[gurps] sandbox / open world campaigns

[Susan Koziel]

> From: Tom Sparks <tom_a_sparks at yahoo.com.au>
> Subject: Re: [gurps] sandbox / open world campaigns
> To: "The GURPSnet mailing list" <gurpsnet-l at sjgames.com>
> Received: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 9:14 PM
> you enter a bar
> the are a group of NPC you can talk to
> they can give you one of the following 
> * a rumor (free)
> * bribe group/company etc (cost)
> * pay for information
> * mission / job ( explore, search and rescue, assassinate,
> escort, defend, delivery, patrol, installing equipment)
> 
> how much randomness should I use?
> are there any gurps books on this topic?


Ah you seem to have a bit of an issue with how you are thinking about your campaign for an open world....
You enter the bar....
here is my thought processes as a GM (and this happens rather automatically for me at this point and I suspect it's due to practise)...
Thoughts:
   1) hmmm it's about supper time, the bar is quite full of people, who in the town would be there.... hmmm it's not a holiday so it's mostly full of townsfolk that don't have wives or servants to cook for them, travellers, and the odd folks who are out for dinner celebrating....

Response:
   2) There is a large group of people over to one side near the fire place they look like a farming family celebrating, and there are couple of musicians (a fiddle player and a whistle player) playing for them.
      Off in the corner is a woodsman sitting and eating a plate of stew, you notice his crossbow is near his feet beneath the table, but still in plain sight.
      There is a priest sitting at the bar talking to another elderly farmer. 
       There are a large number of young country noble types over at another table, drinking and flirting. They seem to be centring their attention on one tall blonde man who looks for all intents and purposes as if he is holding court.
       There is a bouncer sitting unobtrusively near to the nobles but isn't looking overly concerned at the moment.
       The bar maid is scowling at someone in the group of nobles but is trying to hide it while pouring a number of beers behind the bar.
       The barkeep looks at the door as you come in. He seems to be in a rather jovial mood today.
       Other then that there are a smattering of travellers scattered around the bar, it looks like the inn must be doing well today.
       Who do you want to talk to....

3) Thoughts:
       What's happening in the world of the people at the bar:
           Well there has been a number of wolf attacks on livestock in the outlying farms, the farm family have just killed the wolves they think are responsible. The woodsman has other ideas about what is happening
           The priest is talking to a man who lost his daughter recently. 
           The nobles are local young folks of the rich surrounding families, they are always out drinking and their concerns are with their own amusements. The blonde man is the richest and the boys are trying to emulate him, the girls trying to court him.
           The barmaid is mad at one of the other girls in the group for taking advantage of one of the young men that she fancies there.
           If a player chooses a traveller or someone that hasn't been described in detail (like the music ans) you may want to either simply transfer the storyline from one of the other described people to them or have a couple other story lines ready........... typically players will approach the people you describe most thoroughly (but not always).

.............basically you allow the events that the NPCs would legitimately be concerned about to inform the information they have and can give. Instead of trying to sort out what the players might do, sort out what the NPCs know or don't know and what is happening in the world. Then let the PCs explore.

This isn't to say that you need to obsess about it, there are stock areas that the PCs will look for information in (you'll have to figure it out with your group as it's a bit group dependent) so you need to think about the folks in those places, and what they might know. Any NPC can always drop a name if the players are looking for specific information and have gotten off track.... the sentence "Well I don't know but Harry that runs the Apothecary's shop might" is a useful one.

-Sue