail. Details are improv during the session, as you never know, what the players are up to or which way the scene will evolve.
Levels of Campaign Prep
1. always-on prep [collate]:
keep a notebook handy for ideas, fragments, sparks. Write them down for later use. (external influences)
2. regular prep [integrate]:
from time to time, take the notes from the always-on and post-session prep and see, how and where they fit into the campaign.
Structure and expand on them. Add locations to the map, create or modify factions, create an NPCs, …
3. session prep [consolidate]:
right before running the next session, take a look at the notes and jot down some points of relevance in this session.
4. post-session prep [emanate]:
write down loose ends, rumors, truths, things the PCs did or learned about or are interested in. (internal influences)
Awesome
Whenever I have spare time, I'm usually finding time to pre-write up random encounters off of the charts I usually use.
Also, some of the monsters in the manual.....for example....an orc tribe, a merchant caravan, a group of bandits or brigands, maybe a pirate group.....as I get time, I can flesh them out further and place in an appropriate location on my map. Their treasure hordes might trigger a thought for a story hook later. For example, randomly rolling a really good magic item in someone's horde....this also gives you time to plan and tweak the future encounter for balance and fairness.
For sure
A semi improvised sandbox campaign is the best way to DM. Since I stopped running modules and just let go I'm so much happier as a DM.
I definitely prefer this style
Yes!! Sorry I’m late to this video, but I’ve played this style - with my own little quirks blended in - for almost 40 years. I cut my teeth on AD&D and 2e, but I now simply allow anything from any edition any way you want it - we simply have to mechanize & balance it. Since I’ve used the same setting since the 90s, it’s easy to keep up with developments & changes, and improv is smooth & easy. Über Sandbox! (now, if only I could get my players to be more imaginative & their characters more ambitious…)
Tip 1: Create a big list of points of interest. Major points of interest get mapped. Minor points get dropped in at random.
Tip 2: Towns are tiny & don't have the best stuff (no plate armor, no potions). Cities each have a specialty: Bruntley has great armorers; Darnival has fine musucal instruments). That forces the heroes to travel to get things they want.
Good tips
I've been telling people this one for ages
Great advice, people really do go too far.
Indeed
Thanks once again Daniel.
I appreciate your philosophy and flexible approach to managing your games.
Thank You!
Another great video, sir. The sweet spot is generally in the middle, using premade mods, winging it and prepping. Keeping a notebook or something handy nearby to jot down ideas is a killer tip! \m/
Thank You!
Hey Daniel! Great advice as always. I have a biweekly session campaign because it allows me time to develop. The campaign has shifted away from where I thought it might go when it began in 2020 based on the play. Following your line of thinking, the campaign has been organically driven by the interactions with the players all the while my notes are building more and more of the world around them. This is great because I am beginning to envision deeper truths about the history that the hex they are in interacts with the world in its culture and history. The situations are endless
Awesome
It took me a while to get to this point in DMing. The players do most of the work. I just need to take better notes, but I've a very good note taker playing in all my games. He's such a good reference when I forget.
Awesome, I too have a great note taking player
This is one of the best channels for getting right at the heart of how to be a good GM. Bravo.
Thank You!
I love your channel.
Thanks 😊
Awesome commentary. I like the method described, and used similar means for many years. My last few campaigns, I began with a dramatic opening, and leave a mighty cliffhanger. The initial sessions are spent scrambling to survive, and gelling as a party. The quick pace out of the gate engages the players. Once they achieve some safety and stability, the sandbox phase begins, with multiple quest line options, and dynamic npc responses to player choice.❤
Awesome
Clarke Ashton Smith's work is so fun; as Sprague de Camp said, "nobody since Poe has so loved a well-rotted corpse."
Ha ha, yes!
Great video! Lately I've been using the D30 Companion books a lot for inspiration as well as various blogs I've found. Unfortunately, my group no longer wants to play so I'll be running a 1-on-1 campaign with my friend since he is still interested in playing which I'm excited for since I'll be able to really cater to both of our interests. I also have been working on some custom race-as-class options based off of medieval folklore which has been a fun challenge.
1 on 1 can be great! I’d love to hear more as the game develops
@@BanditsKeep If we can get some sessions under our belt I'll be sure to keep you updated!
Great video, made me realise how important it is not to try and face overwhelming prep as that will lead to creative block.
I have been stuck on factions, and now I realise I need to start small. I thought all factions needed goals and clocks and portents. But actually some factions can be passive and just be there, like the king or the town guard. May be a passive faction gets activated in the future and becomes a passive faction.
Inspiring as always
Thanks!
I've been trying to get a new campaign started. I am planning in a published world and adding in many modules in the area I want to start.
I've also been deciding my house rules, making custom tables, trying to decide some regional powers, want to create rumors about the legendary dungeons about...
I basically do way more than I need and never feel it is enough. But I could start any time, if only I had players.
Sometimes until you have a group, world building can be your gaming
Run a game at a local game store.
This is great. My issue is, for my parties, halfway to the sword burial they'll change their minds and go into the forest after some Fey, and then change their minds again and go back to town, on the way to which they'll decide to chase bandits back to their hideout. So, I have to plan LOTS of stuff to account for my ADHD parties.
While players do tend to chance course, if they are changing that much, perhaps quests are not meaningful for them?
@@BanditsKeep Likely partly that, and some just only partially paying attention to the game. Some of them do seem to get distracted by stuff off camera. Lately, I've just taken to having local authority give them a task, a quest if you will, and that has squashed some of the wandering. So much for the sandbox - back to railroading.
Plot twist cards. Pull one for the beginning pull one for middle and pull one for the end.
Nice
Great video, Daniel. I use many and more of these ideas. The Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Mystara's known world and many, many more. The latest D&D movie, 80's fantasy, action/adventure and Sci-Fi and Horror movies. Just a basic concept, or idea. A treasure, a character, a location, a trap. Piecemeal from here and there and they end up slotting; into a punchy, shorter narrative. Small and manageable, plenty of notes to keep it all straight.
I've also been sourcing old modules; walk throughs and reviews to, port/drag and drop into my home-brewed campaigns. My Last group have kinda stymied, the plans of the 'Cult of the Reptile God' and will have freed the township of Orlane. For now.....
Sounds awesome
I don't know exactly what it is about you or your setup or your content, but I knew I was subscribing in the first 8 seconds.
Thank you, welcome!
GM notebook is crucial. Great advice Daniel. Starting small and growing the world along with the players is one of the best ways to start a campaign. I always go with the method of only prepping 2 weeks (2 game sessions) ahead of the players. Keeps me in line with the players and helps me not burn out from over prep.
Makes sense
Interesting. I pretty much DM like you Daniel, in an ongoing many years on campaign and I have to admit nonetheless, I do over prep. I have been reminding myself for years now, and literally have a mantra for myself before a game, to prep less. It's tough.
I hear you
I bought a reusable notebook called rocketbook that I always have open and beside me at all times for when inspiration strikes I can jot whatever it is down, then when I sit down to do my day before prep I check my notes, pull what I am feeling for that session and save the rest for later.
Nice! How is it reusable? The covers?
@@BanditsKeep Could have sworn I replied to this but it seems that youtube ate my comment so I will just retype it lol. The rocketbook is reusable as when you write on it with a certain type of pen (that you can get almost anywhere for pretty reasonable prices) that erases by simply spraying the page with water (or using a damp rag if you want more control) and then you simply wipe the old notes away and the page is good as new and ready to be written on again. It also has a companion app that you can save the notes into and upload them to a variety of services so that you can keep your notes long term (or transfer them to a digital medium with out needing to retype them). It comes in a variety of sizes and you can get them from Amazon but they run deals on their website pretty regularly as well so if you are patient you can usually score a good deal depending on what you are looking for in terms of note taking!
I like the idea of lower prep or having regular incremental prep, but I wonder if GMs might need more advice on how to be flexible and spontaneous when things go off course during a session?
That is certainly a good and wide topic
I think having a planned "course" is the problem.
Great video. I don't have an active group but I do keep a notepad on me for GM ideas when they strike. Want to have a few one shots prepared for when the scheduling gods actually aline for once.
Good idea, and just imagining and making notes can be a good way to stretch our imaginations
This is very close to my prep, but I usually do about 2-3 hours on game day to detail locations, NPCs, combat tactics and stat blocks, etc. The “always prepping” just makes places more detailed as they get closer/more likely.
