TEXT: IZIRION’S ENCHIRIDION
  WEST MARCHES
  OF THE
  Dom Liotti & Sam Sorensen
  A CAMPAIGN GUIDE TO THE PERILOUS WILDS
  
  1
  IZIRION’S
  ENCHIRIDION
  OF THE
  WEST MARCHES
  
  2
  FRONT MATTER
  Design, Writing, Editing, and Layout
  Dom Liotti & Sam Sorensen
  Illustrations
  Interior: grandfailure, Dominick, liuzishan, info@nextmars.com, savelov, 
  quickshooting, Friedberg, Anton Altmann, Microstocker, Jagoush, jon 
  manjeot, Cedar, David, v.senkiv, Jakub Krechowicz, Roxana, Gustave 
  Guillaumet, Studio-Fl, khuchera, hyserb, danielegay, Jag_cz, Wirestock, 
  Vasilev Evgenii, and Dom Liotti
  Cover: Matt Cowdery
  Cartography
  Dom Liotti
  Playtesters
  Abby Geaslin, Aidan FitzGerald, A.J. Wigglesworth, Alexandria Ritchie, 
  Allie Sangalli, Braedon Williams, David Joy, David Saltzberg, Dylan 
  McLaughlin, Eden Sullivan, Edward Stafford, Jake Poirier, John Blau, 
  Jordan Mato, Josh VanStry, Kaleb Kronimus, Kay Schwenk, Oliver Leeb, 
  Peter Griffiths, Rohit Girish, Sam Belisle, Sean McLaughlin, Tadeo 
  Menichelli, Wilder Manion, William Gajewski, and William Gallagher.
  Contributing Playtesters
  Jake Poirier, John Blau, Sean McLaughlin, and William Gallagher.
  Special Thanks
  Chris Cascioli, Danielle Pafunda, David Simkins, Steven Lumpkin, and 
  Trent Hergenrader.
  Izirion’s Enchiridion of the West Marches
  Copyright 2020 © Dom Liotti & Sam Sorensen.
  Original West Marches Concept
  Ben Robbins
  Typefaces
  Body text: Adobe Text Pro
  Subheadings: Futura PT
  Section Headings: Modesto Poster
  Cover & Chapter Titles: Friz Quadrata Bold
  Izirion Notes: Givry
  Zadrok Notes: Rollerscript
  Copyright
  Printed and distributed by DriveThruRPG and OneBookShelf.
  This book was produced using the Adobe Creative Suite.
  Production
  Touchstones
  Games: Dark Souls by From Software, Darkest Dungeon by Red Hook 
  Studios, Destiny by Bungie, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by 
  Nintendo EPD.
  Theme Song: “Markhor” by Black Tremor
  omne ignotum pro magnifico
  @DomLiotti
  @HeadOfTheGoat
  A Goat’s Head game
  Legal
  Redistribution without prior written consent is prohibited. Permission 
  is granted to photocopy and otherwise reproduce for personal use. All 
  authors retain the right to be identified as such. In all cases this notice 
  must remain intact.
  The mechanics and theory herein may be remixed, adapted, and built 
  upon freely, without express prior consent from the creators.
  On the Cover
  Matt Cowdery illustrates the kobold scribe Zadrok 
  cowering from the fearsome dragon-tyrant, Izirion 
  the Black Dread, as he lords over the ruins of a once-
  mighty empire.
  Disclaimer: We, Dom & Sam, are not to blame when player characters die 
  horribly at the hands of random encounters, unexpected boss crits, or from 
  ignoring clear dungeon telegraphing. Furthermore, we are not responsible 
  for player character deaths incurred by freezing weather, wild beasts, very 
  long drops, wandering too far from home, making deals with dragons, 
  mishearing lore, or bringing only one waterskin.
  
  3
  Dedicated to all those who raised a glass at
  the Last Chance Inn & Taproom.
  
  4
  CONTENTS
  Front Matter ............................................ 2
  Contents .................................................. 4
  What Is This Book? ................................... 8
  Safety Tools .............................................................................................. 6
  Content Warnings .................................................................................... 6
  Racism & Colonialism ............................................................................. 6
  History of the West Marches ................................................................... 8
  Two Warnings .......................................................................................... 8
  Why Play? ................................................................................................. 8
  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............9
  Overview of Elements .............................10
  The Group .............................................................................................. 10
  Non-Fifth Edition Systems ................................................................. 11
  The Edge of the Map .............................................................................. 11
  Understand the Base Game First........................................................ 11
  The Town ................................................................................................ 12
  Missions .................................................................................................. 13
  Why Players Schedule Their Own Sessions ......................................... 13
  The Map .................................................................................................. 14
  The Shared Subjectivity of the Map .................................................... 14
  Emergent Narrative ............................................................................... 14
  Hacking the Game.................................................................................. 14
  CHAPTER II: SURVIVAL & TRAVEL ... 15
  Travel .....................................................16
  Watches .................................................................................................. 16
  Travel Activities ..................................................................................... 16
  Altering Travel Activities ................................................................... 17
  Travel Pace ............................................................................................. 17
  Travel Pace ............................................................................................. 17
  Shelter & Sleeping ................................................................................. 18
  The Details of Sleeping Conditions ..................................................... 18
  Tracking .................................................................................................. 18
  Tracking Difficulty ................................................................................ 18
  Navigation .............................................................................................. 18
  Objective Navigation ........................................................................ 19
  Slightly Lost ........................................................................................... 19
  Significantly Lost ................................................................................... 19
  Weather ................................................ 20
  Precipitation ........................................................................................... 20
  Precipitation .......................................................................................... 20
  Wind Speed ............................................................................................ 21
  Wind Speed ............................................................................................ 21
  Temperature ........................................................................................... 21
  Hazardous Weather .......................................................................... 21
  Food & Water ........................................ 22
  Survival ................................................................................................... 22
  Foraging .................................................................................................. 22
  Food & Water Requirements ............................................................. 22
  Cleanliness.............................................................................................. 23
  Water Cleanliness .................................................................................. 23
  Food Cleanliness ................................................................................... 23
  Surveying & Hunting .............................. 24
  Surveying ............................................................................................... 24
  Survey Difficulty .................................................................................... 24
  The Purpose of Surveying .................................................................. 24
  Hunting ................................................................................................... 25
  Harvesting Quarry ................................................................................. 25
  Harvestable Parts by Size ..................................................................... 25
  Harvest Difficulty .................................................................................. 25
  Hazards ................................................ 26
  Weather Hazards .................................................................................... 26
  Terrain Hazards ...................................................................................... 27
  Combining Hazards .......................................................................... 27
  Hazard Occurrence Chance .................................................................. 28
  Hazard Occurrence Chance by Environment .................................... 28
  Altering Hazard Chances .................................................................. 28
  CHAPTER III: WORLDBUILDING .....29
  The Town ............................................... 30
  Principles of the Town ........................................................................... 30
  Attacks on the Town ......................................................................... 30
  The Town Itself ...................................................................................... 31
  Town Types ............................................................................................ 31
  Town Buildings ...................................................................................... 31
  Magic Item Crafting ............................................................................... 32
  Gold in Magic Item Crafting .............................................................. 33
  Craftspeople & Artificers ...................................................................... 33
  Why Adventurers Don’t Craft ............................................................ 34
  Craftsperson Features ............................................................................ 34
  Crafting is Not Required .................................................................... 34
  Material & Craftsperson Tiers............................................................... 35
  Material Tier by Challenge Rating ...................................................... 35
  Designing Additional Materials ......................................................... 35
  Regions ................................................. 36
  Principles of Regions ............................................................................. 36
  Danger Level .......................................................................................... 37
  Why Have Danger Level? .................................................................. 37
  Environment .......................................................................................... 38
  Environments ........................................................................................ 38
  Generating More Environments ......................................................... 38
  Climate ................................................................................................... 38
  Climates .................................................................................................. 38
  Landforms & Structures ........................................................................ 39
  Landforms & Structures ....................................................................... 39
  Landforms and Description............................................................... 39
  Bigger is Older is Badder ................................................................... 39
  Modifiers ................................................................................................ 40
  Region Modifiers ................................................................................... 40
  Inhabitants .............................................................................................. 41
  Earning Inhabitants’ Evil Status ........................................................ 41
  Legendary Monster ............................................................................... 41
  Encounters ............................................................................................. 42
  Encounter Chance Conditions ............................................................ 43
  Factions ................................................. 44
  Principles of Factions ............................................................................ 44
  Territory & Influence ............................................................................ 45
  Tools, Not Rules ................................................................................ 45
  Theming .................................................................................................. 46
  Faction Themes ...................................................................................... 46
  Themes as Themes ............................................................................. 46
  Bases ....................................................................................................... 47
  Faction Bases ......................................................................................... 47
  Bases, Territory, and Landmarks ...................................................... 47
  Motivation .............................................................................................. 48
  Faction Goals ......................................................................................... 48
  Population .............................................................................................. 49
  Faction Population ................................................................................ 49
  Development .......................................................................................... 49
  Faction Development ........................................................................... 49
  Content Notes .......................................... 6
  
  5
  Dungeons .............................................. 50
  Principles of Dungeons.......................................................................... 50
  Types of Dungeons ................................................................................ 51
  Dungeon Types ...................................................................................... 51
  Layers of Dungeon History ................................................................... 51
  Danger Level .......................................................................................... 52
  On Return ............................................................................................... 52
  Dungeon Ecology .................................................................................. 53
  While You Were Away… ........................................................................ 54
  Keep Telegraphing ............................................................................ 54
  Dungeon Bosses ..................................................................................... 55
  Why Have Bosses Scaled to Their Dungeons? ...................................... 55
  Treasure Rooms ..................................................................................... 56
  Expanding Treasure Rooms .............................................................. 56
  Encounter Design .................................................................................. 57
  Loot ........................................................................................................ 58
  Attach History to Things Players Care About ...................................... 58
  Connecting It All ............................................................................... 58
  CHAPTER IV: NARRATIVE ...............59
  Mechanics & Narrative ........................... 60
  Principles of Mechanical Narratives ..................................................... 60
  Do Not Fudge Dice ................................................................................ 61
  Dice Rolls in Preparing vs. Running ................................................... 61
  Verisimilitude ......................................................................................... 62
  Planning & the Sandbox ........................................................................ 62
  Communicate These Principles .......................................................... 62
  Lore ....................................................... 63
  Principles of Lore .................................................................................. 63
  Layers of History .................................................................................... 64
  Hard Timeline Math ......................................................................... 64
  Items, Artifacts, & Treasure .................................................................. 65
  Multiple Perspectives ............................................................................ 65
  Legends & Reality .................................................................................. 65
  NPCs ....................................................................................................... 66
  Emergent Narrative ................................67
  Regions, Weather, & Encounters .......................................................... 67
  What “Emergent” Really Means ........................................................ 67
  Indexical Storytelling ............................................................................. 68
  Show, Don’t Tell ..................................................................................... 69
  Why Tell Emergent Stories ................................................................ 69
  Player Narrative .................................... 70
  Ongoing Mysteries ................................................................................. 70
  Player Backstories .................................................................................. 70
  Investment Over Time ........................................................................... 70
  CHAPTER V: APPENDICES .............. 71
  Appendix I: Player Options .....................72
  Reasons for Leaving .............................................................................. 72
  Feats for the West Marches ................................................................... 73
  Rangers and Getting Lost ...................................................................... 74
  Background Features ............................................................................. 74
  Epic Boons ............................................................................................. 74
  Modified Equipment ............................................................................. 74
  The Beaten Path ............................................................................... 74
  Progression Options .............................................................................. 75
  Character Tiers ...................................................................................... 75
  Experience Points .................................................................................. 75
  Discovery Experience ........................................................................... 75
  On Playing in Real Time ................................................................... 76
  Appendix II: Step-by-Step Examples .......77
  Example Region ..................................................................................... 77
  Swamp Encounters ............................................................................... 79
  Example Faction .................................................................................... 80
  Linking Factions Together ................................................................. 81
  Example Dungeon ................................................................................. 82
  More Than Just Loot ......................................................................... 84
  Tying It All Together ............................................................................. 86
  Unknown Names .............................................................................. 86
  How Many of Each? ......................................................................... 86
  Appendix III: The Sisters Gaunt ...............87
  Placing the Coven .................................................................................. 87
  The Sisters .............................................................................................. 87
  Coven XP ......................................................................................... 87
  Sybil Gaunt ............................................................................................. 88
  Morgan Gaunt ........................................................................................ 89
  Gertrude Gaunt ...................................................................................... 89
  Rothollow ............................................................................................... 90
  Gaunt Coven Minions ............................................................................ 92
  The Coven in Combat ............................................................................ 95
  Services from the Sisters ....................................................................... 96
  Oracular Insights ................................................................................... 97
  Spell Scrolls for Sale.............................................................................. 97
  Magical Trinkets for Sale ...................................................................... 97
  Appendix IV: Magic Items .....................100
  Appendix V: Crafting Materials .............103
  Appendix VI: OSR Conversion ...............106
  Hitpoints & Lethality............................................................................106
  The Old School Renaissance .............................................................106
  Ability Modifiers & Difficulty Classes..................................................107
  Saving Throws .......................................................................................107
  Carry Weight .........................................................................................107
  Conditions & Exhaustion .....................................................................107
  Monsters ................................................................................................107
  Appendix VII: Conditions & Exhaustion .108
  Appendix VIII: Tables ............................109
  Travel & Navigation ..............................................................................109
  Weather .................................................................................................109
  Survival & Hunting ...............................................................................110
  The Town ...............................................................................................110
  Region Building ....................................................................................111
  Encounters ............................................................................................112
  Factions .................................................................................................113
  Dungeons...............................................................................................114
  Gaunt Coven .........................................................................................115
  Discovery ..............................................................................................116
  Player Details ........................................................................................116
  Names ....................................................................................................118
  Generic Lore .........................................................................................120
  Titles & Epithets ...................................................................................122
  Appendix IX: Kickstarter Backers ..........124
  Open Game License ..............................125
  Index ....................................................126
  
  6
  CONTENT NOTES
  SAFETY TOOLS
  Playing a tabletop roleplaying game is usually fun, but there can be 
  moments of stress and fear and uncertainty. These can oftentimes be good: 
  tension is good for any story, and moments of difficulty will make your 
  game a more rewarding experience. 
   
  That said, it’s important that you, both players and GMs (and 
  audience members, if you have them), all feel safe at the table. Making 
  certain that everyone still feels comfortable and secure—even during those 
  moments of intensity—is more important whatever game you’re playing. 
   
  We have two main safety tools to recommend; there are many 
  more out there and we encourage you to do your own research, but these 
  two are robust and reliable.
  Lines & Veils
  Lines & veils are two kinds of limits in the game. 
   
  Lines are not to be crossed: anything designated as a line will 
  not come up in game. They are places and topics that the game will not go.
   
  Veils are things that, while they can come up in-game, will be 
  “panned away” from, or “fade-to-black” moments. Veiled moments are 
  things that happen in the story of the game, but don’t get a spotlight or 
  significant screentime. They can be dealt with, but avoid graphic details. 
   
  Lines and veils both should be discussed before play begins: 
  give all players at the table a chance to declare them before the moment 
  might arise. It’s a chance to let everyone decide how comfortable they are 
  ahead of time.
  The X-Card
  The X-Card is an optional tool created by John Stavropoulos that 
  allows anyone in your game (including you, the GM) to edit out any 
  content anyone is uncomfortable with as you play. Since most RPGs are 
  improvisational and we won’t know what will happen until it happens, it’s 
  possible the game will go in a direction people don’t want. An X-Card is a 
  simple tool to fix problems as they arise. 
   
  To use, at the start of your game, simply say:
  “I’d like your help. Your help to make this game fun for everyone. If 
  anything makes anyone uncomfortable in any way… [draw X on an index 
  card] …just lift this card up, or simply tap it [place card at the center of the 
  table]. You don’t have to explain why. It doesn’t matter why. When we lift 
  or tap this card, we simply edit out anything X-Carded. And if there is ever 
  an issue, anyone can call for a break and we can talk privately. I know it 
  sounds funny but it will help us play amazing games together and usually 
  I’m the one who uses the X card to protect myself from all of you! Please 
  help make this game fun for everyone. Thank you!”
  CONTENT WARNINGS
  The content of the West Marches as a format does not significantly deviate 
  from that of the base game. There will be wilderness to explore, dungeons 
  to delve, monsters to slay, friends to acquaint, and treasure to be unearthed. 
   
  It’s likely, however, that the West Marches will be perhaps more 
  grim than an ordinary game. Friends will likely be fewer and farther between, 
  the wilds will be more precarious, and the chances of losing allies will be 
  higher. Violence, stress, certain horrors, and foul language are quite common.
   
  If any of that is likely to make you or your players uncomfortable, 
  it’s worth having a frank discussion ahead of time about expectations for the 
  game. Using the aforementioned safety tools will certainly help, and a GM 
  can certainly bend and shift the tone of the game, but it will not be easy.
   
  If it turns out that someone at the table doesn’t want to play 
  given the content of the game, that’s fine! Far better to have them realize 
  that a game is not for them and be able to make a graceful exit than to get in 
  deep and have to back out. 
   
  If you realize that this game isn’t for you, don’t feel bad for a 
  moment about not playing. The West Marches is a very specific game, and 
  is certainly not for everyone
  RACISM & COLONIALISM
  Since its inception in the ‘70s, the base game itself has had profound issues 
  surrounding racism and the colonialist mindset. Fifth Edition has done 
  little to mitigate these issues, and if anything, the West Marches only make 
  the longstanding rot more visible.
   
  What does it mean to have a colonialist mindset? Consider, for a 
  moment, the basic act of an adventure. You, the adventurer, travel far from 
  home, break into a fortified location, kill or drive out its inhabitants, and 
  then take everything of value they own. Afterwards, you return home, rich 
  and wealthy, and are lauded as heroes. 
   
  You see how this might be an issue? It’s only compounded by 
  the fact that the game’s reward systems inherently push you towards this 
  sort of behavior: by default, the most prominent means to advance your 
  characters are through combat, where you must defeat creatures, typically 
  by killing them. 
   
  Now, granted, it’s one thing to fight off dragons, beasts, and 
  demons. They are more or less universally villainous, and the players can 
  usually observe them being greedy, heartless, murderous monsters. 
   
  However, it’s entirely another when the villains are people. 
  Consider drow, duergar, orcs, goblins: the standing mythology that the 
  game is built on presents them as fully sentient, and often organized into 
  fully-fledged societies. Whether or not your specific style of managing the 
  game as a GM explores the marginalization of these societies in thought-
  provoking play, the mechanics and language that comprise the fiber of 
  the game itself presents them as villains. Reading the rules as they are laid 
  down, the game generalizes villainy and evil to entire groups of people, and 
  that their murder and conquest is most always justified.
   
  This is racist.
   
  A good GM can solve a lot of this, yes. They can remove racial 
  stat modifiers, they can build a complex and nuanced world with myriad 
  people, and they can emphasize empathy, compassion, and community-
  building. 
   
  The challenge is that the rules, as written, will be fighting 
  that GM at practically every turn along the way. It’s impossible not to 
  acknowledge the damaging, dehumanizing elements of the game as it is 
  currently written. The game is one that analogs existing racist attitudes in 
  real life; though this isn’t a problem in itself, by the nature of its construction 
  it rewards those that take these exploitative and colonialist behaviors to the 
  extreme.
   
  All that said, the game is extremely fun. It brings a great deal of 
  imagination, creativity, and joy to thousands—if not millions—of people. 
  You can and should continue to enjoy the game, even with all of its flaws. 
  But you must acknowledge those flaws. 
  In the West Marches, you will travel to a distant, uncharted land in search 
  of fame, glory, and riches. Even if the Marches are solely inhabited by 
  the most despicable of all creatures, foul devils and shambling undead 
  and otherworldly aberrations, characters in the West Marches are not 
  inherently heroic.
   
  True heroism comes from reforming and advancing the existing 
  systems of society to make significant changes that benefit everyone, 
  including the marginalized and oppressed. Slaying dragons and looting 
  tombs is fun, but don’t make the mistake of allowing the spirit of adventure 
  to dull your sensibilities to the deeper questions that prod endemically at 
  the seams of the game.
  
  7
  Blue Sidebars
  Blue sidebars are here to explicate topics further; they’re a chance for us, 
  Dom & Sam, to say “here is exactly what this means and why we did it.” 
  They’re usually around tricky or unusual concepts, or else trying to explain 
  some particularly decision we made in the design process. 
   
  You should read them your first time through.
  Green Sidebars
  Green sidebars exist to give suggestions and advice on making the game your 
  own. They offer possibilities for hacking, adjustments, and modifications to 
  the game; green sidebars are us, Dom & Sam, saying “if we were going to 
  change the game, here is how we would do it.”
   
  You should read them as you build your Marches. 
  Red Sidebars
  Red sidebars are direct advice to you, the GM. They’re suggestions, 
  guidance, rules of thumb, and hard points you need to be sure to do or not 
  do. Red sidebars are us, Dom & Sam, telling you “here is something that 
  you absolutely should make sure to do (or not do).”
   
  You should read them as you get ready to run at the table.
  Greetings and Salutations,
  My name is Izirion, the Black Dread, and here in 
  your hands you hold my Enchiridion, the sum total 
  of all my knowledge of my domain. In your tongue, 
  this region is known as the West Marches, and it 
  has been the object of desire for many a hero.
  All the tales you have been told are true: the 
  Marches are harsh, brutal, unforgiving, callous, 
  and filled with riches beyond your wildest dreams. 
  This was once a land of gods and heroes, and now 
  it lies in ruins. 
  Every adventurer, every treasure hunter, every 
  hopeful hero that has come to the Marches has 
  failed.  Frozen, starved, drowned, decapitated, 
  boiled, dissovled, petrified, cursed, infected, torn to 
  shreds, or stabbed in the back by a comrade—every 
  single adventurer meets their fate. 
  For the past few centuries, I enjoyed my easy 
  dominance, my unquestioned conquest. But 
  now, as I grow older and wiser, I seek a new 
  challenge. Idle wanderers and foolhardy crusaders 
  grow weary, as do petty scholars and wayward 
  scavengers. I have slain and tortured each ten times 
  over, and now I grow bored. 
  It is for this reason that you now see  my 
  Enchiridion before you. It is here to instruct you, 
  to train you, to guide your hands and eyes in the 
  ways of the Marches.  I have a need of a new class 
  of hero, one forged in blood and steel, a hero that 
  can match the ferocity of the Marches. 
  It is my hope that, in time, you will rise to the 
  occasion. That you will climb bitter peaks and 
  crawl overgrown valleys. That you will delve into 
  the ruins, uncover lost secrets, and slay mighty 
  beasts. That you will not merely survive in the 
  Marches, but will truly come to thrive within its 
  wild heart. 
  And that one day, you will come and face me, that 
  I will finally have a worthy foe whose skulls I will 
  take no small pleasure in boiling.
  —Izirion, the Black Dread
  Hello! 
  You’ve already read the Big Guy’s introduction, 
  that’s good! My name’s Zadrok, and I’m the Big 
  Guy’s personal scribe: it’s my job to write down 
  everything he says for the shiny new Enchiridion.
   Of course, as a right proper scribe, it’s also my 
  job to make sure that the meaning is clear, so 
  I’ve left lots of helpful commentary throughout 
  in addition to the Big Guy’s notes. After all, we 
  kobolds have a somewhat different outlook on life 
  than dragons.
  Still, I hope—both for your sake and mine—that 
  you find the words written inside the Enchiridion 
  both instructive and helpful. If they’re not, the 
  Big Guy will get angry, and then boil the skin off 
  of my skull instead. And that wouldn’t be very 
  much fun at all.
  Anyhow, just wanted to introduce myself and 
  make sure you knew who I was. Bye now!
  —Zadrok the Scribe
  
  8
  WHAT IS THIS BOOK?
  Izirion’s Enchiridion of the West Marches is a book that provides you and 
  your table with all of the tools necessary to run a game in the style of the 
  West Marches, which is a close variant of the West Marches, originally 
  devised by Ben Robbins around the year 2000.
   
  Within this book, there are rules to add into your game: systems 
  for governing weather and travel and special NPCs and more. It’s important 
  to note that these systems are not content. They aren’t encounters or 
  monsters or scenarios, but rules that adjudicate parts of the game that 
  previously lacked mechanical detail. The rules that deal with wilderness 
  survival, for example, add complexity and depth such that players must now 
  make critical decisions while weighing risk and reward when travelling, 
  much as they would in combat. 
   
  These rules are GM-facing; they’ll affect the players for sure, but 
  will most often take the form of systemic challenges that players will have 
  to react to or overcome rather than deploy directly. It’s helpful for players 
  to know, and it’s encouraged for players to familiarize themselves with the 
  broad strokes of these rules, but you should feel free to teach them as play 
  occurs, rather than beforehand.
   
  In addition to rules, this book contains a number of guidelines, 
  principles, and toolsets for creating content. A lot of this content is built 
  into the world: regions, dungeons, NPCs, encounters, that sort of thing. 
  For creating these, this book contains numerous tables, charts, and step-
  by-step guides, so you can easily create excellent content for your players. 
   
  Some of the guides, however, are a little less tangible. They 
  cover more philosophical and theoretical content, delving into narrative, 
  design, emotion, aesthetics, and more. These have less concrete step-by-
  step instructions, and instead provide you with insight and advice to weigh 
  and consider. 
   
  Finally, the book also includes a collection of suggestions, rules 
  tweaks, and modifications from the base game to the West Marches. This 
  tackles stuff like encumbrance and carry weight, making mess kits actually 
  helpful, and sorting out vague background features. It also includes a little 
  player-facing content, like new feats!
   
  In many ways, this book is primarily for GMs, but it has a fair 
  amount of player-facing rules as well. You can expect to use it as such.
  HISTORY OF THE WEST MARCHES
  Around the year 2000, a game designer by the name of Ben Robbins began 
  running a game of 3rd Edition called the West Marches. It was, in his own 
  words, the diametric opposite of an ordinary game. It had no set meeting 
  time, no regular party, and no regular plot. 
   
  Instead, there was a pool of about 10-15 players, they formed 
  their own parties and set their own times, and they explored where they 
  chose. It was dangerous, gritty, and harkened back to the old days of the 
  game, back to B/X (despite playing Third Edition), when things were a 
  little less heroic and little more deadly.
   
  Since then, the West Marches as a format has always been 
  popular among the community. Thousands of games in the style have been 
  attempted, and significantly fewer have actually succeeded in doing so. Not 
  none, certainly, but fewer than the number attempted. 
   
  Our hope is to provide a baseline from which campaigns can grow.
  TWO WARNINGS
  Before you embark on a game set in the West Marches, there are two 
  important pieces of information, two warnings, you should know:
   
  First, a West Marches game is a lot of work. For the GM and 
  players alike, more effort will be demanded than in an ordinary game. For 
  the GM, the Marches demand a layered and complex history, in-depth 
  maps and environment design, myriad dungeons and encounters, and a 
  flexible schedule for missions. For players, the Marches demand critical 
  thinking, map-making, note-taking, risk analysis, social organization, and 
  a level of proactive engagement most tables do not ask for. 
  WHY PLAY?
  There are three reasons to run a game in the style of the West Marches:
  Increased Flexibility
  In the West Marches, parties for specific sessions of play are taken from a 
  larger player roster. That means that not everyone has to play at the same 
  time. No cancelling sessions because a player or two can’t make it, and no 
  guilt from only being able to play on an irregular basis.
   
  Since each individual player is not necessarily meant to go 
  on every adventure, the responsibilities of scheduling sessions and 
  determining who will play in them are largely shifted onto the players 
  themselves. Provided that an open channel of communication is available 
  between the GM and all of the players in the roster, much less coordination 
  is required to find time to play than a traditional campaign setting demands.
  Emergent Narrative
  The stories you can tell in the Marches are like no other in tabletop games. 
  As you, the players, play the game, the impact of your actions will be felt 
  far and wide. They will affect the NPC and factions, certainly, but they also 
  will spread to the other players as well. There is something truly magical 
  about stumbling upon the site of a battle, corpses and burn marks scattered 
  around, only to discover the telltale evidence that this was your allies’ 
  doing, rather than your enemies.
   
  The narrative of the West Marches is intrinsically tied to the 
  mechanics of the game: where you go and what you do as players is the 
  story. The GM has no preset plot: your fate lies in your hands. Once you 
  grasp the liberation that comes from wholly determining your own story, 
  there is nothing else like it.
  The Game At Its Fullest
  The West Marches are, in many ways, a more complete fulfillment of the 
  promise of the game. Many spells, abilities, and features that seem weak 
  or lacking in the base game blossom in the Marches. When you must carry 
  all of your gear on your back, for example, Strength is vitally important. 
  Likewise, even the most basic of cantrips, say, mending, become vitally 
  important: when your rope snaps thirty miles from town, being able to 
  ensure that it holds secure can become tantamount to survival.
   
  In a lot of ways, the West Marches harken back to the older 
  days of the game, and embrace its vision more wholeheartedly. This is 
  not to besmirch more modern attitudes found in Fifth Edition, just that 
  there perhaps might be something lost in the more bombastic, spectacular 
  games of today. If you yearn for ancient tombs and bloodthirsty beasts, for 
  sweeping mountains and haunted woods, for true risk and breathtaking 
  danger—the Marches are the place for you.
  Second, a West Marches game excludes certain kinds of campaigns. 
  Intensely political campaigns, for example, will struggle, as royal courts and 
  cunning advisors are far and few between in the wilderness of the Marches. 
  Likewise, any campaign set in the Marches will involve a large amount of 
  exploring, travel, resource management, and rough-and-tumble gameplay. 
  If this does not sound like your kind of game, you’d best look elsewhere. 
   
  If either of these turn you off, that’s perfectly okay! Once again, 
  it’s far better to realize that before the campaign begins and make an 
  informed decision—if you commit too far, leaving becomes all the messier. 
   
  Likewise, the Marches are not all that Fifth Edition or any other 
  game has to offer! Many campaigns would have absolutely no use for the 
  rules, guidelines, and content found here, and that’s fine.
  Do everything my Enchiridion says and keep 
  your wits about you, and you shall find that 
  there is absolutely no need for luck. The West 
  Marches are a place of gritted teeth and bloody 
  knuckles: do not give in to superstition. 
  If you do manage to survive the Marches, 
  make sure that you thank us when you meet 
  us. Good luck out there—you’ll need it!
  
  9
  CHAPTER I
  INTRODUCTION
  
  10
  OVERVIEW OF ELEMENTS
  Unlike an ordinary game, the West Marches have no set party. Instead, 
  there are a collection of players, referred to as the “player pool.” Each of 
  these players plays a character, all of these characters together are called 
  the “character roster.” Finally, each individual mission that goes out will be 
  composed of a party; these are called “mission parties.”
   
  Unlike an ordinary party, there can be well over six players in a 
  West Marches game. It can easily reach ten, fifteen, even twenty players; 
  the more players, the more demanding the game, but it is entirely doable. 
  As a rule of thumb, you should expect to run about one session for every 
  five players, per week. Ten to twelve players is a good starting number.
  The Player Pool
  The player pool is the group of players that play in your West Marches 
  game. The player pool is where mission parties come from. If your player 
  pool has, say, a dozen players, only a fraction of those will be going out 
  on individual missions, but all dozen are players within the West Marches 
  game as a whole.
   
  The player pool is, like all tables, a social group. People gather 
  together to play a game, yes, but at the end of the day, the game is a social 
  function. 
  More so than an ordinary game, a West Marches game has intricate, 
  complex social dynamics. At a regular table, there is a scheduled meeting 
  time with a standard group of people, making it easy for players to find their 
  place. It might take a few sessions, but there is a reliable social structure to 
  fall back on, and thus most every player will find their particularly social 
  niche.
   
  This is not necessarily the case in a West Marches game. Players 
  will be at different levels of experience with the game, different levels 
  of familiarity with players, and different levels of power as characters. 
  Because mission parties are self-decided, it’s possible that some players will 
  feel sidelined, overlooked, or left out.
   
  The Marches are a complex beast. As GM, you should keep an 
  eye on the proceedings; it’s impossible to ensure that everyone is happy 
  all the time, but there are things you can do to help. If one mission party is 
  playing together all the time, break them up; if one player is domineering 
  all missions, have them sit out; if there are serious complaints, take the time 
  to listen and respond. Remember that the comfort and wellbeing of players 
  always takes precedence over the game at the table.
  The Character Roster
  The character roster is the collection of player characters that are the main 
  adventurers in your West Marches game. Where the player pool is the 
  group of players, the character roster is the group of characters. Mission 
  parties draw from the character roster, just as they draw from the player 
  pool. 
   
  Ordinary parties of adventurers are united bands of heroes, 
  bound together by common cause. A character roster can and often does 
  share a similar unity, but this isn’t always the case. Everyone in the roster 
  is an adventurer, yes, and they all do traverse out into the wilds of the 
  Marches, yes, but their reasons for doing so vary wildly.
   
  Some adventurers in the roster are treasure-seekers and fortune-
  finders, out for gold and riches; some are questing individuals, looking to 
  achieve some lofty aim or goal; and some others are refugees or outcasts, 
  come to the Marches with nowhere else to go. 
   
  This disunity, while it can cause contentions, is usually an asset. 
  It drives characters and missions in different directions, sparks unusual 
  tensions, and pushes good interpersonal drama. The West Marches are a 
  strange and varied place, and so it fits that its explorers would be equally 
  strange and varied.
  Mission Parties
  As missions are decided, parties to achieve those missions will be formed. 
  Generally, a mission party should be no less than three people, and no 
  more than six. If you’re confident in your GM’ing ability to provide fun, 
  engaging, and functional play outside those bounds, feel free to expand 
  them—but three to six is a good baseline.
   
  How and why mission parties are formed is wholly up to the 
  players. Perhaps they’re choosing their friends and close confidants for 
  a tightly-knit group; perhaps they’re choosing the most effective and 
  uniquely-suited characters for an efficient party; most likely, though, 
  they’ll choose whoever can play at the same time they can.
   
  If you, the GM, notice that a particular subset of your player 
  pool has spent several missions in a row together, encourage them to 
  fragment, to find other players to go out with. Variety is the spice of life, 
  and so encouraging your players to swap around their mission parties will 
  keep things interesting.
   
  Once a mission party has been formed, it progresses much like 
  an ordinary party at an ordinary table. They have different classes and roles, 
  and have to work together to succeed.
  THE GROUP
  So many adventurers. So much grist for the mill. 
  
  11
  Non-Fifth Edition Systems
  While the Enchiridion is written with Fifth Edition in mind, it is still largely 
  compatible with most fantasy tabletop roleplaying games—particularly 
  OSR games, which share much of their blood with Fifth Edition, and even 
  more with its antecedents. 
   
