Behind the Screen: Session 23--The Perfect Sandbox Session

In many ways Session 23 from last Sunday was the ideal of a Sandbox session.   The Griffons coming to the Badlands was the result of a random event card from the beginning of the previous session.   Bosco Smokey just happened to drop by and mention them.  The players put aside the treasure map for a griffon hunt, mostly because they didn't want the Bastardville guys to get what they wanted.  Then their decisions were made based on the Badlands map and the places they went were not created just to fill some dramatic necessity, they were organic to the setting.   Tower Graf didn't end up having anything to do with the griffons, but the hobgoblin battle was still cool and mildly profitable.   Finally, the D&D DMG and MM are so useful in providing wilderness encounters and treasures, there is such a richness and depth for sandbox play in those books.