West Marches Resources

WestMarches.games isn't limited to the sandbox campaign Ben Robbins described. If you run a large group or want flexible scheduling, it can help you organize your campaign, whatever its style.

Ben Robbins' original articles

The full series by the creator of West Marches, on its design, its world and the common pitfalls:

1. "Grand Experiments: West Marches"
   The post that introduced West Marches
2. "Part 2: Sharing Info"
   How players shared their discoveries and built up what the group knew
3. "Part 3: Recycling"
   Reusing content and keeping it consistent from session to session
4. "Part 4: Death & Danger"
   Managing risk and consequences in an open world
5. "West Marches: Running Your Own"
   Advice for starting a West Marches campaign of your own

Guides

1. "Starting a West Marches Campaign, Step By Step" (Roleplaying Tips)
   A multi-part guide to framing the campaign, preparing the world and setting up the first sessions.
2. "Planning a West Marches Campaign in D&D 5e" (DungeonSolvers)
   Practical advice on session setup, scheduling, lore, and modular prep.
3. "What Is A West Marches Campaign?" (Czepeku blog)
   An introduction for newcomers, with design tips on maps, danger tiers and improvising.

Building an Online TTRPG Toolkit (Stephen Collins)

A four-part series on the tools one new group chose for playing online, from notes and Discord to a virtual tabletop and WestMarches.games:

1. "Part 1: Campaign Record Keeping and Development"
   Keeping campaign notes and homebrew in Obsidian, with the plugins that make it work for tabletop games.
2. "Part 2: Group Communication"
   A full Discord server layout for a game group, channel by channel, and the bots it uses.
3. "Part 3: Play Visualisation"
   Choosing a virtual tabletop, and what D&D Beyond and its Maps VTT can and cannot do.
4. "Part 4: Campaign Management, Scheduling, Economy and Notes"
   Setting up a community on WestMarches.games for a small group, with a review of what is worth using.

Videos

1. "The West Marches | Running the Game" (Matthew Colville)
   An introduction to the West Marches style, and probably the most-watched video on it.
2. "How To Run A West Marches Campaign" (The Arcane Library)
   A broad discussion with tips on running one. Useful for hearing how someone else describes the style.
3. "How to Build A West Marches Campaign (Step by Step Tutorial)" (Enter the Dungeon)
   Walkthrough from concept to session 0.
4. "Make hexmaps easily with THE POWER OF OUTLINES!"
   Drawing hex maps by starting from outlines.
5. "Why 3-mile hexes make HEXCRAWLS fun"
   Hexcrawl scale, and why 3-mile hexes work well for exploration.