Gábor Lux: Player Freedom in RPGs and Open Adventures

At the Fantasticka Ostrava 2025 festival, Gábor Lux, the Hungarian legend of old-school gaming, tackled a topic that sparks heated debates at every gaming table – how to run an open game where players have true freedom of choice. And why this very freedom is what makes RPGs an experience no computer game can fully replicate.

You can watch the full lecture here:

Why "player-driven narrative" works

RPGs, role-playing games, aren't movies where you just watch, nor are they books where you just turn pages. They are living worlds that you co-create with the Game Master in real-time. Unexpected detours, crazy ideas, moments where everyone at the table asks, "What would happen if we…?" – these are exactly the moments that make you remember the game years later.

Player freedom isn't chaos that needs to be reined in. It's the fuel that powers the whole machine.

How to loosen the reins – but keep the game moving

Instead of planning the story from A to Z, build environments, characters, and conflicts. Give players the chance to deviate, ditch the "main quest," and pursue their own goals. When a moment comes that you aren't prepared for – improvise, roll the dice, or pull a detail out of thin air.

Stick to modular elements that you can quickly adapt to different situations. And most importantly: don't give players twenty options at once, but two to four meaningful ones. Otherwise, they'll drown in decision-making and the game will grind to a halt.

Realism isn't an encyclopedia

It's not about knowing every stone in the world. It's about making the world feel believable and having it react to player decisions. Everything the players do should have a consequence. And the more context they have for their decisions, the stronger the impact of their choices.

Down with "keycard design"

Every player has experienced a mission that depended on one predetermined solution – and when they didn't have it, the game got stuck.

Lux advises: offer multiple paths to the goal, or an open situation where the players come up with the solution themselves. The "three clue rule" is great – always prepare three different clues that can lead to the goal.

When chance moves the world

Dice aren't just for combat. Random rolls can decide if the guard is asleep, if the bridge holds, or if the ship you need is just arriving. These small twists keep the game alive and give players the feeling that the world around them is truly breathing.

Practical example: The Cult of Lycophron

Imagine a large city full of secrets, political intrigue, and dark corners. In the middle of it, a werewolf sect is planning a ritual to sacrifice a young noblewoman. The players have limited time to find and save her. How will they go about it? That's entirely up to them – they can infiltrate the cult, bribe the city guard, or just fight their way through door by door. There is no single "correct" approach.

Sandbox: when the world opens up completely

Open adventures are just the beginning. Sandbox campaigns give players the ability to shape the world in the long term – choosing their own goals, founding factions, and changing the political map.

The Game Master only needs a few boundaries – a clearly defined area or theme – and prepared modular elements that can be combined at will.

Open adventures and sandbox campaigns aren't for everyone – but once you experience them, you often don't want to go back to "railroaded" stories. Give players freedom, prepare the world to react to it, and let the game surprise you – both the GM and the players.

If the topic caught your interest, read the summary by Czech RPG guru Markus on RPGfórum.

author Karel Krajča