Welcome back aboard the Enchanted Nimbus! I hope everyone has had a good month and a good summer as its nears a close!
This month’s newsletter has a blog on ideas for conflict generation within your sandbox. A round-up of latest OSR-style news, blogs articles and videos from other creators. And lastly the continuation of my recent reads & listens!
Active Conflict Generators: Turning Seeds into Sparks
In the last rendition of this article series, we talked about the different conflict archetypes that are useful for developing the initial “seeds of strife” within your sandbox. Conflict is what makes the game compelling. And while as a sandbox GM, you are not developing story arcs, I do believe you should be fostering conflict. That shows the party that the world around them is living and reacting to other NPCs and the party’s actions.
Once the groundwork is laid, you need ways to actively generate and escalate conflicts during play. In the remainder of this article I layout a few different ways you can rachet up the tension. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, but just a few that I find useful to turn to and reference when I’m thinking about the next twist or turn my sandbox might take.
Shifting Alliances
Nothing shows development in a sandbox quite like the fact that two forces are working or no longer working together. In both cases, it can spell trouble for the party. As developments unfold in your sandbox think about how they affect the different factions at play. If two factions would have a similar response to a new development, then they might become allies. Likewise if they have opposite reactions, allies could become distant or enemies. Sometimes these are temporary alliances of convenience. These alliances are inherently fragile and can break down, leading to new conflicts.
Information Asymmetry
Not all factions know everything. One faction might believe another is hoarding a resource, even if they aren't. This could lead to preemptive strikes or misunderstandings that escalate. The best way to play this out is to let the party learn the information that one faction lacks. Then demonstrate that faction’s lack of knowledge. What the PCs decide to do from there is up to them.
The PCs as Catalysts
The PCs themselves are often the biggest drivers of conflict. While its good to have forces operating in the background. Its even more important to have forces reacting to what the PCs are doing. That’s going to be the most confrontational problems that the party will have to deal with. And that’s a good thing.
Unintended Consequences: Every action the PCs take should have ripple effects on the NPC world. If they help one faction, they might inadvertently anger another.
Rumors and Misinformation: NPCs react to what they hear. If the PCs spread rumors (intentionally or not), or if their actions are misinterpreted, it can spark conflict.
Resource Depletion: If the PCs clear out a monster lair, what happens to the monsters who relied on that lair for food or shelter? Do they now raid a nearby village, drawing the attention of a local lord?
Random Events & External Pressures
Don't be afraid to introduce unexpected elements. A natural disaster, a new monster emerging from the wilderness, or a plague can put pressure on resources and force factions to make difficult choices, potentially leading to conflict. I personally like to have the event tables and roll for a chance of a random event every so often (1-2 months game calendar time). Essentially like a random encounter check, but on a much grander scale.
Internal Strife
Conflict isn't just between factions; it can be within them. A subordinate might challenge a leader, or different ideologies within a faction might clash, leading to schisms or civil war. I like employing internal strife because it disrupts the player’s expectations of that faction. What they knew about that group may no longer hold true. And of course, infighting leaves opportunity for others while a group is weakened (whether that be the PCs or an NPC faction).
Escalation Timers
I think its important to give conflicts a sense of urgency. If the goblinoids aren't stopped, they'll inevitably launch a larger raids on the countryside. If the guild doesn't get the rare component, their magical ritual will fail, and a rival guild will gain an advantage. These timers push the world forward even without PC intervention. A lot of this ties into the idea of having “fronts” (agendas) for your factions and trying to progress them forward. At set intervals of game time you can make dice rolls to see if the faction progress, stalls or suffers a setback in moving towards obtaining their goal. These timers turn those initial whispers into full scale conflicts if the PCs do nothing about it.
Articles
Arnold K. at Goblin Punch discusses why you should design A Dungeon of Your Own.
Over at The Alexandrian, Justin Alexander shares some thoughts on Managing your Prep Load as a GM.
Ktrey at d4 Caltrops shared a new list: d100 - Side Effects from Bargain Basement Potions.
Robert Conley at Bat in the Attic discusses Rulings, Not Rules: A Foundation, Not an Oversight.
Dyson Logos always produces great maps that he shares for free. My favorites this month are The Forgotten Hermitage, would fit in nicely as a point of interest on a hex map. And the Vault of Echoes, a fun little mini dungeon that plays up the element of sound.
Recent Reads & Listens
Fiction:
Dark Age - Pierce Brown
Book five of the Red Rising series takes place after the events of Book Four. I enjoyed this one, it follows several different characters with interesting and overlapping stories. It felt like the conflict was a little more visceral. Like it had been brewing for quite some time. Some major twists and struggles for protagonists as is usually the case in the middle book of a story arc.
Rating: 8/10
The Shadow of the Gods - John Gwynne
I needed to scratch my fantasy itch after so many sci-fi books over the last couple of months. The Shadow of the Gods is the first book in a trilogy. Follows three characters that have (mostly) separate paths for the entirety of the first book. Takes place in a dark age of sorts after the gods warred and died off. Some people have a bloodline relation to the different (dead) gods which give them notable powers. These people are feared and hunted, or harnessed and utilized for ambitious purposes.
The book is human-centric, but there are several different fantasy monsters (vaesen) that make appearances throughout the story. I found it to be a good story filled with lots of intriguing mystery yet to be explained in the first book.
Rating: 9/10
Videos
The guys over at 3d6 Down the Line have started a new campaign in Mothership. They are one of the only actual plays I watch these days. I think they are worth watching if you are interesting in seeing the OSR playstyle (or Mothership gameplay). They also have a completed campaign using OSE on their channel to watch:
Daniel at Bandit’s Keep discusses how to handle travel on the fly:
Ben at Questing Beast shares a nice breakdown of the OSR playstyle:
Aboard the Earthmote, I discuss how to use Hooks and Rumor tables to improve your sandbox game: