Worldbuilding and DM'ing an Emergent Sandbox Campaign (Part 1)

I have been spending a lot of time the past few weeks preparing and organizing a massive Planescape sandbox campaign I hope to be running for a long time, and maybe on and off for decades. 

In this post I’m going to describe my organization method for tracking a large scale hexcrawl campaign designed as a mechanism to create emergent, endless gameplay.  I hope to create a method by which the world is truly limitless, and can be improvised as its explored while still meticulously notated so that it can grow, evolve, and be re-explored many times.  It's important to me that I can run the game without prep -- and also have the organization in place to do limitless prep or quick momentary prep when the mood strikes me.

In successive posts, I’ll describe how I am running the game, houserules that I've implemented, and any lessons I learn along the way. At some point I'll post a summary "how to" guide, about how to create a campaign organized this way.

Ring Binder

I use a 3-ring binder to hold Letter sized sheets.  Typically I keep blank sheets in my storage clipboard and add them to the binder when needed.  Before actual play, I take the sheets out of the binder I’ll need to refer to during the game and leave the binder in my bag for reference.  

1. Session Logs One sheet per session.  Lists player & character names, the location and date of the play session, the starting and end point locations and dates in the game world.  It also includes any mid-session notes on plot developments/reminders during actual play, and scratchpads for tracking of hit points, initiative, and time.  Sometimes I will add reminders to a session log beforehand as part of prep (lists of NPCs and monsters I know I will be tracking hitpoints for is helpful, as is noting the starting location hex and date.)
2. Player Characters In this section I keep one sheet for each player character.  It is for general notetaking about this character’s name, player, major events, contacts and related NPCs, etc.  I generally update these between sessions or add one when a new player joins the campaign.
3. Campaign Timeline
   A chronological timeline of events within the campaign.  In addition to brief summaries of each play session’s activities and movements it may include pre-campaign timelines and history, as well as notations of NPC movements and plot developments happening behind the scenes.  Generally I add an entries to this after each play session, while reviewing the session log.  Any reference sheets about the campaign world’s calendar are kept at the front of this section.
4. Locations
   This section contains maps of regions and adventure sites, as well as any general notes about them.
1. Region Maps Each region in my campaign world contains a hex map with a LetterNumber (A1, B4, etc) code on each hex.  The scale of these maps can vary per area depending on how important they are to the campaign.  For example, a whole city might be treated as its own region if exploring it throughout a campaign is a big goal.  Generally the maps are rough sketches -- features and details don’t need to be named or spelled out because these hexes all link to locations kept in my box of index cards.  The players are allowed to see these, so definitely don’t write in any secret locations (but I may allow the players to notate the map during play.)
2. Site Maps These are traditional dungeon maps on ¼” graph paper usually at a 10 foot per square scale.  These are DM only (the players draw their own while exploring) and include lots of labels, notes on monsters and treasure throughout.  Important hexes from regional maps will get their own site maps.  I usually file these behind the region maps which contain them, making sure to notate which hex they are located in.
5. Plots & Lead Notes
   This section contains lots of unordered notes on unfolding plots and adventure leads within the campaign world.  These are just brief notes, usually about NPC relationships and desires like “King Moneybags in Sillytown hex B3 is trying to ply Senator Blunderhead (hex D9) for information about trade caravans passing through Burglesport.”  I add or update things here between sessions and review this section when prepping for future sessions.  This is the only part of the binder that is not organized in a particular fashion.  It’s about things that may happen or are in the process of happening.  After they actually do happen or change, I cross them out and make alog in the campaign timeline.
6. Reference & Rules
   

   This section contains any other print-outs of reference materials, such as lists of names and random generator tables that don’t need to be referenced very often.  It also includes written descriptions of every houserule in the campaign, and is updated as those change.

Index Card Box

Together with the campaign binder, this box holds most of the campaign notes.  I have several different index card templates I print out on colored card stock and organize in my card box with dividers.  The idea behind the cards is that I can take and keep an immense collection of organized notes about the world, its locations, and the characters inside it without it becoming overwhelming.  NPCs in parts of the world that aren’t part of the current campaign situation are sitting and waiting in their respective locations to be discovered later on.  Any named NPC from all player characters’ backstories are put on cards and placed in this box, somewhere.  During actual play, I take the cards from the current location out of the box and lay them out or clip them to the DM screen for reference.

1. Region Hex Cards These cards include a name/area title, and the region/hex code from one of the campaign’s regional maps, as well as notes on adventure sites within that hex or notable features. Sometimes I add cards just so that they have a name.  Sometimes I don’t add the card for each hex until during actual play when the characters enter or explore it.  The point of the system is that if the players explored every hex in the campaign world, each hex would have a card in the box.  As the players move around the world, I thumb through the box and find the hex in question -- now I instantly know what tavern is in that part of the city, or what dungeon entrance lies buried somewhere within it.  If I improvise something on the spot, and add it to the card, I don’t have to worry about remembering it.  It’ll be right where it’s supposed to be when the party visits the hex again.
2. NPC Cards
   These index cards include basic notes on an NPC -- their name, some personality traits, and maybe even what they want.  Basic stats are included sometimes, or sometimes only added when needed.  These are filed directly behind the region hexes the NPCs are located in.  Sometimes I move the NPCs around the world quite a bit between sessions, but they’re always in this box, which means they can always be found if you know where to look.
3. Feature Cards
   Sometimes when there’s a very small location or dungeon within a region hex, rather than drawing a map for it and putting it in the campaign binder, I will notate it on a card and stick it with the NPCs.  I try to only clutter the campaign binder with the big recordkeeping stuff or more detailed location maps.
4. Monster Cards
   These are at the back of the box, and just include monster stats for any custom or commonly used monsters in the campaign.  These are great for clipping to the DM screen so I don’t have to thumb through a book to find stats.  They can even be used as initiative order trackers.

DM Screen

I have a 4-panel DM screen with inserts for sheets on both sides.  I keep an Excel Spreadsheet with the information for all 4 screens and print them out when they change.  I use the DM Screen for improvisational references and rule references.  Anything that I might have to open a rulesbook for during play, I try to fit it on the screen instead.  Additionally it has full lists of regions, locations, names, types of things, NPC motivations, races, political groups, and really anything that would make me stutter or look something up rather than improvising fluidly.  I generally put these lists in numbered orders so I can use dice to pick a random entry when I’m stumped.

Storage Clipboard

These are great.  I have an aluminum Letter-sized storage clipboard.  During play, I typically clip the session log for the session on the top.  Inside of the storage compartment I keep pencils, pens, a ruler, drawing compass, and blank template sheets (session logs, blank maps, blank player character sheets, etc.)  I also use this to store player character sheets between sessions when they leave them in my care instead of taking them home.

And all this stuff fits into a big bookbag along with whatever rulesbooks I want to carry along with me. A whole world on my shoulder.

In my next post I will discuss how I am conducting my game sessions using this organization system to prep and run sessions in an attempt to inspire emergent, player-driven gameplay.