We have a few published megadungeon campaigns, like Stonehell Dungeon, Barrowmaze, Dwimmermount. Has anyone done the same for the wilderness and published a full West Marches (or Elder Scrolls!) type sandbox campaign, with hundreds of encounters, mini-dungeons, fully detailed material enough for many levels of play? I can't think of anything like this on the market.

Quote from: S'mon;1029851We have a few published megadungeon campaigns, like Stonehell Dungeon, Barrowmaze, Dwimmermount. Has anyone done the same for the wilderness and published a full West Marches (or Elder Scrolls!) type sandbox campaign, with hundreds of encounters, mini-dungeons, fully detailed material enough for many levels of play? I can't think of anything like this on the market.

I've never seen the notes on the West Marches campaign, but isn't this basically Monster Island for Mythras is;)?

Quote from: AsenRG;1029946I've never seen the notes on the West Marches campaign, but isn't this basically Monster Island for Mythras is;)?

That reminds me - I have Griffon Mountain for Runequest, that's pretty close to what I'm thinking of. Odd that apparently no one has ever done this for D&D? There are mini sandbox campaign settings like Isle of Dread, but nothing covering say 10 levels? No Oblivion/Skyrim equivalent?

I guess of what I have, Yggsburgh is closest - designed for C&C PCs in the 4th-9th range but could be tweaked for 1-9 I guess.

I'm not 100% across what West Marches means exactly (I thought it meant rotating PCs?), but Midlands Low Magic Sandbox Setting is similar to this; 6 isolated cities in a large wilderness. 50 adventure frameworks, many random encounter tables, etc.

Quote from: S'mon;1029948That reminds me - I have Griffon Mountain for Runequest, that's pretty close to what I'm thinking of. Odd that apparently no one has ever done this for D&D? There are mini sandbox campaign settings like Isle of Dread, but nothing covering say 10 levels?

Yes, I think Griffon Mountain fits the bill of a sandbox in a book. It really is odd that a similar setting book has never been published for D&D. Mini-campaigns like the Vault of Larin Karr and Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia are the closest we get. Is there really no audience for a sandbox setting in a book?

Quote from: S'mon;1029851We have a few published megadungeon campaigns, like Stonehell Dungeon, Barrowmaze, Dwimmermount. Has anyone done the same for the wilderness and published a full West Marches (or Elder Scrolls!) type sandbox campaign, with hundreds of encounters, mini-dungeons, fully detailed material enough for many levels of play? I can't think of anything like this on the market.

Commercially, there are many, only a few still in print though. This also does describe seven of my homebrewed Campaign settings, Tamerthya, a D&D campaign setting conceived in 1999 and finished in 2013, Etrania, one of my oldest D&D campaign settings that dates back to 1984 or so, Ashavergath, a Roman & Egyptian science fantasy D&D campaign setting set on a larger planet than Earth, circling a distance star that was conceived in 2006-2007. There is also The Seven Kingdoms (2013) my Far East Fantasy/Wuxia campaign setting, as well as The Frontier Sector (1984-1985), The Genian Sector (2017), and The Sharmara Cluster (2017), the latter three being for the Traveller RPG. ...Maybe I should publish one of these.

Actual published sandbox settings already include The Judges Guild Wilderlands, Greyhawk, Mystara, The Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Glorantha, Hârn, Kingdoms of Kalamar, Erde, Middle Earth, and Rhune, and that's just Fantasy settings off the top of my head.

Also have several sandbox campaign settings created for Gamma World, as well including Northern California, Florida, Colorado, Texas, Sydney, Australia or New South Wales, and my Friend Brian Judt created Gamma World Great Lakes that covers Chicago, Indiana, & Michigan, and he also has a Gamma World setting that includes Vegas, Nevada, Arizona & New Mexico that predates anything published for Fallout.

Also have to add in Rob Conley's Majestic Wilderlands variant campaign setting here...

Quote from: S'mon;1029948That reminds me - I have Griffon Mountain for Runequest, that's pretty close to what I'm thinking of.

Griffon Mountain is almost surely the inspiration for Monster Island. Given that it was published when Mythras was still called Runequest 6, it seems like a safe bet;)!

QuoteOdd that apparently no one has ever done this for D&D? There are mini sandbox campaign settings like Isle of Dread, but nothing covering say 10 levels? No Oblivion/Skyrim equivalent?

Well, if you're asking me about the logic of publishing pre-made campaigns, you're definitely asking the wrong person:D! I don't have much experience with published campaigns, period, and only got Monster Island because I really respect the authors.

Great question; there is surprisingly little of this sort out there. If you are looking for recent, OSR material, then there are several that offer a sort of large wilderness area with significant details as part of a bigger megadungeon package. The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, and Rappan Athuk are examples. But I think of these as basically puffed up versions of B2, where you get a dozen or so encounter areas as part of the 'door step' of your dungeon. What I'd love to see is a proper 'megadungeon' treatment of a wilderness area, complete with 100+ keyed locations and presented at something like a 1km per hex scale, so you can actually make exploring decisions more detailed than 'I head north for 2 days, roll for random encounters'. There are some great maps available as online fan produced resources for the BD&D Mystaria setting. If you are intimidated by making a map you might snag those and just start dropping in locations, inhabitants, encounter and event tables, etc. But, it is pretty disappointing how little of this sort is out there as commercial products.

https://landofnod.blog/nod/

Not sure if this fits what you are looking for, but these are fairly extensive hex crawls filled with dungeon sites and the like.  I'm pretty sure several ussues are still free to download.

Quote from: Larsdangly;1029985What I'd love to see is a proper 'megadungeon' treatment of a wilderness area, complete with 100+ keyed locations and presented at something like a 1km per hex scale, so you can actually make exploring decisions more detailed than 'I head north for 2 days, roll for random encounters'.

You and me both. A large town, several villages, a wizard's tower, some temples, ruined castles, a medium-sized dungeon, etc. Campaign in a box. I'd like that more than a 500 room megadungeon, or a linear adventure path.

Quote from: Haffrung;1030000You and me both. A large town, several villages, a wizard's tower, some temples, ruined castles, a medium-sized dungeon, etc. Campaign in a box. I'd like that more than a 500 room megadungeon, or a linear adventure path.

I'll send you my notes after I next run a fantasy campaign;).

Quote from: Psikerlord;1029951I'm not 100% across what West Marches means exactly (I thought it meant rotating PCs?), but Midlands Low Magic Sandbox Setting is similar to this; 6 isolated cities in a large wilderness. 50 adventure frameworks, many random encounter tables, etc.

Looks like what I was seeking - ordered from Lulu, thanks!

Early Known World stuff is certainly West Marches type (The Grand Duchy of Karameikos is on the western frontier of the Empire after all). But wasn't Thunder Rift basically this too?

Quote from: KingofElfland;1030167Early Known World stuff is certainly West Marches type (The Grand Duchy of Karameikos is on the western frontier of the Empire after all). But wasn't Thunder Rift basically this too?

Not nearly enough detail; even less than Wilderlands.

Quote from: S'mon;1030010Looks like what I was seeking - ordered from Lulu, thanks!

most welcome!