Graph Paper Games

So as I continue to create the sandox campaign for Macy's World, I am developing random encounter tables for cross-country travel.  While I expect most of the action to take place within locations like ruins, old temples, lairs, etc., there has to be some perils just wandering around a fantasy wilderness. But that doesn't mean I can not make those interesting as well, so I've been compiling a list of small elements that will "spruce up" a random wilderness encounter.  I don't have to use them every time; sometimes the group might just run into a small pack of giant wolverines.  But I would like to keep things interesting without derailing the players.  Here's some examples: One of the creatures encountered has unusual white fur/hair/feathers.  It's pelt could be of interest to a collector, if one could be found. If humanoid, the creatures encountered have recently stolen their tribes treasure for themselves, and are on the run.  A larger group of...

In my last post, I mentioned that my daughter wants me to run something for her and her friends. She has been bouncing between a fantasy game and a supers game, however. Realizing that no effort when it comes to game prep is truly wasted, I have begun to build a fantasy sandbox campaign using the wonderful advice from Welsh Piper .  Now, understand this, and I say this with all the love I can towards Macy--I don't actually think she will recruit a group of her friends to play.  She's going off to a different school than all of her other classmates from last year, and I could tell that by the end of the school year she was already being marginalized in her social circles in anticipation of her not being around in the future.  It's tough being a tweener sometimes. But with that in mind, I'm not going all out on this sandbox.  Aside from a home-base locale, complete with a few hopefully not too hackneyed NPC's, I'm only creating four regions (25 mile-wide hex...