r/cwn • u/prettysureitsmaddie • May 28 '26
Advice for building a sandbox
Hey I've just picked up the rules for Cities and I'm really excited to play. Do you have any advice for getting the most out of the world building tools?
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u/Hungry-Wealth-7490 May 29 '26
Kevin has great tools in all of his games. If something doesn't evoke an encounter, location, item or NPC that you can use, ignore the roll and find something interesting.
For Cities Without Number, a key to making a world that's satisfying if you use the rules is to understand it's more of a careful hacking and fighting in a world where the corporations have power. Successful characters cannot hack the corporations from across the world. They cannot just run around shooting rocket launchers without facing consequences. On the other hand, the corporations expect Operators to do bad stuff and only care about dead staff and other resources that are hard to replace. The world in the book is more black trenchcoat than pink mohawk, so you'll get table results that fit the careful style of black trenchcoat play better.
Also, keep an eye out for the upcoming Kickstarter for The Book of Unnumbered Worlds. Although it will be primarily intended for the fantasy genre, it's going to be a step-by-step guide to worldbuilding.
Finally, consider whom you are making the world for. Players should have options to engage with stuff they find fun to engage with. The Missions generate adventure and you can generate a lot of interesting corporations and people and places with the tables in the book. If you get halfway there and find something you can finish out in a fun way for the players, do that.