Streamlined vs Sandbox

In all my time of running and preparing games I have always thought of the game as being a sandbox. I've always let players run where they want and had a couple different scenarios ready to go depending on where they went. All having to do with some of the lore I had developed within the world.

Recently however I have began to finally come to my senses and realize it would be much easier on me to begin to run a more structured or streamlined adventure. Not something that I would railroad, but rather an adventure that I have carefully crafted and set up specifically for them to run through from beginning to end.

But, do I really want to run a game that way? Honestly, I will probably always prefer sandbox simply because it really gives players the freedom to do whatever they want. I guess it's a nice challenge for me, as a DM, to figure stuff out on the fly. I'd guess that a sandbox game would be the ideal way to run a session, at least in my opinion. But if you are low on time or are not good under pressure a pre-made adventure might be what you need.

This sudden realization came after Joseph Bloch over at Greyhawk Grognard posed the question of how to run a non-sandbox wilderness adventure. So, I guess I'm not too alone in the way I try and prepare things. With school now taking up more time than I would like, I will probably have to begin falling back on more streamlined adventures. It's not ideal, but I have to be realistic and keep the players in mind as well.

How do you prefer to run your games?

Swords & Wizardry Complete PDF Free?

It has been brought to my attention by Erik Tenkar over at Tenkar's Tavern that the guys over at Frog God Games are doing something really cool with their new Kickstarter. Right now they are trying to put together The Lost Lands campaign world that is written by Bill Webb. The man behind plenty of Swords & Wizardry products.

In order to get a lot more people on board they have promised that once they hit 400 backers they will make the Swords & Wizardry Complete PDF free to EVERYONE. A seriously cool update from those guys. They are currently sitting on 330 backers right now with 24 days to go. So in the next week or so I'm sure we'll see that goal reached.

In terms of the Kickstarter itself it will be funded in time. They only need about $5,000 to reach the project goal and like I said above a solid 24 days left. Now the only question is how many stretch goals can they hit. So go over and check them out, even if you are only giving $5 you'll probably still be getting the Complete PDF which is still selling for $10 on their site right now.

Barnes & Noble is Lacking

Today after I had finished up at school I decided to head over to my local Barnes & Noble. It has been quite some time since I had been over there, plus the Starbucks that is inside has those fantastic pumpkin spice drinks this time of year.

Anyway I go in and start looking for something from Jack Vance. Nothing. OK, they have to have something by Poul Anderson right? Nope. Alright, alright.. Clark Ashton Smith? Nadda. By this point I was unsure if I was in a book store or some kind of hipster meeting ground. Finally I look for some Michael Moorcock. Elric finally appears. I looked it over but at that point I was kind of getting irritated by the lack of selection their Fantasy section had.

As I was standing in the Fantasy/Sci Fi section I began looking at all the new stuff and I realized I have no idea what is good any more. Who are good authors nowadays? Does anyone know?

If your curious I didn't end up picking any books up but I did have a damn good pumpkin spice frappucino which made up for the trip.

Adventures in the East Mark Kickstarter

Recently a lot of people have been hesitant to donate to RPG Kickstarters. Some bad experiences with Dwimmermount or Axes and Anvils will certainly do it. But I believe I have found one that is worth giving to that will also deliver on their promise.

The game is called Adventures in the East Mark. What they are trying to do is bring their game over from Spain in a nice looking Red Box. The only thing they really need the money for is translation and production. Yes, something could probably go horribly wrong but their is always a risk involved with Kickstarter. However I think this is about as good a bet as you can place.

I have to say the product look pretty damn good as well. Today they posted an "unboxing" of the Spanish version just to give backers or potential backers a taste of what they have in store for the English translation. It's worth checking out. Head on over to thier Kickstarter now and see for yourself.