Makes sense
SANDBOX GAMERS! 🔥🫡 (also good video as always)
Your videos are good too
Hey there Loki! 😁👋Narp you don't need a whole world, I start state size. But one settlement and it's immediate surrounds are first. The township/village itself and 2-3 sites, of interest within about a half day travel in any direction. 300 square miles, total. They will never see and explore it all. For inspiration I use a lot of 80's media and much earlier. Robert.E.Howard and other pulp novelists, Gary's own Greyhawk, History channels Vikings series. Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Action movies; are all fair game for idea theft, I mean inspiration sourcing.😂
Gotta love a good sandbox 🏝️
Sandboxes rule!
I've had yrs to collect things and put it all together. I've created my own world. It's been 10+ years. Now running the world. Finding players in my area has been hard. And I like meeting up and not an online game. I use journals aswell. All my locations, and important npcs are written down. My thoughts are always jumbled up so I have to have a rough draft written up it's organized and then is cleared to be written in the journal
Awesome!
I am a chronic over-prepper. But I learned long ago that players will do what they want rather than what you expect them to do. So I take the unused matereal that I prepared and save it to be used at a later date. Nothing gets wasted.
Good idea for sure
I love your game design and game philosophy vlogs. Though I have been playing various RPGs (mostly B/X) For about 30 years I still fund useful nuggets. Thanks
Thanks!
Awesome. It’s nice to see others who think, imagine, prepare, organize, and play the way I do! Still trying to get my players to embrace the open-ended nature of our Sandbox. Still kinda leading them around - even by the nose, at times - but at least they make some effort to choose plot hooks from the ones I bring. I try to encourage them to create their own PC activities, but - sigh - still no takers…
Hopefully they will see the joy in leading the way, until then, as long as everyone is having fun, that’s really what matters. IMHO.
I build stuff for key scenarios. I prepare a few threads leading up to them and else try to improvise but based on alternative bullet points.
The obvious bases are the character ressources available to make progress.
Social skills plus highest spell lvl. or best divination spell available.
This is always my chosen way easiest or most direct progress.
Secondary are NPCs who might be helpful.
Tertiary are external sources like local sources of knowledge like archives, guilds etc.
Secondary ressources only have a minimalist stat block and a short description.
Tertiary ressources are bullet points with a bonus to a essential roll.
Depending on the group's behavior I elaborate on those ressources maybe even build an archive or paint a mini of that frequently bisited NPC.
That way I focus on the important stuff to prepare.
Cool, thanks!
I think overprepping is possible, but the key is to keep your preparation flexible so it doesn't go to waste. If the party doesn't go they way you planned, the dungeon/encounter relocates.
Sandbox games tend to feel like pointless wandering if not done correctly. Characters reach 7th or 8th level and the game dies out. It's happened so many times that we started running published adventures so there was an end goal. It's worked out great so far.
I'll never understand DMs that wing everything. Not putting any thought into encounter design makes everything pointless.
I’ve never had a sandbox become pointless wandering - the players always find a goal they want to dig into and typically the campaigns end in some epic fashion.
@@BanditsKeep - Then you are very fortunate. That's not the normal way games tend to work in my experience. Someone has an idea for a campaign, runs it for a while, and then loses steam after a year or so. Rarely are the games touched again, and by then, someone else wants to run a game, so we'd move on.
I am curious about the slavers module. Seems like you could make at least a couple cideos out of that: 1, how do you prep to run it. 2, how do you change or alter it to fit into your campaign, and why? 3, how did it go when you ran it?
True, it’s certainly interesting
Hey Daniel, I love all Bandit's Keep videos. Just wondering about the quality of that notebook you referenced in this video. On more than one occasion, the elastic band has broken on similar notebooks I've had. But, if you feel that the one you have is of good quality and haven't had a strap break yet, I'd love to have a link to the exact product if you have it.
Knowing that no adventure survives contact with the players, I plan, but I keep things very loose. Once I get a feel for the players, and their characters, I can usually predict a handful of possible actions that I suspect they'll do, and plan for them. This does not stop them from hurling monkey wrenches, but you learn to pivot and adapt.