  Whether you’re a fresh beginner to Fifth Edition or a veteran 
  OSR player, we encourage you to broaden your horizons. Read other 
  systems, take your favorite bits and pieces from them, and then add them 
  to your game. The Enchiridion, like most OSR and OSR-adjacent books, is 
  meant to be hacked and modified. You can and should adjust, tweak, and 
  alter the rules and content found here to be more fitting for your table and 
  your own Marches.
   
  A more thorough guide to converting Fifth Edition to common 
  OSR systems can be found in Appendix VI, on page 106.
  Understand the Base Game First
  Before you go any further, you should know the base game, regardless 
  of which system you’re using. Read the core books. Understand the 
  mechanics. Play in a campaign. Learn how the dynamic of the table works. 
  Make some dungeons and adventures. Be able to design monsters and 
  magic items from scratch. Run a few sessions. Gain experience.
   
  While we will occasionally tweak, alter, or replace existing rules 
  in the base game, the vast majority of the content here builds on the core 
  content of Fifth Edition or whatever other system you’re using; this is in no 
  way a wholesale replacement for those rules. 
   
  Make sure you go and read those rules, and know them well. 
  This book will still be here when you’re done.
  The West Marches themselves are a vast stretch of territory located to the 
  west of the known world. They are off the edge of every known map, and 
  are rumored to hold great riches, horrifying monsters, and ancient ruins. 
  Almost anyone who has ever ventured into the Marches has not returned.
   
  At the eastern edge of the Marches, at the end of the western-
  most road, there is a town. This is where the adventure starts, and this is the 
  place to which every mission will return. The town itself is small, quiet, and 
  rather boring —there is no adventure there.
   
  To the east lies the Empire: vast, all-encompassing, and 
  civilized. How your players’ characters lived in the Empire before they 
  came to the Marches does matter, but don’t waste your time drawing maps 
  or writing lore. Players will fill in the details they need about the Empire, 
  but it shouldn’t be a point of interest. All that matters is that to the east lies 
  boredom and retirement, so every adventurer should be looking west. 
   
  While nearly everyone who has gone into the Marches has not 
  returned, there is one exception: about a hundred years ago, a group of 
  adventurers did manage to survive, and found riches in the process. These 
  adventurers are all dead or gone now, as is their map, but their legacy 
  endures—the townsfolk might remember them, and their bodies and 
  equipment might still lie somewhere in the west. 
   
  Still, the West Marches are extremely dangerous. Anyone who 
  ventures out without planning or preparation will surely perish, and thus 
  any adventurer that wishes to be successful must be clever, resourceful, and 
  willing to take risks. For those who can manage this, however, the Marches 
  are full of discovery, wealth, and secrets.
   
  Remember, the West Marches are at their best when players are 
  in over their heads.
  THE EDGE OF THE MAP
  
  12
  The town is one of the central constructs in a West Marches game: it is the 
  safe haven that players both leave from and return to. Every mission begins 
  in the town, and every mission ends at the town. It’s where characters can 
  safely rest, talk, re-equip, make plans, and decide missions.
  THE TOWN
  The town is always safe. Whether this comes from thick walls, a secluded 
  location, magical wards, or some other means, it must be true. When the 
  characters return to town, they must know that no harm may come to them. 
   
  Don’t over-worry yourself with the narrative behind this, and 
  don’t create some highly convoluted reason for it. In all likelihood, the 
  town is so small and inconsequential that any threat big enough to pose a 
  threat to the town has no interest in it. Sure, a band of cut-throats might try 
  the walls every once in a while, but a dozen guards and a stout barricade 
  will make short work of idle bandits.
   
  If your players ask lots of questions about the town’s defenses 
  and the narrative consequences therein, take a moment to explain the 
  mechanical reasoning behind the town’s safety. It’s important for the 
  adventurers to have a place to return to, and to undermine that place’s 
  safety will throw the game’s rhythm and progression out of balance. The 
  town is where they level up, where they resupply, and where they can plan. 
  Don’t threaten that. 
  The Town’s Safety
  In town, there will be a number of friendly NPCs around. At bare 
  minimum, they should cover the necessities for adventurers: an innkeeper 
  to pour drinks, a blacksmith to forge weapons and armor, a priest to heal 
  and sanctify, and a mage to identify strange magic. 
   
  Depending on the size of the town, there might well be more 
  beyond this; ordinary civilians, other craftspeople, local guards, travelling 
  merchants, and more. How many NPCs in town exist beyond the basics are 
  up to you.
   
  It’s also worth noting that the NPCs in town might change; they 
  might move on and return to the Empire, the players might recruit NPCs 
  from the wilds, refugees might find their way to the town, and more. While 
  the town itself is rigid, those that come to it can vary. For more on creating 
  NPCs for the Town, see page 33.
  NPCs
  It’s vital that there be no adventure to be had in town. Players are naturally 
  risk-averse; if there is an option to gain similar rewards for lower risk, they 
  will take it. If there is adventure to be had in the safety of town, they will do 
  that adventure—the relatively safe, close-to-home adventure of the town—
  over exploring every time. To push them to explore, it must be absolute 
  that there is nothing to gain from staying in town.
   
  If there ever were to be adventure in town, the town would 
  be dangerous by definition. If their one ‘safe’ spot isn’t actually safe, why 
  should the players trust anything the GM says again? 
  Nothing Wagered, Nothing Gained
  Everything outside of town is considered to be the uncharted wilds. 
  Sprawling plains, deep forest, soaring mountains, endless tundra, craggy 
  hills—all this and more make up the wilds. Here and there the players may 
  encounter pockets of civilization or communities of individuals that aren’t 
  hostile, but these are considered wilderness nonetheless. The wilds are 
  dangerous, difficult, and the source of all adventure.
  THE WILDS
  The Marches themselves are not one singular area, but rather are composed 
  of a number of distinct environments and territories. These distinct sections 
  are collectively referred to as “regions.” A region is the basic unit by which 
  the Marches themselves are divided; each region will have its own name, 
  terrain, features, and challenge. When players cross the border from one 
  region to the next, it should be clear. 
   
  Regions are covered in more detail on page 36.
  Regions
  Taken literally, a dungeon is a prison located beneath a castle. In the West 
  Marches (as in many fantasy roleplaying games), a dungeon simply refers 
  to an isolated series of chambers or areas that contain encounters and 
  challenges. Many dungeons are literal dungeons, meaning they are literal 
  prison systems beneath castles, but they might also be temples, fortresses, 
  mines, or many other sorts of things. 
   
  Dungeons are where most of the monsters, treasure, and 
  significant challenge can be found in the West Marches. Dungeons are 
  covered in more detail on page 50.
  Dungeons
  Within a given region or dungeon, it’s important that most encounters 
  and challenges are of roughly the same level of danger. For combat, this 
  means that the enemies are of appropriate challenge rating and number; 
  for exploration, this means that the area is traversable and survivable given 
  the characters’ resources; for interaction, this means that the challenges 
  presented are solvable with regards to players’ capabilities and tools. 
   
  This is not to say that everything must be “balanced.” Dungeons 
  often can and should be more dangerous than their surrounding regions, 
  and having an uneven spread of difficulty across adjacent regions makes 
  for interesting exploration. A spread of plains can be quite safe for a party 
  of level 4 characters, but the mountains a few miles northwards might be 
  deadly. 
  What is important, however, is to ensure that encounters inside a dungeon 
  or region are of equivalent danger: if the characters can easily best the first 
  encounter, they should be confident they can handle the rest. If the first 
  encounter nearly destroys them, by contrast, it would feel cheap to have 
  every subsequent encounter be effortless.
  Danger Level
  
  13
  At an ordinary table, players come together each week to play; what 
  they do during that session is variable, without specific structure beyond 
  game mechanics. In the West Marches, this is a bit different: each session 
  comprises one mission, which is a specific objective the player characters 
  set out to achieve. 
   
  Each mission begins with the party leaving town, and each 
  mission ends with the party returning to town, and entails the party 
  travelling to some location in the Marches.
  MISSIONS
  Each mission has its own objective which the player characters attempt to 
  accomplish. A successful mission is one that succeeds its objective; a failed 
  mission is that fails it. Deciding mission objectives is wholly the players’ 
  choice; the GM can veto the players’ mission choice if they feel it is not 
  going to be sufficiently adventurous, but otherwise mission objectives are 
  solely under player control.
   
  The best missions are ones with a clear, tangible goal. This 
  includes objectives like “slay the green dragon Skorenag” or “recover the 
  cursed blade Wormwood,” but it might also include less one-and-done 
  objectives. “Scout the Isle of Redthorn” and “explore the tunnels beneath 
  the Lakeside Fortress” are both valid mission objectives; neither has a strict 
  endpoint, but substantial progress can be completed in a single session, 
  with the players deciding when to return to town. 
   
  What is not a good objective is one that is dependent on the 
  presumption of adventure without certainty. “Go to the Howling Hills and 
  explore the first cavern we see” is a bad objective because there may or 
  may not be caverns in the Howling Hills. Even if the players knew there 
  were caverns in the Hills, it would still be a poor mission objective because 
  there is no way for the GM to know which cavern the players are going to. 
  The GM creates content on a mission-by-mission basis, and thus “explore 
  the first dungeon we see” is asking the GM to come up with all possible 
  dungeons. There is an implicit promise made when choosing an objective: 
  the players will work to complete that objective, and not stray off the path 
  unless the GM says that doing so is alright. 
   
  Instead, there is a rhythm to missions: players scout out a 
  region or two and find ‘hooks’ for adventure—things like camps of bandits, 
  ancient ruins, or monster lairs—but do not directly interact with them. 
  Then, after returning to town, all players are informed about the various 
  hooks, and individual missions can be scheduled to deal with each in turn. 
  After completing most of the dungeons within a region and accruing more 
  power, players scout the next region, and the cycle continues.
  Objective
  Missions take time, the question is how much. Early on, when dungeons 
  and adventure are closer to home, missions will be shorter. As the player 
  characters explore, they will go further afield, and missions will take longer. 
  While a group of player characters are out on a mission, they may not go on 
  other missions, and they may not interact with characters in town. 
   
  How time is tracked at your table will influence how long 
  missions tend to take. In some games, the GM decides when time is 
  advanced; thus, it’s in the interest of the players to synchronize their 
  missions and return at roughly the same time. In some other games, time 
  advances on a per-mission basis; it’s assumed that all player characters 
  remain in town while an adventuring party is out, and thus missions can be 
  scheduled in any order. And in some games, time is tracked according to 
  real-time, and thus players must wait days in real life to plan their missions.
   
  In the words of Gary Gygax: “You cannot have a meaningful 
  campaign if strict time records are not kept.” Regardless of how you decide 
  to advance time in your game, you must be certain that the players know 
  how the rules operate, and then you must abide by those rules. 
   
  As your players grow used to the passage of time in the game, 
  there may be special timed events: a cult must perform a ritual before the 
  next full moon, for example, or an ancient tomb only reveals itself on the 
  solstice. Adding these events in adds a sense of reality and urgency to the 
  game, one that forces players to meaningful action.
   
  See Appendix C on page 112 for information on playing the 
  game in real time.
  Time
  Along with deciding their own mission objectives, players are responsible 
  for scheduling when to meet in-person to play the game. The GM should 
  provide a rough schedule ahead of time to the players, but after that, all 
  scheduling is the duty of the players.
  Scheduling
  Why Players Schedule Their Own Sessions
  The answer is twofold: first, because players are the ones who decide their 
  own missions. It’s important they coordinate the players they need, the 
  abilities and features the mission requires, and the plan of attack for the 
  mission itself. If the GM was scheduling, it would deprive the players of 
  some of the freedom to choose their own parties and missions.
   
  Second, the GM will already have their hands full with planning 
  the Marches, and the players should take some responsibility for the game.
  Gotta think on your feet in the Marches, 
  or you’ll be dead before you can finish 
  saying “is that a giant spider?”
  
  14
  The Marches are vast, wild, and wholly unknown. Because of this, players 
  are responsible for drawing their own maps of the wilderness. At each 
  session, players should have a real, paper map in front of them, which 
  they can alter as they choose, provided they have at least one character 
  who is mapping while travelling. This map is then carried from session to 
  session; different players can and should work on it. From time to time, 
  the GM should digitally copy the map, through photo or scan, and put it 
  somewhere that all players can see.
   
  By default, the map should be a blank piece of unmarked paper. 
  Players are responsible for the scale, accuracy, and detail of the map, using 
  their own wits. If a player character is proficient with cartographer’s tools, 
  the GM may provide them with graph- or hex-paper and a ruler, but that is 
  at the GM’s discretion.
   
  As the Marches are explored, the map will likely expand; when 
  this happens, staple or tape additional pages onto the map, as needed. 
   
  When navigating, players must use objective descriptors, such 
  as “we travel northwards” or “we walk towards that tower we can see.” They 
  may not simply point to a location on their map and say “we travel here.” 
  Likewise, the GM should never refer to the map, nor should they directly 
  confirm locations on the map. NPCs might, from time to time, make 
  reference to the map or offer suggestions, but this is a rare occurrence.
   
  Navigation is covered in more detail on page 18.
  THE MAP
  The Shared Subjectivity of the Map
  Nothing on the map should ever be confirmed by the GM on the map. It 
  should remain uncertain, based only on what the players know. Any player 
  can edit the map, and players are free to erase or draw over what already 
  exists on the map. 
   
  In some cases, the map can serve as a kind of shared record or 
  log. Players might find it helpful to leave notes, diagrams, or annotations 
  to the map; all of these are fine. Whatever the players want to add to their 
  map, they can. Frankly, other than bringing it from session to session and 
  uploading the map once in a while, the GM should never touch the map.
  By default, there is no preset “story” to the West Marches. There is no 
  plot, no inciting incident, no direct narrative arc. Rather, the story that is 
  told over the course of the campaign is that told by the player characters 
  actions, and their corresponding consequences.
   
  NPCs might ask the player characters to complete tasks 
  for them, ancient scripts might point to secret treasure, and villainous 
  monsters might seek to end the world, but the player characters themselves 
  are under no obligation to complete these. Because of this, the narrative of 
  the Marches is far more systemic, far more mechanically-driven than most 
  campaigns. In time, however, story beats will emerge: factions will war, 
  adventurers will find causes, and drama will be found around every corner. 
   
  However, if you, the GM, attempt to create some overarching 
  plot, some distinct series of events the players must participate in, you will 
  ruin the narrative. The Marches are there to empower players and to make 
  their choices real, and if you have a pre-decided story you want to tell, you 
  will quash this power. The narrative should be drawn from the system and 
  from the players, and naught else.
   
  More on emergent narrative can be found on page 67.
  EMERGENT NARRATIVE
  You may use as many or as few of the rules found in this book as you please, 
  and you may and should alter and adjust them as you see fit. If you are 
  running a campaign in the traditional style—that is, a non-West Marches 
  game—you will probably want to alter some of these rules, as they are 
  designed specifically for a West Marches game.
   
  However, if you are running a West Marches game and are 
  considering altering what’s found here, we encourage you to try these rules 
  out in their entirety first. It may seem like there are some unusual rules 
  or questionable guidelines, but these systems have been designed to fit 
  together and with the base game deliberately. If you play for a while with 
  these rules and still feel like you want to alter them, by all means, go ahead. 
  Make the rules work for your game, not the other way around.
  HACKING THE GAME
  A good map is more important 
  than any sword. Unless you 
  have wings, of course. Then it’s 
  utterly worthless. 
  
  15
  CHAPTER II
  SURVIVAL & TRAVEL
  
  16
  TRAVEL
  In the wilderness, there are often great distances that must be traveled to 
  reach destinations, covering huge swathes of myriad terrain. Most journeys 
  should take several days, but some are shorter or longer. This section will 
  cover the rules for adventurers as they traverse the wilds.
  WATCHES
  Most activities and events conducted during a day of travel can be divided 
  into watches, a standard unit of time used for longer-term play. In an 
  ordinary 24-hour day, there are six watches, each equivalent to about four 
  hours. Watches are kind of “exploration turn,” and are used in navigation, 
  travel activities, weather patterns, and more.
   
  An ordinary party can travel for two watches, or eight hours. 
  Likewise, to complete a long rest, a character needs two watches of sleep, 
  or, again, eight hours. This leaves another two watches during which 
  other activities can be conducted, such as fighting monsters, delving into 
  dungeons, or foraging for supplies.
   
  It’s important to note that watches do not necessarily 
  synchronize perfectly. Watches used in weather patterns do not change at 
  the same time a travelling party’s watches do. Think of watches less as strict 
  locked units as much as a useful shorthand for gauging occurrences and 
  states over longer lengths of time.
  TRAVEL ACTIVITIES
  While characters are journeying, there are a number of activities that 
  they can undertake in addition to walking. A character can only engage in 
  one travel activity at a time. A character decides which activity they are 
  engaging in at the start of each watch that they are travelling. Most travel 
  activities are done passively while travelling, and thus can be stopped or 
  started at any time; foraging is the exception: a character must spend the 
  full watch foraging in order to find food or water.
   
  Notice Threats. A character can keep an eye out for danger and 
  threats as the party travels, making it more difficult for enemies to ambush 
  them, or traps to take effect. A party member that is noticing threats can 
  use their passive Wisdom (Perception) score to notice threats.
   
  Search. A character can be searching for a specific object or 
  location as the party travels, such as a cluster of ruins or rare kind of tree. 
  A party member that is searching uses their passive Wisdom (Perception) 
  score, against a DC determined by the GM.
   
  Navigate. A character can try to prevent the group from 
  becoming lost as they traverse the wilds. A party member that is navigating 
  can make Wisdom (Survival) checks to navigate. A party member can assist 
  the navigator, provided that they are proficient in Survival.
   
  When an adventurer can tell cardinal directions, such as a 
  character with the Keen Mind or Explorer feats, they always have advantage 
  made on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to navigate. 
   
  Forage. A character can search for food, water, and other 
  resources, potentially gathering useful supplies as they travel. Rules for 
  foraging are found on page 22.
   
  Track. A character can follow a trail or set of tracks while 
  pursuing a creature or group of creatures. Rules for tracking are found on 
  page 18. Generally speaking, a party does not need both a navigator and a 
  tracker.
   
  Draw a Map. A character can draw a map, helping the party be 
  aware of their position. No check is required.
  watch foraging in order to reap any benefits. If the party stops travelling 
  and has no pressing activities, a character could simply continue foraging 
  for their remaining time.
   
  A party member may engage in one of the following activities 
  during a watch:
  Seasoned adventurers 
  say to watch the skies. 
  It won’t save you. 
  
  17
  Helping While Travelling
  Generally speaking, any activity undertaken by a character while travelling 
  can be assisted by another character, granting advantage on the check. 
  In certain cases, such as when navigating or tracking, there are certain 
  requisite skill proficiencies or other features a character must have before 
  they can help.
   
  Features, spells, and other effects that grant a specific bonus to a 
  check, such as a cleric’s guidance spell, can be used during travel activities. 
  If the effect requires an action, such as with guidance, the character 
  granting the effect must use their entire travel activity to do so. If the effect 
  is passive, such as from a magic item, the effect is simply enacted as on a 
  normal check.
  Altering Travel Activities
  The travel activities listed here are meant as a baseline, a starting point 
  from which to leap off of. They are the most common activities adventurers 
  perform while adventuring, but there certainly can and will be others. 
   
  When your players begin asking for other travel activities, you 
  should typically say yes. 
   
  If they are a simple variation on the existing travel activities, 
  such as foraging for a rare kind of poisonous mushroom that grows in the 
  region, you can simply adjust the DC of the ability check as you see fit. 
   
  If the travel activity is more complex or divergent from 
  the options listed here, you might call for a different kind of check. If a 
  character wants to, say, attempt to commune with strange stars only they 
  can see, you might call for an Intelligence (Arcana) check; if they want to 
  guide their beloved pony across treacherous crags, you might call for a 
  Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. 
   
  It’s also possible that, through magic items or other sources of 
  unusual power, new travel activities might be added. If a character has a 
  magical item that lets them, say, know the exact distance of each of their 
  footsteps, they might spend their travel time gauging exactly how far 
  they’ve travelled over the course of the watch. 
   
  In general, travel activities are not dissimilar from ordinary 
  ability checks, just stretched over a longer period of time and distance. Let 
  players use their imagination. 
  TRAVEL PACE
  While adventuring, characters may sometimes wish to travel at a faster 
  pace, and other times at a slower one, depending on a variety of factors.
   
  While travelling, a group of adventurers can move at a normal, 
  fast, or slow pace, as shown on the Travel Pace table. The table states how 
  far the party can move in a period of time and whether the pace has any 
  effect. Travelling at a fast pace makes characters less perceptive and unable 
  to focus on anything but the road, while a slow travel pace makes it possible 
  to sneak around and to traverse the area more carefully.
   
  Characters can travel for 8 hours—two watches—per day 
  normally, incurring no penalties. However, a party can push beyond this 
  limit, at the risk of exhaustion. For each additional hour of travel beyond 
  8 hours, the characters cover the distance shown in the Hour column for 
  their pace, and each character must make a Constitution saving throw at 
  the end of the hour. The DC is 10 + 1 for each hour past 8 hours. On a failed 
  saving throw, a characters uffers one level of exhaustion.
  Pace
  Distance per Hour
  Distance per Watch
  Fast
  4 miles
  16 miles
  Normal
  3 miles
  12 miles
  Slow
  2 miles
  8 miles
  Travel Pace
   
  Fast Pace. At a fast pace, characters suffer a -5 penalty to passive 
  Wisdom (Perception) scores, a -5 penalty to Wisdom (Survival) checks 
  made to navigate or track, and cannot engage in travel activities other than 
  noticing threats, navigating, or tracking.
   
  Normal Pace. A normal pace has no additional effects.
   
  Slow Pace. At a slow pace, characters are able to travel stealthily, 
  and gain a +5 bonus to Wisdom (Survival) checks made to navigate or 
  track.
  Mind how you go now! Drop too 
  far behind, and you might run 
  ing really nasty!
  
  18
  SHELTER & SLEEPING
  When making camp for the night in the wilds, there are three critical 
  factors: how cold it is, how wet you are, and how exposed your campsite 
  is. If any of these factors are not accounted for, you open yourself to the 
  risk of all sorts of hazards, ranging from mere unpleasantness to potentially 
  life-threatening diseases.
  Warmth
  With the exception of temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit 
  (commonly experienced only in arid climates or the hottest summer 
  months), some additional source of warmth is required at night beyond 
  basic adventuring clothing.
   
  If a character sleeps with a blanket or bedroll, they suffer no ill 
  effects; if a character sleeps next to an open campfire or other large source 
  of heat, they will similarly suffer no ill effects. These two are the most 
  common means of maintaining warmth at night, but there might be other 
  ways to do so.
  Wetness
  While it is quite common for adventurers to swim in lakes, wade through 
  rivers, and dive into dungeon pools—and thus become thoroughly soaked—
  it can be quite dangerous to go to sleep while still wet. Characters might 
  also become wet from travelling in the rain, interacting with exceptionally 
  watery creatures, bathing, or other activities. 
   
  A wet creature will dry off over the course of one hour, so long 
  as they stay dry the entire time. If that creature is near a significant source 
  of heat, such as a campfire or stove, that time is cut in half. Likewise, there 
  may be additional means to quickly dry off.
  Exposure
  Beyond simple rain and snow, other forms of exposure, typically wind, can 
  sap away at a character’s strength. The simplest way to avoid exposure is 
  through shelter, which shields a party from the outdoors.
   
  Shelter is any structure or formation that has at least three walls 
  and a roof. The most common sources of shelter in the wilderness are tents, 
  caves, and ruins, but there may be others.
  Sleeping
  In order to avoid ill effects while resting, characters must satisfy all three 
  conditions: they must stay warm, they must stay dry, and they must stay 
  sheltered. 
   
  Over the course of a long rest, if a character does not satisfy any 
  of the above conditions, they must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw 
  at the end of their rest or suffer a level of exhaustion.
   
  For each additional condition a character does not satisfy, 
  the DC increases by 5, and the character suffers an additional level of 
  exhaustion. For example, if a character is both cold and exposed to the 
  wind during their rest, they must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw 
  or suffer two levels of exhaustion. Creatures with resistance to cold damage 
  have advantage on these saving throws; creatures within immunity to cold 
  damage automatically succeed.
  The Details of Sleeping Conditions
  In short, to defeat these three conditions, adventurers need to have a tent 
  and a bedroll—not a high ask, in the grand scheme of things. There’s an 
  argument that these rules could be simplified, into a simple “if you don’t 
  have a saving throw, make a Constitution saving throw or suffer exhaustion.”
   
  The reason we have these rules with this level of nuance, of 
  complexity, is because in the times when the adventurers don’t have a tent 
  or bedroll, the details suddenly matter. If their equipment gets stolen, or 
  if they drop their tents to carry more loot, or if they just plain forget their 
  gear—suddenly, the details of how exposed, wet, and cold they are matter 
  very much. 
   
  For much of play, all three of these conditions can be treated as 
  one large entity, but when dire situations call, the details are ready. 
  TRACKING
  If a character wishes to track another creature or group of creatures over 
  long distances, they must make a Wisdom (Survival) check for each watch 
  they wish to spend tracking.
   
  The DC varies, depending on the terrain, weather, and creature. 
  If a character is tracking an army’s passage over muddy terrain on a clear 
  day, no check is required. However, a single individual moving across bare 
  stone floor in a dungeon may prove much harder.
   
  Another player that is proficient in Survival can assist a 
  character tracking, granting them advantage on the roll. If a character has 
  some other means of tracking a creature, such as by magic, they may also 
  assist a tracking character.
   
  The Tracking table provides some example DCs and modifiers, 
  those these may be altered at the GM’s discretion, depending on the 
  circumstances.
  Condition
  DC
  Soft surface, such as mud
  10
  Dirt or grass
  15
  Bare stone
  20
  Each day since the creature has passed
  +5
  Creature left a trail, such as blood 
  -5
  Tracker is travelling at a slow pace
  -5
  Tracker is travelling at a fast pace
  +5
  Tracking Difficulty
  NAVIGATION
  There are two basic modes of navigation when travelling the wilderness: 
  directional and landmark. Landmark navigation depends on nearby 
  landmarks, locations, and structures to provide the path, while directional 
  navigation occurs when the party is travelling based on their own sense of 
  direction.
   
  A party decides which mode they will be navigating by on a per-
  watch basis, at the same time that they decide travel activities.
  Landmark Navigation
  Landmark navigation occurs when the party has a clear, visible destination 
  in view: the snowy cleft mountain, the massive black tree on the hill, or the 
  ruined fortress looming ahead. So long as the landmark is clearly in view, 
  the party does not need to make checks to navigate to it.
   
  If the party’s view is not always clear, such as when obscured by 
  intermittent fog or dense jungle canopy, the party must have the landmark 
  in clear view at least once every watch. If necessary, the party may stop 
  to get a better view, such as by climbing a tree or using magic to levitate 
  themselves. At the GM’s discretion, a Wisdom (Perception) check may be 
  necessary.
   
  Landmark navigation can also be used for continuous landmarks 
  or terrain features, such as following a river, cliffside, or coastline. 
   
  If the party wishes to travel to a landmark that is large or non-
  specific, such as a range of mountains, it is the GM’s discretion where 
  exactly the party ends up; the broader the landmark, the more variance in 
  the party’s eventual location.
  Once, the Big Guy got mad at me 
  and made me sleep in the snow. My 
  tail froze solid overnight! Cracking 
  like an icicle, it was!
  Tell me this: if one of your minions had 
  used a prized wand, only just gifted to 
  them, to sever the limbs of another of 
  your minions, what would you have 
  done? I feel as though I was relatively 
  merciful to Zadrok, all things considered; 
  he should count himself lucky that he still 
  has four limbs.
  
  19
  Directional Navigation
  Directional navigation occurs when the party has no clear visible 
  destination, but is instead travelling based on their own sense of direction, 
  instructions off a map, or directions from some other source. Under 
  directional navigation, the party chooses a navigator, and the navigator 
  chooses a direction for the group to travel.
   
  When choosing a direction, the navigator may do so with 
  absolute directions, e.g. “I would like to travel north.” They may also do 
  so with relative directions, e.g. “I would like to travel rightward of our 
  current facing.” If the navigator has means to know cardinal directions with 
  certainty, such as the Keen Mind feat or through a compass, they make all 
  directional navigation rolls with advantage. 
   
  What a navigator may not do is travel to locations known only 
  by memory, e.g. “I would like to travel to that ruined temple we found two 
  weeks ago,” nor may the navigator simply point to the party’s map and 
  declare that they are travelling there.
   
  Once per watch, the navigator must make a Wisdom (Survival) 
  check to ensure the party is still travelling in the correct direction. The 
  DC is determined by the terrain type that the party is currently travelling 
  through; to figure out the typical DC for a given area, see page 50.
   
  If another party member wishes to assist the navigator, they 
  may do so, provided that they are proficient in Survival or have access to 
  cartographer’s tools. This grants the navigator advantage on navigation 
  rolls, though the assisting party member counts as spending their travel 
  time navigating as well, meaning they cannot be on guard for danger or 
  conducting other travel-time activities.
   
  If the party is travelling at a slow pace, the navigator gains a 
  +5 bonus to the navigation roll, and travelling at a fast pace imposes a -5 
  penalty. If the region the party is travelling through is lightly obscured, 
  such as by fog, the navigation DC increases by 5. If the region is heavily 
  obscured, such as by a storm or the cover of darkness, the navigation DC 
  increases by 10.
  Objective Navigation
  When the players are navigating, it is essential that you remain objective 
  in your descriptions, and that they remain objective in their directions 
  they give you. If you start letting them navigate by inexact directions or 
  landmarks—“the crypt we went to yesterday” or “this tower we have on the 
  map”—the challenge will evaporate. 
   
  Navigation is difficult because their map and their memories are 
  unreliable, but the world itself is fixed and always reliable. The challenge, 
  the fun of exploration, comes from that interaction, the discrepancy 
  between what they believe to be correct and what is actually correct. 
   
  Do not let your players navigate by subjective locations or 
  details. Demand absolute directions, relative directions, or landmarks. To 
  do otherwise will make your game worse. 
  Visibility
  By default, the horizon is approximately 3 miles away, meaning anything 
  without significant size or elevation cannot be seen past the 3 mile limit. 
  However, larger objects typically can be seen from a greater distance, 
  meaning that navigating by landmarks further than 3 miles away is possible, 
  provided there are no obstructions in the way, like trees, hills, or buildings.
   
  As a broad rule of thumb, a given landmark is visible from 3 
  miles away, plus one extra mile for every 100 feet the landmark rises above 
  the surrounding terrain. Thus, a mountain range rising 8,000 feet above 
  the surrounding land would be visible from 80-85 miles away. However, an 
  individual mountain peak of 8,000 feet surrounded by mountains terrain 
  7,500 feet high would only be visible from 8 miles away while viewed from 
  within those mountains. 
   
  The GM may call for a Wisdom (Perception) check to attempt 
  to spot particular landmarks in areas where visibility may be uncertain. If a 
  player wishes to gauge distance between two locations, the GM should call 
  for an Intelligence (Perception) check.
   
  In an area that is lightly obscured, visibility is reduced to 1 
  mile. In an area that is heavily obscured, visibility is so low that landmark 
  navigation becomes impossible.
  Getting Lost
  If the party navigator succeeds on their roll against the navigation DC, all is 
  well, and they continue in their intended direction. If the navigator fails the 
  roll, however, the party begins to go astray. If the navigator fails the roll by 
  5 or less, the party goes slightly astray. If the navigator fails the roll by more 
  than 5, their travel route has gone significantly awry. In either case, the 
  party will likely travel in a direction that is not their intended direction. The 
  GM secretly rolls 1d12 and consults the Slightly or Significantly Lost tables, 
  respectively. All new directions are relative to their intended direction.
  1d12
  New Direction
  1-4
  Diagonally to the left
  5-8
  Straight ahead
  9-12
  Diagonally to the right
  Slightly Lost
  1d12
  New Direction
  1-2
  Directly left
  3-5
  Diagonally to the left
  6-7
  Straight ahead
  8-10
  Diagonally to the right
  11-12
  Directly right
  Significantly Lost
  N
  W
  E
  S
  N
  W
  E
  S
  Slightly Lost
  3
  ROLL
  OF
  N
  W
  E
  S
  N
  W
  E
  S
  Significantly Lost
  12
  ROLL
  OF
  Initial Direction
  Initial Direction
  New Direction
  New Direction
  My buddy, Skreekris, went out 
  looking for mushrooms once. She 
  got lost; when she came back, the 
  mushrooms had grown on her legs!
  
  20
  WEATHER
  The skies are unpredictable and wild, and often treacherous to explorers. 
  Weather has the potential to change on each watch, but won’t necessarily 
  do so. The weather on a given watch has three basic components: 
  precipitation, wind speed, and temperature. Each of these is randomly 
  determined each watch, based on different factors. The GM may also select 
  an option directly in certain scenarios.
  PRECIPITATION
  Precipitation has three modes: no precipitation, a clear day; light 
  precipitation, such as a shower or flurry; and heavy precipitation, such as 
  a downpour or whiteout. Each of these modes has, at the turning of the 
  current watch, a chance to change to one of the other modes. Each mode 
  has its own chances for determining how the weather changes.
   
  The chance to determine which mode will occur next are 
  as follows. You should feel free to alter these if your Marches are set in a 
  non-temperate climate. Likewise, if your Marches have large swings in 
  precipitation from rainy seasons to dry seasons, you should adjust this 
  chart as well.
  Clear Skies
  Light Precip.
  Heavy Precip.
  Clear Skies
  1-16
  17-19
  20
  Light 
  Precipitation
  1-9
  10-17
  18-20
  Heavy
  Precipitation
  1-6
  7-13
  14-20
  Precipitation
  For example, the hours of 4:00 to 8:00 a.m. were clear. The GM rolls 1d20, 
  and it comes up a 9. Therefore, the next watch, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 
  p.m., will be clear. At 12:00 p.m., the GM rolls again, and it comes up a 17. 
  The next watch, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m., will be lightly precipitous. If the GM 
  were to then roll another 17, heavy precipitation would begin. 
   
   
  Precipitation has one unusual aspect, however, which is that 
  the temperature of the watch where it is occurring may have an effect. 
  Specifically, if it is below freezing, precipitation will come down as snow, 
  rather than rain. Given this, there are individual effects for snow and rain. 
  However, you still determine them in the same fashion, and it is possible to 
  have snow during the night and rain during the day, and vice versa.
   
