Running West Marches

There are many ways to run a West Marches campaign and there are no rights or wrongs, but if you have no idea where to start, here are some practical tips to get you going.

World and Content Setup

Frontier region
Create a wild area beyond civilization. Divide it into 3–5 subregions with clear themes, dangers, and unique geography.
Hex crawl
Use 3-mile hexes. The GM keeps a keyed map; players explore a blank one they fill in themselves. WestMarches.games provides a built-in hexcrawl map tool for creating interactive hex-based maps.
Adventure sites
Prepare around 8–12 short (five-room) dungeons, 2–3 medium-sized locations, and possibly one megadungeon connecting multiple areas. Use the World Wiki to document locations, rumors, and lore.
Clue web
Every location should point to at least three others through rumors, letters, or objects to keep exploration flowing.
Factions
Design three unrelated groups with independent goals that evolve over time.
Home base
A single safe town used for rest, trading, and planning. Keep it simple and free of scripted storylines.

Scheduling and Communication

WestMarches.games provides a complete platform for managing your campaign, including:

Adventure scheduling
Built-in system for creating sessions with date, time, player limits, and level requirements. Players can sign up and see all available adventures in one place.
Adventure logs
Automatic session tracking with player-written summaries and XP/reward distribution.
Character management
Players create and manage multiple characters with automatic XP tracking, inventory, and reward logs.
World Wiki
Collaborative worldbuilding with pages, categories, and interactive hex maps that players can explore.

WestMarches.games integrates with Discord and requires it for authentication and community setup. Discord serves as the social hub for your community, while westmarches.games handles the organization, scheduling, and tracking.

Session Flow

Start each session in town with the group's declared objective.
Travel through the wilderness using meaningful distances, routes, and risks.
Explore the site and decide when to push deeper or retreat.
Return to town by session end whenever possible.
Players post the session log and update the map.

Progression and Rewards

Use XP, not milestones. It makes progress clearer, measurable, and consistent between multiple tables. WestMarches.games automatically tracks XP and levels for all characters.
Award XP for monsters defeated, treasure recovered, and meaningful discoveries. After each session, GMs distribute XP and rewards through the platform, which automatically updates character sheets.
Calibrate loot and challenge level so all DMs reward at roughly the same rate.
Include non-item rewards like boons, titles, or training to broaden incentives. The reward system supports custom rewards beyond standard items and currency.
Keep the risk-to-reward ratio explicit: higher danger equals better treasure.

Managing Multiple DMs

Share a DM guide with encounter math, loot tables per level, downtime rules, and resurrection policies. Use the World Wiki to create a DM-only section with these guidelines.
Keep a world ledger tracking dates, visited sites, faction progress, and active quests. WestMarches.games automatically maintains an adventure history showing what happened, when, and who participated.
When something changes—site cleared, faction defeated—record it immediately. Update World Wiki pages and use the settings to configure character progression rules consistently across all DMs.

Travel, Time, and Risk

Distances and clocks should matter. Use simple travel and weather rules so choices have cost. For large campaigns spanning multiple regions, the optional Travel feature helps track character locations.
Encourage meaningful danger. Telegraph threats clearly and make retreat a real option.
Encourage multiple characters per player so death or distance does not stall play. WestMarches.games makes it easy for players to manage multiple characters and switch between them for different adventures.

Social Dynamics

Common problems: player cliques, inactive members, uneven loot, or booking paralysis.

Solutions:

Rotate priority so everyone gets turns.
Run mixer sessions with random groups.
Keep loot transparent and standardized.
Promote new DMs with prepared one-shot sites.
Publish conduct and safety guidelines.

GM Prep Workflow

One-page summaries for each site: purpose, map, clues, loot, restock rules.
Rumor tables for each region that feed the clue web.
Track faction progress on a visible calendar.
Keep session prep light and reusable.

Player Responsibilities

Propose and organize sessions.
Keep character sheets updated and portable.
Write brief session reports and update the shared map.
End sessions in town when possible to keep continuity.

Useful Tools

WestMarches.games provides:

Adventure calendar and history — See upcoming sessions and complete history of all adventures.
Interactive hex maps — Create explorable maps that players can view and reference.
World Wiki — Document locations, NPCs, lore, and rumors with pages that link together.
Marketplace — Optional feature for item trading and shopping with automatic inventory updates.
Character sheets — Lightweight tracking for levels, XP, inventory, and custom rewards.
Community settings — Configure roles, permissions, progression rules, and character/adventure properties.

For virtual tabletop gameplay during sessions, most groups use Roll20 or Foundry VTT alongside westmarches.games and Discord.

Quick Start Checklist

Frontier with 3–5 subregions
Three active factions
GM hex map and blank player map
8–12 small sites, 2–3 medium sites
Rumor and clue web
Simple town hub
Shared comms with booking rules
XP and loot standards
DM guide and shared ledger
Safety and culture rules

Start small, keep information moving, and let your players drive the action. The more they feel ownership of the map, rumors, and goals, the more alive your West Marches world will become.