[Information] READ FIRST- New Player Thread

[mightymconeshot]

Welcome to West Marches!

Please be sure to read everything. If you have questions, post in Ask a DM. You may also want to take a look at House Rules.

THE GAME West Marches is a shared world occupied by many PCs and run simultaneously by multiple DMs. As you participate you will likely participate in adventures with a variety of our DMs, and you may even be a DM yourself. Each adventure tends to be fairly short, 2-4 months of real time, though an individual adventure may be part of a much larger story. We think West Marches has multiple advantages over most PbP games, including: - Its survival doesn’t depend on one DM or some particular players. - It provides DMs the opportunity to run small adventures. - It provides players the opportunity to play without a long commitment. The game also has a significant feature that you may like or dislike, or may grow to like: randomness in character creation (see below). This may prohibit you from making exactly the character you want and/or push you to play a character type you wouldn’t normally try. West Marches characters level up by completing adventures. Adventure difficulty is pretty well standardized.

THE SETTING The West Marches setting is dynamic. The individual DMs continue to build it with a lot of individual discretion…and frankly not a ton of communication and collaboration. Does the setting contradict itself? Well, it is large; it contains multitudes. The West Marches consists of Westhaven, where all PCs reside, and vast surrounding areas of unknown size. Westhaven is undoubtedly the only large cosmopolitan settlement anywhere within weeks of travel, but there are smaller humanoid settlements within reach. There is no regular trade or communication with those settlements, though. The overwhelming majority of Westhaven residents are immigrants from places across the sea to the east. Westhaven stands secure, surrounded by a very substantial and well-defended wall. Inside the walls, one may find all of the necessities of the adventuring life, and many relative luxuries as well. The large majority of adventures occur in the wilds outside Westhaven.

