The West Marches - An Open Recruitment Game
West Marches
This is an open recruitment game. If you want to join you may do so.
First read this post. Make sure it is something you are interested in.
When the “new world” was discovered thousands of miles across the Western Sea, a contest to settle that land and claim its riches ensued among the old world empires. While many ships landed and numerous outposts were built, the new world proved to be far more dangerous than most anticipated – all but one settlement was eventually wiped out.
Founded just under a century ago, Westhaven was the only settlement to survive the new world. Countless resources were poured into keeping Westhaven safe from the unknown wilds that had claimed all of the other settlements. The entire area is protected by a great stone wall known by locals as “The Edge of the World.” Standing between eight and ten feet tall and stretching over 55 miles, the wall forms a rough ‘u’ shape with the open ends starting at the coast about 8 miles apart and extending nearly 20 miles inland. While city officials claim that wall was built entirely for the purpose of defending the Westhaven settlement, most locals know that large sections of the wall predate any known new world arrival. Who or what built those sections of the wall, as well as where they may have gone, remains a mystery.
Now only adventurers are brave - or stupid - enough to venture outside of the walls of Westhaven.
‘The West Marches’ style of campaigns differ from more traditional, story based, role playing games in that the game has no overarching plot – just a consistent, dangerous environment. There’s a convenient fortified town that marked the farthest outpost of civilization and law, but beyond that is sketchy wilderness the isn't mapped. All the PCs are would-be adventurers based in this town. Adventuring is not a common or safe profession and there is no adventure to be had in the town.
You get to explore where you want to with only one rule. Returning to the mainland is not allowed - there is no adventures to be had there. The mainland is where adventurers go to retire. Because players can explore anywhere they choose, PCs have to work together and pick their battles — there is nothing stopping them from strolling into areas that will wipe them out. Players are encouraged to pay careful attention to their surroundings and the potential dangers their characters face. If a region beyond the mountains is full of high level monsters, they don’t become less dangerous because a group of 3rd level PCs manage to get over there.
To facilitate this style of play, there are a couple of ‘rules’ which everyone should attempt to follow:
Players initiate adventures, decide where to go, and organize an adventuring party. Each adventure can (And will) have different players. If you need to go on hiatus your character will be waiting for you when you return. There will be threads available for you to do so within the game forum.
D&D is about social Gaming. There are a lot of people on this site who want to play and without a doubt you may have played with some of them already. To make sure everyone gets involved and you meet new people you may not adventure with the same PC's more than 1-2 adventures in a row. If there are no PCs in town when your group returns to town the advertisement will be bumped to find fresh meat.
Players sharing information is a critical part of the West Marches design. This goes along with the social aspect of D&D. I am merely the fun facilitator. An impartial observer. It is up to the players to share information and map their adventures if they want to. Since there is a large pool of players, the average PC will only be in a small number of the the adventures. Pooling resources and cooperation will be essential to the PCs’ success. Tell people what happened and where it happened. Did you stumble into the barrow mounds and barely escape with your life? Warn other adventurers so they can steer clear. Did you slay wolves on the moors until the snow was red with blood? Brag about it so everyone else knows how tough you are. Anyone who does so will be rewarded.
Character Creation
Starting Level: 1
Ability Score Generation: 27 Point Buy
Hit Points Max for first level. Upon leveling up roll and take the roll or average HP, whichever is higher.
Classes: Any. (Multiclasssing will be allowed after first level.)
Races: Any.
Equipment: You begin play with the gear from your background and class choice.
Sources Available: All currently released source books are allowed. I will allow most UA articles
Multiple Characters? Yes BUT you must complete one adventure with us. Your characters may not adventure together, share resources, or trade items.
Alignment: I don't enforce alignment in most of my games. I want you to define your character not be defined by something on your character sheet. This is not the campaign for chaotic loners or free spirited vagabonds. D&D is a co-operative game and we are all here to play the game together.
This message was last edited by the user at 21:52, Thu 26 Oct 2017.
