Overview 1) There is no regular time: every session is scheduled by the players on the fly. 2) There is no regular party: each game has different players drawn from a pool of around 10-25 people. 3) There is no regular plot: The players decided where to go and what to do. Basically a sandbox game in the sense that’s now used to describe video games like Grand Theft Auto, minus the missions. There was no mysterious old man sending them on quests. No overarching plot, just an overarching environment. **The sessions will be played on Roll20 & Discord in real-time (count about 3-4 hours per session) but we will use the WRITTEN form through Live Text Chat, both for descriptions and player's actions!** My motivation in setting things up this way is to overcome player apathy and mindless “plot following” by putting the players in charge of both scheduling and what they do in-game. A secondary goal is to make the schedule adapt to the complex lives of adults. Ad hoc scheduling and a flexible roster means (ideally) people get to play when they can, but don't hold up the game for everyone else if they can't. If you can play once a week, that’s fine. If you can only play once a month, that’s fine too. Setting: Go West, Young Men & Women! The game is set in a frontier region on the edge of civilization (the eponymous West Marches). There are a couple of convenient fortified towns that marked the farthest outpost of civilization and law, but beyond that is sketchy wilderness. All the PCs are would-be adventurers based in this town. Adventuring is not a common or safe profession, so the player characters are the only ones interested in risking their lives in the wilderness in hopes of making a fortune (NPCs adventurers are few and far between). The landscape is broken up into a variety of regions (Frog Marshes, Cradle Wood, Pike Hollow, etc.) each with its own particular tone, ecology and hazards. There are dungeons, ruins, and caves all over the place, some big and many small. Some are known landmarks (everbody knows where the Sunken Fort is), some are rumored but their exact location is unknown (the Hall of Kings is said to be somewhere in Cradle Wood) and others are completely unknown and only discovered by exploring (search the spider-infested woods and you find the Spider Mound nest). PCs get to explore anywhere they want, the only rule being that going back east is off-limits — there are no adventures in the civilized lands, just peaceful retirement. The environment is dangerous. Very dangerous. That’s intentional, because as the great MUD Nexus teaches us, danger unites. PCs have to work together or they are going to get creamed. They also have to think and pick their battles — since they can go anywhere, there is nothing stopping them from strolling into areas that will wipe them out. If they just strap on their swords and charge everything they see they are going to be rolling up new characters. Players learn to observe their environment and adapt — when they find owlbear tracks in the woods they give the area a wide berth (at least until they gain a few levels). When they stumble into the lair of a terrifying hydra they retreat and round up a huge posse to hunt it down. Scheduling: Players Are In Control The West Marches charter is that games only happen when the players decide to do something — the players initiate all adventures and it’s their job to schedule games and organize an adventuring party once they decide where to go. Players will make Discord posts saying when they want to play and what they want to do. A normal scheduling post would be something like, “I’d like to play Tuesday. I want to go back and look for that ruined monastery we heard out about past the Golden Hills. I know Mike wants to play, but we could use one or two more. Who’s interested?” The only hard scheduling rules are: 1) The GM has to be available that day (obviously) so this system only works if the GM is pretty flexible. 2) The players have to tell the GM where they plan on going well in advance. As much as they can! As the campaign goes on this becomes less and less of a problem, because so many areas are so fleshed out, the PCs can go just about anywhere on the map and hit adventure. The GM can also veto a plan that sounds completely boring and not worth a game session. All other decisions are up to the players — they fight it out among themselves, sometimes literally. How to Join - For Players ᴵᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ʷⁱˢʰ ᵗᵒ ʲᵒⁱⁿ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵍʳᵒᵘᵖ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜᵃᵐᵖᵃⁱᵍⁿ, ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᶠⁱˡˡ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ᵃᵖᵖˡⁱᶜᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᵇᵉˡᵒʷ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ ⁱᵗ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵉ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉ ᵗⁱᵗᵗˡᵉ "Heading West". **Name:** **Pronoun(s):** **Age:** **D&D5e Experience:** **Are you aware this is a Text Only Game:**
