>CHADS
Barbarian, Wizard, Artificer, Paladin
>FAGS
Bard, Rogue, Warlock, Sorcerer
>NPCs
Druid, Fighter, Cleric, Monk, Ranger

That has been the recommendation since basic, here's how you do it
>Level 1 party wants to go fight the Ancient Dragon
>An Ancient Dragon is certainly too great of a threat for a single Barony, so it has likely been slumbering for some time
>The first floor is full of ambient creatures that need dispatching, perfect for a level 1 party
>As they venture down they find it harder and harder, need to return to town to rest and restock
>Gain power as they venture through the many floors between them and the slumbering Ancient Dragon
>Eventually they will make it to the final floor, higher level and hopefully prepared
>An Ancient Dragon, however, is a terrifying beast, so if the mid-level party is clever they can take advantage of it being asleep to even the odds

I once ran a sandbox game in a setting I developed using Medieval Demographics Made Easy. The starting kingdom was the size of France and inspired by the Kievan Rus. There existed a proper social hierarchy that was adhered to, the players' first adventure was escorting a salt merchant and fighting a pack of wolves that attacked their group.

It was fun, but the more indepth you go the more you realize that real world scale is just insane to handle. This kingdom had something like 68 castles, that's 68 unique lords, not even counting the villages and hamlets, the towns and occasional cities. I had a blast making the thing, but my players didn't care much to delve into it.

Only put that kind of effort into a setting if you have history nerds that would enjoy it too. Most DnD players are generic fantasy nerds that just enjoy hearing stuff like "The orc kingdom is invading!" and its standing army is a few hundred guys that they fight a dozen at a time.

>>96277925
Finally, the players that make GMing worth it

>Sandboxer
Many players ask to play a sandbox, but few actually know what that entails. Most likely to be a decent GM and actually understand the system, campaign and their character. They know what a ttrpgs entails, that the setting around them is something they can make change to and set real goals for themselves / their characters. These are the ones who will make complex plans and grab onto any hook they can find, any NPC is a chance to grow in power. While these can tend to be powergamers and ruleslawyers, usually talking them quells the issue. The powergamers and ruleslawyers who cannot be reasoned with cap at "Main Character" are likely poor GMs. For these you need to prep a well fleshed out world, or at the very least have conception about the setting and the elements you included to be able to improv drastic change well.

>Caller
An older DnD term that refers to the player who would wrangle the group and be the final decider on decisions. Many GM's can agree that this role still exists, though unofficially. The player that understands the work behind GMing, they have all the benefits of a Sandboxer but they understand the plight of the GM dealing with the lower tiers. They will chat with Lemmings, saying stuff like "Wasn't that crazy man?" or hyping them up whenever they do anything. They will push Wallflowers to engage when something obviously for their character shows up. They will indulge tards to a degree. They can enjoy and encourage the midwit shenanigans of the normoids and MC's, treating them as NPCs they themselves can bounce off of. If you ever get a game with more than one caller it is a true delight. For these players ironically you can prep less, they make running the game more player-centric and let the GM be what they were initially intended to be: A referee.

Following will be some examples

>>96259294
Yes.

>>714385863
/vg/
Morrigan (DAO)
Lithuania