The Grim Marches
Grimwild
Grim Marches is a sandbox-style, multi-GM campaign using the Grimwild rules. It allows shared world-building, collective discovery, and a constantly shifting, living world.
We use Grimwild, a cinematic heroic fantasy system designed for quick action and dramatic adventure. For those already familiar, we will have a few extra paths to choose from, slight alterations to a few others, and a new system for arcana. You can expect games inside and outside of Bastion, tackling guild politics, exploration, and street-level adventures, as well as in-discord places to chat in character. The tone is neutral bright, with a slight lean towards optimism over pessimism.
Bastion is one of the surviving cities on the continent of Orlon, built near the ruins of the old Imperial capital after the Cataclysm twisted the natural leylines and left the connection to other planes, and magic itself, unpredictable. The city’s survival depends on Aetherite, a crystalline resource that both powers its magical infrastructure and wards against The Bloom—the everpresent magical miasma that warps those that remain inside too long. Many strive to deal with the unpredictable fog with better technology, more efficient use of the rare crystal, or even acceptance of the new world, as it slowly pushes in from the surrounding wilderness. The city still hums with life and runic magic, though. Airships dock at their elevated mooring towers, and the ArcRail runs through the central market, both of which make Bastion a force in the region, even if much of the time the guilds that control the city fight petty battles amongst themselves.
Every major piece of infrastructure: transportation, arcaneering, security, trade, belongs to one of the dozens of guilds. Each seems to have a goal at least somewhat at odds to others, with some chasing profit, others secrets and leverage. This leaves some parts of the city forgotten, underfunded, and full of opportunity.
Bastion’s population is overwhelmingly human (as is most of Orlon), with Aetherforged citizens integrated into its workforce and Wilders (those bearing marks of The Bloom) viewed with a hint of caution. The city is run by a council of 5 guilds, each electing its own member to fill one of the seats. It maintains only minor ties to the outside world, with The Bloom making wider trade more difficult. For adventurers, Bastion offers stability, work, and a chance to help a city that often forgets its little folk.
Beginning of Sessions: You will introduce and describe your character and their last adventure, making a 2d story roll if the outcome of it is uncertain. Bonds with other characters will remain blank until you decide on one that fits. Your character will start refreshed, with all abilities available, no harm (Bloodied or Rattled), no marks, and two story. Characters don’t begin with spark unless they use downtime to Pursue (detailed in Downtime).
Rolling: Online, in-discord dice rolling is the default. Some GMs may allow players to roll dice physically. To roll dice digitally with Mox, type “/roll ” without the quotations, then the number of dice and the letter "d". Add thorns to the roll in the same way with a number and the letter "t" after that. Mastery dice are added the same way with "m". If you typed “/roll 3d2t1m”, it would roll 3 dice, 2 thorns, and 1 mastery die, and give you the proper result.
Rewards: Players gain 1 XP and 3 Shard after a game, while GMs gain 1 XP and 4 Shard for one of their characters. A player who writes a summary of the game gains 1 extra Shard. Shard is the currency of Bastion, players may spend it at any time to purchase buildings, training, and upgrades in the shop. See the Marketplace for more details.
Players are encouraged to find a group and request a game. The goal can be related to the character's arc, or anything the requester wants to explore. To do so, create a forum post and detail what you want out of the game, and where it should be held in the setting. Once the game has a minimum of three players, ping the GM role so it may be picked up. When you post, include the following:
We are open to adding more GMs in the future. Currently, we are ensuring that the Grim Marches are running smoothly and preparing guidelines and tools for the onboarding of new GMs.
We decided against porting characters from Season 1 due to the setting and tonal differences. You are welcome to resubmit a character reimagined for this setting; however, you will start at level 1 and have no arcana. If you have character(s) from season 1, you can gain bonus currency, Shard, for the first character submitted here, even if new.
Bonus Shard:
Arcana granted from talents are exempt. Bonus Shard are granted after your first session.