  The effects for each mode of precipitation are as follows:
  Clear Skies
  • No additional effects.
  Light Rain
  • Disadvantage on ability checks to climb or scale 
  objects and ability checks made to maintain 
  balance or keep one’s footing.
  Light Snow
  • The area becomes lightly obscured.
  • Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to 
  track creatures.
  Heavy Rain
  • Disadvantage on ability checks made to climb or 
  scale objects and ability checks made to maintain 
  balance or keep one’s footing.
  • The area becomes lightly obscured.
  • Open flames are extinguished.
  • Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks 
  relying on hearing or scent.
  • Disadvantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to 
  track creatures.
  • Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to forage 
  for water.
  Heavy Snow
  • The area becomes lightly obscured.
  • Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track 
  creatures.
  • The area becomes difficult terrain.
  • Wisdom (Survival) checks to forage for water 
  automatically succeed. 
  If I’m being entirely honest, storms 
  frighten me. They’re all so large and 
  loud and crackling! And it’s not even 
  a spell or something—it’s just the sky 
  itself being furious with the land. What’s 
  a kobold like me supposed to do against 
  that? You can be clever as anything, and 
  lightning’ll getcha anyway.
  
  21
  WIND SPEED
  Wind Speed, like precipitation, has three basic modes: no wind, low winds, 
  and high winds. Each of those modes changes at the end of the current 
  watch, and have varying chances based on the current mode.
   
  The chance to determine which mode will occur next are as 
  follows. As before, if your climates are more windy than temperate ones, or 
  if there are seasonal changes, feel free to alter these rolls.
  No Wind
  Low Winds
  High Winds
  No Wind
  1-14
  15-18
  19-20
  Low Winds
  1-10
  11-17
  18-20
  High Winds
  1-8
  9-14
  15-20
  Wind Speeds
  When there are high winds occurring simultaneously with heavy 
  precipitation, a serious storm results. Storms have additional effects that 
  occur in addition to all other effects.
   
  The effects of wind speeds are as follows:
  No Wind
  • No additional effects.
  Low Winds
  • Clears light fog, smoke, or fumes.
  High Winds
  • Disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks.
  • Clears all fog, smoke, or fumes.
  • Extinguishes open flames.
  • Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks 
  relying on hearing.
  • Medium and smaller creatures with a fly speed 
  must return to the ground at the end of their turn, 
  or fall. Creatures with a hover speed have their 
  speed halved.
  Storm
  • The area becomes heavily obscured.
  • The area becomes difficult terrain.
  TEMPERATURE
  Temperature changes on watch as the day progresses, like the other 
  components, but unlike the others, it is based far more on the time of day 
  and season.
   
  In a stereotypical temperate climate, weather in the summer 
  typically gets to about 80-100 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the winter drops 
  to 0-20 degrees Fahrenheit. This has a fair degree of leeway, obviously, so 
  you should adjust that to match your Marches.
   
  There are, broadly speaking, four basic levels of temperature 
  that matter: “regular” weather, which spans roughly 32 degrees Fahrenheit 
  to 100 degrees Fahrenheit; freezing cold, which occurs between 32 degrees 
  Fahrenheit and 0 degrees Fahrenheit; extreme cold, which is anything 
  beneath 0 degrees Fahrenheit; and extreme heat, which is any temperature 
  above 100 degrees. 
   
  Regular and freezing weathers’ key distinction—below 32 
  degrees Fahrenheit, water freezes and precipitation occurs as snow, and 
  above that mark precipitation comes down as rain instead. Other than that, 
  there are no mechanical differences. 
   
  Extreme heat and extreme cold require additional precautions 
  and safety measures from adventurers, and is covered on page 26.
   
  There are many means by which you can determine temperature, 
  but three core principles apply across them all. One, nights should be 
  colder than days, usually by about 20 degrees Fahrenheit; two, every
  Hazardous Weather
  Obviously, there are challenges presented here as a direct result of the 
  weather, but there might well be additional effects. Some of these—dense 
  fog, hurricane-level winds, and others—are covered in the section on 
  Hazards, on page 26.
   
  However, there might be other, more complicated effects 
  beyond these, ones that can’t be predicted ahead of time. Gullies and crags 
  are prone to flooding, once-firm ground can turn to quicksand, and trees 
  can collapse and crush someone.
   
  These kinds of challenges can’t be systematized well, so we 
  encourage you to maintain an open mind and consider the surroundings 
  of the adventurers as they explore. What kind of terrain makes up their 
  environment? What around seems unstable or prone to damage? How 
  might a sudden influx of wind and water affect the current situation?
   
  These kinds of sudden, unexpected physical changes due to 
  weather can create some of the most perilous, exciting adventures around. 
  You can and should expand the effects of these weather tables to affect 
  more than what is simply listed here. 
  You want to know what real 
  power feels like? Soaring above a 
  stormcloud, higher and mightier than 
  the greatest thunderbolt. There is no 
  better feeling, and it is reserved solely 
  for gods and dragons.
  month should increase or decrease the average temperature, typically 
  by 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit; and three, individual weeks should vary 
  significantly, by as much as 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit.
   
  How exactly you extrapolate temperature after that is up to 
  you. Some methods call for randomized rolls down to the watch, some 
  simply declare an average temperature for the month, and the GM adjusts 
  individual weeks’ and days’ temperatures at their whim.
   
  The choice is yours, but be conscious of your decision and how 
  it will affect gameplay. At least some randomization is highly encouraged, 
  to preserve the systemic nature of the game itself.
  I wonder, if I got a big enough 
  sheet and stretch it out, could the 
  wind carry me?
  
  22
  FOOD & WATER
  Folk accustomed to the markets and taverns of cities will find the Marches 
  deeply inhospitable. Inns are far and few between, if at all, and markets are 
  found only in wayward peddlers and strange dealers of curios. And yet, to 
  those with the correct knowledge and skill, the Marches provide a bounty 
  of resources: you just need to know where to look.
  SURVIVAL
  Characters who don’t eat or drink suffer the effects of exhaustion. 
  Exhaustion caused by lack of food or water can’t be removed until the 
  character eats or drinks the full required amount.
  Food
  A character needs one pound of food per day, and can make food last longer 
  by subsisting on half rations. Eating half a pound of food in a day counts as 
  half a day without food.
   
  A character that goes a day eating less than half a pound of food 
  must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of 
  exhaustion.
   
  A character can survive a number of days without food equal 
  to 3 + his or her Constitution modifier (minimum 1). If a character would 
  suffer a 6th level of exhaustion from lack of food before they have reached 
  this number of days, they instead remain at 5 levels of exhaustion, but 
  automatically suffer the 6th as soon as they reach their last day.
   
  Each day of normal eating removes one level of exhaustion.
  Water
  A character needs one gallon of water per day, or two gallons per day if the 
  weather is hot, typically above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A character who 
  drinks only half that much water must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution 
  saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of the day. A 
  character with access to even less water automatically suffers one level of 
  exhaustion at the end of the day.
   
  A character must split their water consumption into at least two 
  watches; that is, they cannot drink an entire gallon at one time and nothing 
  else.
   
  If the character already has one or more levels of exhaustion, the 
  character takes two levels in either case.
   
  Each day of normal drinking removes one level of exhaustion.
  Food & Water Requirements
  An adventurer needs a pound of clean food and a gallon of clean water per 
  day: that’s what matters. It’s possible a player will come to you, the GM, 
  and explain that they’ve contrived a method wherein they, say, eat half 
  of a pound of food for one day and then a full pound for the next two, or 
  something to that effect.
   
  The intent of these rules is not to enable such shenanigans, it 
  is to provide rules for hard rationing and preservation tactics when an 
  adventurer is running out of food. To try to skirt these requirements is to 
  go against the intent of the rules and the good faith of one’s fellow players. 
  FORAGING
  When spending lengths of time in the wilderness, explorers often prefer to 
  forage and hunt for their food, rather than lug around rations. 
   
  Over the course of a watch, a character can forage for food or 
  water; if the party is travelling, this can only be done while travelling at 
  a slow or normal pace. At the conclusion of watch, the character makes a 
  Wisdom (Survival) check, with the DC determined by the region the party 
  is travelling through. If the party travelled through more than one region 
  over the course of a watch, use the DC for whichever the party spent the 
  most time in.
   
  On a failure, the character finds nothing. On a success, the 
  character finds an amount equal to 1d6 + Wisdom modifier, either in 
  pounds (for food) or gallons (for water). The sources of food and water 
  are determined at the GM’s discretion, based on the region the party is 
  travelling through. 
   
  Most food found is either raw meat from hunted animals that 
  must be cooked, or readily-eaten plant matter, such as nuts and berries.
   
  If a character would like to find certain kinds of food only, 
  typically to avoid the need to light a fire, they suffer disadvantage.
   
  Water collected while foraging generally has a higher risk of 
  being unclean, and as such has a cleanliness DC of 10.
  Fishing
  If a character would like to fish for their food, typically when travelling over 
  water instead of land or when near a body of water, they must have a set of 
  fishing tackle. Fishing otherwise follows the same rules as normal foraging.
  Foraging for Resources
  If a character would like to fish for their food, typically when travelling over 
  water instead of land or when near a body of water, they must have a set of 
  fishing tackle. Fishing otherwise follows the same rules as normal foraging.
  
  23
  CLEANLINESS
  Adventurers to the Marches are hardy folk certainly, but even still, 
  consuming food or water found in the Marches can be dangerous. Hunted 
  game can carry plague or maggots, fruits and vegetables may be rotted 
  through, and water can carry foul disease. If counteractive measures are 
  not taken, these can lay even the mightiest of adventurers low.
  Unclean Water
  Water encountered in the wilderness sometimes has diseases or impurities 
  running through it, or is otherwise unsuitable for drinking. Well-water, 
  rainwater, water from streams or rivers, and lakewater are all safe to drink. 
   
  All other sources, such as stagnant swamp water, water found 
  in puddles or in plants, pooled water underground, or other, less savory 
  sources, is unclean. Water can be purified through the purify food and 
  drink spell or similar, or by being boiled for 1 minute. 
   
  If a character drinks water that has not been purified, they must 
  make a Constitution saving throw one hour after ingestion. The DC of the 
  saving throw is determined by the source of the water: the purer the source, 
  the higher the likelihood that the water is clean.
  Source of Water
  DC
  Puddle or Plant
  10
  Swamp or Brackish
  20
  Salt Water
  30
  Water Cleanliness
  Unclean Food
  While rations are the classic sustenance of adventurers, many prefer a 
  break for something less bland, or else don’t wish to be bother carrying the 
  rations. Ordinary food, however, will eventually rot, increasing the risk of 
  disease. Similarly, consuming certain uncooked foods also carries a chance 
  of disease.
   
  Generally speaking, most food rots after one week; foods like 
  grains, tropical fruit, most vegetables, and most cooked dishes. Raw meat 
  of all varieties rots after 24 hours, as do most dairy products. Spells such as 
  purify food and drink will remove any spoiling and potential diseases from 
  rotten food, but it will not restore food matter that has rotted away.
   
  Some foods can go longer without rotting, and a few rare types 
  of foodstuffs, like certain cheeses, do not rot at all. Furthermore, many 
  foodstuffs can be preserved, typically either through airtight storage or 
  heavy salting, which extends the amount of time before the food spoils. 
  These items and effects are determined at the GM’s discretion.
   
  If a character consumes food that is unclean, they must make a 
  Constitution saving throw one hour after ingestion. The DC of the save is 
  determined by the source of food: the more rotten the food is, the higher 
  the likelihood of disease.
   
  Creatures that have natural adaptations against food sources 
  that would normally carry the risk of illness, such as Lizardfolk eating raw 
  meat, automatically succeed on appropriate Constitution saving throws 
  from eating unclean food.
  Source of Food
  DC
  Raw Meat
  10
  Rotten Meat or Dairy
  25
  Rotten Food (grains, fruit, vegetables, etc.)
  20
  Food Cleanliness
  On a failure, the character immediately suffers one level of exhaustion. If 
  a character fails the saving throw by 5 or more, they suffer two levels of 
  exhaustion instead.
  On a failure, the character immediately suffers one level of exhaustion. If 
  a character fails the saving throw by 5 or more, they suffer two levels of 
  exhaustion instead.
  If you run out of food, you might 
  just have to eat your horses! 
  Think about that, all big and 
  stringy and hoofy—tasty!
  And if you don’t eat them, I will. 
  
  24
  SURVEYING & HUNTING
  When deep into the Marches, player characters may find themselves 
  wondering exactly what a new region holds: the dread beasts, fell monsters, 
  and ancient evils. Once those are known, it is naturally the first instinct of 
  adventurers to follow those creatures to their lair, and put an end to them.
  SURVEYING
  When in a region of the Marches, an adventurer can spend time in the 
  wilds, searching for signs of local creatures, so as to ascertain what dwells 
  in the region.
   
  Over the course of a watch, a character may survey an entire 
  region to determine what sorts of creatures dwell there. At the end of the 
  watch, the character makes an Intelligence (Nature) check: they discover 
  evidence of each creatures based on its Survey DC. 
   
  Another character can assist in surveying, provided they are 
  proficient in Nature.
   
  Characters may not survey while travelling, but a watch spent 
  surveying still counts toward overall travel time for the day.
  Survey DC
  The Survey DC reflects the overall difficulty of finding evidence of a 
  creature in a given region. When a character succeeds to survey, it doesn’t 
  mean that they have specifically found that creature, merely that they have 
  found evidence that the creature lives in that region. 
   
  While there may be specific subsets of creatures within a given 
  group, such as a Hobgoblin Captain leading a group of Hobgoblins, the 
  Survey DC reflects the group as a whole, and as such should use the stat 
  block of the most common monster in the group.
   
  The Survey DC for a creature begins at 10, and the Survey 
  Difficulty table provides modifiers and adjustments to each creature’s 
  Survey DC. The GM may adjust these further at their discretion, in the case 
  of rare or unusual protections against being noticed.
  Modifier
  DC
  Default
  10
  Creatures with a climbing speed
  +2
  Creatures with a flying speed
  +5
  Creatures with a swimming speed
  +5
  Creatures with a bonus to Dexterity (Stealth)
  +creature’s 
  stealth bonus
  Creatures smaller than medium
  +2 per size 
  smaller
  Creatures larger than medium
  -2 per size 
  larger
  Creatures rare or small in number
  +5
  Creatures common or large in number
  -5
  Survey Difficulty
  For example, consider the Howling Hills. The Hills’ inhabitants include 
  wild elk, a band of goblins, a colony of giant spiders, and a pair of wyverns. 
   
  The elk Survey DC starts at 10. They have no climb, fly, or swim 
  speed, and thus their DC is unaffected. They have no stealth bonus, nor 
  are they larger or smaller than medium, and thus their DC still unaffected. 
  They are quite common in the Hills, and thus their DC is lowered by 5. In 
  total, the elk Survey DC is 5.
   
  The goblin Survey DC starts at 10. They have no climb, fly, or 
  swim, and thus their DC is unaffected. They have a stealth bonus of +6, 
  and thus their DC increases by 6. They are also small, one size smaller than 
  medium, and thus their DC increases by 2. There is a band of them, which, 
  while more than a handful, is relatively small compared to the overall hills, 
  thus not affecting their DC. In total, the goblin Survey DC is 18.
   
  The giant spider Survey DC starts at 10. They have a climb speed, 
  and thus their DC increases by 2. They have a stealth bonus of +7, and thus 
  their DC increases by 7. They are large, one size larger than medium, and 
  thus their DC decreases by 2. There is a colony of them, making them quite 
  common, thus decreasing their DC by 5. In total, the giant spider Survey 
  DC is 14.
   
  The wyvern Survey DC starts at 10. They have a fly speed, and 
  thus their DC increases by 5. They have no stealth bonus, and thus their 
  DC is unaffected. Wyverns are large, one size larger than medium, and thus 
  their DC decreases by 2. There are a pair of wyverns in the Hills, which 
  is quite low for a whole region, thus their DC increases by 5. In total, the 
  wyvern Survey DC is 18. 
   
  If a character were to survey the Howling Hills, they would need 
  at least a 5 to find evidence of elk, a 14 to find evidence of giant spiders, and 
  an 18 to find evidence of both the wyverns and the goblins.
  The Purpose of Surveying
  Surveying is meant to allow players to examine an area’s inhabitants in 
  some detail, provided they are willing to sink not-insignificant time into 
  doing so. Without surveying, the only methods by which players can 
  discover a region’s inhabitants are by random encounters or by stumbling 
  onto their lairs. This is, of course, fun and valid, but if players are searching 
  for a specific monster—say, a chimera, or a higher vampire—being able to 
  search regions for indications of those monsters is very valuable.
   
  It’s important to note that surveying that doesn’t reveal where 
  within a region a creature dwells or how many of those creatures there are, 
  nor does it imply that an adventurer has physically found such a creature. 
  It simply gives the players the list of creatures that dwell within a region 
  whatsoever, provided they rolled above its DC. Surveying is searching for 
  evidence and indicators, not the creatures themselves. 
  In complete honesty, I can’t 
  imagine what it must be like to 
  search for your prey on foot. What 
  a miserable existence you human-
  kith must have. 
  
  25
  HUNTING
  After a region has been surveyed, there may come a time when adventurers 
  would like to hunt down a creature they know dwells in the area, whether 
  to exterminate it, to collect the natural resources its body holds, or perhaps 
  just to talk, for instance.
   
  A character can only successfully hunt a creature that is known 
  to make its home in the region, whether that knowledge was gained from 
  surveying the region or not. Over the course of a watch, a character may 
  attempt to hunt a creature to its lair or other resting spot. At the end of 
  the watch, the character makes a Wisdom (Survival) check against the 
  creatures’ Survey DC. On a success, the character finds the lair, resting 
  place, or home of the hunted creature.
   
  A character may assist another in hunting, provided they are 
  proficient in Survival.
  Characters may not hunt while travelling, but the watch spent hunting still 
  counts towards overall travel time for the day.
  While hunting normally leads to the central lair of a given group of 
  creatures, such as the goblin’s camp or spider-queen’s nest, in the case 
  of highly widespread creatures, such as elk, it leads to only one such lair. 
  Hunting elk, for example, might lead to one clearing with many sleeping 
  elk, but there will still be other elk in the region. By contrast, hunting down 
  the single pair of wyverns leads to those particular wyverns’ lair, as they are 
  the only in the region.
  HARVESTING QUARRY
  The carcasses of monsters in the West Marches often contain powerful 
  reagents: the magic-reflecting shell of a great, ancient snail, or the nigh-
  impenetrable carapace of a tarrasque, for instance. When a character 
  successfully hunts prey, they might choose to harvest these reagents for use 
  in crafting magical items, armor, and weapons. 
   
  A single unit of material harvested from a creature can be used 
  in the crafting of a single item. For more on the rules of crafting, see page 
  42 in the Town section.
   
  A character can make an Intelligence (Nature) check to harvest 
  parts from the corpse of a monster. The amount of usable material that can 
  be harvested successfully is based on the creature’s size, as well as the result 
  of the check that the player makes to harvest it. Refer to the Harvestable 
  Parts by Size table to determine the base number of units of material that 
  can be harvested from a single creature. The maximum number of units 
  of harvestable material on a single monster is equal to that number plus 
  1 for every 5 CR of the creature. For example, the maximum number of 
  harvestable units of material on an ancient black dragon is 9, since it has a 
  base of 5 and its CR is 21.
   
  Then, refer to the Harvest Difficulty table to determine what 
  fraction of the maximum units of harvestable material could be recovered 
  from the creature based on the player’s skill check.
  Modifier
  Base Units of Material
  Tiny
  1
  Small
  1
  Medium
  2
  Large
  3
  Huge
  4
  Gargantuan
  5
  Harvestable Parts by Size
  Percentage of Max Units of Material
  DC
  0%
  0
  20%
  5
  40%
  10
  60%
  15
  80%
  20
  100%
  25
  Harvest Difficulty
  A check doesn’t need to be made to determine the amount of edible 
  material that is harvested from small animals like rabbits or game like elk. 
  It’s assumed that adventurers know how to clean commonplace animals for 
  the purposes of hunting for food.
   
  As GM, you should use your discretion when determining the 
  weight of a unit of material harvested from a creature. A unit of material 
  does not necessarily equate to a single amount of pounds of that material, 
  but rather that unit of material’s utility in terms of crafting. A chunk of a 
  purple worm’s spine could weigh 80 pounds, and the wing of a fairy could 
  weigh practically nothing, but both could represent a single unit of material.
  I like big cats, honestly. Big dogs, too. 
  There’s something so soft and fuzzy about 
  their fur. Much cuddlier than scales. 
  So many of these would-be “predators” are 
  little more than claws and intestinal tracts. 
  They lack poise, grace— they lack majesty.
  
  26
  HAZARDS
  Pools of bubbling lava, layers of leaves hiding treacherous quicksand, a 
  frozen lake cracking beneath iron boots, a mountainside collapsing onto 
  the path, sand kicked up in a maelstrom that rips and tears - all of these may 
  be encountered while traversing the wilds, and none of them are bode well 
  for any traveller coming by.
   
  These dangers are meant to be used to craft dynamic, interesting 
  locations and encounters. They should complement the region the player 
  characters are travelling through, to serve as a reminder of its unique and 
  individual dangers.
  WEATHER HAZARDS
  In addition to ordinary weather patterns—which can pose a challenge all 
  on their own—there are rarer, more dangerous kinds of weather or climate 
  patterns that might pose fresh hazards to players exploring the wilderness. 
   
  These hazards often vary with the seasons: extreme cold and 
  icy waterways are highly dangerous in winter, but sandstorms and extreme 
  heat might rarely occur outside of the summer. Use them as you see fit.
  Extreme Cold
  It is assumed that the ordinary clothing and gear adventurers carry with 
  them can withstand normal temperature swings of cold winters. However, 
  when the temperature drops with severity, simple exposure can be deadly. 
  When a creature is exposed to temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, 
  they must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour 
  or suffer one level of exhaustion. 
   
  If a creature has resistance or immunity to cold damage, is 
  naturally adapted to cold-weather climates, or is wearing cold-weather 
  gear, they automatically succeed on this saving throw.
  Extreme Heat
  As with cold weather, it is assumed that an adventurer’s ordinary gear 
  is sufficiently light (or can be taken off with enough ease) to deal with 
  ordinary heat swings of summer. That said, severe heat can still be deadly. 
  When a creature is exposed to temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, 
  they must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or 
  suffer one level of exhaustion. If a creature has not had sufficient drinking 
  water, they have disadvantage on these saving throws. The DC begins at 5, 
  and increases by 1 for each additional hour.
   
  If a creature has resistance or immunity to fire damage or is 
  naturally adapted to hot-weather climates, they automatically succeed on 
  this saving throw.
  Extreme Storms
  Occasionally, extreme winds will combine with heavy rain or snow to 
  form an extreme storm: a cyclone, hurricane, tornado, or worse. Inside 
  the storm, all movement speed is halved, the area is heavily obscured, all 
  creatures automatically fail all Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on 
  sight, sound, or smell. 
   
  Any creature or object weighing less than 300 lb. must make a 
  DC 20 Strength saving throw at the end of each round or be thrown 6d10 
  feet in a random direction, suffering 6d6 bludgeoning damage on impact 
  with any other object or the ground. Creatures that weigh less than 150 
  pounds have disadvantage on these saving throws.
  Fog
  There are two basic kinds of fog: light fog and heavy fog. An area covered 
  in light fog - such as a mist-clad mountainside—is considered lightly 
  obscured. An area covered in heavy fog - such as a shrouded ghost town—is 
  considered heavily obscured.
   
  Fog is somewhat irregular compared to ordinary weather 
  patterns, but is most prevalent early in the morning, around dawn, and is 
  more common in autumn than other seasons.
  Sandstorms
  In especially arid environments, high winds can kick up huge storms of 
  sand, dust, and gritty dirt. Sandstorms follow the same rules as regular 
  storms, but with the addition that each exposed character must make a 
  DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each minute or suffer 1d10 
  slashing damage.
  Frigid Water
  When submerged in water that is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less, a creature 
  can spend a number of minutes equal to its Constitution modifier without 
  issue. 
   
  After that, at the end of each minute, the creature must make a 
  DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.
   
  If a creature has resistance or immunity to cold damage or is 
  naturally adapted to living in frigid waters, they automatically succeed on 
  this saving throw.
  
  27
  Slippery Ice
  When a creature moves across slippery ice, they must succeed on a DC 10 
  Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone. 
   
  If a creature moves at half speed while on the ice, they have 
  advantage on the saving throw. If a creature dashes while on the ice, they 
  have disadvantage on the saving throw.
  Thin Ice
  A given 10-foot patch of thin ice can hold approximately 3d10 × 10 pounds. 
  As soon as more weight is placed on the patch, the ice shatters.
   
  Thin ice almost always has frigid water beneath.
  Combining Hazards
  Hazards rarely are isolated from each other. Trapped in a blizzard, for 
  example, might well entail bitter cold, hurtling winds, and black ice every 
  which way. Similarly, a trip through the desert could easily involve both 
  scorching heat and wild sandstorms. These hards go naturally together.
   
  That said, hazards grow even more interesting as soon as you 
  get creative with them: it frigid tundra to the north, a storm might bring 
  wind and ice, but also kick up thin layers of arctic silt, creating a would-be 
  sandstorm. An enchanted dungeon might feature heat blasting down on 
  a once-frozen underground lake, rendering the ice thinner and thinner as 
  time goes on. 
   
  You can and should combine these hazards in interesting, 
  complicated ways, ones that force your players to think on their feet and 
  plan in the midst of chaos. 
  TERRAIN HAZARDS
  Some hazards are built right into the terrain of a region. They’re naturally-
  occurring, difficult to predict, and often deadly. These hazards rarely 
  change with the seasons, instead being present all year round.
  Geysers
  If a creature stands within 20 feet of the geyser’s vent when it erupts, the 
  creature immediately takes 6d6 fire damage as they are scalded with boiling 
  water. If a creature stands directly over the geyser’s vent when it erupts, 
  they immediately take an additional 6d6 bludgeoning damage and must 
  succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be pushed back 10 feet and 
  knocked prone.
  Lava
  When a creature first enters lava on its turn, the creature immediately 
  takes 10d10 fire damage, and takes an additional 10d10 damage at the start 
  of each of its turns while standing in or otherwise touching the lava. If a 
  creature is fully submerged in the lava, they take 18d10 fire damage at the 
  start of each of their turns.
  Rockslides & Avalanches
  When a rockslide or avalanche begins, roll 1d10, or 2d10 if it is exceptionally 
  large.
   
  A creature within the path of the rockslide or avalanche must 
  make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + the previous 
  number rolled. On a failure, a creature suffers 1d10 bludgeoning damage 
  per number rolled and is knocked prone. If the creature failed the saving 
  throw by 5 or more, they are restrained, and must succeed on a DC 20 
  Strength check to free themselves.
   
  If a creature is restrained in this way by an avalanche, they 
  cannot breathe (see PHB 183 on rules for suffocation).
  Quicksand
  When a creature enters an area of quicksand, they immediately sink 1d4 
  + 1 feet into the quicksand, and are restrained. At the start of each of the 
  creature’s turned, it sinks an additional 1d4 feet deeper into the quicksand. 
   
  While a creature is not completely submerged, it can attempt 
  to escape by using its action to make a Strength check with a DC equal 
  to 10 plus the number of feet the creature has sunk into the quicksand. A 
  creature outside the quicksand can attempt to pull another creature out of 
  the quicksand by making the same Strength check.
   
  If a creature is completely submerged, it cannot breathe (see 
  PHB 183 on rules for suffocation).
  One time, we stuck a rowboat on 
  top of a geyser and waited for the 
  blast. Sent us twenty feet into the 
  air, shattered the boat, and boiled 
  half of Dorskan’s face. Such fun!
  
  28
  Name
  Coast
  Desert
  Forest
  Grassla.
  Hills
  Mtns.
  Swamp
  Tundra
  Undergr.
  Urban
  Wastela.
  Avalanches
  5%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  20%
  75%
  0%
  30%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  Extreme Heat
  15%
  95%
  5%
  20%
  10%
  5%
  25%
  0%
  40%
  5%
  50%
  Extreme Cold
  15%
  30%
  20%
  20%
  30%
  60%
  5%
  95%
  20%
  10%
  50%
  Extreme Storms
  50%
  5%
  10%
  10%
  15%
  20%
  15%
  25%
  0%
  5%
  25%
  Frigid Water
  25%
  0%
  10%
  5%
  5%
  10%
  5%
  95%
  20%
  5%
  50%
  Fog
  40%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  20%
  10%
  20%
  0%
  10%
  30%
  Geysers
  10%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  10%
  15%
  5%
  5%
  10%
  5%
  10%
  Lava
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  0%
  15%
  0%
  5%
  Quicksand
  10%
  10%
  10%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  20%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  20%
  Rockslides
  10%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  20%
  40%
  5%
  5%
  60%
  10%
  10%
  Sandstorms
  5%
  30%
  0%
  10%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  15%
  Slippery Ice
  15%
  0%
  10%
  20%
  25%
  30%
  5%
  90%
  10%
  10%
  20%
  Thin Ice
  5%
  0%
  15%
  10%
  15%
  20%
  10%
  20%
  10%
  5%
  10%
  HAZARD OCCURRENCE CHANCE
  As you build regions (see page 36), you can and should assign hazards to 
  the region, like you would other modifiers and adjustments. This table 
  provides a rough outline of the chances of each hazard existing in a given 
  environment type.
   
  Critically these tables do not indicate the chances of each of 
  these hazards occurring as an encounter—they are simply that a region 
  features that hazard whatsoever. If you determine that a region does have a 
  given hazard within, assign that hazard onto your random encounter tables 
  as you would any other encounter (see Appendix II, page 77).
  Hazard Occurrence Chance by Environment
  Altering Hazard Chances
  Like everything else in this book, you should feel free to tweak or adjust the 
  chances found here. They’re drawn from our playtests and our own design 
  judgement, but that doesn’t make them definitive by any means. 
   
  They also are generic: in real life, hazard-like occurrences 
  depend significantly on rainfall and elevation—both of which we include 
  as gameplay elements, but not influences on the simulation of real life. A 
  very high-elevation area, for example, is much colder, and thus more likely 
  to get ice and extreme temperatures, just as a very low-elevation is likely to 
  be much warmer. 
   
  All that said, the West Marches are a fantastical region, and thus 
  you should feel free to ignore real-world geological and meteorological 
  data in favor of your own cool ideas. Curses, blights, and desecration can 
  all affect the odds of hazards occurring, just as blessings and hallowings 
  can decrease the chances that hazards emerge. Play with your world and 
  hazards as you see fit.
  I once found a mammoth trapped beneath 
  an avalanche, still alive. Her death was 
  enjoyable for me, slowly melting away at 
  both snow and flesh, inch by inch. Such 
  a convergence of life and death, nature 
  and artifice—it rarely occurs, and must be 
  cherished appropriately when it does.
  
  29
  CHAPTER III
  WORLDBUILDING
  
  30
  THE TOWN
  The Town is the place in the West Marches where characters spend their 
  time when they’re not venturing out into the wilderness of the Marches. 
  The Town might not be an actual town, but rather a single building, or even 
  a sizeable village with multiple amenities. It is the adventurer’s home base, 
  where they always start from and return to.
  PRINCIPLES OF THE TOWN
  It is up to the GM to decide the exact parameters of the Town, but no 
  matter what form the Town takes in your game, consider the following to 
  be the fundamental principles of any Town:
  Eye of the Storm
  No matter what, no danger from the Marches may penetrate the physical 
  or metaphorical walls of the Town. Even factions that seek the player 
  characters’ destruction will not pursue them there; perhaps there are 
  magical wards surrounding the Town, or a fey contract binds it to peace. 
   
  This does not mean that non-player characters cannot enter 
  the Town at all; in fact, the Town itself can be home to many NPCs with 
  various utility, and agents from the Marches at large might sparingly come 
  to convene with the players themselves without the pretense of combat. 
  The absence of violence does not indicate the absence of tension.
   
  All that said, the player characters are always safe within the 
  Town.
  Directional Expansion
  The Town should be situated at an extreme of your map: this book has 
  assumed thus far that your Town is situated on the easternmost edge of the 
  region of play, but it could be any of the other four cardinal directions or 
  somewhere in between. It could be at the very center of the map, with the 
  players expanding outwards. It could be that the Town sits quite literally 
  atop the wilds, and so the characters must delve downwards into the earth.
   
  No matter where your Town lies in relation to the rest of the 
  region of play, the critical detail is that players and characters alike must 
  be able to look back someday and understand how far they have come. 
  Limiting expansion to single direction also makes it easy for players to 
  make reasonable estimates about the difficulty of tasks as they get further 
  from the Town. Generally speaking, the further the characters get from the 
  Town, the more treacherous the wilds should become.
  Nothing Wagered, Nothing Gained
  The Town should be situated at an extreme of your map: this book has 
  assumed thus far that your Town is situated on the easternmost edge of the 
  region of play, but it could be any of the other four cardinal directions or 
  somewhere in between. It could be at the very center of the map, with the 
  players expanding outwards. It could be that the Town sits quite literally 
  atop the wilds, and so the characters must delve downwards into the earth.
   
  No matter where your Town lies in relation to the rest of the 
  region of play, the critical detail is that players and characters alike must 
  be able to look back someday and understand how far they have come. 
  Limiting expansion to single direction also makes it easy for players to 
  make reasonable estimates about the difficulty of tasks as they get further 
  from the Town. Generally speaking, the further the characters get from the 
  Town, the more treacherous the wilds should become.
  Attacks on the Town
  While we by default to suggesting that the Town be a permanent safe 
  haven, some players and GMs are interested in having the Town be 
  more vulnerable. While this is something that certainly can be done, we 
  recommend taking the following measures beforehand:
   
  First, have an out-of-character discussion with your players. 
  Make sure that everyone is comfortable with removing the guaranteed 
  safeguard of the town. Losing their sole point of light in a hostile world can 
  make the game dramatically more stressful for the players.
   
  Second, before any attacks on the town are launched, telegraph 
  frequently and obviously. Give the adventurers many chances to ward off 
  the attacks before they arrive. 
   
  Third, when the attack does it, pause time and give everyone 
  a chance to participate in the defense. This might be a larger-than-normal 
  raid session, it might be multiple asynchronous sessions, it could be 
  something else entirely. Whatever you choose, make sure that all players 
  get a chance to participate; attacks on the Town are high-risk for the entire 
  roster as a whole.
   
  Attacks on the Town can be a source of great drama and tension, 
  but because the consequences are so high, it’s critical that you are certain 
  that your players agree to the process as a whole, and that you make as 
  much information as possible available to them. 
  