CHARACTERS Ability Scores. Generate six scores by rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest roll. Keep rolling a fresh six scores until either you have at least two 15s or you’re otherwise happy with them whichever comes first. Then use those scores for your six abilities, but use them in the order rolled or reverse order – that is, either S/D/C/I/W/CH or CH/W/I/C/D/S. It’s easy to do that by just using “rstat2.” Do your rolls in Lady Luck’s House in one post, editing the post to add more rolls as needed. Example:   Dice Roll: [using: rstat2] 4d6kh3mod 3, 4, 2, 4 (keeping 3,4,4) Total = 11 4d6kh3mod 1, 5, 4, 2 (keeping 2,4,5) Total = 11 4d6kh3mod 5, 2, 1, 3 (keeping 2,3,5) Total = 10 4d6kh3mod 1, 6, 3, 4 (keeping 3,4,6) Total = 13 4d6kh3mod 1, 5, 3, 6 (keeping 3,5,6) Total = 14 4d6kh3mod 6, 4, 5, 5 (keeping 5,5,6) Total = 16 total modifier: 6 There aren't two 15s, so I roll again.   Dice Roll: [using: rstat2] 4d6kh3mod 2, 1, 1, 2 (keeping 1,2,2) Total = 5 4d6kh3mod 5, 2, 1, 5 (keeping 2,5,5) Total = 12 4d6kh3mod 4, 3, 4, 5 (keeping 4,4,5) Total = 13 4d6kh3mod 6, 2, 2, 5 (keeping 2,5,6) Total = 13 4d6kh3mod 1, 5, 6, 2 (keeping 2,5,6) Total = 13 4d6kh3mod 6, 2, 4, 1 (keeping 2,4,6) Total = 12 total modifier: 2 And again.   Dice Roll: [using: rstat2] 4d6kh3mod 5, 5, 3, 2 (keeping 3,5,5) Total = 13 4d6kh3mod 1, 2, 5, 1 (keeping 1,2,5) Total = 8 4d6kh3mod 4, 2, 2, 5 (keeping 2,4,5) Total = 11 4d6kh3mod 3, 3, 2, 3 (keeping 3,3,3) Total = 9 4d6kh3mod 6, 6, 2, 2 (keeping 2,6,6) Total = 14 4d6kh3mod 3, 4, 5, 2 (keeping 3,4,5) Total = 12 total modifier: 2 Yeesh. Dice Roll: [using: rstat2] 4d6kh3mod 1, 6, 2, 3 (keeping 2,3,6) Total = 11 4d6kh3mod 6, 6, 5, 4 (keeping 5,6,6) Total = 17 4d6kh3mod 1, 4, 2, 2 (keeping 2,2,4) Total = 8 4d6kh3mod 4, 5, 6, 6 (keeping 5,6,6) Total = 17 4d6kh3mod 6, 1, 2, 3 (keeping 2,3,6) Total = 11 4d6kh3mod 4, 4, 6, 6 (keeping 4,6,6) Total = 16 total modifier: 8 These are some great rolls, that would allow me to be anything. I could have 11 STR, 17 DEX, etc. down to 16 CHR, or 16 STR, 11 DEX, etc. down to 11 CHR. Race, Class, and Background. 1) You may only use the These include the obvious books, all WotC adventures, all WotC campaign books, and the publications for the tortle and grung."sources" listed as such on D&D Beyond. 2) All options within those books are allowed except: a) Revised versions of races, with flexible ability modifiers. In D&D Beyond terms, you must use the "legacy" version of a race where available. E.g., harengons and owlins get flexible ability bonuses, but elves and goblins do not. b) Feats as part of Backgrounds. "Revised Ranger" (UA) characters existing before May 8, 2022, can remain in that class. When using this, you get only what's on that separate document; you can't mix those features with some from other sources, like Tasha's. We are very liberal about reskinning things, though, as long as it doesn't have a practical impact. If you want to wield a special frying pan that does the same damage as a warhammer and - importantly - cannot be used to make eggs, just ask and you're probably fine. A little note: The optional tressym familiar is not available. Hit Points. Max hp at first level. When leveling up, roll, then take either the roll or the average, whatever’s higher. Starting Money and Gear. Starting money from background +25gp. Starting gear from class and background. At character creation, you may then sell any gear at full value; after that, you may not sell mundane gear. Don't worry about counting arrows and bolts while adventuring, after acquiring your initial batch. Character Sheets. Remember to make your sheet public. Please fill in every slot on your sheet other than XP and weight/location of possessions. Please provide a good description of every race, class, and background ability. The standard is that anyone should be able to run your character without referencing any outside material other than spell descriptions. Please track all financials, including starting money, in the text box under the coin listing. (For some reason the large majority of applicants overlook this requirement.)   +25 WM starting gold +10 background gold -25 climber's kit =10 As you go, you can track adventures completed and down time posts in the notes section at the bottom of the sheet. Applications. When you’re ready, post in the Heroes and Heroines thread, including a link to your sheet (make it public!) and your rolls post. Please teach yourself how to make any image you use a reasonable size. (: Someone will contact you soon about approval, probably by PM. Planning and Joining Adventures. Once your character is approved be sure to post in both On Your Shield (the inn) and Party Planning. If your character has a goal, that’s great! – let it be known. If not, a DM will choose. Either way, build a party and the DM will come. If you have questions about that process or anything else, check out General Discussions and/or Ask a DM. Additional Characters. After completing at least one adventure with a character, you may create and submit a new character, generated the same way. You can only have one character on an adventure at a time, unless you are an active DM. Character Death or Retirement Unless there has been an in-game intervention (like Raise Dead), if a PC dies they are gone. If your PC of second level or higher dies, you may start a new character at the same level as the old, with: 1) credit for the minimum number of adventures to reach that level; and 2) 25% of the total value of the old character's coin and possessions. You may retire a PC at any time, or may choose simply not to use the PC for a while; just remember that must take each character you have made on at least one adventure before you may create a new one. If you choose to retire a PC, you can treat that as a death and follow the rules above.

DUNGEON MASTERS We’ve had a rotation of 5-10 DMs for a while. We collectively decide game-wide decisions and otherwise loosely act mostly independently. Right now, each of us has a separate story arc covering multiple adventures, but we also do one-shot adventures sometimes. We’re eager to bring new DMs on, and ready to help new DMs learn the ropes. It’s a great way to learn DMing without committing to a giant campaign.

Warning: rolls have been deleted from this post.