@Tom and @not_another_mike were talking about a Western Marches style game. I started to organize my own campaigns around these principles back in 2008 and blogged about the experience in 2012: Whither the West Marches.
My impression from trying to run Western Marches style games over the years is that the term “exploration” is overrated. Exploration does not provide tension, wonder or joy at the table. It’s basically this:
1. start with an empty map
2. talk to people or otherwise learn of new locations
3. put these on the map
4. choose to go here or there, which provides for opportunities go back to step #2
That’s it. I’d say nothing is fundamentally incompatible with that.
#RPG #Old School #Sandbox