  31
  THE TOWN ITSELF
  The physical town says a lot about your West Marches; your Town should 
  reflect the style and nature of the Marches themselves. A strange, arcane 
  Marches will likely have a Town buzzing with wizards and magic, while a 
  bitter, hardy Marches will bring a Town filled with scouts and explorers. 
  Let your Town be a stylistic microcosm of the Marches as a whole.
  d20
  Town
  1
  Shipwreck of a prison boat.
  2
  Imperial colony or military outpost.
  3
  Industrial boom town, where the Marches’ natural resources are 
  gathered.
  4
  Settlement built around a mysterious magical beacon.
  5
  Temple dedicated to long-dead gods.
  6
  Camp within a sacred forest grove.
  7
  Hamlet built into a monstrous landmark, such as a massive 
  footprint or ancient skeleton.
  8
  Remote magical research station.
  9
  Large cave in the side of coastal bluffs.
  10
  Settlement constructed around natural hot springs.
  11
  Ruins of a once-great fortress.
  12
  Wagon train now permanently in place. 
  13
  Underground network of tunnels and shafts.
  14
  Waterborne web of rickety ships and rafts.
  15
  Grand, ramshackle manor, all ancient halls and forgotten wings.
  16
  Village built on the remains of an overgrown graveyard.
  17
  Enclave built around a huge otherworldly rock.
  18
  Camp in a high mountain pass.
  19
  Small pocket dimension beneath the roots of a great tree.
  20
  A single decrepit inn.
  Town Types
  On top of the overall style of the Town, there are the buildings within the 
  town itself. Not every Town will have all of these, but it’s a good place 
  to begin. These buildings might not be literal buildings—they could be 
  wings of an ancient manor, rafts on a floating camp, or caverns in a tunnel 
  complex. Likewise, different Towns will have additional buildings; a camp 
  built on hot springs, for example, will have a bathhouse, while a military 
  outpost will have a proper armory and training yard.
  d20
  Building
  1
  Bunkroom, dormitory, or barracks.
  2
  Smithy or armory.
  3
  Larder, storehouse, or granary.
  4
  Tanner, leatherworker, or furrier.
  5
  Saloon, taproom, or bar.
  6
  Tavern, mess hall, or canteen.
  7
  Tailor, mercer, or cobbler.
  8
  Cooper, carpenter, or woodworking shop.
  9
  Masonry, roofer’s shop, construction yard.
  10
  General store.
  11
  Butcher, fishmonger, or bakery.
  12
  Medical ward, doctor’s office, or barbershop.
  13
  Church, shrine, or temple.
  14
  Library, scribery, or bookseller’s.
  15
  Town well, reservoir, or aquifer.
  16
  Docks or stables.
  17
  Alchemy shop or apothecary.
  18
  Magic or curio shop.
  19
  Communal gardens or green.
  20
  Stone wall or wooden palisade.
  Town Buildings
  Certainly, built what you please. It 
  will only make your pitiful towns all 
  the more enjoyable to raze.
  
  32
  MAGIC ITEM CRAFTING
  While ordinary equipment can usually be bought from a general store, 
  magical item crafting is a more involved process. It takes years of study and 
  experience that can typically only be acquired through a lifelong dedication 
  to the art. Eking out the inherent magical properties from powerful 
  artifacts, metals, monster parts, and other materials requires both a highly 
  trained hand and a willing supplier of these items of power. Given proper 
  motivation, the adventurers that comprise your players’ party will be more 
  than happy to delve into dangerous locales in search of them.
  Components & Catalysts
  The two main materials required in nearly all magical items are the 
  component and the catalyst. Both are magically-charged objects or 
  substances, usually body parts of a monster, or other innately magical 
  being. Dragon’s blood, elemental cores, and vampire’s hearts are all classic 
  examples. 
  • The component determines the use of a magical item; that is to say, 
  the unique powers and functions of the magical item to be crafted 
  are based solely on the component used. For example, to craft a 
  flame tongue sword, a craftsperson might make use of the core of 
  a fire elemental, or the powdered bones of a fire giant—but those 
  same components could also be used to make a set of flame-resistant 
  armor. The use of the magic item to be created from either of these 
  components arises from the basic inclination to the primordial 
  element of flame held within the component.
  • The catalyst, by contrast, is not linked to the use of the item; instead, 
  the catalyst serves as a physical medium through which the power of 
  the component can be made to flow. A powerful catalyst, like bark 
  from the heart-center of a primal archspirit, can take a relatively weak 
  component and make it strong; alternatively, a weak catalyst, like 
  the tusk of a dire boar, will impede the tides of magic that a mighty 
  component emanates, rendering it lackluster. 
  The component and catalyst must always be separate items: you cannot use 
  two identical items (say, two gallons of dragon’s blood, or two eyes off a 
  many-eyed deep one) for the same magical item. 
   
  Both catalyst and component can be interchangeable: the 
  naturally magic-laden feathers of a roc are useful as the component for 
  an item which expresses a basic element of flight, the sky, or some other 
  aspect that the roc itself embodies. This makes it an effective component 
  for a cloak of flying, for instance. However, roc feathers could be equally 
  useful as a powerful catalyst for a different item. 
   
  Which of these two types of material a specific item or 
  ingredient falls under is solely contingent on the final effect that the item 
  should have. A magical craftsperson will alter their approach to the task of 
  synthesizing a piece of equipment accordingly; they might produce two 
  completely different items from the same raw materials simply by changing 
  which of them is treated as the catalyst.
  Additional Materials
  In addition to the catalyst and component, many magical items require 
  some other materials as well—weapons and armor require metals, cloaks 
  and robes take cloth, and so on. The exact quantities of these additional 
  materials vary, and you as GM are encouraged to consider each on a case-
  by-case basis. 
   
  A list of possible weapon and armor materials can be found in 
  Appendix V (page 103).
  Enchanting
  A question quickly arises in magical crafting: what about enchantments? 
  Can craftspeople simply enchant an item to have a magical effect directly, 
  rather than having to create something entirely new? 
   
  On the one hand, this is probably fine. Using a component 
  and catalyst to simply enchant an existing weapon with a magical effect 
  is quite similar to creating original items, and is unlikely to introduce any 
  problematic imbalance. That is, of course, assuming a maximum of one 
  enchantment per magical item, and that already-magical items cannot 
  be enchanted further; if magical items can have more than one primary 
  effect, the door swings wide open for shenanigans of all varieties. (We 
  don’t recommend this, but if after careful consideration an extremely high-
  powered game sounds appealing, don’t let us stop you).
   
  It is also worth considering the impact that the implementation 
  of enchanting in your game can have on magical crafting. Simply upgrading 
  an existing item is somewhat less exciting than an entirely new one. It also 
  means that, for items that require additional materials beyond catalyst and 
  component, the barrier to creation is somewhat lower. Additionally, the 
  capacity to upgrade existing items trivializes an aspect of decision making 
  in outfitting a character with gear: for instance, if a character can either 
  commission new boots to confer a boon to their dexterity, or they can 
  simply upgrade their already-magical cloak for the same effect, they will 
  never have to make a decision as to whether they’d rather wear their cloak 
  or attune to their new boots, for instance. Decisions like these, despite their 
  seeming inconsequential or even pointless, coagulate to form the fabric of 
  your game. If you’re using many of the rules from this book, which give 
  way by and large to a more systemic experience filled with these sorts of 
  decisions, you may want to consider disallowing enchanting or upgrading 
  existing items and equipment.
   
  Either option can work; the important thing is to be confident 
  in your decision and then communicate it clearly to your players.
  Once, an enchanter came to the lair 
  offering to make some of the Big Guy’s 
  loot even more fancy. Then it turned out 
  they were just a thief, so the Big Guy 
  boiled them alive.
  
  Gold in Magic Item Crafting
  The basic component-plus-catalyst system described here does not 
  immediately require spending any gold. If the adventurers have a 
  craftsperson who is friendly (or in debt) to them, they could conceivably 
  require only the raw crafting materials, and little else.
   
  Most of the time, however, there will still be some gold required: 
  for the labor of the craftsperson, primarily. Exactly how much gold will 
  vary based on the level of treasure you give out, but it should be a level that 
  is significant, but not a fortune. 
   
  Furthermore, it’s possible that some craftspeople, particularly 
  those in the wilderness, might already have some magical materials 
  available for sale, which the adventuerers could buy. These materials should 
  be very expensive—if they aren’t, why would the players ever be motivated 
  to go adventuring? 
  CRAFTSPEOPLE & ARTIFICERS
  The Town is home not only to adventurers, but also to wayward souls, 
  pioneers, refugees, artisans, storytellers, and more. Though not all of the 
  inhabitants of the Town need to have talents that your players can make 
  use of, consider populating the Town with some skilled craftspeople: non-
  player characters with specific abilities that the player characters in your 
  game can take advantage of to craft items, gain intelligence, and develop 
  the Town.
   
  It is up to you to determine the motivations and dispositions of 
  the Town’s craftspeople; it is through them that the player characters will 
  develop a care and appreciation for the Town and the world of the Marches 
  as a whole, and it is only with their help that the Town will grow and prosper.
  Creating a Craftsperson
  On top of your personal methods of creating an NPC, create a special 
  craftsperson by picking one to three of the Craftsperson Features, described 
  on the next page, which describe the craftsperson’s expertise and detail the 
  specific goods and services that they are able to provide for the Town and 
  the player characters.
   
  Consider the craftsperson’s background. Remember that 
  normal people do not come to the West Marches. Why is this craftsperson 
  here? Why would they offer services to the player characters? What do they 
  gain from their relationship to the Town?
  Craftspeople in the World
  It is entirely possible for craftspeople with some or all of the features listed 
  below to exist in the world outside of the Town. These might be ancient 
  smiths, powerful magi, or wandering tinkerers, to name a few examples. 
  These craftspeople might innately be of a higher rank than those in the 
  Town, so as to incentivize players venturing to meet them when they have 
  need of more potent services. 
   
  If these outland craftspeople exist in your world, it is 
  recommended that you belay upgrading craftspeople within the Town, 
  and refrain from allowing player characters to convince these outlanders 
  to take up residence in the Town. Remember: nothing wagered, nothing 
  gained. Make special craftspeople feel special. An adventure to find the 
  ancient giants of the cloud-city and beseech their smith to forge a weapon 
  capable of felling a god, for instance, is a strong hook that’s enabled by the 
  placement of a legendary craftsperson in the world outside the town.
  Why Adventurers Don’t Craft
  The rules presented in this section are designed with the intent that the 
  adventurers themselves do not actually do the physical crafting themselves. 
  They collect the necessary items and gold and find the right craftspeople, 
  but they themselves don’t build the literal objects.
   
  Why? 
   
  The reasons are threefold: first, because crafting is slow and 
  non-dangerous. If players can get loot by simply spending lots of time 
  in town instead of risking their necks in a dangerous hole in the ground, 
  they’ll do that every time. If players can craft, they’ll start skipping out on 
  missions to stay home, and that’s no fun for anyone.
   
  Second, because the base game is geared for combat and 
  adventure, not crafting. There are almost no extant crafting systems or 
  mechanics; class features almost never provide benefits to crafting, nor 
  do nearly any spells and abilities. Creating a fun crafting system would be 
  doing so almost entirely from scratch, and would likely just end up feeling 
  bloated or unnecessary in the context of the larger game.
   
  Third, and perhaps most critically, there is not a strong 
  thematic or narrative basis for craftspeople adventurers. In the stories 
  that fantasy games draw from—modern fiction, historical accounts, and 
  ancient mythologies—it is very rare to find heroic figures that craft their 
  own weapons. They wield magic weapons, certainly, and they often must 
  undertake dangerous journeys to find someone to make them, but it’s 
  exceedingly uncommon for the hero to literally make their own weapons. 
   
  If it feels like the crafting rules aren’t really crafting rules, just 
  rules to have special weapons made, it’s true. These rules are designed to 
  get players out and adventuring, where the fun is, while still preserving the 
  feeling of creating some hard-won new tool.
  
  34
  Choose a number of these features to grant to each craftsperson within and 
  outside the Town; these will define their expertise as well as their role in 
  the Marches as a whole.
  Item Craftspeople
  Craftspeople are generally broken by the type of item that they make; a 
  craftsperson might overlap in these categories, or perhaps only make one 
  specific subset of items in a more general category. In addition to materials, 
  craftspeople require a set of tools fitting their craft; in some cases, they may 
  require a full workshop or other space, such as an alchemy lab or smithy. 
   
  These items are common adventuring items, both magical and 
  non-magical, the kind of things that adventurers would carry on their 
  person into the wilds. 
   
  Armor & Shield Forging. The craftsperson is able to fabricate 
  armor and shields. In addition to a magical component and catalyst, 
  magical armor and shields require raw material to be made from; this could 
  be basic steel, leather, or would, but could also be more exotic materials 
  (see Appendix V, page 103).
   
  Clothing, Cloak, and Robe Sewing. The craftsperson is able to 
  fabricate clothing, cloaks, and robes. In addition to a magical component 
  and catalyst, magical clothing, cloaks, and robes require cloth as a base.
   
  Potion Brewing. The craftsperson is able to fabricate magical 
  potions. 
   
  Ring & Jewelry Making. The craftsperson is able to fabricate 
  rings and other jewelry, such as amulets or talismans. In addition to a 
  magical component and catalyst, magical rings and jewelry typically 
  require precious metals, such as gold or silver, and a gemstone, such as a 
  ruby or garnet—sometimes both.
   
  Rod, Staff, and Wand Carving. The craftsperson is able to 
  fabricate magical rods, staves, and wands. 
   
  Scroll Scribing. The craftsperson is able to fabricate spell scrolls. 
  Rather than an ordinary magical catalyst, spell scrolls require magical 
  paper and inks on top of a magical component.
   
  Weapon Smithing. The craftsperson is able to fabricate 
  weapons. As with armor and shields, magical weapons require raw material 
  to be made from on top of a magical component and catalyst; this could be 
  simple steel or wood, but could be more exotic (see Appendix V, page 103).
   
  Wondrous Item Artificing. The craftsperson is able to fabricate 
  wondrous items, that unique branch of magical items that don’t neatly fit 
  into any other category. Wondrous items may require additional materials 
  beyond a magical catalyst and component, but this should be decided on a 
  case-by-case basis.
  CRAFTSPERSON FEATURES
  Mounts & Vehicles
  In addition to ordinary items, the town might also have craftspeople skilled 
  in other areas beyond basic adventuring weapons and gear. These items are 
  typically non-magical, and do not follow standard magical item creation 
  rules.
   
  Land Vehicle Constructing. The craftsperson is able to fabricate 
  land vehicles, such as carts, wagons, or sleds. They can create any land 
  vehicle described in the Mounts and Vehicles section (PHB 157) among 
  possible others, provided that they are given the requisite payment and 
  time to build the vehicle.
   
  Mount Husbandry. The craftsperson raises animals used 
  commonly as mounts for riders, such as horses, donkeys, or mastiffs. The 
  exact mounts for sale will depend on the geography and resources of the 
  Town, but the animals described in the Mounts and Vehicles section (PHB 
  157) are a good place to start.
   
  Shipwrighting. The craftsperson is able to fabricate sea vehicles, 
  primarily ships. They can create any sea vehicle described in the Mounts 
  and Vehicles section (PHB 157) among possible others, provided that they 
  are given the requisite payment and time to build the vehicle.
  Magical Services
  Some craftspeople in the town provide services, more than they do explicit 
  goods or items. 
   
  Healing & Cursebreaking. The craftsperson is capable of casting 
  spells from either the cleric or druid spell list, which they will do as a service 
  for a cost of 50 gp × the level of the spell to be cast.
   
  Identification. The craftsperson can cast the identify spell to 
  identify the properties of a magical item for the price of 50 gp per item.
   
  Material & Ingredient Appraisal. The craftsperson can identify 
  metals, plants, animal parts, and other substances. If the craftsperson 
  spends 1 hour examining a sample of an unknown substance, they are able 
  to identify it; if not by name, then by its specific properties and uses in 
  crafting items. The exact cost of this service varies depending on the rarity, 
  quantity, and use of the substance in question.
  Crafting is Not Required
  These rules are complicated. There’s a fair bit to them, and they require an 
  extra level of thought and detail from you as the GM, in how you distribute 
  both monsters and rewards. Plus they have to be communicated to your 
  players, who then have to engage with them.
   
  If that’s all feeling like too much, you officially have our blessing 
  to ignore all of these pages, and just have players earn magic items the old-
  fashioned way: by going into a dungeon, killing everything inside, and 
  prying the loot from monsters’ cold, dead hands.
  
  35
  Designing Additional Materials
  Many magic items require additional materials beyond a simple component 
  and catalyst—weapons and armor need metals, scrolls need paper and ink, 
  cloaks and clothes need cloth, and so on. 
   
  Generally, there are two basic methods for making interesting 
  materials along these lines: where the material comes from, or who made 
  the material in the first place.
   
   For the first method, think of extraordinary places: the lands of 
  the fae, the vale of shadows, the elemental planes, and so on. Sacred trees, 
  planar mountains, astral waters, infernal volcanic rock, divine flesh—all of 
  these are from inherently magical places or things, and thus can be used in 
  crafting magical items. 
   
  For the second method, think of unusual peoples: dwarves, 
  elves, giants, faeries, ghosts, angels, demons, spirits, elementa, and all the 
  many more. Dwarfish bronze, giant’s steel, demonic leather, elemental 
  cloth—they might be working with ordinary materials, but by simple dint 
  of being supernatural, these peoples create supernatural items.
  You won’t have much luck crafting an item capable of moving mountains 
  out of the tusk of a boar, and not all craftspeople are capable of working 
  with the most powerful of materials. Formidable magical items require 
  powerful materials and a powerful craftsperson in kind. Exactly how 
  powerful an item, material, or craftsperson is can be generalized to tiers.
  MATERIAL & CRAFTSPERSON TIERS
  Tiers
  Tiers are based on the rarity of magic items; from least powerful to most: 
  common, uncommon, rare, very rare, and legendary. Common magic 
  items include healing potions and unbreakable arrows, while legendary 
  items include cubic gates and vorpal swords. 
   
  To create an item of a given tier, a component and catalyst 
  must be provided, and a craftsperson talented enough to create the item 
  must be employed in its fabrication. Generally speaking, the rarer and 
  more dangerous a creature is, the more powerful the material components 
  that can be harvested from its corpse become. By the same token, natural 
  resources like herbs become more powerful the rarer they are or the more 
  dangerous they are to find or recover.
  Monster CR
  Material Tier
  1–4
  Common
  5–10
  Uncommon
  11–17
  Rare
  18-23
  Very Rare
  24-30
  Legendary
  Material Tier by Challenge Rating
  To determine the material tier of herbs, metal ores, or other substances 
  from nonliving sources, consider the danger level of the region in which 
  those materials can be found. The rarer materials that can be found in your 
  world should only be located in its most dangerous areas. 
   
  Early on, materials will likely be harvested through a simple 
  Intelligence (Nature) check, while more advanced materials might require 
  a series of checks, tasks, or even their own specific magic items required to 
  harvest them. 
   
  To read more on hunting and material harvesting, see page 25.
  Craftsperson Tiers
  As part of the process of designing the craftspeople that will inhabit the 
  Town and beyond, you should consider which tier each craftsperson falls 
  into. The more talented the craftsperson, the more powerful the materials 
  they are capable of working. It’s recommended in any case to have the 
  craftspeople of the Town to fall into either the common or uncommon 
  tiers, at least to start. 
  Craftspeople can become better at their trade over time if the player 
  characters facilitate their growth. Recovering special tools of the trade, 
  artifacts, or other means of power and granting them to a craftsperson in 
  the Town might allow that craftsperson to realize a fuller potential. When 
  this happens, convey the heightened potency with which a craftsperson 
  executes their trade by increasing their tier. For instance, the town 
  cursebreaker might gain the ability to cast the greater restoration spell if 
  they are given the amulet recovered from the depths of a forgotten shrine, 
  or the mundane smith might gain the ability to work magical metals if given 
  access to a magical source of heat, like the heart of a fire elemental.
   
  Design your Town’s craftspeople with upward mobility in mind. 
  When you do, you incentivize the players to become invested in the Town, 
  as well as give them another opportunity to take control of their priorities 
  as a party.
   
  In this case, you should take the rough “average” of the two items. 
  In the case of the salamander tongue and the pit fiend horn, this would 
  come out to a rough average of a rare item. This is an inexact science, but 
  it’s straightforward enough that players can understand the consequences 
  of mismatching their material tiers when commissioning magical items.
  Consumable Items and Tiers
  Consumable items are those items that can only be used a limited number 
  of times; scrolls and potions primarily, but also some wands, staves, and 
  jewelry. 
   
  For these items, consider upping the power of materials relative 
  to the item’s rarity. That is, for example, materials at the upper bound of the 
  uncommon tier could easily make rare-strength potions. For permanent 
  upgrades, like weapons and armor, more dangerous materials should be 
  required, but for single-use items, be generous in their power range.
  Artifacts
  Artifacts are a class all on their own: the most unique and potent of all 
  items, created by the gods when the world was young. 
   
  Under these rules, artifacts cannot be crafted. That’s not to say 
  that the heroes will never be involved in crafting an artifact—one could 
  imagine the gods assigning such a task as the requisite to enter Elysium, or 
  something similar—just that the rules presented here do not cover items of 
  such power. It should take significantly more than mere monster parts and 
  magic metal to create an artifact. 
   
  Likewise, these rules aren’t meant to create the most powerful, 
  world-altering magic items, like the fabled Deck of Many Things. These 
  items are simply too influential and too campaign-shattering to be idly 
  created by players.
  Components & Catalysts of Different Tiers
  In the case of components and catalysts of the same tier, the task of 
  determining how powerful a craftsperson is required for their synthesis 
  is simple. However, there may be cases where the only materials available 
  vary wildly in power levels. For example, consider an item where the 
  component is the spine of a salamander (uncommon range), but the 
  catalyst is the horn of a pit fiend (very rare range). 
  
  36
  REGIONS
  The West Marches are vast and sprawling, stretching further west without 
  end. However, within the Marches themselves, chunks of similar terrain 
  can be divided up into regions—a section of territory that shares similar 
  qualities, inhabitants, and features.
  PRINCIPLES OF REGIONS
  The principles of designing regions are thus: make them discrete, make 
  them unique, and make them dangerous.
  Discrete
  It should be obvious to players when they cross the threshold from one 
  region to the next. Communicating these differences matters both because 
  it lets them make their map more accurately and signals that this is a new 
  region to scout, but also because it warns them of potential danger. When 
  players travel into a new region, they should be alert for threats.
   
  The most straightforward way to distinguish two regions is to 
  make them two separate environments: forests and plains, mountains and 
  coastline, hills and the underground. Conversely, this means that within 
  a single region, there should not be more than one environment. A single 
  hill in the plains or a forest lake is fine, but if a single region combines two 
  environments, players’ expectations will come into conflict with the reality 
  of the game. This is in part because the distinctions between regions also 
  mean that a region’s effects, such as poisonous flora or constant rainstorms, 
  should be confined to that region; as soon as these cross region lines, the 
  lines become confused, and so too will your players.
   
  If you must have two of the same environments next to each 
  other, be certain to leave other clues: coniferous trees change to deciduous, 
  for example, or rolling hills turn to rocky crags. These varied descriptions 
  should signal change to your players, even if the environment itself does 
  not overtly transform.
   
  Another useful way to distinguish environments is via natural or 
  artificial barrier: perhaps a river runs between the hills and the desert, or 
  a cliffside marks the shift from mountains to coastline, or an ancient road 
  cuts through the eaves between mountain and plain, or a mystical barrier
  Unique
  Each region should feel like its own special location, unlike anywhere else 
  in the Marches. This is done for both gameplay and thematic reasons: from 
  a gameplay perspective, this keeps things fresh and exciting and engaging, 
  and incentivizes expansion. No player wants stale content, and so it is 
  important that each region has its own unique draw. From a thematic 
  perspective, the Marches themselves should get wilder and stranger the 
  deeper the players explore; making each region special reinforces the wild 
  and untamed nature of the Marches.
   
  Because there are limited numbers of total environments that 
  exist, even in a fantasy world, the key to making each region unique is 
  to begin adding other factors. This might be strange inhabitants, unusual 
  magical effects, bizarre weather patterns, ancient structures, or something 
  else entirely. These, when compounded with the normal variations in 
  environments, will help to make individual regions unique.
   
  On top of this, each region should be memorable; with only a 
  brief description, players should start recognizing areas they’ve been to 
  before. In order to best achieve this, each region should have a key phrase: 
  a short, descriptive phrase that is used every time that region is visited. For 
  a relatively ordinary forest, the phrase might be “narrow grey pine trees.” 
  For a range of haunted hills, the phrase might be “jagged crags dusted with 
  mist.” For an ancient battlefield, this phrase might be “ashen soil hiding 
  shattered bones.” 
   
  When players enter this region, you should work the key phrase 
  into your description of the region itself. You can and should expand the 
  description beyond the key phrase alone, but it is critical to include it. As 
  players hear the key phrase used over and over again, they will associate 
  it with the region; as soon as they enter that region, even if lost, they will 
  know where they are.
  of force divides the great forest in two. These kinds of barriers are clear 
  markers to players; if the barrier is harder to cross, such as a lava flow or 
  towering cliffside, it can also serve as an indicator of the challenge of the 
  region beyond.
  
  37
  Dangerous
  Danger unites. If a region is not dangerous, players will not work together 
  and quickly grow bored. The Marches are the most feared and unknown 
  territory in the world, and your regions should reflect that. Do not be afraid 
  to have random encounters that are extremely dangerous. Present great 
  difficulty to your players in the terrain. Have clever, aggressive monsters 
  abound.
   
  That said, be certain to telegraph all of this information ahead of 
  time. Leave tracks and trails for the players to stumble across; have NPCs 
  warn the players of a region’s danger; place natural formations that hint 
  towards greater danger. 
   
  In designing a region’s difficulty, there are two main guidelines 
  to follow: first, the farther from town, the more dangerous the region. 
  Second, a region’s difficulty should be consistent within itself. 
  Both of these are somewhat flexible. While the difficulty curve of regions 
  should generally get higher the further they are from town, it can be a good 
  idea to have a few more dangerous regions closer to home. It lets players 
  experiment and make riskier missions, and it also helps to ensure that they 
  stay on their toes; if there’s a region close to home that’s dangerous, who 
  knows what might lie further beyond? 
   
  Within a region itself, it’s important the random encounters are 
  all roughly of the same difficulty. Players will use random encounters as a 
  metric for the overall challenge of the region, and so it is important to keep 
  them of consistent difficulty. That said, so long as they are well-telegraphed, 
  a few specific spots of increased difficulty can be beneficial. Stray too close 
  to the dragon’s mountaintop lair, for example, and the dragon is more 
  likely to descend. Players can see the dragon from a distance, and so have 
  ample opportunity to not run afoul of the beast itself. In general, however, 
  random encounters should maintain similar difficulty to allow players to 
  get a gauge of the region as a whole.
   
  As an overarching rule of thumb, the more difficulty deviates 
  from the established, expected difficulty of the region or broader area, the 
  more telegraphing is required.
  DANGER LEVEL
  When you design a region, you should decide on one danger level for 
  the region as a whole. The simplest way to start designing a region is by 
  determining what level of adventurer the area is suited for. An average 
  combat encounter in the region should be of medium difficulty for five 
  adventurers of that level, according to DMG 81. 
   
  Once you decide on a danger level for the region, you should 
  adhere to it. Some encounters might be a little harder, some might be a 
  little easier, but by and large it should be safe to assume that encounters 
  in the region will be of that danger level. Dungeons or specific locations 
  can be of higher danger, but abrupt changes in the level of danger that the 
  players can expect from an area should always be well-telegraphed.
   
  There are plenty of other ways to add nuance to the amount 
  of danger posed by a region. Perhaps food is scarce there, or the natural 
  environment is extremely inhospitable. When you add these extra danger 
  factors into a region, consider adjusting the difficulty of combat encounters 
  proportionally so that the level of danger in the region does not compound 
  too unpredictably.
  Why Have Danger Level?
  There is a not-unreasonable argument to be made that these are the 
  Marches, and thus consistent danger levels across a region should not exist. 
  There’s some truth to the sentiment: the Marches are designed to be wild 
  and unpredictable, and having consistent danger levels across a region 
  undermines some of that unpredictability. 
   
  That said, a core aspect of the West Marches, as a format, is 
  slowly moving outwards, away from the town and into the wilds. While 
  regions can and should vary in danger levels, having wildly varying 
  encounter levels would undermine the gradient of danger. If the first 
  encounter out of town was a dragon only to have the second be a half-dozen 
  bandits, the Marches as a whole will feel as though something’s gone awry.
   
  Furthermore, players should have some sense of how much 
  trouble they’re getting themselves into before they do it. Diving into 
  a dungeon that’s just a bit more dangerous than expected is tense and 
  exciting, but diving into a dungeon that instantly crushes the party is not. 
   
  It’s also important to bear in mind that while the danger level 
  inside a region should maintain some level of regularity, overall danger 
  levels across regions can and should be quite different. Crossing the 
  thresholds from the splintered hills to the haunted wood to the barrier 
  mountains signals a shift in difficulty, which should be embraced. 
  You may think yourself safe, but it 
  matters not. No matter where in the 
  whole of the Marches you are, I will 
  find you, I will hunt you down, and I 
  will boil your flesh from your bones.
  
  38
  ENVIRONMENT
  The environment of a region refers to its geological and ecological makeup; 
  examples include forest, hills, mountains, or desert. Environment will 
  determine a region’s travel speed, availability of food and water, difficulty 
  to navigate, and will play a large part in the inhabitants of the region. 
   
  These are expressed as a region’s travel speed, food DC, water 
  DC, and navigation DC. The following list provides a general guideline 
  for environments. You can and should feel free to adjust these as fits your 
  game: an exceptionally lush mountain range might have a lower food and 
  water DC, for example, while a highly dense forest might have a higher 
  navigation DC.
  Environment
  Travel Speed
  Food DC
  Water DC
  Navig. DC
  Coastal
  ½ speed
  10
  15
  13
  Desert
  No effect
  18
  20
  13
  Forest
  ½ speed
  10
  10
  15
  Grassland
  No effect
  10
  13
  10
  Hills
  ½ speed
  13
  10
  15
  Mountains
  ¼ speed
  15
  15
  18
  Swamp
  ¼ speed
  13
  10
  18
  Tundra
  No effect
  15
  13
  10
  Underground
  ½ speed
  18
  18
  18
  Urban
  ½ speed
  15
  13
  13
  Wasteland
  No effect
  20
  20
  10
  Environments
  Combining Environments
  Many regions are comprised of more than one environment, such as 
  forested mountains, desert hills, or a coastal swamp. When this occurs, use 
  the slowest travel time, the highest navigation DC, and the lowest food and 
  water DCs.
   
  For example, consider an icy range of snow-covered mountains. 
  Being arctic mountains, they have a travel speed of ¼ speed, food DC 15, 
  water DC 13, and navigation DC 18. 
   
  Combining environments can often be a good way to vary 
  regions, to make them feel unique and special. Because the Marches are a 
  fantasy world, do not be afraid to combine environments in unusual ways: 
  a swampy desert might be the result of some ancient curse, or underground 
  grasslands might be due to druidic influence.
  More Environments
  These environments are a good baseline, but they do not cover all possible 
  variations or options. A forest of giant fungi, for example, might have a have 
  a lower food and water DC, but be more difficult to navigate due to mind-
  altering gases. A series of floating mountains might be nigh-impossible to 
  find water on, but easily navigated due to their great height.
   
  Use these environments as a framework to jump off from, to 
  indulge your wild fantasies and your most far-flung regions. The Marches 
  are a strange and wondrous place—do not be afraid to use your imagination!
  CLIMATE
  Consider the general climate for the whole of the Marches. Where are they 
  on the overall map of the world? While the Marches are most commonly 
  thought of as being on the western edge of the Empire, this isn’t necessarily 
  the case. The South, North, and East Marches are all equally viable—as 
  are, perhaps, the Upper and Lower Marches, or even the Inner and Outer 
  Marches.
   
  Whichever, decide on a rough, general climate for the region as 
  a whole. This is a fantasy world, however, and thus climates may vary more 
  than they would in the real world. It is entirely feasible that the southern 
  reaches of a sub-equatorial Marches are frozen entirely solid in ice, while 
  the northern, only a couple hundred miles away, are sunny and balmy. 
  Likewise, if a specific region is unusually warm or cold, do not worry over-
  much—magic has many strange effects, not the least of which is altering 
  climate. 
   
  You can use the following table as a baseline for a region’s 
  climate, but do not be afraid to expand further.
  d6
  Climate
  1
  Tropical; hot and wet
  2
  Subtropical; warm and wet
  3
  Arid; warm and dry
  4
  Temperate; cool and wet
  5
  Subarctic; cool and dry
  6
  Arctic; cold and dry
  Climates
  Generating More Environments
  As you build your Marches, you may find yourself running out of concepts 
  to make regions out of, even after combining the different environments. 
  This is normal; it happens to everyone.
   
  When this does happen, one of the best ways to continue 
  generating interesting, evocative regions is to begin tweaking small details, 
  and then expanding from there. Consider, for example, a forest where 
  the trees are made of stone. A relatively simple change, but it has wide 
  implications: what do the animals eat? How do birds nest in stone trees? 
  Can you still cut them down for logging materials? Do leaves fall? Answer 
  these questions, and you’ll have an interesting region. 
   
  In making these tweaks, consider topography, materials, colors, 
  behaviors, weather patterns, ambiance, sound, diet, and the barriers 
  between planes. A steppe of pink grasses, mountains shrouded in total 
  silence, a marsh that freezes over every night, a beach where the tides don’t 
  flow—all of these are provocative, engaging regions, ones that will beg your 
  players to investigate further. Use these simple tweaks to your advantage.  
  
  39
  LANDFORMS & STRUCTURES
  In addition to a region’s environment, part of what makes it unique is 
  its landforms and structures. Many regions contain castles and temples, 
  villages and hamlets, streams and hills, clearings and gullies—while yes, 
  these are technically landforms and structures, they are not enough to 
  distinguish a region. To do so, they must be defining; they must be the focal 
  point of the entire region, or at bare minimum a critical aspect of it. 
   
  These set-piece landmarks will make the region distinguishable 
  and unique, yes, but they will also serve your players in forming an 
  understanding of the region’s place in world’s layered history. Consider the 
  following as you design your landforms and structures: How do they help 
  players contextualize their surroundings? Can they be used to navigate? Do 
  they house a dungeon? Do other factions or monsters know about them? 
  For structures, what are they there for, or what were they before falling into 
  ruin? How do they tie in with the Marches’ ancient past, if applicable?
  d10
  Landform
  1
  Bluffs, extreme cliffs, or a chasm.
  2
  Massive mountain peak.
  3
  Volcano.
  4
  Huge tunnel or pit.
  5
  Enormous tree.
  6
  Web of lakes and streams.
  7
  Ruined fortress.
  8
  Ancient road, bridge, or stairs.
  9
  Faction stronghold.
  10
  Huge river or waterfall.
  Landforms and Structures
  Landforms and Structures as Telegraphing
  In many situations, these landforms and structures can be used as the 
  barrier between two regions. If you do so, consider the implication of the 
  landform or structure itself: if the entirety of the Marches thus far have been 
  wholly uncivilized, for example, an enduring road will serve as a marker 
  of more dangerous inhabitants. Sharp contrast to the existing regions and 
  the previously-known area of the Marches will register as danger to your 
  players.
   