For sure - players are what keeps us on our toes 😂
this guy definitely doesn't have players creating cults and summoning apes for war
I’m guessing “this guy” is me? Currently my players are forming a religion involving a dragon turtle, while trying to stop a major cult who is summoning demons as “old gods” - so yeah, no apes currently. Not sure if you were trying to be a “cool kid” and put me down, but I’ll assume not and that we are sharing fun player stories.
Great stuff, thanks for the tips!
Thank You!
Great advice!
Thank You!
What are the prompts you give the AI to create the awesome images like this one on your video?
For this one the prompt was “a poster featuring an old man and an evil knight, in the style of illuminated visions, phillippe druillet, fantastical ruins, green academia, pulpcore, whistlerian, hellish background --ar 16:9
@@BanditsKeep Wow! That's really amazing!
I just found you, really like your content!
Thanks!
What are your 3 best Clark Aston Smith stories to use for building a world or campaign inspiration?
Which cycle of his is best for d&d? Thanks Daniel, keep up the good work
Hmm I would say my favorite for inspiration is the Hyperborean cycle.
@@BanditsKeep thank you
Off topic, but the font splashed throughout the video looks similar to Moldvay basic. A really nice touch if intended.
It is the same font -
Good eye!
Good stuff. Out of interest, how long are your sessions of play?
Typically 2:30-4 hours
Something I used to do but don't anymore, is review current events in the news. Technically, I read the newspaper, but obviously that won't work anymore. Plus, today's news is too depressing. At one point, though, it was a great source of inspiration for adventures and prep.
I could see that
I’m a small time streamer and I dedicated one stream a week to world building and adventure prep, so I have a built in excuse to do it now.
Nice!
You have a Hobonichi notebook? I want to get one of their MOTHER themed ones, it's a lovely series
Yes. I love them
Zen world building. Thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching
Great video 🎉thank you
Thanks!
I’ve been saying that about Clark Ashton Smith for years! 🤣
🙌🏻
There are 2 games out there that guide the GM through setting up a sandbox and starting town. Lavender Hack and Black Sword Hack. Check them out.
OD&D does as well. I looked at Lavendar, but man is that a huge book
Hey BK - what is y our camera set up with lenses?
Nikon z6ii 24-70 f4
I moved all my notes taking to digital, so I can have links right there, to the interesting videos (like one or tow from this channel went into my notes to be revisited when needed). But this video here will not, since even though I also run my games very much character driven, I don't do that in a sandbox manner, and thus my prep is very different. However, the advice to not over prep is still good, however my prep time seems to be even less than what you do, but well, I have not to prep a sandbox no matter how small, since all I really need is the theme.
Cool! Are you running an adventure path?
@@BanditsKeep No, I do not, they usually do not fit my thematic interests. In our hobby too few people create thematic works. If I ever get my own system done, then I will also address that with modules that provide thematic play as I envision it.
Hi, sorry, I know this is a random comment, but I can't find the video now, so I'm posting here in hopes you'll be more likely to see it
In previous videos, you talked about a book of monsters that was less about the rules of them and more about their lore and vibe. What was that book called?
Perhaps this amzn.to/43wj4tY or it could be www.gamescience.com/product-page/fantasy-gamer-s-compendium-in-color
You’re a real nerd man. Good video
Thanks
Make situations, not history
For sure
Its my story, the players are in it. The world isnt static though.
That’s certainly one way to play
Clark Ashton Smith IS better than Lovecraft
Agreed
Clark Ashton Smith IS better than Lovecraft!!
Indeed
Hey Daniel! Have been loving your vids for a while now! A bit sad to see you using AI thumbnails though, especially when you've had such wonderful and deep art taste in the past. Would love to see you return to honoring classic genre illustration and all the artists who contribute to roleplaying and fantasy fiction!
I most certainly will, I’m just having some fun messing around with the new technology.
GMs today dont prep games. They prep scripts and then freeze/get angry when players go off script. That is so boring because you can see where A leads to B and your agency doesn't matter so you might as well go on autopilot.
I’ve never encounter somehow who has made a script and I’ve played with hundreds of people from all over the world in various editions - I think you assertion might be off 🤷🏻♂️