The West Marches.Party

You know it, you love it: playing TTRPGs.
If you're reading this, you are very likely a player of mine, or we've played together in another capacity. If you still haven't had enough, or want to play something light and breezy, this website if for you.

What is a West Marches Campaign?

A West Marches campaign is a shared-world RPG where players form different adventuring groups to explore, discover, and shape an evolving setting.

• No fixed party or required attendance.
  Each one shot or mini arc has a new combination of players & characters, based on who is available and/or wants to play.
• Players choose which rumors, locations, and opportunities to pursue.
  The GM posts hooks for adventures and opportunities.
• Discoveries and actions become part of the shared campaign history.
  No overarching party-story, but the world reacts to choices and acts between sessions. Personal stories are at the center.
• New and returning players can easily join ongoing adventures.
  Join or leave at any time. Create several characters and choose which one to play.

How Sarah Does It Differently

Our campaign combines the flexibility of a West Marches game with a narrative-focused world that continues to change between sessions.

• A variety of tones and themes.
  Different area shave different tones: Light-hearted, "cozy", action-packed, political, dungeon crawl.
• Not just a hex crawl.
  Adventures can be one session long or a 2-3 session mini arc. Adventures might be social (e.g. fix a problem for a faction), exploration (e.g. find a location, item, or person), or combat-oriented (e.g. a megadungeon).
• Factions actively pursue their own goals.
  NPCs and Faction have turns between session (Dungeon World), reshuffling the world state. Important NPCs make decisions and react to events.

What a West Marches Campaign is not

• a single, continuous story focused on a single party
• a plot-rich narrative with a main quest or goal
• a place for the slow exploration of a character or theme
• a game for a mixed group of adventurers who need to learn to trust each other

But a West Marches Camnpaign is

• a collection of episodic adventures
• a place for clear-cut backstories and quick narrative pace
• a place for characters who know who they are and what they want
• a flexible structure that allows drop-in/drop-out participation without losing continuity
• a chance to play several characters in one setting, based on the upcoming adventure

The Basics

There Is No Regular Scheduled Play Time

Players are not expected to attend on a fixed weekly schedule, instead, sessions are organized flexibly as different groups of adventurers assemble when they are available, making it easy to join or step away without disrupting the campaign.

There Is No Regular Party

There is no permanent adventuring group. Instead, each session is formed from whoever is available, meaning characters naturally rotate in and out of different expeditions across the shared world. Players may play more than one character, tailored to different types of adventures.

This Is a Player- and World-Driven Campaign

The direction of play is shaped by what players choose to pursue and how the world responds, with factions, NPCs, and situtaions emerging from player choices.

All Adventures End and Begin On The Isle

The Isle serves as a central hub where expeditions are planned, rumors are gathered, supplies are purchased, and returning adventurers report what they discovered.

Each Character Is A Member Of The Same Faction

All player characters belong to a shared overarching organization, giving them a common identity and purpose while still allowing individual motivations and backstories.

There Is A Megadungeon

In one part of the map stands a vast, interconnected megadungeon that serves as a major focus of exploration, combat encounters, enticing loot, mysteries, and shifting threats.

This Is A New Setting

Not Aelerea, not the Forgotten Realms - a hand-made, relatively simple setting on a small collection of islands and landmasses, made with player-input.

Digital only

The game will be run on Foundry VTT exclusively.

More than one System: D&D 5.5e (2024) and Daggerheart

This campaign supports both Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (2024) and Daggerheart The GM primarily prefers Daggerheart for its narrative-forward design, but D&D remains available for more familiar, low-prep, or low-energy sessions.

Players are strongly encouraged to create at least one character in both systems so they can seamlessly join any session regardless of system choice.

What is Daggerheart?

"Daggerheart is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game of brave heroics and vibrant worlds collaboratively built with your gaming group. The ebbs and flows of Hope and Fear shape the story, while the card system brings your characters’ backgrounds and capabilities to life with dynamic illustrations. With a focus on narrative and character-driven stories, Daggerheart encourages every player to be a storyteller."
See also: Official Daggerheart Website

More about Daggerheart

If you'd like to have a look at the rules for Daggerheart, you can check out the core rulebook here. If you're interested in exploring character creation, you can have a look at the Daggerheart SRD character creator here.

More Information

Check out these other pages for more information:

• Check out the Campaign Rules
• Check out the character options for D&D and Daggerheart

Interested?

Send Sarah a message and/or join the discord via this link.

For now, this is mostly a wild idea to collect a large enouhg pool of players.
If you are interested in helping with world-building, etc, please let me know as well.

In the future, I hope to be moving to a discord alternative as well as setting up an easier way to join the player pool.