  Likewise, because these landforms and structures are often 
  significantly more visible than the surrounding region, they can serve as an 
  easy marker of threat. If a huge mountain has a dragon circling it, players 
  know to stay away; if an ancient stronghold flies banners of an enemy 
  faction, players know to be wary; if a volcano still flows, all players will 
  exercise caution.
  Landforms and Structures in Narrative
  Players are drawn to that which stands out. If they see something large and 
  strange and enticing, they will go towards it—in a campaign with few pure 
  “plot” hooks, curiosity will always drive players. Because of this, major 
  landforms and structures are a good place to locate key pieces of lore and 
  information. 
   
  In a basic sense, players are more likely to go to large, obvious 
  structures, and thus more likely to learn whatever information you place 
  there. In a more nuanced capacity, however, the major landforms and 
  structures of a region can be used to illustrate broader points of the history 
  of a particular region.
   
  In a region that was once the site of an ancient battle now turned 
  to barren wasteland, a still-active volcano might have been summoned by 
  the winning side. In a spreading cursed forest, a towering single tree might 
  hold the heart of a vengeful druid that laid the curse on the whole wood. In 
  a water-ridden marshland, the enormous whirlpool in the center might be 
  why the region was abandoned by its former people.
   
  The major landmarks of a region should define the region, and 
  thus its lore. Link these together, and your region will be all the more 
  excellent.
  Landforms and Description
  When you describe a landform or structure, it’s important to use similar 
  language each time. Obviously, if the landform’s changed, such as if a 
  volcano erupts, you change the description, but for the same landmark, 
  use the same language. 
   
  “A square of crumbling, decrepit walls, overgrown with ivy; 
  there are collapsed turrets set at each of the corners” and “a ruined castle, 
  little more than four broken walls and towers” could feasibly describe 
  the same place. To your players, however, those descriptions will feel 
  fundamentally different. 
   
  Just as you use key phrases to describe regions, you should do 
  the same for those regions’ important landforms and structures. Landforms 
  should be reliable, regular, and able to be used as signposts. Ensure your 
  players can actually make use of them. 
  Castles are for those who 
  cannot defend themselves 
  otherwise. 
  In other words, weaklings. 
  For those of us not as tough as 
  the Big Guy, though, castles 
  can be a very good idea indeed! 
  Just watch out for traps!
  Bigger is Older is Badder
  A mountain that pierces the clouds; a bridge that crosses an ocean; a pit that 
  pierces the earth’s crust. All of these things are huge, and all of them will 
  register as very old and very dangerous to your players. Fantasy is built on 
  the themes of ancient civilizations now gone, and impossible architecture 
  and colossal structures are a fantastic method of reinforcing that theme. 
   
  If you want to awe your players and instantly pique their 
  curiosity, place a huge structure, natural or otherwise. It drives exploration, 
  captures imagination, and builds resonance. 
   
  Likewise, if you want to inspire fear in your players, describe 
  something gargantuan and ancient. To wake things best left sleeping is a 
  deep fear, and the older the sleeper, the worse. 
   
  Big things are old things, and old things are dangerous. 
  You can always see the Big Guy’s lair, no 
  matter where you are—just look for big 
  black mountain, the pools of acid, and the 
  screams of people he doesn’t like very much. 
  
  40
  d20
  Modifier
  1
  Anyone who spends the night in the region is aged magically by 
  1 year.
  2
  Every few hours, sudden lightning strikes near the party
  3
  Weather ranging into extreme heat or extreme cold in sudden 
  shifts.
  4
  A ghostly whispering suffuses the region; anyone there is unable 
  to escape it.
  5
  Fey magic abounds, meaning there is a small chance travellers 
  will be transported elsewhere.
  6
  As night falls, the quantity of monsters increases threefold.
  7
  Pockets of quicksand dot the region, sometimes obvious and 
  sometimes hidden.
  8
  Rockslides and avalanches are very common.
  9
  Misleading waystones and road-signs abound.
  10
  Any food consumed is unsatisfying; hair and nails grow at a 
  rapid rate.
  11
  Unease and discomfort suffuse the area; relaxation is impossible.
  12
  Murders of crows follow travellers, marking them for unfriendly 
  eyes.
  13
  Unending storms and fell weather wrack the region.
  14
  Each morning, there is a high chance heavy fog has rolled in 
  overnight.
  15
  Geysers burst through the earth often, and in unpredictable 
  locations.
  16
  Any blood spilt quickly draws in ravenous beasts.
  17
  Flash floods sweep through the regions irregularly. 
  18
  Any metal left in the region overnight quickly begins to rust and 
  decay.
  19
  The region is riddled with cliffs, gorges, and gullies, slowing 
  travel.
  20
  Volcanic eruptions alter the terrain near-constantly.
  Region Modifiers
  Modifiers’ Difficulty Level
  These region modifiers are presented primarily without specific mechanical 
  difficulty attached. This is done because a region’s modifier should vary 
  with the region’s difficulty level on the whole. In a low-level region with the 
  modifier that “spilt blood draws hungry beasts,” the beasts might be simple 
  animals, and it takes them a few minutes to arrive, giving the players time to 
  flee or prepare. In a high-level region with the same modifier, the “beasts” 
  might be bloodthirsty vampires that teleport in to a scene the moment 
  blood leaves the body. 
   
  As you design regions, be careful in which modifiers you apply 
  and how. As always, the list above is suggestion; you can and should feel 
  free to expand beyond these.  Shifting each individual factor in a region’s 
  modifier—time, severity, resource drain, frequency, DCs, and others—will 
  allow you to settle on the region’s difficulty in more detail.
  Modifiers as Narrative
  As with landforms and environments, the modifiers to a region can directly 
  inform the narrative of that region as a whole. Consider what causes the 
  modifier to even exist in the region in the first place: is it an ancient curse, 
  laid down by a necromancer? Is it due to the region’s location between two 
  mountain ranges? Is it due to the existence of a portal to another realm? 
   
  In many cases, the modifier has some variety of magical origin, 
  often a very old or obscure one. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—a 
  region’s particular modifier can often be illuminating to the region’s broader 
  history. Modifiers are often what players notice early when exploring a 
  region, and thus more present when they attempt to uncover a region’s 
  narrative. 
   
  A region’s modifier does not reveal or explicate the region’s 
  broader narrative so much as it does show its aftereffects. A region haunted 
  by ghostly soldiers might once have been the site of forgotten battles; a 
  region where the rain runs red with blood might house a mage practicing 
  profane rituals; a region where the water is poisonous might be inhabited 
  by bands of venomous reptilian humanoids. Seeing the modifier does 
  not make the region’s broader narrative immediately obvious, but rather 
  reinforces its impact on the whole.
  We once saw a bird as large as a house
  It was exciting, but terrifying—we had 
  to go get the Big Guy to scare it off! 
  Nearly ate Kezzi, too, heehee!
  MODIFIERS
  While regions are composed of environments and landforms, they also 
  are often affected by other, stranger forces. In many cases, these are more 
  natural: wildlife behavior, weather patterns, or flora growths. In others, 
  it might be magical: curses, enchantments, or long-lasting invocations. 
  Whatever the cause, these kinds of additional effects within a region are 
  referred to as modifiers.
   
  Early on, as the players are first exploring the Marches, modifiers 
  should generally be less present, or if they are present, less impactful. The 
  regions closer to town are more about letting players learn the rules of the 
  game, get a sense of what the Marches are about, and find their footing in 
  general. Layering heavy modifiers on top of early regions is more likely to 
  confuse players than it is to make for a better game.
   
  As the players explore farther from town, however, modifiers 
  can and should grow more common and more extreme. At the farthest 
  reaches of the Marches, there very well could be no regions left without 
  intense modifiers.
  
  41
  INHABITANTS
  The inhabitants of a region are comprised of all living things that dwell 
  within the region: animals, people, and monsters. In most cases, the 
  inhabitants of a region will be determined by the region’s environment: 
  forests, mountains, plains, the underground—all have different natural 
  inhabitants. As you design your region, consider what manner of 
  inhabitants, if any, dwell within. 
   
  If you are struggling to think of what might dwell in a region, 
  consult DMG Appendix B, which contains lists of creatures sorted by 
  environment.
  Settlements
  Settlements in the Marches are far and few between. They are well-
  defended and well-hidden; any settlements that aren’t will surely 
  perish. Most settlements are hostile to outsiders, and thus will be to any 
  adventurers that come knocking.
   
  The rare few that allow outsiders in should be a place of 
  temporary respite, where adventurers can grab a safe night’s sleep and 
  resupply, but little more. As with the town, if there is adventure to be had 
  in areas that are less dangerous, players will do everything in their power to 
  stay there.
   
  Hostile settlements should be placed at key barrier locations 
  between regions: a narrow mountain pass, a strip of land between two seas, 
  or the only road through the forests. These hostile settlements can be used 
  in the same way as key structures and landforms for telegraphing: a group 
  of low-level players will balk at a fortress full of hobgoblins, informing them 
  to keep away until they’ve reached a certain level of power.
   
  The few friendly settlements that exist should be in out-of-the-
  way locations; place them too close to prime dungeons and unexplored 
  regions, and they will become a way-stop for every mission. This lowers the 
  difficulty of nearby dungeons and regions, as it provides player characters 
  with an easy place to both launch from and retreat to. Force your players to 
  commit; don’t put friendly settlements in convenient locations.
  Inhabitants as Narrative
  As with all parts of a region, the inhabitants of a region contribute to the 
  overall narrative and history of the region. In the case of animals and non-
  sentient monsters, they should be used to reinforce the particular narrative 
  of the region as a whole. Lycanthropes might prowl a region overseen by an 
  accursed king; sentient plants dwell in a region close to the Fey; fiends hunt 
  in broad daylight when a portal is nearby. 
  As with modifiers, monstrous inhabitants of a region are less explanatory 
  of the narrative of the region itself as much as they reinforcements of it. 
  They demonstrate the current nature of the region—and thus the end result 
  of the region’s history—firsthand, rather than provide direct explication.
   
  Humanoid inhabitants of the region should be treated with care. 
  For more detail about NPCs and their relation to world lore, see page 66.
  Legendary Monsters
  In addition to the more ordinary inhabitants of a region, consider adding 
  in a legendary monster—a beast of tremendous power, the showstopper 
  of the region. Legendary monsters are often far more dangerous than the 
  surrounding region, but compensate by being significantly more obvious. 
  Legendary monsters should be able to be seen coming from far away, giving 
  low-level players plenty of time to escape. When they do go to fight the 
  monster, make sure it’s their direct intent, not just some chance encounter.
   
  Legendary monsters, while impressive on their own, should be 
  built up by the surrounding regions’ inhabitants. Players will undoubtedly 
  be curious about the legendary monsters, and will dig into any and all 
  information about them. Because of this, legendary monsters are a prime 
  locus for the region’s (or even several regions’) narrative. As players 
  increase in power by completing dungeons and other missions in the 
  legendary monster’s region, they should be uncovering more and more lore 
  and information about it. 
   
  For more detail on conveying information through terrible foes, 
  see page 55.
  d10
  Monster
  1
  A great sentient tree, slowly drifting across the world.
  2
  A dragon turtle large enough to be mistaken for an island itself.
  3
  An undersea leviathan or kraken.
  4
  A three-headed purple worm.
  5
  A long-dead tyrant, brought to life through profane ritual.
  6
  A conclave of many-eyed deep ones.
  7
  A demon lord seated atop a throne of contempt.
  8
  An avenging angel of flame and light.
  9
  A mechanical colossus the size of a mountain.
  10
  The tarrasque itself.
  Legendary Monsters
  Earning Inhabitants’ Evil Status
  As you build your region and begin adding in its humanoid inhabitants, 
  be cautious and thoughtful. The inhabitants can and should be mostly 
  villainous, but you should take care to accurately paint them as such. 
   
  “They’re orcs” is not sufficient reason to be villainous, for 
  example. Bloodthirsty marauders or zealous cultists or raiding cannibals 
  are all perfectly good villains—and they may well be orcs—but labeling an 
  entire race as monstrous is wrong. Take the time to ensure that your evil 
  inhabitants have earned that evil by dint of actual villainy.
  Imagine not being known as the 
  mightiest evil in all the Marches. 
  I’ve held that title since I could first 
  spread my wings, I cannot fathom 
  what life would be like without.
  
  42
  ENCOUNTERS
  As player characters travel through a region, they will tangle with the 
  region’s inhabitants, hazards, and other dangers. These dangers are all 
  broadly referred to as “encounters,” meaning any sort of situation or 
  scenario that puts the player characters at risk and has the potential to drain 
  them of resources. 
   
  These regional encounters are separate from the encounters 
  within a dungeon. They follow different guidelines and are more randomly 
  determined, as opposed to a dungeon’s more constructed, scripted 
  encounters. 
   
  Regional encounters have a chance to occur every watch—once 
  every four hours. At the beginning of each watch, roll 1d100 to see if an 
  encounter will occur during that watch; when the encounter occurs within 
  that watch precisely is up to you. 
  Encounter Tables
  Once it has been determined that an encounter will occur, roll on the 
  region’s encounter table. These tables are composed of monsters that 
  inhabit the region that the party is likely to run across, as well as naturally 
  dangerous encounters—rockfalls, quicksand, lava flows, and the like.
   
  You should compile your encounter tables from the inhabitants 
  of the region. In general, encounters should only be with dangerous 
  monsters of the region—an encounter with a herd of deer is not particularly 
  dangerous, and thus not conducive to good gameplay.
   
  Your encounter table should be random. In some cases it can 
  be better to simply decide which encounter will happen—such as if the 
  party is camped very close to a hostile encampment—but most of the time, 
  randomly determining the encounter better represents the region.
   
  As a rule of thumb, each region should have between five 
  and eight varieties of common monsters to encounter; fewer will feel 
  repetitive, but too many more and the region might be too unpredictable. 
  The table itself should be based on a standard die roll; any die between a 
  d8 and a d20 will work well. Bear in mind that the chance of encountering 
  each monster does need not to be equal; more common monsters should 
  be more common on the roll. 
   
  In addition to the region’s own monsters, encounter tables 
  should include one or two monsters from neighboring regions. These 
  should be low-chance encounters; it’s uncommon for monsters to wander 
  in from a nearby region, but it does happen. 
   
  Finally, an encounter table should always have a slight chance 
  of two encounters happening simultaneously—an owlbear tussling with 
  a band of orcs is suddenly a complicated situation, as is the party and 
  opposing basilisks all sinking into quicksand together.
  Encounter Danger
  The danger of each encounter on your region’s encounter table should be 
  fixed. There is a tendency in the base game to have encounters be something 
  along the lines of “1d4 bullettes” or “3d6 sahuagin.” This is not good design 
  for the West Marches. One bullette is a dramatically different fight from 
  four bullettes, just as six sahuagin compared to fifteen sahuagin is entirely 
  unlike. If encounters swing wildly, players won’t be able to accurately gauge 
  the region’s danger—as that region will not have a reliable danger level.
   
  Most of the time, it is perfectly acceptable to simply say “2 
  bullettes” or “10 sahuagin.” If these encounters happen to repeat a lot, 
  players might start to notice, but this is unlikely, and even if they do, little 
  harm will come of it. The Marches are a fundamentally different experience 
  to the base game, and your players will appreciate the reliability.
   
  If you must add in randomization to each encounter, consider 
  mitigating the randomness. “7+1d6 sahuagin” ranges from eight to thirteen, 
  which is still a sizeable difference, but is no longer as dramatic a swing in 
  danger level, and still averages ten or eleven, as does 3d6. Do not be afraid 
  to use a 1d4, 1d3, or 1d2.
  If you walk in the woods late at night, don’t 
  whistle. Grokuzz did that once when he was 
  out on patrol, and three days later we found 
  all that was left him: his eyeballs on a stick. 
  Poor, poor Grokuzz; least we could give his 
  mum his eyeballs. 
  
  43
  Encounter Chance
  By default, a region has a 10% encounter chance. This means an encounter 
  will occur on average about once every ten watches, or roughly every 
  day and a half. However, there are a number of factors that can affect this 
  chance: on a very basic level, a more dangerous region should have a higher 
  chance, and a less dangerous region should have a lower chance. As a good 
  rule of thumb, encounter chance should never decrease to lower than 
  5%—the Marches are simply too unpredictable, and the chance of danger 
  is always present.
   
  The following factors might also come into effect when 
  considering encounter chance. Bear in mind that these are not universal, 
  and should be determined on a region-by-region basis, as well as the 
  current situation at the start of the watch. These aren’t all of the factors that 
  might play into determining the encounter chance in a region. If there is a 
  circumstance not listed that you as a GM feel should come into play, you 
  should reserve the right to impose it at your discretion.
   
  Night. Many regions have nocturnal predators, thus increasing 
  the chance of an encounter during night-time watches.
   
  Weather. As the weather grows worse, visibility and other 
  senses decrease in effectiveness, thus reducing the chance of an encounter.
   
  Fresh meat. If the party is carrying freshly-killed meat, such as 
  from foraging for food, predators are more likely to be drawn to camp.
   
  Trail. If the party leaves an obvious trail, such as from blood, 
  the chance of a predator tracking them increases.
   
  Light. Light attracts the eye, and thus attention, especially at 
  night. Keeping open flames increases the chance of an encounter.
   
  Noise. As with light, loud noises attract predators. Playing 
  music, raised voices, or other sources of high volume draw attention, 
  increasing the chance of an encounter.
   
  Hidden. If the party has taken the time and effort to hide their 
  camp from prying eyes, the chance of an encounter decreases.
   
  Proximity. If the party is close to a hostile lair or encampment, 
  they are more likely to run afoul of the locals, increasing their chance of an 
  encounter.
   
  Magic. Depending on the kind of magic, this can increase or 
  decrease a party’s chance of encountering danger; benevolent magic might 
  hide them, while fell curses might draw even worse dangers.
  Encounter Chance Conditions
  Condition
  % Chance Mod.
  Default
  10%
  Dangerous region
  Up to +20%
  Safe region
  Up to -10%
  Night
  +10%
  Light rain or snow
  -10%
  Heavy rain or snow
  -15%
  Storm
  -20%
  Fresh meat
  +5%
  Obvious trail
  +10%
  Bright light
  +15%
  Loud noise
  +10%
  Hidden camp
  -10%
  Proximity to hostiles
  Up to +20%
  Magical effects
  Up to +/-30%
  You can and should feel free to adjust these modifiers as you see fit, and 
  should add in additional modifiers as necessary. These should serve as a 
  baseline to work from, rather than the end-all be-all.
  Adventurers love to settle in for the night before facing 
  down a dragon in the morning. 
  Dragons love adventurers to settle in for the night, too; 
  prey’s much easier to kill when it can’t see you coming. 
  
  44
  FACTIONS
  The factions within the Marches give it life and provide much of the 
  more complex conflict in a West Marches game. Typically, factions are 
  composed of sentient beings with goals and intentions; there is a reason 
  that the faction is situated in the Marches, and more times than not that 
  reason brings them into contact (and potentially conflict) with the players.
   
  Understand the factions that are present in each region, and 
  use the players’ engagement with those areas to explore their inhabitant 
  factions’ disposition toward the player characters. Know how the factions 
  in your game fit into the layers of history within your world. How old is 
  their legacy? What powers do they answer to? Also consider their day-to-
  day operations. Do they have scouts? How do they feed themselves and 
  deal with the normal threats within the Marches?
   
  Be judicious in your creation of factions. Having several factions 
  is good, as it lends a layer of narrative and political complexity to the game, 
  but adding too many factions can make the Marches feel too civilized. 
  PRINCIPLES OF FACTIONS
  Why have factions at all? Why not just have a wilderness full of individual 
  dungeons and isolated pockets of people? 
   
  The answer is pacing. Even a monstrously large, tremendously 
  brutal dungeon will still likely take less than ten sessions to complete. With 
  factions, however, there can be narratives and conflicts that grow and build 
  over the course of months, with light interactions and skirmishes over the 
  course of dozens of sessions. As players learn more about a faction and get 
  closer to reaching a resolution, tension will grow; when they eventually 
  face off against their final challenge with the faction, be it armed conflict or 
  not, the payoff will be huge.
   
  Without these kinds of longer-reaching groups and chances 
  for story to develop, it can be difficult to have any kind of cohesion or 
  connection across the Marches as a whole.
   
  With that in mind, there are three key principles to designing 
  the factions of your Marches: keep them primarily villainous, keep them 
  connected to the Marches, and keep them from being all-powerful.
  Villainous
  The West Marches are a brutal, unforgiving place; they’ve never been 
  breached by the Empire with any amount of success, and you should 
  demonstrate that to be true. Beyond that, however, if players discover a 
  faction that is primarily friendly to their cause and is significant, they will 
  likely try to form an alliance or even directly join that faction. 
   
  The player characters, as a group, should be independent. While 
  they may owe debts or favors to factions, simply joining another extant 
  faction shifts the priorities of the game. Even worse, it’s possible that some 
  players will want to join an existing faction and others won’t, and the group 
  will threaten to splinter.
   
  Therefore, you should keep the factions of the Marches 
  villainous. They don’t need to necessarily be strictly evil, but they should 
  be antagonistic towards the player characters. 
  The West Marches are old; they’re covered in ruins and ancient sites, 
  with all manner of history lost to time. Uncovering that history bit by 
  bit, discovering whatever’s left, and piecing together the story of what 
  happened before—all are essential parts of the Marches. 
   
  The factions within the Marches should reflect this. Factions 
  should have, in purpose or makeup or history, an intrinsic connection the 
  history of the Marches. They should be connected to the broader lore than 
  the players are actively seeking to uncover.
   
  How exactly this connections manifests is up to you. In some 
  cases, a faction might inhabit the ruins of a predecessor nation, and thus 
  take on some half-forgotten elements of that nation. In others, a faction 
  might share the same goal as the players—to uncover and divine a specific 
  piece of history, potentially one that might grant them power. In still others, 
  a faction might be composed of living remnants of a bygone civilization. 
  Whatever you choose, tying a faction to the Marches’ history will solidify 
  its cause and importance.
  Connected
  The West Marches are difficult to thrive in, nigh impossible. Individual 
  packs of monsters might thrive, but no group of sentient beings can do 
  more than scrape by. That harsh, unforgiving reality is a central tenet of 
  the Marches.
   
  Because of this, if any one faction were to rise significantly 
  in power, the question would be asked: why haven’t they taken over the 
  Marches yet? Factions control turf, possibly even whole regions, but none 
  can wholly control the Marches. If they did, the West Marches would cease 
  to be. 
   
  This is not to say that you should make the factions of the 
  Marches weak; by no means is this the case. Factions should be dangerous 
  and powerful, certainly—they just shouldn’t be unstoppable in power. 
  A dragon or two with a cult full of kobolds is a powerful faction, but not 
  powerful enough to take the whole of the Marches; an entire council of 
  a dozen dragons might well have enough strength to dominate whole 
  countries. There’s a balance to it; both examples are extremely dangerous, 
  but one might threaten to upset the logic behind the world as a whole.
   
  Furthermore, like most content in the Marches, on a meta level, 
  factions exist to be overcome as challenges for the players. Yes, you can and 
  should have factions powerful enough to scare off players, but at a certain 
  point, the players should stand some kind of chance against every faction.
  Limited
  This means that if you’re making a primarily-humanoid faction, you need 
  to give them clear reason to be evil; “they’re orcs, they deserve to die” is 
  both poor writing and profoundly bigoted. Humanoids can and often will 
  be evil, but this should be proved through actions and deeds rather than 
  genetics. Cultists, zealots, conquerors, necromancers, pirates, brigands—
  all are good examples of villainous humanoids whose evil stems from a 
  more real and complex place than their race. 
   
  Keep your factions primarily evil. They can still make deals and 
  interact politically with the player characters, but they should do it from a 
  position of intent to conquer or destroy.
  
  45
  TERRITORY & INFLUENCE
  Part of what makes factions distinct from, say, a simple full of enemies, is 
  that factions are spread out. They have outposts and holdings in multiple 
  locations, they’re spread out over miles of territory, and often lay claim to 
  large chunks of wilderness as their own. 
   
  Factions should, in nearly all cases, control multiple key 
  locations. These could be caches of natural resources, important ruins, 
  strategic strongholds, or other valuable sites. The territory between those 
  key locations should, in most cases, be broadly considered to be under the 
  control of that faction. The faction will use the land to their benefit, set up 
  further outposts and structures, and take notice of interlopers. 
   
  That’s not to say that factions should know everything that 
  occurs in their territory always, or even that their territory is at all built up. 
  A faction of fey, for example, might deliberately eschew artificial structures, 
  just as a faction of underground dwarves might not notice everything 
  happening on the surface. Factional control is porous, and keeping close 
  tabs in medieval wilderness is difficult at best. 
  Regions’ Influence on Factions
  As you design a faction, take stock of where they are located, what terrain 
  surrounds them, and what territory they lay claim to. The region that a 
  faction is located in can determine all manner of details: their equipment, 
  their transportation, their holdings, their language, their outlook. All of 
  these and more can and should take cues from their surrounding region. A 
  faction that dwells in a rich, lush valley is going to be far more friendly and 
  open than a faction that resides in a demon-bitten wasteland. 
   
  Likewise, certain groups of creatures are native to certain 
  biomes, or else have preference for them. As a very obvious example, 
  mer-people are typically found exclusively underwater, and are among the 
  very few types of humanoids that can successfully dwell there. As another, 
  winged creatures of all varieties find more success in mountainous regions, 
  where their ability to fly allows them to surpass much of the otherwise-
  treacherous terrain of the mountains. 
   
  Certain factions trend towards certain regions, and all factions 
  take some level of influence from the regions they dwell within. 
  Regions’ Influence on Factions
  Just as the region a faction occupies can alter how it behaves, so too can a 
  faction alter its own territory. On a very basic level, most factions construct 
  some manner of structure, be it temples or castles or villages, which in turn 
  alter the landscape they dwell on. Similarly, most factions mark territory in 
  some way, even with something simple as flags or paint, which delineates 
  their borders.
   
  On a slightly more complicated level, factions influence other 
  creatures within a region. If, for example, a faction of lycanthropes takes up 
  residence in a forest and begins to grow, it’s very likely their food sources—
  wild game of all varieties—will start to dwindle after hunting. This holds 
  true for all carnivores, but also extends to other factions, hated enemies, 
  natural resources, and essentially anything else a given faction might 
  acquire or consume. 
   
  If a faction possesses significant magic, their ability to alter 
  their territory only grows further: magic can build structures with ease, 
  inscribe wards and enchantments, alter weather, and more. As magical 
  influence grows, planar portals might be opened, undead might begin to 
  roam, strange effects might manifest, plants might awaken, and all manner 
  of other strange phenomena might spring into existence. 
   
  Factional influence over their territory is a powerful narrative 
  tool, as well as a mechanical one. If human bones are hung from trees, it will 
  signal to players to be wary of hostile factions. Find the harmony between 
  territory and faction, and use it.
  Tools, Not Rules
  As with nearly everything presented in these chapters, all of the content 
  and guidelines here are tools for you to use in your game. They are not 
  binding, nor are they designed to be. Whenever you see a table or possible 
  suggestion, you should feel free to use it, but also to adjust, modify, and 
  expand those suggestions. 
   
  Factions in particular deserve this being reinforced, because 
  where dungeons and regions are structures and places, factions are people. 
  Only you can determine what fits for your game, and you should take 
  special care in ensuring your factions fit the game well. 
  Territory? No need for the term. I am the lord of all I see. 
  
  46
  THEMING
  Each faction should have a unique theming that conveys their design, 
  disposition, and goals. Their territory should inform their feel in this 
  respect, and their main base is often a visually-impactful set piece. 
   
  As you build a faction, try to nail down a single word or small 
  phrase that foundationally characterizes the faction you are trying to 
  create. If the term is too similar to another faction’s, think of a different one; 
  push yourself in previously unthought-of directions. This will help all of 
  your factions to feel completely unique, their motivations and dispositions 
  will vary in more compelling ways, and ultimately your players will have a 
  more colorful and diverse set of ideals to contend with.
   
  Use easy visual hooks to draw the players in, encouraging them 
  always to explore new areas and make contact with new factions. As they 
  interact with a faction in more detail, show different and angles on their 
  reigning theme; let other elements of the faction be influenced by their 
  theme.
  d20
  Theme
  1
  Fears.
  2
  Nature.
  3
  Mysticism.
  4
  Impartiality.
  5
  Otherworldliness.
  6
  Judgement.
  7
  Materialism.
  8
  Knowledge.
  9
  Conquest.
  10
  Industry.
  11
  Forsakenness.
  12
  Madness.
  13
  Majesty.
  14
  Nomadism.
  15
  Draconism.
  16
  Sordidness.
  17
  Servility.
  18
  Dysfunction.
  19
  Primality.
  20
  Ancientness.
  Faction Themes
  Theming and Culture
  Groups of people always have a shared culture; it is inescapable that shared 
  modes of behavior will spread between people and eventually begin to 
  coalesce. This is a good thing! Giving factions distinct culture will make 
  for interesting drama, meaningful stories, and verisimilitudinous worlds. 
   
  In many ways, a theme and a culture are indistinguishable; both 
  govern basic behaviors and common customs. They diverge, however, 
  in implementation: themes are abstract, removed, somewhat isolated 
  concepts. Theming resides more in the design ethos and the intended 
  feeling of the players, where culture is more actively present. Culture 
  pervades the people of a given faction, and is largely determined by the 
  behaviors of those people.
   
  Where themes exist to provide a guideline and intention for you 
  as designer, culture exists as its own narrative component of a faction, born 
  from the emergent social characteristics of the faction itself.
  Themes as Themes
  A faction’s themes are more than just their individual aesthetic, guiding 
  principles, or core elements. They are that, yes, but a faction’s themes are 
  also serve as a guide in determining a faction’s larger, deeper questions.  
   
  These are themes in the classic literary sense: fictional elements 
  that ask questions, ones that the reader—or in this case, player—can in turn 
  reflect on. Themes can provide a possible answer, or they can simply state 
  the question and let the audience make their own judgements. 
   
  Take, for example, the theme of madness. A faction with this 
  theme would likely involve several of its members being afflicted with 
  madness. In this case, questions that might arise could include “How can we 
  be certain that our perceptions of the world are accurate?” Alternatively, the 
  question: “If someone is imitating madness to the point of being impossible 
  to tell the difference, is that different than true madness?” Or more harshly: 
  “At what point do we acknowledge that our leaders are incapable of making 
  rational decisions, and what happens then?” 
   
  These kinds of questions are ones that humans have been 
  pondering since the beginning of art. However, because you are designing 
  and running a game, rather than writing a drama or painting a portrait 
  or whatever else, these questions should be asked through the lens of 
  interactivity design. As players interact with factions, put them in positions 
  where they can first observe these questions at play, and then put the 
  players in positions where they can make their own judgements. 
   
  To return to the madness example, imagine a scenario in which 
  the adventurers are randomly encountered with a band of cultists, ones that 
  gibber in strange languages and adorn their bodies with strange symbols. 
  But, midway through the encounter, several of the cultists seem to snap out 
  of it, speaking in ordinary languages and appearing fully cognizant. Your 
  players will begin to question whether or not these cultists truly are mad, 
  and in turn ruminate on the question of what properly defines madness.
   
  By building factions with solid thematic cores and then 
  presenting them to your players, you can delve into deeper, larger themes, 
  all while maintaining and interesting and engaging game. 
  
  47
  BASES
  Every faction needs a good base of operations, the location that serves as 
  the center of the faction’s territory as a whole. Depending on the faction, 
  these bases can vary a great deal, but every faction needs one. 
   
  Bases should be impressive. They should be large, striking 
  centerpieces, structures that convey the theme and purpose of a faction. 
  When players see them in the distance, they should feel fear and awe. 
  d20
  Base
  1
  Hidden forest outpost.
  2
  Underground catacombs.
  3
  Grand cathedral.
  4
  Enormous shadowy pit.
  5
  Floating cloud castle.
  6
  Underwater caverns.
  7
  Gilded palace.
  8
  Mystical tower.
  9
  Sealed vault, tomb, or crypt.
  10
  Ancient labyrinth. 
  11
  Volcanic forge.
  12
  Artificial island.
  13
  Skeleton of a gargantuan beast.
  14
  Hollow mountain.
  15
  Sprawling ruins.
  16
  Always-moving caravan.
  17
  Secluded monastery.
  18
  Massive warship.
  19
  Impenetrable fortress.
  20
  Demiplane.
  Faction Bases
  Bases and Narrative
  As mentioned, factions should be inherently tied to the Marches, and there 
  is no better way to demonstrate that connection than through a faction’s 
  central base. As you design a faction’s base, consider how the original 
  structure came to be in the first place. In some cases, the faction themselves 
  might have built it, but this is uncommon. The Marches are full of ancient 
  ruins and half-rotted lairs—far more likely that a faction found an already-
  existing site and repurposed it for their own.
   
  Regardless of where the base itself came from, consider how 
  and why a faction utilizes it as their base. Is it practicality? A defensible 
  location? A powerful magical site? A particularly fearsome position to look 
  down from? Whichever, be thoughtful in what a faction’s base says about a 
  faction as a whole. Because bases are often the first thing that adventurers 
  see of a faction, it will significantly influence how players think of that 
  faction as a whole.
   
  Beyond this, a faction’s base can very well serve as the lynchpin 
  to their overall connection to the Isles. A band of cultists residing in a maze 
  of catacombs, for example, might have their origins tied to a god formed 
  in the wake of a tremendous battle—a battle whose fallen now reside in 
  those catacombs. Centering a faction, physically and narratively, around 
  their base will build powerful resonance. 
  Bases, Territory, and Landmarks
  Imagine, for a moment, the tallest mountain in a range of mountains, 
  tipped in a bronze tower that occasionally spits out lightning at other 
  mountaintops. This is a landmark, since it’s quite distinctive; a marker of 
  territory, since the lightning can strike anywhere in the range; and a faction 
  base, since the tower itself is a veritable stronghold. 
   
  As you construct a faction and the region or regions they occupy, 
  consider the natural landmarks and structures that make up the region. You 
  can and should bind a faction to those, and thus infuse the region’s features 
  with elements of political control and dominance. 
  The Big Guy sometimes says that he is the lord 
  of all he sees. One time Dorskan asked if that 
  included the latrines behind the galley.
  We had to pour what was left of Dorskan down those 
  latrines after the Big Guy was done with him.
  
  48
  MOTIVATION
  A faction’s motivation defines its reasons for existing in the Marches. 
  Factions in the Marches should all have a motivation, a drive that both 
  informs and is informed by their base theme. Consider creating both short 
  and long term goals for the faction, and come up with a plan for how the 
  faction intends to reach those goals. As part of that process, consider how 
  the player characters fit into the faction’s goals. Will leaders of the faction 
  see the player characters as a potential ally? An obstacle to be overcome? 
  Perhaps an asset to be taken advantage of?
   
