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You Can Drink In This Game?!


"The thrashing king comes to an abrupt stop, gazing at you with red eyes inflamed with infernal rage. His mouth twists upward in an eerie grin as his too-sharp teeth glint in the moonlight. He has given himself to the darkness within. What do you do?"

This is an example of an open-ended, or sandbox-style campaign question. In a "sandbox" campaign, the player ultimately has completely free will. If they decide to outright ignore the primary story arc the Dungeon Master has created, the Dungeon Master will allow this to happen and continue building the rest of the world as the player explores, pokes and prods at corners of the universe the DM never thought would matter. This is the style of campaign I am currently running, and it is a lot of work. As the Dungeon Master, you are constantly thinking, "Well, what if my players don't go into that dungeon I spend 16 hours preparing? What if they decide to take the point of exhaustion for traveling more than 8 hours in a day and just try to make it to the next town?"

It's a perfectly logical question to ask, because, as I've said before and as any DM will tell you, players will take your plans and completely destroy them. Just because a plot hook sounds awesome to you and like something YOU, as a player, would totally pick up on and engage with, doesn't mean that your players will actually do that. Actually, it seems that the more heavily you rely on a single plot thread, the greater the likelihood that it will remain untouched.

So, herein lies the question: Is it better to leave your world as open-ended as possible and give your players the ultimate freedom of choice, knowing that it means more work for you? If they want to become dairy farmers and start a business and play D&D: Farming Simulator, should you let them? Or should you run a tighter ship, pushing a narrative even if it seems to run counterpoint to what the players are trying to get out of the game? Should you, as the term has been called, "railroad" your players into a certain storyline, virtually eliminating their freedom of choice? Which is the better option?

This has been an issue for debate for longer than I've been alive, I think, and certainly for longer than I've been playing games. Video games have often come under fire for being too "linear" or too "open world", so that leads me to believe that there is no right or wrong answer here. It all depends on what you want from your game.

The ultimate solution to the entire dilemma, then, is to communicate with one another exactly what you want from the game. If you're the Dungeon Master, and you have a certain type of story you want to tell, you should be upfront with your players at the very first session. Just tell them, "Hey, so, I'm really wanting for you guys to meet in a tavern, save the blacksmith's daughter from Goblins, compete in the local jousting tournament, travel to the Feywild, come back 100 years later because interplanar-time-travel-stuff, fight the dragon that has taken over the land, and be inducted into the pantheon of lesser gods. Oh, and Fireball is banned". Or something like that. Lay it out for them, because otherwise, they will JACK IT UP.

Conversely, if you want to run a game where choice is paramount, let your players know that right away. I ran into this situation last session, in an introductory session for a couple of new players. I set the scene in a tavern, where the party was gathered around a message board looking at a contract for a Troll bounty. I described the tavern, the bartender, handed the players a copy of the flyer, everything. I thought I had done pretty well, until one of the new players piped up with, "Well, I guess we're supposed to do something, because he's looking at us like we're supposed to be doing something."

Now, this isn't a crisis or anything, but I still immediately felt a little bad, because I hadn't communicated with everyone that, once I've finished describing a scene, you are free to do whatever you want to try to do. Anything is possible with the right skills and high enough rolls, my motto goes. So, I told my players right then, "You can do whatever you want, within reason with regards to physics and ability. You could go over and start punching out bar patrons if you want. It may end badly for you, but that's your choice. This is your story now." This is what I should have communicated right off the bat, and it's an important point: Communication is the only way to ensure that everyone has a good time.

If you communicate with one another, if you are a player or a Dungeon Master, you will have a better time playing Dungeons and Dragons. You'll have a better time playing Settlers of Catan. You'll have a better time playing Halo. You'll have a better time at work. You'll have a better time in life, because communication is how humans function. Without it, society would literally collapse, yet we struggle to incorporate it into our daily lives in a meaningful way. So, take a small step: Talk to your DM. DMs, talk to your players. Understand expectations. Define boundaries. Speak compassion, and offer understanding. We'll all be better for it.

I hope this was helpful, or at least provided some entertainment for someone. Until next time, keep it friendly, folks. Oh, and for the uninitiated, the handsome devil in the gif above is the Dungeon Master for the series "Critical Role", which is presented by Geek and Sundry. Do yourself a favor and watch it, if only to see the inspiration behind my own DMing style.

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