<- Speaking from someone who hasn't NRP roleplay before Personally I believe that any roleplay that wishes to survive should have some aspect of motivation, something sandbox RPs lack. Not only that but an NRP is really just an RP with multiple characters, something that many experienced roleplayers will be skilled at creating. I'll give an example from a game of Odin Sphere. The game is about 5 characters from different races all trying to control an item known as the Cauldren. Some want it for power, some want to protect it, and some want to use it to bring back dead loved ones; however each race fights for this item and it continually changes hands. If this was to be turned into an RP you could easily use the races as 'nations' and each nation would fight for this item. Throw in some aspects of deceit, underhanded deals and misdirection. Maybe one nation is after it to prevent their race from dying out, maybe one used it and was cursed. Pretty much an NRP can be treated like a larger version of an RP and the story you create just has to involve multiple people per nation.