  Likewise, examine potential player goals in relation to a faction’s 
  motivation. If a faction’s and players’ goals align, they might serve as uneasy 
  allies; if a faction’s goals stand in direct opposition to the players’, they will 
  surely be enemies. 
  d20
  Goal
  1
  Obey their leader’s wishes.
  2
  Restore a broken artifact.
  3
  Dominate all life.
  4
  Protect a sacred location.
  5
  Reclaim lost territory.
  6
  Convert others to their beliefs.
  7
  Avenge an ancient wrong.
  8
  Resurrect a dead power. 
  9
  Learn forgotten secrets.
  10
  Control a source of resources.
  11
  Seek the chosen one.
  12
  Create a legendary object.
  13
  Slay an unstoppable monster.
  14
  Free an imprisoned being.
  15
  Escape an impending doom.
  16
  Prove themselves worthy.
  17
  Destroy an accursed site.
  18
  Bring everything to their level.
  19
  Open a planar portal.
  20
  Earn a single wish.
  Faction Goals
  Telegraphing Goals
  By and large, a faction’s goals should be either very obvious or highly 
  mysterious. A faction that seeks to conquer the whole of the Marches, for 
  example, will make that known to anyone and everyone by simple matter 
  of it involving everyone. By contrast, a faction seeking to return a dead god 
  to life by means of profane ritual will, in all likelihood, strive to keep that 
  goal a secret as long as possible. 
   
  Both are engaging and interesting options for players to deal 
  with. In obvious cases, it presents and immediate challenge to be dealt 
  with, granting the players a measure of freedom and agency in how they 
  go about interacting with the faction. In mysterious cases, it lends an air 
  of uncertainty and the unknown to the entire faction, which will pique 
  players’ curiosity and drive them to know more.
   
  Whichever the case, make sure the players know it. It does no 
  good for players to think they have an entire faction figured out only to 
  suddenly realize they don’t, just as it’s frustrating to believe a faction to 
  be cloaked in mystery only to have the rug pulled out from under them. 
  Blatant or secretive, make a faction’s relationship with their goals known.
  Achieving Goals
  Because the West Marches are a place of ruin, most factions will never 
  achieve their goal. They make steps or advances, certainly, but actively 
  achieving a goal is rare. 
   
  If a faction is progressing significantly towards achieving their 
  goal, make it known to the players. Drop hints wherever you can, put 
  visible signals of that advancement around the surrounding regions, and 
  have NPCs make mention that something unusual is happening. There is 
  no feeling worse for players than a sudden shift in the status quo without 
  them realizing it or ever being able to influence it. Give the players ample 
  opportunity to stop (or possibly aid) the faction in reaching their endpoint. 
   
  That said, if, after giving plenty of opportunity to be halted, a 
  faction reaches their goal, make it a big deal. Lights in the sky, fire in the 
  night, blood in the streets—the works. Let a faction achieving their goals 
  change the entirety of the Marches. 
   
  If you feel the urge to resist this change, don’t. There isn’t a 
  storyline to wreck, there aren’t critical plot points to hit, there are no key 
  NPCs that need to live. If you’ve given the players a dozen chances to hit 
  the Cult of the Sleeping Depths, for example, and they haven’t, despite 
  clear telegraphing? Summon the kraken. 
   
  Remember, the West Marches are at their best when players are 
  in over their heads.
  
  49
  POPULATION
  The exact population of a faction, the people and creatures that make it 
  up, largely are determined by a faction’s territory, theming, and goals. 
  Faction populations that don’t fit their region will likely not survive; a band 
  of cold-blooded lizardfolk, for example, would very likely freeze in frigid 
  mountains, just as a group of humans would not fare well in a swamps that 
  flood regularly.
   
  Because of this, you should let the population of a faction be 
  more deterministic; choose what makes sense for the faction as a whole.
  d20
  Population
  1
  Cultists or clergy.
  2
  Faeries or fae-folk.
  3
  Mages or witches.
  4
  Monsters or beasts.
  5
  Pirates or brigands.
  6
  Soldiers or warriors.
  7
  Travelers or nomads.
  8
  Knights or heroes.
  9
  Monster hunters.
  10
  Extraplanar beings.
  11
  Machines and automata.
  12
  Seafolk or mer-people.
  13
  Scholars or academics.
  14
  Artisans or craftspeople.
  15
  Marauders or raiders.
  16
  Undead or necromancers.
  17
  Draconids and their minions.
  18
  Plants and animals.
  19
  Giants or their kin.
  20
  A single linked mind.
  Faction Population
  Faction Hierarchies
  After settling on a faction’s population, consider the hierarchy and social 
  structure within that faction as a whole. What ranks, classes, or divides 
  exist among its society? How do they determine leadership, or whether 
  there are leaders at all? How does the faction operate on a moment-t0-
  moment basis?
   
  All of these questions need to be answered, and the population 
  breakdown of a faction will strongly influence that. As you go about 
  designing a faction’s population, keep all of them in mind, and think about 
  their relevance to the players. The exact rankings of a hobgoblin legion, for 
  example, probably don’t matter, but the fact that the legion is highly rigid in 
  its structure does very much matter. Don’t waste time and effort building in 
  unnecessary details; focus instead on the core social structures that define 
  the faction. 
  DEVELOPMENT
  Factions, like the rest of the Marches, are highly emergent; there are no 
  preset beats they will hit or storylines they will follow. Instead, they should 
  behave more systemically, reacting to changes and stimuli as they go. These 
  changes will likely come from the players, but they might also be drawn 
  from other factions, or possibly some long sequence of chain reactions 
  born over time.
   
  Early on, it’s not a bad idea to have more random developments. 
  We have several presented here to consider, but after a time, you might 
  find them unnecessary; drama and tension will grow between factions 
  and players on their own, and so developments will occur based on what 
  happens in the game. 
  d20
  Development
  1
  The faction recovers an artifact that the player characters were 
  searching for.
  2
  There is an abrupt change in the faction’s leadership.
  3
  The faction suffers heavy losses to a monster or another faction.
  4
  The faction claims a ruin or other strategic location.
  5
  The faction fortifies their base.
  6
  Members of the faction are captured by another.
  7
  An unexpected element discovers the faction’s base.
  8
  A splinter group breaks away from the faction.
  9
  The faction loses control of one of their outposts.
  10
  Natural disaster strikes the faction, at their base or elsewhere.
  11
  The faction unearths lost knowledge or ancient secrets.
  12
  The next step in the faction’s grand master plan is executed.
  13
  The faction lures the player characters into a trap.
  14
  A contract or agreement is made between two factions.
  15
  A covenant between the faction and another is broken.
  16
  The faction moves to war against another.
  17
  A once-lost source of power, such as an ally or artifact, suddenly 
  reappears.
  18
  The faction’s rank-and-file members grow displeased.
  19
  The faction triggers a long-forgotten curse or malediction.
  20
  The faction is contacted by denizens of another plane.
  Faction Development
  If I see fit to expand my domain, I shall 
  do so. If a faction holds a fortress, I shall 
  claim it. If a wizard studies within a 
  tower, I shall seize it. Any who oppose 
  me will be boiled down into bones and 
  slag. 
  
  50
  DUNGEONS
  Throughout the West Marches, relics of the past and visages of present 
  horrors seed the land with darkness and mystery. Ruins of long-lost 
  civilizations, camps of terrible monsters, convents of maleficent beings, 
  and more all comprise a tapestry of challenges that bind the world together. 
  These are the dungeons of the West Marches, the places and structures that 
  serve as strongholds for the player characters in your game to conquer. 
   
  In the context of your West Marches game, “dungeons” refer 
  to any isolated series of areas that contain hostile enemies or challenges. 
  Often, this is a literal dungeon beneath a castle, but it might also be a ghost 
  town, abandoned temple, monster hive, or something else similar.
  PRINCIPLES OF DUNGEONS
  The principles of creating dungeons fall around three essential questions: 
  First, what’s the hook? Second, how is difficulty telegraphed? And third, 
  what do they learn? As you create dungeons, ensure that you can answer 
  each of these questions for the dungeon itself.
  The Hook
  The West Marches are vast, cluttered, and full of things for adventurers to 
  do. This means that, for an average dungeon, there is a lot of competition. 
  Your players will not be able to do everything, and thus will have to 
  prioritize. The hook, then, is that which draws the player in; the obvious, 
  noteworthy, easily-visible thing that captures the players’ attention.
   
  Hooks come in a variety of forms. The most well-known is the 
  quest hook, in which a quest, usually given by an NPC, directs the player 
  characters towards the dungeon. Another common hook is that of simple 
  curiosity: if a mine entrance glows red at dusk or a graveyard emanates 
  strange song, players will come simply to satisfy their own curiosity. 
  Another hook is more monstrous: if players observe a monster going to or 
  from a location, they’ll be drawn to it with the promise of treasure. Dragons 
  are most well-known for this, but there are other hoarders in the Marches.
   
  Whatever the hook for your dungeon, it should be intriguing, 
  noticeable, and mysterious. The hook is to lure players to the dungeon, to 
  tempt them with dangers and riches within, and to keep it on their minds 
  when planning missions. 
  Telegraphing Danger
  When players first encounter a dungeon, they will be uncertain about it. If 
  they are clever players, they will poke and prod, looking for a sign of how 
  challenging the dungeon will be. If they are foolish players, they will charge 
  straight in, risking life and limb in pursuit of glory.
   
  Whichever the case, it is important that a dungeon telegraph 
  its difficulty, and do it early. This means that, before the dungeon begins in 
  earnest, there must be a way for players to determine its overall difficulty, 
  to gauge their own strength relative to the dungeon’s. If you don’t telegraph 
  a dungeon’s difficulty, players will either get in far over their heads far too 
  quickly and die a grisly death, or else will be afraid of dungeons, and thus 
  consistently over-leveled for the dungeons they do complete.
  Information Learned
  Along with experience and treasure, information is one of the great 
  currencies of the Marches. Initially, the players will have absolutely no 
  idea what is happening the Marches; they will have fragments of lore and 
  snippets of history, but will always be seeking more knowledge. Because 
  of this, dungeons should not only pose challenge and reward loot, but also 
  illuminate secrets.
   
  As you create your dungeon, consider what information is 
  implicit in its physical creation: worked stone bears different significance 
  than raw earth, which bears different significance than overgrown 
  flagstones. Players will take notice of even the smallest details, and so you 
  should be deliberate in your choices. The garb of enemies, the make of 
  treasure, the languages used, the architecture of the space—all and more 
  carry implicit information, and thus should be carefully accounted for.
   
  Beyond the implicit information, many dungeons can provide 
  other, more direct sources of information. Scrolls and writings, reliefs 
  and carvings, prophecies and decrees—all can be found in dungeons, and 
  thus all can provide insight into the world. NPCs can do the same, though 
  they require more caution and restraint. For more information on lore and 
  incorporating it elegantly into your game, see page 63.
   
  More than the literal information conveyed, however, it’s 
  important that dungeons convey that knowledge in the first place. If players 
  complete a dungeon and there is absolutely no new insight to be gleaned, 
  they will feel cheated. That said, if players complete a dungeon in a region 
  they’ve outclassed and only find information they already know—that is 
  good dungeon design. Information, like loot and experience, should always 
  be pushing players further out, deeper into the Marches.
   
  The most straightforward way to telegraph danger in a dungeon 
  is to have an encounter that players can easily retreat from. Often, this is the 
  guardian of the door of the dungeon or the first encounter of the dungeon 
  itself. Players have yet to go deep into the dungeon proper, and thus are 
  able to retreat early if things awry. While locking players in dungeons might 
  seem an exciting challenge, it is arguably the most dangerous trap of all, 
  as it means that if they misjudged the dungeon’s overall danger, they are 
  doomed.
   
  Other ways to telegraph danger include: locking the key the 
  dungeon behind another encounter (or entire dungeon), thus requiring 
  players to defeat that initial encounter to begin the dungeon; being warned 
  of the dungeon by reliable NPCs, ones that the players can trust the word 
  of; placing the dungeon in a hard-to-reach location, such as the top of a cliff 
  (requiring flight) or deep underwater (requiring water breathing).
   
  However you decide to do so, it is vital to telegraph the danger 
  of a dungeon before the players fully commit. Doing otherwise will get 
  them killed or make players far too skittish, and make the experience worse 
  for everyone.
  Mind you don’t go looking too 
  hard now, though! There might be 
  secrets out there you realize you 
  don’t actually want to know. 
  
  51
  TYPES OF DUNGEONS
  Very few dungeons are built as a series of encounters for a band of 
  adventuring heroes to overcome. This may be obvious to you, but it cannot 
  be forgotten. Dungeons were made, in their original incarnation by their 
  original creators, for some explicit purpose, or perhaps multiple purposes. 
  A literal dungeon is built to hold prisoners, a temple is built for worship, a 
  vault is built to protect treasures, and so on. 
   
  Often, the best starting place in designing a dungeon is to 
  consider the dungeon’s original purpose, which may still be its current 
  purpose. This in turn informs how the dungeon itself should be designed. 
   
  These common, overarching purposes across dungeons lend 
  some level of similarity across dungeons with the same original purpose: 
  similar layouts, enemies, encounters, and narratives. This general lumping 
  of commonalities is collectively referred to as the dungeon’s basic type.
  d20
  Dungeon
  1
  Fortress.
  2
  Temple.
  3
  Catacombs.
  4
  Caverns.
  5
  Death Trap.
  6
  Forge.
  7
  Manor.
  8
  Shrine.
  9
  Library.
  10
  Laboratory.
  11
  Maze.
  12
  Nest.
  13
  Tomb.
  14
  Palace.
  15
  Vault.
  16
  Mine.
  17
  Sewer.
  18
  Lair.
  19
  Mountainside.
  20
  Planar Gate.
  Dungeon Types
  Obviously, there are many more types of dungeons than these, and many 
  variations of these dungeons not mentioned. The ones listed here are meant 
  ultimately to kickstart your imagination by contextualizing the concept of 
  dungeons from within the reality of the Marches. These so-called dungeons 
  are, after all, the touchstones through which your players will be able to 
  narratively access the history and legacy of your setting.
  LAYERS OF DUNGEON HISTORY
  As with all things in the West Marches, dungeons are layered in history 
  (for more on layers of history in general, see page 64). Nothing simply just 
  exists; everything in a dungeon must come from somewhere. In the case of 
  dungeons, layers of history might very well refer to actual, physical layers, 
  built of wood and stone and blood.
   
  Given that the West Marches are ancient and much-forgotten, 
  there is a high chance that many existing dungeons are built on the remnants 
  of older, forgotten dungeons. A goblin camp, for example, might be made 
  in the ruins of a temple to a forgotten god, which in turn is built on the site 
  of an ancient tomb. A cult might take up residence in an abandoned fortress 
  built by giants, which was likewise situated atop an age-old mining shaft. 
  A dragon might make its lair in a fortress built by dwarves, itself designed 
  around the tunnels dug by a purple worm. Layers upon layers upon layers. 
   
  Building in layers to dungeons is the best way to demonstrate 
  the depth and complexity of your Marches, of all the history and knowledge 
  that players might uncover.
  Layered Exploration
  As player characters explore a dungeon, they should explore not only the 
  most recent elements of history, but also the history that might be found 
  there. In most cases, the deeper history of a dungeon is a prize for inquisitive 
  players: inobservant and overeager players might miss such hidden secrets, 
  but players that dig deep should be rewarded with knowledge.
   
  Because of this, it can be a good idea to hide answers to longer, 
  overarching questions concerning lore and history beneath a layer of 
  history. Orcs dwelling in ancient catacombs pay no mind to the inscriptions 
  on dead kings’ tombs, but for adventurers in search of secrets, those tombs 
  may be a treasure trove. However, given that the orcs do not directly guard 
  the tombs, players are unlikely to view them as treasure inherently; it takes 
  a curious eye to realize their value.
   
  Exploring through the various layers of history present in a 
  dungeon can, in many cases, be as rewarding as the combat and physical 
  challenges of the dungeon itself. 
  Mechanical Layers
  Ancient things are dangerous; every adventurer worth their salt knows this. 
  If players descend into a region of the dungeon that suddenly shifts towards 
  the very old and long-forgotten, they will know to be on their guard. 
   
  You can use this to your advantage: the layers of history in your 
  dungeon can very easily become layers of challenge as well. Consider, for 
  a moment, the passage deeper into catacombs marked with a forgotten 
  tongue, carved in an unusual fashion, as if by flame. This will draw the 
  curiosity and fear of all players; this is a good thing. Layers of history will 
  lure players ever deeper into the Marches, but it will bring with them 
  challenge. Ancient things are dangerous; make this true in the Marches.
   
  For more information are tiers of danger in dungeons, see the 
  next section.
  
  52
  DANGER LEVEL
  Dungeons should, above all, be dangerous. Dungeons are where monsters 
  thrive, foes build in strength, and evil constantly lurks. It’s entirely possible 
  to have a series of rooms, underground, that were once used as a prison—
  this is a dungeon, yes, but without monsters and challenge, it is no true 
  dungeon.
  Baseline Difficulty
  By default, dungeons can be a higher difficulty than the surrounding 
  regions. This is not to say that every dungeon should be more dangerous, 
  just that players are far, far less likely to stumble by chance into a dungeon 
  than they are an entire region. Because of this, dungeons have the option 
  to be significantly beyond the region’s power level: players only willfully 
  go into dungeons, so if they choose something beyond their power, that 
  is on them.
   
  That said, like regions, dungeons should maintain the same level 
  of difficulty across the encounters. Some can be considered “medium” 
  difficulty and some “hard” difficulty, but overall, the encounters should be 
  appropriate across a single level of challenge. To do otherwise will, as with 
  other areas of the game, unfairly kill players or make them far too skittish.
  Dungeon Tiers
  In some cases, it can be appropriate to have different “tiers” of dungeon 
  built into the same overall structure. Consider an abandoned seaside castle: 
  the top levels have been taken over by bloodthirsty sahuagin, but the lower 
  levels may be infested with angry water elementals. The top half of the 
  castle is one level of danger, the lower levels are another. 
   
  This sort of dungeon design allows you to effectively roll two 
  dungeons into one, and there are all manner of interesting narrative beats 
  that can derive from having tiered dungeon threat levels in this way. It is 
  important, however, to clearly demarcate the levels of dungeon if you do 
  this; if the next room in a dungeon suddenly jumps in difficulty with no 
  warning, your dungeon has poor design. Be sure to make your telegraphing 
  extra clear ahead of time, and to have the first encounter or two be easily 
  backed-out of.
  Attrition
  More than anything, Fifth Edition—and nearly all of the original game’s 
  descendants—is a game of attrition and resource conservation. If fully 
  rested, a party can take on nearly any encounter, regardless of the supposed 
  danger. On the flipside, if a party has been through a gauntlet of encounters, 
  even once-easy fights can rapidly grow difficult, even for a high-level party. 
   
  Because of this, while the danger level of a dungeon is influenced 
  by its average encounter level and the like, it is also strongly determined 
  from the sheer number of encounters in the dungeon. More specifically, 
  difficulty is influenced by how many encounters must be completed before 
  the party is able to rest. If a party can take a short rest between every 
  encounter, they will have little difficulty with a dungeon; if a party can take 
  a long rest between every encounter, they will crush the dungeon with 
  impunity.
   
  As you design dungeons, be careful to take into account how 
  many encounters there are and the ability of the party to rest—more than 
  the encounters themselves, this will determine how the dungeon fares.
  ON RETURN
  Players leave dungeons unfinished for many reasons. Sometimes, players 
  will attempt a dungeon, defeat one or two encounters, realize it is too 
  difficult for them, and retreat. Sometimes, players will find a massive 
  sprawling mega-dungeon, teeming with enemies, meaning they must deal 
  with the dungeon in chunks. Sometimes, players will clear the majority of a 
  dungeon, but find a single treasure room that is too well-guarded for them, 
  and so must return later. And sometimes, players will delve into a dungeon, 
  lose a party member or three, and be forced to flee for fear of death. 
   
  All of these are perfectly fine! It’s alright for player characters 
  to clear part of a dungeon on a mission, retreat and return home, and 
  then schedule another mission to finish it off at a later date. This sort of 
  backtracking allows players an opportunity to form personal goals and a 
  stronger relationship to the fixtures within the Marches.
   
  Allow players to prioritize their dungeon excursions in this way. 
  Remember, players should be able to create their own goals and pursue 
  them without explicit direction from non-player characters. In a traditional 
  game, it might be expected that once the party enters the dungeon, they 
  will either emerge in victory or defeat, never to return regardless of the 
  outcome. In the West Marches, however, the framing devices and system-
  driven nature of these rules and tenets affords the game a capacity to 
  explore the grey areas between winning and losing, between frustration 
  and satisfaction. By creating dungeons that must be returned to later, you 
  diverge from this traditional format, and can unlock the possibility of more 
  interesting conflict than the game is traditionally capable of bringing out.
  Locked Doors
  In some dungeons, there will be doors, barriers, walls, and other such 
  blockages that, in order to pass, demand some token. This might be a key, a 
  pass-code, a magic item, a certain bit of knowledge, or something else that 
  can only be acquired elsewhere. In essence, these kinds of locked doors 
  require something that can only be gotten outside of the current dungeon, 
  and thus demand that players return. (Obviously, enemies will sometimes 
  just lock doors, to be picked or broken or magically breached. These are 
  fine, and a good gameplay challenge. This refers to “locked doors” in a 
  more metaphorical sense, as obstacles that demand a later return to the 
  dungeon.)
   
  On the one hand, these can present a fun mystery for players: 
  they will wonder and grow curious, and seek the necessary solution to the 
  locked door. It can drive them to further exploration, to engage with more 
  of the world. 
   
  On the flipside, these locked doors can be frustrating. All players 
  have the instinct to complete everything presented, and so to be presented 
  with an impasse can sap their overall enjoyment of a dungeon. It means that 
  they cannot simply be done with this dungeon, and that they must return 
  at a later date. Viewed in a certain light, a locked door is a dictate from the 
  GM—“You must do this to advance.”
   
  Because of this, use these locked doors sparingly. When built up 
  to and presented well, the are a compelling and exciting prospect, but when 
  placed without forethought, they are nothing more than an aggrievance. 
  
  53
  DUNGEON ECOLOGY
  Dungeons are not just fixtures for the player characters to enter, pillage, 
  and forget about. They can serve as the perfect clime for rare plants, a 
  habitat for roaming monsters, or even an advantageous position for enemy 
  factions to set up a base. When a dungeon is left alone for long enough, 
  consider changing the terms of engagement with it unexpectedly; this is a 
  fantastic way to breathe life into the world of the Marches, and adds variety 
  to the experience of returning to a dungeon.
   
  Different kinds of change can happen when the player characters 
  leave a dungeon. A breached dungeon poses a special opportunity to 
  certain external forces that might make it their home, clean up the player 
  characters’ mess, or cash in on a detail that the player characters missed. 
  Otherwise, if the dungeon’s inhabitants are left to their own devices, or 
  the dungeon’s overlord is left undefeated, the dungeon’s current dwellers 
  might execute plans of their own. 
  External Forces
  In some dungeons, there will be doors, barriers, walls, and other such 
  blockages that, in order to pass, demand some token. This might be a key, a 
  pass-code, a magic item, a certain bit of knowledge, or something else that 
  can only be acquired elsewhere. In essence, these kinds of locked doors 
  require something that can only be gotten outside of the current dungeon, 
  and thus demand that players return. (Obviously, enemies will sometimes 
  just lock doors, to be picked or broken or magically breached. These are 
  fine, and a good gameplay challenge. This refers to “locked doors” in a 
  more metaphorical sense, as obstacles that demand a later return to the 
  dungeon.)
   
  On the one hand, these can present a fun mystery for players: 
  they will wonder and grow curious, and seek the necessary solution to the 
  locked door. It can drive them to further exploration, to engage with more 
  of the world. 
   
  On the flipside, these locked doors can be frustrating. All players 
  have the instinct to complete everything presented, and so to be presented 
  with an impasse can sap their overall enjoyment of a dungeon. It means that 
  they cannot simply be done with this dungeon, and that they must return 
  at a later date. Viewed in a certain light, a locked door is a dictate from the 
  GM—“You must do this to advance.”
   
  Because of this, use these locked doors sparingly. When built up 
  to and presented well, the are a compelling and exciting prospect, but when 
  placed without forethought, they are nothing more than an aggrievance. 
  Current Dwellers
  If adventurers delve into a nest of giant spiders and only breach the first 
  three rooms, the spider queen still dwells within, and thus her brood shall 
  spread once more. In many dungeons, if the source of the evil within is 
  not extinguished, it is highly likely that whatever evils once dwelt in the 
  dungeon will return.
   
  In some cases, as with our spider queen, these may natural: 
  beasts breed, soldiers recruit, and plants regrow. In other cases, as is 
  more likely, the cause is more unnatural: monsters spawn forth from pits, 
  necromancers raise undead anew, and more beings from the planes are 
  summoned. On top of this, physical artifice is employed as well, regardless 
  of the source of the evil: walls rebuilt, traps reset, and defenses reinforced.
   
  Unlike external forces, current dwellers in dungeons are less 
  likely to alter the nature of the dungeon overall in a dramatic fashion. 
  Instead, they tend to redouble their efforts, adding further strength to 
  their existing methods. Because of this, players returning to unfinished 
  dungeons will likely have a clearer idea of what to expect.
   
  However, just as player characters learn more about a dungeon 
  by delving into it, wily and cunning enemies learn more about the 
  adventurers that come to their door. If, for example, adventurers storm a 
  mage’s tower and then retreat, a learned mage will remember them and 
  their methods, and thus be more prepared. Traps might be set to ensnare 
  specific characters, spells will be prepared to counter those already used, 
  and clever enemies will shift their tactics to exploit the players’ weaknesses.
   
  It’s also worth considering factions, and their behavior around 
  half-finished dungeons. Bold and proud factions tend to reinforce dungeons 
  that have been partially cleared, but more skittish factions might abandon 
  them. Likewise, nearby factions should take notice if a rival’s base of 
  operations has been cleared, and will act according to their own methods. 
  For more on factions and their behavior, see page 49.
  Always fun, raiding a camp after everyone 
  in it’s been killed by the Big Guy. Makes 
  it much easier to keep track of everything 
  you steal off the bodies. 
  It’s good to have kobolds for just such 
  purposes. Sorting gold and jewels by 
   tedious. 
  
  54
  Persistent Dungeons
  The point of systemically encouraging dungeons to change while the player 
  characters are out is to layer a sense of persistence onto them. If players 
  are made to understand that the actions they take (or don’t take) to affect 
  the spaces in your world are meaningful or have unintended consequences, 
  your world will feel more whole as a result. Changing a dungeon in this 
  way is yet another tool in your arsenal as a GM to convey the power of the 
  players’ actions.
   
  If you need to quickly come up with a way to mutate the terms of 
  engagement for a dungeon to signify the passage of time in your game, roll 
  on the table below. Consider creating tables specific to the details of your 
  world, or even to those of specific dungeons:
  d20
  Meanwhile...
  1
  Rooms or whole wings of the dungeon collapsed.
  2
  The main entrance was filled in, naturally or artificially.
  3
  The floor of the dungeon caved in, exposing deeper layers.
  4
  Underground-dwellers accidentally tunneled into the dungeon.
  5
  The dungeon was overtaken by a nearby faction.
  6
  All the traps and defenses in the dungeon were sprung.
  7
  A wandering fey has bewitched the denizens of the dungeon.
  8
  The dungeon’s original creator or creators returned, at least 
  temporarily.
  9
  A desperate thief or runaway stashed some new artifact in the 
  dungeon.
  10
  Enterprising goblins have taken up residence in the abandoned 
  part of the dungeon.
  11
  New layers of traps and riddles were added.
  12
  A family of owlbears moved into the dungeon.
  13
  A source of clean water has formed, through natural springs or 
  rainfall.
  14
  A necromancer has begun plundering the dungeon for bodies.
  15
  A different band of would-be dungeoneers are in the midst of 
  clearing the dungeon.
  16
  Corpse-eaters of some variety have begun infesting the 
  dungeon.
  17
  A cache of natural resources, such as gold or rare mushrooms, 
  has been found within.
  18
  Another entrance, natural or artificial, has opened into the 
  dungeon.
  19
  Gelatinous oozes have begun consuming everything in the 
  dungeon.
  20
  A portal to another plane opened within the dungeon.
  While You Were Away...
  Keep Telegraphing
  Whenever you shift a dungeon, such as if a new faction moves in or a band 
  of dwarves open a tunnel or a strange plague wipes out the inhabitants, be 
  certain to telegraph it ahead of time, however you can. Leave signs, dead 
  bodies, new objects, graffiti, whatever you need. 
   
  If you don’t telegraph these changes, you set players up for a 
  failure that they couldn’t have avoided. If they show up to a dungeon 
  expecting it to involve deep delves but instead it’s flooded, there’s not 
  much they can do, and there was little opportunity to plan otherwise. But, 
  if there are rumors of flooding, and they meet survivors who escaped the 
  rising water levels, and a new stream flows down the mountainside from 
  the dungeon doors, then they can plan ahead of time—and not doing so will 
  be their own fault. Keep telegraphing changes, as much as you can. 
  Remember, set up your traps after you’re 
  already inside the dungeon, not before!
  
  55
  DUNGEON BOSSES
  In the context of Fifth Edition—and most games as a whole—a boss 
  refers to a singular enemy that is in charge of an entire dungeon. This is 
  the general that commands their hobgoblin legions, the necromancer that 
  raises their undead, and the dragon that rules their kobolds. They are the 
  biggest, baddest monster in the dungeon, and they know it. 
   
  In most cases, the boss of a particular dungeon is the final foe 
  to be defeated, and thus guards the most valuable treasure. They are the 
  most challenging single enemy, and they represent the dungeon as a whole. 
  A well-designed boss fight can bring an entire dungeon together from a 
  mechanical, narrative, and thematic perspective.
  Boss Difficulty
  Bosses should be dangerous, first and foremost. They should be a fight to 
  remember, to cherish, to savor. A good boss fight will have players at the 
  edge of their seats for the entire encounter; relief after a victory should be 
  palpable.
   
  That said, the difficulty of a boss encounter, like all combat in 
  Fifth Edition, is based on attrition. If players have the chance to complete 
  a full rest before facing the boss, they will crush them; if they have just 
  fought through six nigh-deadly chambers, they stand no chance. Bosses 
  should always have some fights between them and the past long rest; short 
  rests are more variable, depending on the cleverness of the party. 
   
  Furthermore, if a boss is the single enemy in the room and is not 
  equipped with legendary actions, they will be defeated. A party of three to 
  six adventurers simply has too many actions and too many health pools for 
  a single enemy to defeat. If the boss monster has legendary actions, that 
  evens the score, but not entirely. If a boss is a single enemy and does not 
  have legendary actions, they should always have some additional, lower-
  level enemies with them. 
   
  These lower-level enemies, their minions, serve myriad 
  purposes: they soften up the party, they require more tactics to deal with, 
  they even out the action economy of the encounter, they enable certain 
  party- and boss-strategies, and they let the players feel good as they strive 
  to defeat a challenging enemy. Minions are important in a boss fight, and 
  should be included more often than not.
  Bosses as Narrative
  Singular, powerful enemies capture the imagination. They are the focal 
  point of an entire dungeon, and can often serve as the lynchpin to a 
  dungeon’s—or even whole region’s—narrative. Consider the necromancer 
  in a forest haunted by undead; they are the cause of all the evils, the source 
  of all challenge, and the single recurring point across the region. Their 
  allies and minions praise their name; their enemies curse them. Whether 
  or not the players know their name, they will recognize that this particular 
  necromancer has caused them a great deal of stress, and thus will aim to 
  defeat them. Players set goals based on the challenges they face, and boss 
  monsters are emblematic of that entire process.
   
  While this is excellent narrative on its own, bosses can also 
  serve as key pieces of the region’s lore. Depending on how old the boss is, 
  they may be a recent occupant, a weathered foe, an ancient evil, or an elder 
  being long forgotten. In the case of all of the older bosses, they often serve 
  as the last relic or remnant of a bygone age. Because the boss endures when 
  others have fallen, they must contain answers, and so players will be drawn 
  to them.
   
  As you design the bosses of your dungeons, consider how 
  they achieved such power, and what they must have done along the way. 
  The more powerful the enemy, the longer their trail of ruin. Enemies 
  of significant import should be be mentioned, in hurried whisper and 
  scrawled script, early and often. Their reputation, their legend, should 
  be built over time. When players do face them, they will be all the more 
  curious, and thus all the more driven to discover their secrets.
  Why Have Bosses Scaled to Their Dungeons?
  As with regions’ difficulty, there is a not-unreasonable argument to be made 
  that the boss of a dungeon should not necessarily be on the same scale of 
  difficulty as the rest of its dungeon. Bosses are nastier than their minions, 
  so why keep them on-level with the rest of the dungeon? The answer is that 
  it feels bad for the players. 
   
  Simply put, it is a terrible feeling as a player to go through 
  a dungeon, best its challenges, and then be utterly crushed by the boss. 
  Players expect that, if they can best a few of the challenges of a dungeon and 
  there are no obvious shifts, they can best them all.
   
  This is, obviously, bowing to players’ preconceived expectations, 
  which is not always a good thing, but here we think it is the right decision. 
  It’s quite difficult to telegraph that a boss is dramatically more powerful 
  than everything else, given that bosses are usually more powerful than their 
  minions, but only just. Even if you can do that, there’s few feelings worse 
  for players than to clear most of a dungeon only to be told that no, they 
  can’t complete it now, they have to come back later.
   
  Have a little mercy on your players—scale bosses appropriately.
  Boss is such an ugly term. I far prefer 
  Great One, Tyrant, Dominus, Almighty, 
  Prince, or even just a simple Lord.
  
  56
  TREASURE ROOMS
  One of the common types of challenge unique to the West Marches is the 
  treasure room. A treasure room is a singular encounter, or perhaps short 
  set of encounters, that is of significantly greater challenge than the rest of 
  the dungeon, but contains significantly greater treasure. Most often, this is 
  simply an exceptionally difficult combat encounter, but might also include 
  a physical aspect, such as being underwater or across a huge gap. 
   
  Treasure rooms are an important draw of the Marches; they 
  push dungeons towards the more unpredictable, more wild, more self-
  determined. When first encountering, say, an Iron Golem, the current party 
  will be spooked, and decide to return later. Once they’ve returned to town 
  and explained to the other characters that there is an Iron Golem guarding 
  a treasure room, other players will start thinking, and start making plans. 
   
  This is good gameplay! Huge, specific challenges that can be 
  taken on at any time are an excellent way for players to flex their creativity. 
  They can devise their own schemes, plan in detail, and try to take on 
  challenges significantly above their own level. Part of what enables the West 
  Marches as a setting to work so completely is the flexibility and freedom to 
  take on challenges at players’ own pace. 
   
