I mentioned ‘theme tags’ in Collab World Building pt2, but didn’t explain at all. They’re a simple concept tied to a character, place, or idea: e.g. noble or nobility, priesthood, gods, thieves, crime, trade, The Thousand Year Empress, ancient relics, treasure, corruption, etc. Each tag reminds me to connect or reference thematically linked elements. I find that tracking these tags works well in conjunction with the style of sandbox game prep that Kevin Crawford proselytizes in his RPGs.

Through the collaborative world building and character creation process of my Worlds Without Number game, I’ve collected a set of tags for each PC. I’ve also kept adding tags to the PCs any time they specify interest in a particular topic, or as their players articulate the PCs’ goals. This helps me in my setup for following sessions.

For example, one player has stated that their PC is interested in ‘humbling jerks.’ Now ‘jerks’ is a tag in my repertoire. But what does that mean? How do I use it? And how does it work with Kevin Crawford’s sandbox game tools?

I use these theme tags to make sure that any given scenario or plot element will appeal to at least one player (and PC) in the group.

When I am coming up with hooks, scenarios, and opportunities, I refer to my list of tags (sorted by PC) and add an appropriate set of those tags to whatever I’m offering. This means connecting antagonists, allies, complications, places, rewards, etc. to those tags. Since I also loosely track whether any given player has gotten more or less screen time recently, these tags let me flavor my offerings to draw in or cater to whoever hasn’t gotten as much attention of late. 

In the case of the ‘jerks’ tag, this means looking over my hooks, scenarios, opportunities, and NPCs to find where I can introduce some jerks. Those jerks could be enemies of the PCs. If I want to create more drama, the jerks could be allies or employers. Regardless, by having that tag on hand I can remember to use it as an ingredient in my scenario creation process. Thus, I can better cater to my players.

I could use these tags anywhere, in nearly any scenario creation process. I already have more ideas about how to better implement this. But even an informal version of this tag-centric approach works especially well with Kevin Crawford’s approach to sandbox games.

Before you take this as a whole-hearted endorsement of Kevin Crawford’s games, a word of caution to the end-user.

Kevin Crawford’s games are both great and frustrating, much like the old-school RPGs that inspire them. His approach to sandbox gaming and related game prep, with its strong emphasis on story-agnostic scenario setup, is awesome for creating interchangeable and modular scenarios that are easy to customize for your game as needed. Especially in his later books, he clearly articulates both his philosophy of sandbox ”only-prepare-what-you-need“ gaming and his methodology for doing that as-needed prep. He includes many useful tables and generation systems, including system-agnostic tools for everything from investigation plots to court social dynamics to wilderness exploration or combat encounters. His books are a treasure trove for storytellers.

And yet much like the old RPG books that inspire his games, his books could use a reorganization. Memorizing the locations of all the different tables I might want to reference while doing my next session’s prep is a pain in the ass. So is finding the critical mention of some rule’s implementation, or the details of how one specific mechanic interacts with another, when it’s been buried in the middle of a larger paragraph flush with descriptive text. I’ve debated charting out a basic workflow to follow (complete with page references) for preparing different kinds of material, because of how annoying it is to do without the reference guide.

This has not deterred me from having fun with his work. I’m currently running Worlds Without Number. I’ve enjoyed playing Cities Without Number. I’ve previously had fun running Stars Without Number and Godbound, and I ran a LOT of Exemplars & Eidolons despite the fact that E&E was officially a layout-demo first and an RPG second.

Once one wraps their head around them, those tables and generation systems I mentioned prove their value beyond Crawford’s own RPGs. I’ve used them for other games with great success. The same system- and story-agnostic approach that Crawford uses makes his tools extremely well suited for combining with the theme tags I mentioned above.

Most of Crawford’s generators leave a series of Mad Libs-esque blanks with room for Enemies, Friends, Complications, Places, Things, etc. He explicitly recommends referring back to previously introduced NPCs and locations and events, which is good advice for weaving a naturally growing story. Drawing from my theme tags as I fill in Crawford’s forms is an easy fit.

I understand that this might seem excessive. I shared my theme tags idea with a couple storyteller friends of mine, and was told “that seems like a great idea and is an extremely Henry-brained solution.” If this interests you at all, I suggest trying it! Don’t be afraid to just scrawl down quick one-word notes somewhere alongside a list of your PCs’ names. This doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to remind you of what to include when you’re coming up with new ideas down the line.