I love Worldbuilding.
Much more than I like playing Dungeons & Dragons. (Not that I don’t like playing, but worldbuilding is my jam).
And Worldbuilding actually adds to the enjoyment I have when running my campaign world when I GM D&D.
How?
I play sandbox campaigns.
The only type of campaigns I run these days for D&D are sandbox campaigns. I do this because it gives me the ability to create my world – or the parts I need to – as prep for the D&D sessions I run.
And this is exactly why you should be running sandbox campaigns if you love worldbuilding: it allows you to do what you love and run D&D games as well.
Sandbox campaigns, by definition, is worldbuilding as prep.
Instead of reading boring old adventure modules (or, the universe help us, thick campaign tomes), you can do a little worldbuilding as prep.
A Quick Example
If you characters are in their home town and are planning on travelling along the road to the next town over, then you can create the new town, add a random events table for the road, and go from there.
You may have an event that happens on their travels, and then once they get to the town, you can pull up the info on it and go from there.
No boring prep. Just solid worldbuilding.
And now you have a new town to flesh out!
Help This Article Grow
Digital gardens are built on ongoing refinement and shared ideas.
If you have some thoughts on this article that can make it better, drop your thoughts below. Your insights will help turn this article into a fully cultivated resource for the community.