  With that in mind, however, it is possible to over-do treasure 
  rooms. As mentioned with the aforementioned locked doors, players 
  gravitate towards completing all available content. If they cannot do so, 
  whether by being outclassed in power level or by heavily-blocked door, 
  they will feel bad in the moment. Sometimes, this is alright; treasure rooms 
  do have value. However, if there are too many treasure rooms, it will begin 
  to feel as if every dungeon is impossible to complete, and players will 
  lose motivation to continue. This is doubly true if the loot in the primary 
  dungeon is weak or lackluster; nothing feels worse than having your 
  accomplishments overshadowed.
  Compartmentalization
  Dungeons are compartmentalized. The monsters and enemies that dwell 
  inside a dungeon, while they may have some influence over the region, 
  do not often leave the dungeon. Monsters from other rooms might very 
  well attack mid-dungeon, but it would be strange design indeed to have 
  monsters from an entirely separate dungeon attack mid-dungeon.
   
  The same holds true of treasure rooms. Treasure rooms should 
  be compartmentalized; that is, they should be their own distinct challenge 
  within the dungeon as a whole. If the huge, powerful monster that guards 
  the treasure room attacks players elsewhere in the dungeon, that is not a 
  treasure room, that is a boss fight. Treasure rooms need to stay confined, 
  and their guardians should not attack players unless provoked.
  Treasure Room Difficulty
  As with boss fights, treasure rooms should be dangerous, first and foremost. 
  However, as with bosses, the difficulty of a treasure room is dependent on 
  attrition: the number of encounters players had to deal with beforehand, 
  and thus how many resources they were forced to spend. 
   
  Due to the fact that treasure rooms are designed with the explicit 
  goal of skipping them the first time and then returning, there is a high 
  chance that players tackling treasure rooms will be fully rested. Because 
  of this, you should not hesitate to have treasure rooms be exceptionally 
  difficult relative to both the dungeon and the region as a whole.
   
  Furthermore, treasure rooms are an excellent place to have 
  encounters where players must juggle multiple factors all at once. A fight 
  with a Sphinx is one thing; a fight with a Sphinx in a room that is missing 
  three-quarters of its floor and is also slowly filling with deadly gas is entirely 
  another. These additional factors must, of course, be telegraphed in detail 
  ahead of time, but they make for excellent encounters. Because treasure 
  rooms are observed before being tackled—more so than most dungeon 
  rooms—it is more acceptable to have a large variety of challenges all built 
  into one encounter. Players will see and record those to plan around, as a 
  group; if they don’t, that’s their own fault.
  Treasure Rooms as Narrative
  As you build your treasure rooms, carefully consider how and why the 
  narrative of that treasure room exists. Why is there a special section of the 
  dungeon that’s been separated? Why is there a single significant challenge 
  guarding it? Why is the best loot in the dungeon only found in this chamber?
   
  If not answered well, treasure rooms will feel arbitrary. They 
  will feel too game-y, too unexplained, too placed there solely for the 
  challenge. The best-designed treasure rooms are oddities, exceptions, and 
  anomalies to the normal story of the dungeon. They should be strange, 
  intriguing, unusual, and, above all, tempting. If players do not get a taste of 
  what power lies beyond the deadliest threats, they will not return.
  Expanding Treasure Rooms
  The basic framework of a treasure room—an isolated chamber, guarded by 
  a very dangerous enemy, holding greater valuables—can be applied outside 
  of the context of a literal treasure room. Historically, treasure rooms were 
  primarily found in tombs and crypts (hence why we call them that), but 
  you can take the concept and use it in all manner of other contexts.
   
  Dangerous secrets, external intrusions, ironclad prisons, hidden 
  escapes, and all manner more causes can be used to create treasure rooms. 
  All are treasure in some sense, yes, but they have different purposes and 
  methods for protecting the valuables within. 
   
  Use the core concepts of a treasure room and expand it wherever 
  and however you see fit. 
  My hoard boasts the treasures of a thousand 
  fallen empires and a thousand slain kings. 
  Would that I could know the true depths of 
  their ruin. 
  
  57
  ENCOUNTER DESIGN
  Combat is at the heart of the game’s rules. Most encounters involve combat, 
  characters’ power is measured in their ability to win combats, and most 
  experience is earned through combat. Having challenging and engaging 
  combat is a core component of an overall positive game experience.
   
  Too often, it’s easy for GMs to slip into simple fights in blank, 
  60’ x 60’ rooms, where the only goal is to butcher the enemies before they 
  can kill you. These are boring combats; they do not make for exciting 
  gameplay. To combat this, there are five factors to consider to make for 
  good gameplay: darkness and visibility, water and other terrain, verticality, 
  hazards, and focusing combat outside of pure damage. 
  Darkness and Visibility
  Many, many monsters in Fifth Edition are equipped with darkvision or 
  some other means to see without light. Many player characters are as 
  well, but it is far less common; in most parties, there will be at least one 
  character that requires a source of light to see. Any monster with even a 
  bare modicum of intelligence knows this, and will use it to their advantage. 
  (Also, remember the distinction between dim light and darkness, and how 
  those rules vary!)
   
  Fights that shift from being well-lit to being in sudden darkness 
  are exciting. When half the party suddenly is blind, it demands solutions in 
  the moment, often imperfect ones. Juggling weapons and light is stressful, 
  but makes for tense, gripping fights, ones that will not be forgotten.
   
  Even if the party is entirely composed of characters that can see 
  in the dark, there are still ways for visibility to come into play. Fog, mist, 
  smoke, sand, and steam can all obscure sightlines; many spells can summon 
  these, too. Furthermore, many monsters have darkvision at ranges beyond 
  ordinary player characters’—being peppered with arrows from a place you 
  cannot see is a tough challenge, regardless of level. 
   
  Visibility forces your players to think of other means of 
  detection, and changes the power levels of a fight with ease.
  Water and Terrain
  The archetypal dungeon has a floor made of worked, flat stone. This is a 
  useful baseline, but gets boring fast. Likewise, many combats take place 
  outside of dungeons, where terrain and footing is anything but certain. 
   
  A forest floor choked with roots and undergrowth; a craggy 
  hillside, dotted with stones; a frozen lake, solid in places but weak in 
  others—all are examples of terrain that suddenly shift the dynamic of a 
  fight. They require attention, careful movement, and unusual, shifting 
  strategies. 
   
  Likewise, water in any shape or form dramatically changes 
  a fight. At its most simple, a combat that is entirely underwater follows 
  different rules. However, there are many watery fights that are not so 
  simple: a fight in a half-sunken marsh, or in a rickety rowboat, or in a room 
  slowly filling with water. Each presents a different challenge for the players 
  to tackle outside of combat, and allows a different set of abilities to shine. 
   
  Water and terrain hem movement and traversal, and demand 
  rigor and tough decision-making from players.
  Verticality
  All creatures in the game have a walking speed. Some creatures in the 
  game have a climbing speed; some fewer have a flying speed. Any monster 
  equipped with either should make full use of it, and even many that do not. 
  Any variation in height in a combat, be it from trees or cliffsides or floating 
  buildings, is good. 
   
  Verticality makes ranges of spells and weapons more nuanced, 
  adds in more dynamic movement in the fight, and introduces the threat of 
  gravity. There is an assumption that verticality is beneficial only to ranged 
  attackers, but this is untrue. Melee attackers have myriad more options, 
  from pushing to climbing to dropping large objects; characters with strong 
  physical statistics, for climbing and not falling, will find themselves at an 
  advantage.
   
  Verticality adds dynamism and an additional dimension to 
  combat, and unlocks all manner of new strategies.
  Darkness and Visibility
  Nothing makes combat more exciting than additional threats from the 
  environment. In a marshland, this might be pools of quicksand; in a 
  volcanic region, this might be sudden geysers; underground, it is the threat 
  of cave-ins. Hazards themselves are detailed on page 26.
   
  In combat, hazards are both something to fear and something to 
  welcome. Sudden rockslides can crush an ally, but if triggered with intent, 
  they can also decimate an enemy. If a player knows that loud noises bring 
  avalanches, they can wait until the enemy is the ideal position to bring 
  down the mountain.
   
  From a design perspective, hazards can sometimes be tricky to 
  communicate well. Like all encounters, they must be telegraphed; this can 
  be done on a region-by-region basis, but it is also good to remind players of 
  it in-combat. One effective way to demonstrate a hazard is to have the first 
  sign—such as ice cracking beneath weight or an oncoming flash flood—not 
  affect the combat directly, instead striking somewhere a safe distance away. 
  As the encounter or dungeon progresses, players will learn to spot the signs 
  of such hazards, and will be able to turn them to their own advantage.
  Focus Combat Outside of Damage
  The most basic element of combat is the attack roll. It is the thing that is 
  rolled most often, that deals direct damage, and can be said to have the 
  most impact on a fight. However, if combat were only about dealing 
  damage, there would be no need for any combat rules other than simple 
  attack rolls; we would simply roll once or twice to see who fought better, 
  and that would be it. 
   
  Combat is at its best when there is an additional goal to be had 
  other than simply seeing the enemy slain. This can take on many forms: 
  solving a puzzle, fleeing a chamber, carrying off loot, protecting a friend, 
  breaching deeper into the dungeon—all are good goals to have outside of 
  strict damage. It gives players a goal other than simply “dealing maximum 
  damage,” and pushes them to new spaces of play and design.
   
  It also adds tension to the fight. It’s tough to defeat a Chimera, 
  yes, but if you must do so while also attempting to complete a ritual to seal 
  away an ancient curse, that is all the more tense. Other goals add ticking 
  clocks, rogue elements, sudden contingencies, and more—all in service of 
  good combat, and good drama.
   
  Focusing combat outside of pure damage will allow players to 
  shine in unexpected ways, and build the stakes and tension of combat on 
  the whole.
  Don’t go near the deep waters. The Big Guy 
  can swim for as long as he likes, but we can’t. 
  There are things that live down there, all 
  wriggly and pale. They’re very, very nasty.
  
  58
  LOOT
  When players clear a tier of a dungeon, award them with treasure 
  appropriate for that dungeon segment’s tier. Much of the economy of 
  the West Marches, including the price and availability of certain services 
  offered by the inhabitants of the Town (see the Town section for details) 
  as well as the internal exchange rate of goods and services that players can 
  offer to one another, are contingent on the balance of loot. Since gathering 
  treasure from dungeons is essentially the only way for players to gain 
  wealth in the West Marches, and considering that that wealth is useless in 
  the untamed wilderness except in the form of magical items that enhance 
  the player characters’ abilities to gain more wealth, and as capital with 
  which to procure services from Townspeople, always consider balancing 
  the contents of treasure rooms against what players can accomplish with 
  the treasure they take from dungeons with respect to their own character 
  development as well as the development of the Town. 
   
  Avoid tailoring magical items specifically for player characters 
  in a West Marches game. This common practice, while it has its virtues at 
  many tables, interferes with some of the most powerful aspects of the West 
  Marches. Nothing erodes the facade of the world not having been made 
  specifically to facilitate the player characters’ success more quickly than an 
  item that is all too conveniently placed. 
   
  That’s not to say that player characters cannot succeed, of 
  course, or that they cannot find items that they can make use of. It simply 
  means that the GM of a West Marches game is responsible for placing the 
  configuration of the world before certain conventional aspects of rewarding 
  players. 
   
  For instance, a dungeon which rewards a greatsword of 
  dragonslaying in the treasure at its completion because the party’s fighter 
  would like one is an underdeveloped reason for that specific item to 
  have been rewarded. However, a dungeon that rewards a greatsword of 
  dragonslaying because an ancient order of knights sealed it within the 
  dungeon’s vault as their final act before being overwhelmed by draconic 
  forces in hopes that someday someone would find it and beat back the 
  dragons that saw to their demise, or anything else equally steeped in 
  history, is a much more compelling reward. 
   
  Treasure founded in the Marches’ layers of history that exists 
  without stepping on the players’ ability to make decisions about that 
  treasure that they recover allows them to take part in those layers of history, 
  and thus become more engaged with the world.
  Attach History to Things Players Care About
  The very short version of this is “put your lore on their loot.” 
   
  You should not assume, by default, that players will care very 
  much about the lore and history of your West Marches. A few might, maybe, 
  but they will likely be anomalous and not to be relied on. Because of this, 
  if you want players to care about history (which you don’t necessarily, but 
  probably do) you need to attach it to things they do care about. 
   
  This comes in a bunch of forms—dungeons, monsters, bosses, 
  the landscape itself, all of which they care about in some sense—but thing 
  that players reliably care about most of all is loot. By attaching lore and 
  history to their treasure, you place it directly in their line of focus, and so 
  are far more likely to draw their attention. 
   
  This can take a variety of different forms: inscriptions, symbols, 
  old damage, NPC reactions, magical connections, sentient items, and more. 
  By adding in additional historical elements, you increase the likelihood the 
  players will take notice. 
   
  If you want players to care about the history of the Marches, 
  make that history manifest right in front of them. 
  Connecting It All
  Regions, dungeons, and factions are all parts of the same whole. They are 
  the raw fabric of your game, the core of what your players experience, 
  and the bulk of what you focus your energies as designer on. All three are 
  interconnected, and all three define the central experience of your game. 
   
  They should all harmonize together; they should have strong, 
  resonant links between them. Aesthetics, narratives, mechanics, themes—
  all should link the three together. As you design your regions, think of 
  you the fortresses and inhabitants within its bounds; as you design your 
  factions, think of their territory and their strongholds; as you design your 
  dungeons, think of its outlying areas and its denizens. Regions impact 
  factions which impact dungeons which impact regions, and vice versa.
   
  Without a strong level of connection and resonance across these 
  three foundational elements, your West Marches, and thus your game as a 
  whole, will feel disjointed and disconnected. There will harsh leaps from 
  one area to another as the reality, the verisimilitude, of the world begins to 
  fade. Your players will notice this, and begin to doubt the veracity of your 
  Marches as a whole.
   
  To evade these issues, link all three—regions, dungeons, and 
  factions—together, across all levels. 
  Ah, gold. Is there any pleasure in life or death 
  as great as first catching sight of that bright 
  yellow glimmer? Or as satisfying a feeling as 
  resting atop a mountain of your own wealth?
  
  59
  CHAPTER IV
  NARRATIVE
  
  60
  At the core of all roleplaying games lies narrative, and Fifth Edition is no 
  different. In the West Marches, however, narrative takes on a different role: 
  there is no preset story, no core plot line, and no specifics the story must 
  fulfill. This chapter delves deeper into the theory of how stories are told 
  in roleplaying games, and how to best adjust and fit those stories into the 
  West Marches. 
   
  The story of the West Marches is the story of what the player 
  characters do. What missions they take on, what quests they set for 
  themselves, what history they uncover, and what deeds they accomplish. If 
  the players hold something to be important to their story, it is; if they deem 
  something useless to their narrative, it is as well. 
   
  You as the GM will set the stage, but it is the players who will act 
  upon it.
   
  Because the West Marches have no plot or central storyline, the 
  primary tools left to tell a story are the mechanics of the game. You, the 
  GM, can use the mechanics of the game, just as the players can, too.
   
  Mechanics are the shared rules about how the world, and 
  thus the story, operates. Dice are rolled when the outcome of a story 
  beat is in question; the modifiers to a die roll reflect the conditions of the 
  world. Things cannot happen in the West Marches simply because the 
  GM or players want them to; they must be reflected in the mechanics. 
  New mechanics can be written, certainly—that’s what this whole book is 
  about—but things cannot be done just “for the story.” 
  MECHANICS & NARRATIVE
  PRINCIPLES OF
  The principles of mastering mechanics and narrative in the West Marches 
  are linked: the mechanics are the narrative, and the narrative is the 
  mechanics. What this means is that everything that happens in terms of 
  the mechanics—attack rolls, ability checks, saving throws—is reflected in 
  the narrative, and that everything that happens in the narrative—travel, 
  exploration, combat, social interaction—is reflected in the mechanics.
   
  Mechanics are designed to describe specific elements of the 
  narrative, primarily those revolving around uncertainty. Attack rolls 
  describe the uncertainty of combat; one attack roll is one attack against an 
  enemy. We do not describe the exact blows of combat or the precise ways 
  in which the enemy is damaged: we abstract these into the attack modifier 
  and hitpoints. This process is true of every other mechanic in the game: it 
  represents something in the world, which we as players abide by. 
   
  Because of this, you should not—cannot, even—treat the 
  mechanics and the narrative as two separate components. They are one 
  and the same: the mechanics are the narrative, and the narrative is the 
  mechanics. If you or any of your players ask what the “story” of the West 
  Marches, tell them to look to what they do; exploring, fighting, interacting. 
  The story of the Marches is that which your players tell through action.
  MECHANICAL NARRATIVES
  
  61
  DO NOT FUDGE DICE
  There is a tendency among GMs of all manner of roleplaying games to 
  “fudge” dice—that is, to change the results of their own (hidden) dice rolls. 
  GMs do this to ensure particular story beats go as planned, to spare or damn 
  their players, to build or reduce tension, and for myriad other reasons. 
  Many GMs argue that fudging dice is good for the game, as it allows you to 
  exercise finer control over the experience.
   
  In the West Marches, do not fudge dice. 
   
  There are numerous reasons for this, but three stand out: it robs 
  the players of choice, it undermines the unpredictability of the Marches, 
  and it addresses symptoms, not causes.
   
  Do not fudge dice.
  Player Choice
  The West Marches, as both a setting and a structure for the game, emphasize 
  player choice. It is the players that decide where they go, what their goals 
  are, what they do on a mission, and how they solve the problems presented. 
  If the players do not decide to do something, it does not happen.
   
  Part of what grants players this freedom is the promise that 
  their actions will have real impact. As GM of a West Marches game, you are 
  agreeing that it is by their determination that the game occurs, not some 
  predestined plan. It means that you and the players both know what they 
  do matters.
   
  To ignore the results of dice is to override the rules of the game. 
  It is a statement by you, the GM, that your word and decision matter 
  more than the other players’, who cannot change the results of their dice. 
  It places your will higher than theirs, and thus denies them the chance to 
  freely make choices.
  Unpredictability
  The West Marches, in terms of mechanics, is system-driven. Much of the 
  game is contingent on dice rolls to generate content: weather, navigation, 
  hazards, combat—all hinge on the roll of dice. Because there are no pre-
  decided plot elements or rigid certainties in the courses of an adventure, 
  the game instead turns to dice.
   
  Dice are used because they are an agreement between player, 
  GM, and designer on the basic tenets of how the world works. Rules are an 
  expression of reality, and we use dice to simulate those parts of reality that 
  we cannot perfectly control. In the Marches, there are a lot of parts that 
  cannot be controlled, and so we use a lot of dice. 
   
  Part of the experience of the Marches is that success is, in large 
  and small ways alike, contingent on chance. That unpredictability, the 
  knowledge that sometimes the world will treat you well and sometimes 
  treat you poorly, is essential to the game. It fuels the drama, the tension. 
  When you fudge dice, you remove this drama; rather than the future being 
  unknown, you make it known—but only to you, the GM.
  Symptoms, Not Causes
  Some GMs fudge dice because their encounters take an unexpected swing; 
  some fudge dice because their players are about to miss some important 
  content; some fudge dice because they want (or don’t want) a specific 
  moment to occur. 
   
  In each of these cases, fudging dice addresses the symptom of 
  the problem, not the cause. Fudging dice is a patch, a band-aid, rather than 
  truly getting to the root of the issue and solving that. 
   
  Combat taking an unexpected swing is either born of dice—in 
  which case it’s just an outlier, and not to be corrected—or it is because the 
  fight was poorly designed, or worse, poorly telegraphed. Missing important 
  content occurs when a region or dungeon isn’t designed properly, as it 
  directs players in a way other than that which the GM intended. The chance 
  of specific moments occurring or not is to be embraced, rather than reviled. 
   
  In each case, fudging dice is not a long-term solution to design 
  or methodological issues. Read your notes, think critically about your 
  design, and revise constantly. Do not fudge dice.
  Dice Rolls in Preparing vs. Running
  While we (obviously) believe that you shouldn’t fudge dice at the table, 
  we also encourage you elsewhere in this book to take the content here and 
  elsewhere and to make it your own. There are numerous tables in this book, 
  but on the vast majority of them, it’s totally fine to skip the dice and just 
  pick your favorite, or whatever makes sense at the time. By contrast, for the 
  tables use while actively running the game, like getting lost (page 19), you 
  should be sure to follow what the dice say, and not deviate.
   
  What’s the difference? The distinction lies in the purpose of dice 
  rolls. When planning as a GM, dice rolls are a good way to kickstart your 
  creativity; you don’t need to think about where to start or how to begin, 
  you can just roll some dice and content will begin to emerge. 
   
  By contrast, at the table, dice are arbiters of fate; when we as 
  players and GM cannot simply work out what makes sense to happen, or 
  when there is uncertainty, we turn to the dice. In prep, dice are just handy 
  tools; at the table, they’re what decides how the game will go. In the former, 
  ignoring the dice is fine; in the latter, it’s depriving players of choice.
  
  62
  VERISIMILITUDE
  “Verisimilitude” can be reasonably defined as “the quality of appearing 
  true.” It refers to things—people, places, events, and so on—that feel 
  legitimate, correct, real. This is separate from realism, loosely defined as 
  that “which resembles real life,” and simulationism, generally defined as 
  the quality of things being “would they actually would be.” These are all 
  a little rough-and-ready in terms of strict definition, but the distinction is 
  important.
   
  Realism is what resembles our world, real life, as it is. In a 
  fantasy setting, realism goes out the window from the start. It’s a common 
  argument that “fantasy doesn’t need to seem real, since there’s dragons and 
  magic!” 
   
  This is wrong.
   
  Yes, obviously, fantasy settings contain dragons and magic, 
  but that does not excuse wild improbabilities, wild leaps of logic, or 
  errant behavioral patterns. A core part of telling a story set in a fictional 
  setting is establishing the rules of the setting, and then adhering to them. 
  If you craft characters that should, by the rules of the setting, behave 
  in a certain way but then do not, or if you build a region that claims to 
  uphold strict laws yet then breaks them, the world will seem fake.  
   
  In creating a fictional world, you are asking the audience—in 
  this case your players—to suspend their disbelief. The audience is willing 
  to accept that, even though dragons aren’t real, this world contains 
  dragons. Yes, this is “unrealistic,” but the audience has accepted it, it’s fine. 
  Verisimilitude breaks when you ask the audience to accept something that 
  thus far they have no reason to believe is any different than our world, yet is 
  suddenly behaving in ways that wouldn’t make sense in ours. 
   
  As an easy example, imagine you, as the audience, see a 
  character in one location in the world. Then, three days later, you see them 
  again in a location that should, by all the established means of travel, take 
  a week to get to. How did they travel so quickly? Because this is a fantasy 
  context, the GM can simply explain that they teleported; you’d accept this, 
  because this is a fantasy game. But now imagine that this character never 
  teleports ever again, or casts any other spells, or otherwise demonstrates 
  that they are a wizard of any kind. It strains the plausibility of the world—
  teleportation magic is only for very high-level wizards, and if this character 
  isn’t one, something is amiss. Obviously there are explanations that could 
  make sense—magic items, teleportation circles, and so on—but if such an 
  explanation was never provided, the world would feel false. 
   
  You don’t need to make a world that is “realistic,” because 
  fantasy worlds are deliberately unlike our own, but you do need to make 
  one that can withstand scrutiny; not realism, but verisimilitude. 
  There is a sentiment within certain design circles that you, as GM, should 
  “plan for what the players will do.” 
  This is impossible.
   
  Obviously, on some level, you should plan. You should build 
  regions and factions, craft lore and history, and design dungeons and 
  encounters. All of that is good and necessary. But at no point in the process 
  should you dictate how the player behave or what the players will do, nor 
  should you try to imagine how the players will specifically act as you design 
  the game.
   
  Rather, you should design without the players in mind. When 
  designing, say, a fortress, don’t build it to have pre-planned entrances or 
  distinct methods of approach. Instead, just design as its original builders 
  would have, present it honestly, and let the players figure out what they do. 
  When you design a faction, don’t do it with the intent of players following a 
  specific “plotline” or “quest chain,” instead just design the faction along the 
  lines of how its members would actually behave, flaws and all, and let the 
  players interact how they will.
   
  Build the pieces as they’d exist according to the rules of your 
  setting, and then let the players interact with them how they choose.
   
  This, broadly, can be thought of as “sandbox” design. You aren’t 
  building a rollercoaster for the players to ride, you’re giving them a sandbox 
  to play in. It’s a shift towards the more open, the more non-linear, the more 
  creative. It encourages players to think for themselves and take decisive 
  action, rather than hunt for the next “plot hook” or otherwise try to figure 
  out what you, the GM, want them to do.
   
  Sandbox design is encouraged because it forces the narrative to 
  rely on the mechanical. Within this less structured style of play, there can 
  be no pre-planned narrative beats, nor can there be a distinct storyline the 
  players are forced into following. Instead, the story that is created, the story 
  told by a session of play, is that of the mechanical interactions. 
   
  Sandbox design means there are no stories created ahead of 
  time, only the stories that the players tell using the mechanics of the game.
  PLANNING & THE SANDBOX
  Communicate These Principles
  Before you begin your campaign, and recurringly as you play sessions, you 
  should make these ideas clear to your players. Emphasize that your role is 
  primarily that of referee, rather than storyteller. Explain to them what it 
  means to be a proactive player, and encourage them to take decisive action. 
   
  This may take some time. Players used to video games and more 
  linear roleplaying games, or just unused to roleplaying at all, might struggle 
  with these ideas. Be patient with them; player-drive, proactive play is great 
  fun, but does require more work and effort on the part of the players than 
  some games do. 
   
  As you go, trust between you and your players will build, and 
  these principles will become habit.
  
  63
  Lore, as the term is used in role-playing games, refers to the collection of 
  knowledge, history, and worldbuilding that exists in the larger world of the 
  game’s main stage. 
   
  It is all of the people, places, and events that have come before 
  or exist elsewhere. 
  LORE
  In many campaigns, lore is less relevant. There are events in motion at the 
  center of the game’s world, active and alive, that drive the players. The 
  dusty histories and ancient legends matter less.
   
  That is not the case in the Marches. The Marches are set in the 
  ruins of bygone history, where the once great and mighty lie dead and 
  buried, and scavengers pick over the vestiges. In this setting, where much 
  lies still already, lore matters a great deal. 
   
  There are three core principles to crafting lore that is useful, 
  rather than a hindrance: first, that story takes precedence; second, that 
  history exists to be discovered; and third, that lore must be meaningful and 
  relevant.
  PRINCIPLES OF LORE
  Story Takes Precedence
  The real first principle is that story isn’t lore. The story of the game is that 
  which is told through mechanics; the lore is written by the GM, and is not 
  active or current. 
   
  Many, many novice GMs go supremely overboard when 
  writing lore. They write dozens, if not hundreds, of pages of history and 
  documentation and stuff. Players do it, too, sometimes. It’s an easy trap to 
  fall into, to become so wrapped up in the sprawling timelines and maps that 
  you miss the forest for the trees.
   
  In every case, story takes precedence. The lore exists to serve 
  the story. That is, when you write lore for your Marches, it should always 
  exist to make the current, existing game more interesting. It should exist to 
  build tension, to inspire wonder, and to fuel exciting, engaging play. 
   
  If you find yourself writing lore simply because “it’s cool,” or 
  because you’re excited to show off your characters to the players, curb your 
  excitement. Lore exists to better the game, not provide you with fuel for 
  your ego. If you want to write nothing but lore in isolation and never have 
  anyone touch it, go write a novel.
   
  This sounds harsh, and it is, but it’s important to drill this 
  into yourself before beginning; many a novice GM has found themselves 
  swamped in lore before beginning a single dungeon. 
   
  “The West Marches are at their best when players are in over 
  their heads” does not refer to being in over their heads in hundreds of pages 
  of world backstory.
  Lore is to be Discovered
  In the Marches, information is a commodity. Missions provide loot and 
  experience, yes, but they also provide knowledge, secrets, wisdom. There 
  will be some players who, when presented with a mysterious ruined statue 
  or an ancient arcane rune, will be unable to resist its siren song. 
   
  Discovering something long-buried, something secret and 
  strange, is highly, highly enjoyable. Players adore feeling as though they are 
  the first to learn hidden knowledge.
   
  You should design the lore of your world with this in mind. 
  Establish history, and then fragment it, break it, and scatter it about. Drop 
  clues and hints and suggestions everywhere; let your players work to 
  uncover the mysteries.
  Lore Must be Meaningful
  Information can only be a commodity if it provides meaning. On a very 
  basic level, this means that every single item and unit of lore—places, 
  names, people, events, monsters, everything—must provide some amount 
  of meaning to the broader game as a whole.
   
  Meaning comes in many varieties. On a very mercenary level, 
  meaning can be the method by which greater treasures are acquired: if 
  the inscriptions on the towers of the four tallest hills are all put together, 
  they reveal the location of a dead king’s hoard; if the name of a dead god 
  is spoken while wielding a sword forged from silver, a dragon’s weakness 
  will be exposed. Lore can and should provide these kinds of mechanical 
  bonuses and incentives: they provide direct impact on the game, and are 
  easy motivators for players.
   
  However, lore can also be meaningful in a narrative, thematic 
  way. If players are searching for an ancient lost city but then discover that 
  the city was deliberately hidden away, that changes their search. It means 
  that rather than being heroic rescuers, they are instead actively going against 
  the will of some other force. Lore contextualizes, alters perceptions, and 
  challenges beliefs. It will force your players to think deeply and critically, to 
  apply themselves to the narrative challenges of the Marches.
  What’s past is prologue. Regardless of what 
  came before, I intend to dominate the future. 
  How can some long-dead king compete with 
  raw flesh and blood? How can ancient ruins 
  and forgotten tombs stand against the might 
  of a mighty beast such as myself? In every 
  conflict, the here and now has crushed what 
  once was.
  
  64
  Fantasy is post-apocalyptic. Nearly every fantasy setting takes place in 
  an age after the fall of a great civilization; civilizations like Númenor, or 
  Atlantis, or Rome. Ancient ruins, magical artifacts, forgotten secrets—all 
  imply the existence of a group of now-gone predecessors that were more 
  powerful than what is known now.
   
  However, history is more complicated than a simple collapse 
  of a single civilization. Other groups emerge, ruins are built upon, names 
  change. Eventually, those also turn to ruin, and are built upon in turn, and 
  the cycle continues. Just as in real life, history comes in layers.
   
  These layers of history define the landscape of the game, 
  figuratively and literally. As players discover more of the previous ages and 
  dig deeper into the mysteries of the game, they will have to sort through 
  myriad layers to understand exactly what occurred.
  LAYERS OF HISTORY
  Common Layers
  For you, the designer, layers of history are most helpfully thought of in 
  terms of time (rather than space, though that can be helpful, too). There 
  are, generally, five layers of history to think through, growing broader in 
  scope as they recede further from the present day:
   
  The Current. The current layer of history is that which happens 
  in-game: remnants that adventurers leave behind, signs of exploration and 
  investigation—corpses and scorch marks, in all likelihood. The stories told 
  here are known directly, experienced firsthand by the player characters. 
   
  The Recent. Going back, you have the most recent layer of 
  history: that of recent growth and development, done by those peoples 
  living in the Marches currently. It’s older than that of the adventurers, since 
  this recent layer may well include full towns and fortresses, but it’s not so 
  old as to be forgotten. This layer exists within the living memory of those 
  who currently reside in the Marches; its stories are, unless deliberately 
  obscured, well-known and likely true.
   
  The Old. These are the histories of those who came not so 
  long ago, but not so recently as to be known. This the layer of great-great-
  grandparents: people who are now dead, but may be remembered by the 
  eldest of those still living. The structures, artifacts, and events of this layer 
  are likely still affecting the modern day directly, still in use. The stories and 
  tales of this layer are mostly true, but may have exaggerated or reduced 
  elements—the greater the story, the greater the exaggeration.
   
  The Historical. This is a much larger, longer layer of history. This 
  is far from modern memory, only known through oral tradition, preserved 
  texts, and weathered ruin. Whatever occurred in this layer is now known 
  only in vague terms, without specific detail—and what is recorded may be 
  untrustworthy. It’s here that legends and myths begin to develop; it’s here
  Using Layers in Design
  As you construct your Marches, across regions and dungeons alike, 
  consider the history that has come before. Every structure, both natural 
  and artificial, must come from somewhere. 
   
  Layers of history can inform your designs by clueing your 
  players into key details. If they can discover that the goblin-infested cavern 
  they’re clearing is, in fact, the start of a dwarven mine, they will start 
  looking for ways to access the mine, and the gold within. If they realize 
  that the naturally-formed chasm they cross was actually carved in battle 
  between a storm giant and a sorcerer-dragon, they will search for relics of 
  that battle. If they understand that the corpses they find in the woods are 
  actually accursed soldiers from a bygone empire, it will inform them what 
  protective rituals to use to ward off the dead. 
   
  Furthermore, because players enjoy solving mysteries, 
  unravelling the layered timelines of history will prove a fun challenge for 
  them. As they explore more and more of your Marches, they will begin 
  to understand how history flows, and that transition—from fear and 
  uncertainty to mastery and understanding—is fantastically enjoyable.
  Hard Timeline Math
  Building out a timeline that remains coherent, yet mysterious, is among the 
  most difficult tasks you will as a GM in building your Marches. 
   
  As a rough outline, here is some baseline math to work from in 
  constructing the timeline:
   
  The current time is just that, current. It takes place over the 
  course of months or years as play progresses. 
   
  The recent is anything in roughly the previous 50-100 years. 
  There are lots of people around, currently, who experienced the major 
  events of this time period. As a historical example, consider the Cold War; 
  recent enough that living people still remember it clearly, but old enough 
  that the most recent generations don’t.
   
  The old is the past 100-200 years. No currently living (ordinary) 
  humans were alive then, but the eldest of the current time might have 
  heard stories from their elders back then. Long past living memory, but still 
  recent enough to have many records and be broadly influential. To follow 
  the Cold War example, this might be the Napoleonic Wars, or the wars of 
  Latin American Independence. 
   
  The historical is anywhere from the past 300 years to the past 
  3,000 years. Primary sources exist, but they’re rare and incomplete. No one 
  living has any memory of this, and while folktales and legends get handed 
  down, common knowledge is limited. In our own world’s history, this 
  might be the reign of the Yuan Dynasty or the Crusades. 
   
  The ancient, more than the previous layers, has a much stronger 
  fantastical connotation. Our world has civilizations from thousands of 
  years ago, yes, but we lack the old magic of fantasy. This is the historical 
  realm of dragons, giants, and gods; let your imagination run free.
   
  Of course, these broad breakdowns of years assume that you’re 
  tracking things in human generations; if your Marches feature a lot of 
  long-lived peoples, like elves or dwarves, these numbers might need to 
  adjust. While the exact numbers will change, the ratios should stay broadly 
  similar; that is, the number of generations between each layer should 
  remain roughly the same. 
   
  As you build your timeline, you should put roughly the same 
  amount of effort into each category, meaning that the recent layers should 
  get a lot more attention and detail on a per-year basis than the old ones. 
  that separating truth from fiction grows nearly impossible. The events, 
  structures, and artifacts of this time are very rare and difficult to discern, 
  but likely contain great power.
   
  The Ancient. This is the layer of gods and heroes, one that 
  subsists solely on doubtful myth and hazy legend. There are no written 
  records, no clear traditions, and absolutely no one alive from this era. 
  Strange elder beings—dragons, aberrants, and worse—might remember 
  this time, possibly, but even that is clouded. The artifacts and structures of 
  this era are immensely powerful, but impossibly rare. 
   
  These layers are, obviously, not binding. In a fantasy setting, 
  it’s entirely possible for people to live to be hundreds or even thousands 
  of years old, and thus the layers can blur together. “Living memory” is a 
  variable term, so be sure to think through your timeline in all of its steps.
  
  65
  While some players very well may be motivated by a simple desire for 
  knowledge, that is not universal. Some players are motivated solely by 
  power increases, garnered through the acquisition of treasure and loot. 
  This is a good thing. Having myriad motivations within your player pool 
  will make for a varied, exciting experience. 
   
  Still, the question remains: how do you draw in the less history-
  oriented players? How do you convey the mysteries of your lore to them?
   
  The answer is loot; more broadly, the answer is to put the lore 
  that matters on things that players will care about. Monsters, especially 
  boss monsters, are an easy choice, but monsters are fleeting, as they will 
  likely be slain by the player characters. Treasure, however, is much more 
  permanent, and thus more likely to be examined closely.
  Put the important lore in your game on the treasure the player characters 
  will get. Let players examine it in detail, guess at its mysteries, and propose 
  answers. If unsolved mysteries confront the players every time they swing 
  their sword, they cannot ignore those mysteries. They will gnaw and worry 
  at the players, and drive them to find solutions. 
   
  Obviously, you should still put lore elsewhere, but bear in mind 
  that players examine that which they wield.
  ITEMS, ARTIFACTS, & TREASURE
  The Marches are a place of myth; they stand at the western edge of the 
  known world, and all manner of tales and stories whirl and circulate 
  about them. This is a good thing; these tales provide a rich backdrop for 
  adventure, and mean the players always have something to look forward to. 
   
  Matching these legends in reality, however, can be difficult. 
  Players old and new know that would-be old wives’ tales and strange stories 
  uttered around campfires carry truth to them. They know to be watchful, 
  to take notes and ask questions, and they know to examine stories with 
  scrutiny.
   
  Play a legend too close to its tales, and there will be no surprise, 
  no wonderment. Play a legend too far from its myths, however, and the 
  players will feel blindsided and disappointed. Both of these extremes are 
  not good; the correct balance lies somewhere in the middle. 
   
  Consider these ideas while you craft the most powerful 
  characters, artifacts, and places of your world. What myths and legends 
  have less powerful individuals heard about them? How, and for what 
  reason, did the legends diverge from the truth? What can players learn 
  from comparing different sources of conflicting information? These are all 
  powerful questions to keep in mind while you weave the tapestry of your 
  Marches’ history (and set up the context of its present).
   
  Consider also how the players will interact with the legends 
  that your world tells. Will they stumble across a forgotten crypt, filled with 
  statues of the ancient gods? Will a knowledgeable goblin scholar convey a 
  load of embellished tales? In any case, make sure you understand the way 
  that the players will piece together the disparate information that comes 
  forth through the design of your legends, dungeons, monsters, factions, 
  and NPCs. Invite their misconceptions. Allow them to spin their wheels 
  and act on false information. This might seem counterintuitive, but the 
  less you as a GM forcibly guide your players, the more meaningful their 
  victories will be, and the ringing of the bell of truth will be infinitely more 
  satisfying to finally hear.
  LEGENDS & REALITY
  Rashomon, the landmark 1950 Kurosawa film, is highly instructive in how 
  you can and should convey the lore of your setting. Over the course of 
  the film, the audience sees the same event occur from a series of different 
  perspectives; each time, the events that transpire are a little different, 
  culminating in a finale that reveals the truth. 
   
  You should strive to do the same with your lore. Across people, 
  factions, and layers of history, the legends and histories of your Marches 
  should be tangled, nuanced, complex, and multilayered. With every major 
  event, different people and records should offer different accounts of 
  exactly what happened.
   
  There are two reasons for doing this: first, it’s an extra level 
  of challenge and engagement for your players. They will have to cross-
  reference their notes and recollections, examine what they once held to 
  be true, and push themselves to solve the riddles nested throughout the 
  Marches. Second, however, is that it’s truer to life: history is never as 
  simple as textbooks make it out to be, and you should strive to emulate the 
  nuance and complexity of real life.
  MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
  It can be hard to keep track of all the 
  things you know! One time, I forgot 
  where I’d stashed some of the Big 
  Guy’s gold, and he hung me by my 
  ankles for a week outside the lair!
  
  66
  NPCs occupy a tricky corner of the Marches: they’re necessary and 
  present, yet cannot hold all the answers. The slow reveal of information is 
  critical to a satisfying campaign, yet if NPCs can simply explain everything, 
  the mystery is lost.
   
  Because of this, NPCs must be both useful and possessed of 
  valuable information, but also not too forthcoming or too helpful. They 
  must be present, yet not relied upon.
  NPCs
  The “Lore Dump”
  An often-mocked trope in roleplaying games is the “lore dump:” a 
  conversation in which one or two NPCs explain, in great detail and at 
  length, the current goings-on of the world of the campaign. It’s a long, 
  sometimes dreary, conversation, often dreaded by more active players.
   
  Still, the lore dump is effective: it lets players ask questions, 
  prod at the world, examine things in greater detail. By having an NPC who 
  can explain the current state of the world accurately and effectively, it puts 
  the players in a good position to take decisive action. 
   
  In the West Marches, you cannot and should not have NPCs 
  dump lore on the players. 
   
  Obviously, it’s bad storytelling: dumping exposition is 
  unsubtle and bland and not at all engaging. It’s also, however, a little more 
  complicated: if the players meet an NPC who is forthcoming with all of the 
  hidden information that the players do not know, they will do everything in 
  their power to obtain that information. They will talk, coerce, and possibly 
  even torture NPCs that they think hold valuable knowledge. 
   
  If you have an NPC that is available that has significant 
  knowledge, the players will seek to obtain it. 
   
  In a video game or less open roleplaying game, it’s easy to 
  prevent players running wild with questions: dialogue can be limited, 
  questions can be restrained, and lids can be kept on. Not so here; the game 
  is inherently open-ended when it comes to discussion and questions, and 
  thus it is difficult to prevent players asking infinite questions.
   
  At all times, be wary of what your NPCs know, and be certain 
  they cannot or will not explain overmuch.
  Unhelpful NPCs
  Because of this, NPCs in the Marches should be unhelpful. That’s not to say 
  they must needs be evil or cruel or unfriendly (though they may very well 
  be), but that the amount of help they can provide to the player characters 
  is limited.
   
  Unless they are very special, NPCs in the Marches should have 
  one or more of the following characteristics:
   
  Uninformed. Certain NPCs will be as in-the-dark as the players, 
  perhaps more so, and thus unable to help the adventurers. They’re willing, 
  potentially, but have no useful information to provide. The NPCs in the 
  Town should be in this category.
   
  Delusional. These NPCs are those that believe the world to be a 
  certain way, or hold certain facts as true, and are unwilling to change. This 
  delusion might be the result of magical enchantment, deliberate coercion, 
  or simple conceitedness. Whatever it is, these NPCs believe they are 
  helpful, but are not.
   
  Villainous. These are NPCs that are well-informed about secrets 
  the players would like to know, but won’t tell them. They’re enemy bosses, 
  sly information-brokers, and callous foes. In some cases, these NPCs might 
  even pretend to inform the player characters, but in fact be leading them 
  astray, whether through pure deception or tactical omission.
   
  Broken. Some NPCs do possess the information that the players 
  want to know, but are incapable or unable of telling the player characters 
  due to severe trauma or damage. This is often the result of dread curses or 
  fell maledictions, but might also be more psychological in nature. In these 
  cases, be sensitive and careful with your players; making light of trauma is 
  a fast way to isolate your players and leave them ill at ease.
   
  Dead. Many NPCs the players would like to talk to are dead. 
  Some limited contact might be made through magic, but it’s unlikely.
  Remember, never trust a ghost! Or a 
  goblin! Or a human! Or a fiend! Or a 
  fae! Or an elf! Or a tree! Or a troll! 
  Or even a dragon! Really, never trust 
  anyone that isn’t a kobold.
  
  67
  EMERGENT NARRATIVE
  The West Marches, as Robbins famously said, have no story. There is no 
  plot, no critical quest, and no overarching narrative plan. Everything is 
  reliant on the players and their actions within the broader world. The story 
  of the game is defined by player action and rolls of the dice.
   
  This kind of narrative, one that is unplanned and driven by 
  systems, is called emergent narrative. It grows and evolves based on the 
  systems of the game, rather than anything preplanned—it emerges.
   
  There are several places this kind of narrative can emerge from, 
  which this section covers.
  REGIONS, WEATHER, & ENCOUNTERS
  On a very base level, one of the most impactful elements on the story that 
  the players will end up telling is the landscape of the Marches themselves. 
  This manifests in three key ways: the regions the player characters travel 
  through, the weather and climate that affects them, and the random 
  encounters that they run into along the way.
  Regions
  Most regions of the Marches carry some variety of core, underlying 
  narrative: the source of the accursed undead, the cause of the poisonous 
  rain, the reason for the unnaturally frigid weather. Because regional effects 
  are nearly always present, players are exposed to them often, and thus they 
  are very likely to affect the narrative of the adventure.
   
  Furthermore, many regions culminate towards one larger 
  endpoint, such as ending a magical effect or defeating a regional boss, 
  which in turn the players will be pushed towards. Because the physical 
  landscape is such a constant issue to be dealt with by the players, it will 
  always affect the narrative.
  Weather
  Weather functions much the same as regions on a narrative level; the 
  weather is omnipresent, and thus impossible to avoid in the telling of 
  stories. A hike through the mountains in high summer is very, very different 
  than a hike through the mountains in deep winter. It affects travel, food 
  supplies, combat, sleeping, and nearly every other aspect of an adventure. 
  Like regions, it is a constant challenge to overcome, and so molds all other 
  narratives.
  Encounters
  Random encounters are, by their very nature, random; it’s difficult to 
  predict when and how they will occur. That said, there are some ways 
  that players can affect their chances (see page 57), and that can affect their 
  stories as time goes on.
   
  More broadly, though, because random encounters are dealt 
  with en route to a dungeon or other mission, they can dramatically affect 
  that mission as a whole. Dealing with a dungeon fresh and ready to go is a 
  wholly different experience than dealing with a dungeon while the rogue’s 
  halfway dead and the cleric’s missing a third of their spells. 
   
  Random encounters introduce unexpected elements, and those 
  unexpected elements in turn make the narrative to predict, and thus more 
  emergent with the system.
  What “Emergent” Really Means
  “Emergent narrative” is one of those buzzwords that gets passed around 
  quite a bit in game circles, and can sometimes get lost. Here, it simply 
  means “meaningful stories that are driven by the game systems.” 
   
  Technically, walking from the town to the woods to the 
  mountains could be considered emergent narrativer, in that yes, it was 
  narrative that emerged from game systems, but that’s not very exciting. 
  Getting ambushed by a surprise pack of lycanthropes and barely escaping 
  with your lives only to discover that one of your comrades has been bitten is 
  exciting, and that’s the kind of story that can emerge solely from gameplay. 
   
  Emergent narrative is the stories that aren’t planned by the GM, 
  or the players. They’re the stories that emerge from mechanical systems 
  interacting with both of those in interesting ways. 
  There is no greater feeling in all the 
  world than swooping down onto a 
  pack of feeble adventurers that least 
  expect you. None whatsoever.
  
  68
  INDEXICAL STORYTELLING
  Indexical storytelling can broadly be defined as the telling of stories 
  through individual symbols, markers, or icons—called “indices.” Consider 
  the dungeon chamber which holds a broken shield, a cracked sword, 
  splatters of blood along the wall, and then a long trail of blood interspersed 
  with huge bloody claw-prints.
   
  Each of those is an index: what story do they tell? 
   
  It’s interpretable, but you probably thought of a story in which 
  a monster entered a chamber, defeated a would-be dungeoneer, and then 
  dragged them deeper within. It’s a simple story, but it’s one entirely told 
  through artifacts of gameplay—indices. Humans as players are highly 
  talented in coming up with possible solutions and through-lines for 
  individual indices presented to them. It’s environmental detective work, all 
  through the lens of game narrative.
   
  There are two broad modes of indexical storytelling within the 
  context of the West Marches: indices of the designer, and indices of the 
  players. Each has its use, and both should be considered throughout the 
  processes of design and play.
  Indices of the Designer
  As a designer and GM, you can use storytelling indices to great effect. Any 
  item or symbol you place in an environment, like a dungeon or ruin, can be 
  used to help craft a narrative. Carefully consider the elements you might 
  find in a given area as you create them. 
   
  Consider the example of the bloody-clawed monster above; 
  if you leave that in a dungeon, especially fresh, players will immediately 
  be on the lookout. They will check every creature they see for claws and 
  blood, and they’ll be on the lookout for other items left behind by the dead 
  adventurer.
   
  Compare this to if you simply had an NPC explain to the players 
  that there was a monster within. It’d be bland, and boring, and trite. Players 
  know there’s a hundred monsters within a dungeon any day of the week. To 
  compel them forward, use indices; it engages their imagination and their 
  critical thinking skills, and keeps them guessing. 
   
  As designer of your game, you can and should place indices in 
  locations players go; it strengthens your narrative, encourages interaction, 
  and betters play.
  Indices of the Designer
  When designing a dungeon, the indices you place there are remains of 
  previous NPCs, monsters, and effects. They’re deliberate, they’re designed, 
  they carefully maintained.
   
  However, adventurers also leave indices: campsites, bloodstains, 
  magical after-effects, dumped gear, scorch marks, footprints, open doors & 
  chests, structural damage, chalk markings, and all kinds of other indices. 
  These exist within the world of the game, as permanent markers of 
  adventurer activity. 
   
  Keep track of these indices. Write them down in your notes, 
  alter your maps accordingly, and then refer to them later. 
   
  For you, they provide fuel for future problems for players to 
  solve: clever enemies will track the player characters by their indices; their 
  structural damage might balloon in size; the fires they light might burn a 
  whole forest. If you set up these problems correctly, so players can track 
  them to their source, they emphasize the power and impact of players’ 
  actions, which is always a good thing.
  For players, they can also provide interesting and unusual mysteries to 
  resolve. Because much of the core loop of the West Marches revolves around 
  comparing incomplete information and returning to existing locations, the 
  remains that other players leave behind can be highly influential. If player 
  characters scrawl notes in chalk on the walls of a dungeon, for example, 
  any future adventurers might well be able to refer to those notes. If they’re 
  outside, however, they might get rained on and so blur, and thus create a 
  new kind of mystery for the player characters to puzzle over.
   
  Part of the wonder of the West Marches as a structure is in 
  examining that which came before, specifically that which was brought 
  about previously by players.
  Wherever I travel, I leave behind only ruin, 
  gouging the land with my claws and marring the 
  earth  with veins of acid. Trust me, when you 
  encounter my domain, you shall know it.
  
  69
  SHOW, DON’T TELL
  It’s an old writing adage, that you should always show, rather than tell. 
  In literature, it means that you should leave readers to make their own 
  assumptions and draw their own conclusions, rather than simply tell them 
  how things are.
   
  That is doubly true in the West Marches. 
   
  Only ever describe to the players that which they know to 
  be objectively true. Describe sensations, experiences, layouts—hard, 
  descriptive terminology, things that can be examined empirically. 
   
  Do not tell them the names of locations. Do not use relative 
  distances or descriptions. If they come up with clever (or, you know, 
  “clever”) nicknames for people and places, do not use them. Once you start 
  confirming things to be true, there stops being an element of unknown 
  information, and instead simply an element of “get the GM to confirm what 
  we think is true.”
   
  Because the West Marches is such a fundamentally procedural 
  style of play, it means that there is little room for the prescribed or 
  predetermined; simply describe as they are. 
   
  In the case of mysteries, of puzzles, of indices, of anything that 
  hints towards a larger narrative, do not describe that narrative. Describe 
  the component parts that make up that larger narrative as they appear, and 
  let your players in the details. 
   
  This is difficult, in more ways than one! It is a fundamentally 
  different kind of storytelling, to rely solely on the existing mechanisms of 
  what the player characters can perceive and what conclusions their players 
  can draw. It’s also simply difficult to construct evidence and indices of 
  events and occurrences that have already happened, especially in such a 
  way as to make them solvable for your players.
   
  It’s a challenge for sure, but do not give up. Start small, start 
  basic, and remember to only describe what they experience, not the overall 
  message you want your players to receive.
  Why Tell Emergent Stories?
  In this chapter, we go to great lengths to both teach you how to tell these 
  kinds of unusual, systemic stories, and, more implicitly, to convince you 
  that they’re interesting stories to tell. 
   
  So, why tell emergent stories? Why rely on tables and dice and 
  mechanical processes, rather than just writing a good story and having 
  players run through it? The answer is threefold: because planning for a 
  game like the West Marches is near-impossible; because these stories are 
  unique to games and games alone; and because they are more thematically 
  resonant with real life than prefabricated narratives.
   
  Think about running an ordinary game, for four or five players, 
  out of an adventure book. You can plan some, but then you’ll have to 
  improvise, and then adjust for the future. In an ordinary game, these 
  happen or twice a session. In the Marches, you have three times the number 
  of players or more, and the world is much larger and more open, and so 
  those improvisations will have to get more and more elaborate. Start from 
  the beginning with no set story in mind, and whatever ends up happening 
  is fine. You’ve got no plan, so it’s easy to lean wherever the players want.
   
  Think about a book or movie: you, the viewer, might not be 
  able to predict where the story will go, but someone planned it. To them, 
  the story has lost its magic, its mystery, since they know it already. But in 
  a game, where we leave the story up to dice and fate, the mystery exists 
  on both sides, for everyone at the table. Neither GM nor player knows 
  where the dice will fall, and thus the suspense will always exist. This kind of 
  tension, these true unknowns, can only exist in games; cherish them.
   
  Finally, think about real life. How often does it truly go according 
  to plan? When can you know the future? All art, on some level, strives to 
  better understand the human condition; it’s high-minded for elf games, yes, 
  but still relevant. In relying on fate, on tables, on the unknown, we nudge 
  ourselves towards the questions that we face as people: how do we deal 
  with an unknowable future? How do we react when fate deals us a twisted 
  hand? What does it mean to not fully control your own life? Emergent play 
  examines these themes in a way that no other media can. Embrace the 
  meaning and truth that can be gleaned from uncertainty.
  Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, 
  not even the Big Guy! Makes me a little 
  hopeful—maybe tomorrow, I’ll strike gold! 
  Or maybe I’ll be dead! Nobody knows!
  
  70
  PLAYER NARRATIVE
  The West Marches do not follow the archetypal story arcs of a fantasy story. 
  There are very, very few fantasy stories in which the heroes depart into the 
  wilderness, wander about lost for several days, get caught in a snowstorm, 
  fight some kobolds on the side of the road, and then come home. Those 
  protagonists face no personal moral challenges, no deep examinations of 
  their psyches, and are not pushed into situations that demand character 
  growth.
   
  Players can sometimes feel lost without the common way-signs 
  of fiction. This section will hopefully help guide you and them in finding 
  threads to follow, and beats to hit.
  ONGOING MYSTERIES
  As players explore the West Marches, they will begin to uncover secrets 
  and mysteries and lore—but they will do so at uneven rates, in different 
  locations, at various times. Over time, there will develop a discontinuity 
  of information across the player pool. Some players will know a lot, others 
  know less, and no one player will know all of the information belonging to 
  the patchwork knowledge base.
   
  This is a good thing! It pushes players to work together, to write 
  logs and accounts, to plan and discuss, and to share as much information as 
  they can. 
   
  This discontinuity generates interest in players; it draws them 
  towards answering questions, solving mysteries, and filling in the gaps in 
  their knowledge. It’s likely that some of your players will eventually make 
  this discovery process their primary source of narrative over the course of 
  your game of West Marches. 
   
  Encourage this. A character driven by a quest for knowledge is 
  a character that already has tension: there is uncertainty, there is challenge, 
  and there is hard motivation to act upon. This is not uncommon; many 
  players at many tables are motivated by a thirst for knowledge.
   
  The key distinction that emerges in the West Marches is that, 
  due to the incomplete nature of the knowledge being pursued, the exact 
  questions and beliefs that emerge around that knowledge vary. Players 
  will begin to take different stances, argue for different positions, and hold 
  different beliefs. As time wears on, there will be new discoveries made, 
  new knowledge gained, and new theories proposed. Individual players’ 
  characters will be forced into changing their positions, or else abiding by 
  their older beliefs.
   
  This tension—that of competing beliefs founded on uncertain 
  truths—is a powerful one. It is resonant with the uncertainties of real life; 
  it mirrors, on some level, that lack of knowledge we all face. Use it wisely, 
  and this theme and carry your game.
  PLAYER BACKSTORIES
  There exists a tendency among certain players to build a huge, elaborate 
  backstory, oftentimes constructed in a very silo-like fashion: isolated, 
  distinct, and unrelated to other players’. Over the course of the campaign, 
  these players intend to explore that backstory and have it culminate around 
  them. 
   
  This is not good design for characters in the West Marches. 
   
  Because the Marches themselves are so unstructured, it means 
  that if a character must have a specific event, enemy, or artifact exist—to 
  hunt down their parents’ killer, say—there is no reliable way to have that 
  event or enemy occur. Because the GM does not decide what content the 
  players see, they cannot guarantee that a player will have a certain moment 
  that they need. 
   
  Characters can and should have backstory and history; they 
  should arrive in the Marches in one way, and then grow and change over 
  time. But they cannot rely on having key moments in their future planned 
  ahead of time, nor can they expect to have strict control over the pacing 
  and direction of their narrative.
  Reactive Character Growth
  Rather than have a mountain of lore to sit upon and then advance their 
  character from, players instead should embrace a more variable, reactive 
  narrative, one driven by uncertain events thrust upon them. This style of 
  character development is far less predictable, and far more dependent on 
  the events of a mission.
   
  Consider, for example, a mission wherein the adventurers make 
  it to a dungeon, press deep within its chambers, and defeat a large monster. 
  That mission is, basically, a success. Then, consider an identical mission 
  party and goal, but the party is caught in a sandstorm, run afoul of some 
  undead, barely make it to the dungeon, and two characters are slaughtered 
  in the first chamber. That mission is a failure.
   
  Before dice hit the table, those missions were identical; once 
  the session actually started, however, the primary narrative of each is 
  dramatically different, all due to dice rolls. Embrace this unpredictability; 
  let character growth stem from the events that actually happen to them, 
  rather than a preconceived notion of how a character “should” progress.
  INVESTMENT OVER TIME
  There is a fear that emerges among players of the West Marches that, 
  because there is no preset plot and no guarantee that their characters will 
  do certain things, players will struggle to invest in their characters. 
   
  This, of course, is mistaken. Because of the degree of narrative 
  freedom given to players, it’s easier to invest in their characters: the 
  decisions the characters make carry weight, and because of the brutality of 
  the Marches, every moment is precious. 
   
  However, there does exist a common fault point in players 
  developing their characters: a belief that it is only their interest in their 
  character that sustains them. That is to say, a belief that so long as a player 
  likes their character, nothing else matters. 
   
  This is incorrect. If the only player to character about a character 
  is that character’s player, they will eventually grow old. Sustained interest 
  in a character comes not only from their creator’s passion, but from care 
  and interest from other players. When the player pool all cares about 
  each other’s characters, possibly even more so than their own character, 
  significant investment will emerge. 
   
  While it occurs in all kinds of ways, one of the best ways to get 
  other people invested in one player’s character is to have that character 
  change, especially if that change stems from interaction with another 
  character. We, as humans, connect with more characters that struggle than 
  characters that succeed. In roleplaying, there is no experience better than 
  collaboratively telling the story of characters struggling, together.
  The Marches are the harshest, cruelest, most 
  brutal territory in the whole of the world. 
  Anything you’ve done before doesn’t matter; all 
  that matters is what you do here and now, to 
  prove your worth to whole of the Marches.
  I used to be a chef! But now I’m a scribe 
  instead, and I like it even more.
  Conception vs. Perception
  When a player first begins play with a new character, it’s very common for 
  them to have a set notion of who they believe that character is, and how 
  they should behave. This is fine, it’s normal: coming up with an idea for a 
  character is expected behavior.
   
  However, once that character sees play—when they fail 
  unexpectedly and are faced with unplanned-for situations—that concept 
  will not be met perfectly at every moment. A gap will begin to form 
  between the player’s conception of how they thought their character would 
  be and the player’s perception of how their character actually is in play.
   
  If a player is particularly attached to an existing concept, they 
  might find it frustrating that their character-at-the-table does not match 
  the character-in-their-mind. However, this gap in expectations and reality 
  is also fine and normal; it happens to everyone at some point. Players 
  shouldn’t feel discouraged that their character does not match the smooth, 
  unflawed fantasy they might have previously had in their head. 
   
  Before play begins, players should strive to only have a loose 
  conception fo their cahracter, and should avoid becoming overly attached 
  to a specific vision. As GM, you should do your best to gently nudge players 
  towards developing their characters as they exist at the table, to close 
  the conception vs. perception gap as quickly as possible. Give characters 
  their chances to shine, but feeding a hyperfocused fantasy is impossible to 
  maintain forever.
  
  71
  CHAPTER V
  APPENDICES
  
  72
  The West Marches are not a place that normal go; dire circumstance or 
  lofty ambition might drive a person to them, but the Marches are no place 
  for ordinary folk. Though it is most likely that individual characters’ time 
  in the Marches will be violent and brief, they—the characters and their 
  relationships to one another—remain the Marches’ most integral part. 
  Thus, the most important aspect of making a character intended for the 
  West Marches is finding a central tension grounded in their reason for 
  being there: reside in that tension, let it inform the way that your characters 
  react to the world and to other party members’ actions, use it drive your 
  character forward in the face of adversity.
   
  Making a successful character for the West Marches can be 
  a more difficult task than for other campaigns or settings. It’s crucial to 
  think about what a new character can bring to the table, especially with 
  regard to the survivalism rules outlined in the Wilderness Travel section. 
  A character’s utility outside of combat, role within a party of fellow 
  adventurers, and ability to hold their own survival in survival scenarios: all 
  are vital to making an effective explorer of the Marches.
   
  Though it is possible to play a West Marches game with characters 
  for whom ability scores were rolled, it is recommended that all characters in 
  a West Marches game utilize the Point Buy rules for determining character 
  ability scores, found on PHB 13. Given that West Marches games typically 
  consist of a larger player pool, this recommendation is based on a need for 
  consistency and predictability in the power level of all players.
  PLAYER OPTIONS
  Imperial Castouts
  Characters in the Marches all have at least one thing in common: they have 
  left the relative safety of the Empire and come to the West Marches. 
   
  The reason why a character left the Empire should be built into 
  their central tension; the moment a character arrives in the West Marches 
  with either the intent or a necessity to stay there, that character’s life 
  has been divided into a distinct “before” and “after.” With that in mind, 
  considering the choices and events that led a character to the Marches 
  should give you a very clear lens into not only who they are, but who they 
  might become.
  d20
  Reason
  1
  On the run from a powerful Imperial authority.
  2
  Revels in the lawlessness of the Marches.
  3
  Shipwrecked on the Marches.
  4
  Found Imperial life to be unconscionably dull.
  5
  Compelled to venture to the Marches in a vision from a god.
  6
  Seduced by the promise of treasure or lost secrets.
  7
  Hunting someone who has fled to the Marches.
  8
  Honorbound to cleanse the Marches of evil (or good).
  9
  Exiled from the Empire.
  10
  Abandoned in the Marches by family.
  11
  Desires territory, land, and conquest.
  12
  Ordered on a mission from the Empire.
  13
  Protecting someone else already going to the Marches.
  14
  Belief in a prophecy, real or otherwise.
  15
  Sentenced to the Marches as a penal colonist.
  16
  Escaping from the guilt of a past mistake.
  17
  Seeking a ruin, thought long lost.
  18
  Driven by raw ego to prove combat prowess.
  19
  Bound by some magical contract or covenant.
  20
  Lost en route elsewhere, with no means to return.
  Reasons for Leaving
  APPENDIX I:
  
  73
  FEATS FOR THE WEST MARCHES
  Characters that come to the West Marches are often hardened by survivalist 
  tactics, finding an affinity with the elements and making a home in the 
  unforgiving wilderness. Use the following optional feats to realize these 
  aspects in your own character.
  Explorer
  Attuned to integrants of geography and the currents of history, you gain the 
  following benefits:
  • Your Intelligence or Wisdom score increases by 1.
  • You gain proficiency in cartographer’s tools.
  • You always know which way is north.
  • You have advantage on checks made to determine distance, checks 
  made to spot distant or obscured landmarks, and checks made to 
  determine the age of a location or object, such as an ancient ruin or 
  the treasure within.
  Iron Gut
  Able to place your mind over matter where sustenance is concerned, you 
  gain the following benefits:
  • Your Constitution score increases by 1.
  • You gain resistance to poison damage, and have advantage on saving 
  throws made to resist being poisoned.
  • You have advantage on saving throws to avoid disease or other ill 
  effects from eating food or drinking water that is unclean.
  • You only need half as much food and water as normal.
  Nomad
  Consumed by a wanderlust that drives your body beyond conventional 
  limits, you gain the following benefits:
  • Your Constitution or Wisdom score increases by 1.
  • You have advantage on saving throws made to resist the effects of 
  travelling for more than eight hours per day.
  • When you take a long rest, you only need four hours of sleep. The 
  remaining time can be spent performing light activity, such as keeping 
  watch or reading a book. If you are a race that needs less than 8 hours 
  of sleep to gain the benefits of a long rest, this has no additional effect.
  • Over the course of one minute, you can examine the sky and 
  determine what the weather will be for the next eight hours. You must 
  take a long rest before using this ability again.
  Sea Dog
  Having learned the ebb and flow of the watery depths, you gain the 
  following benefits:
  • Your Strength or Constitution score increases by 1.
  • You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
  • The amount of time you can hold your breath underwater doubles.
  • You have advantage on Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks made to 
  interact with creatures with a swim speed.
  Sharp Eyed
  With the unyielding vigilance of the apex predator, you gain the following 
  benefits:
  • Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
  • Your passive Wisdom (Perception) score increases by 5.
  • While travelling, you can notice threats while engaged in another 
  activity.
  • You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made as part of 
  the Search action or to observe creatures within the immediate area.
  Strong Back
  The things you bear are more important than the body that bears them. You 
  gain the following benefits:
  • Your Strength or Constitution score increases by 1.
  • You count as if you were one size category larger for the purpose of 
  determining your carrying capacity.
  • You have advantage on Strength checks made to push, lift, or pull 
  objects.
  • You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to shove a 
  creature.
  Survivalist
  You speak with the land. You are the land. You gain the following benefits:
  • Your Wisdom or Intelligence score increases by 1.
  • When you succeed on a Wisdom (Survival) check to forage for food, 
  you roll an extra d6 to determine how much you foraged.
  • You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) and Intelligence (Nature) 
  checks made to harvest body parts from a creature.
  • You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to hunt 
  creatures, as well as Intelligence (Nature) checks made to survey a 
  region.
  Thick Skin
  Your body revels in the natural violence of extreme climates. You gain the 
  following benefits:
  • You gain resistance to fire damage and cold damage.
  • You are immune to the effects of extreme heat and extreme cold.
  • You have advantage on saving throws made to resist the effects of 
  weather, such as sleeping while wet or exposed.
  Wayfinder
  Treacherous land does little to hinder your unrelenting advance. You gain 
  the following benefits:
  • You do not suffer penalties to rolls made to navigate while travelling 
  at a fast pace.
  • You ignore difficult terrain.
  • When travelling, difficult terrain does not slow your group’s travel.
  • Your speed increases by 10 feet.
  Windjammer
  The sea is your home; the salty air speaks a language that guides you to your 
  destiny. You gain the following benefits:
  • Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
  • You gain proficiency in navigator’s tools and water vehicles.
  • You do not suffer penalties to rolls made to navigate while traveling by 
  water during inclement weather, including low visibility.
  • Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that 
  uses your water vehicles proficiency.
  Thicker skin? Stronger back? Why would 
  anyone need that? We kobolds are skinny 
  as reeds, and do just fine. Cleverness is all 
  you need—and a little luck, of course.
  
  74
  EPIC BOONS
  The West Marches, in stories of the Empire, are the forge where heroes are 
  made. A character in the West Marches might earn one of the following 
  features upon discovering a powerful artifact, being marked by an ancient 
  deity, or completing a task that alters the course of the history of the 
  Marches substantially. 
   
  Players should by no means expect to receive one of these 
  boons over the course of a character’s development, even at the highest 
  tier of play; there are no preset paths or methods to earn these benefits. 
  Nonetheless, consider granting boons from the Epic Boons section of the 
  DMG when appropriate for your game.
  Characters should select backgrounds for their characters as normal, and 
  they gain all of the proficiencies, items, and languages as normal.
   
  However, the majority of background features as they are 
  written are meant for a campaign and style of play within an existing world, 
  one with a more normal amount of wilderness, cities, villages, and other 
  terrain features.
   
  Given that West Marches takes place almost exclusively within 
  uncharted wilderness, nearly all background features have minimal use, 
  with the exception of a few, which are exceedingly powerful. This being 
  the case, it is likely that the use of background features in your West 
  Marches game will disproportionately push your players to choose these 
  backgrounds, which will homogenize your player roster unnecessarily.
   
  To avoid this, it is highly recommended that you simply ignore 
  background features in their entirety. Characters still gain the other 
  benefits from their background, such as skills, languages, and equipment, 
  but the other features should not be observed.
  BACKGROUND FEATURES
  The Beaten Path
  The adjustment described on this page to features that prevent becoming 
  lost might seem at first to be reducing the power of the ranger. This is not 
  necessarily the case! You’ll come to find that there is much more adventure 
  to be had when all doesn’t go according to plan. Some of the most 
  compelling and enticing tales will begin with the party stumbling upon 
  something that they didn’t expect to find.
   
  Where the base game does not historically place a lot of intrinsic 
  value on the act of exploration, the Marches shifts the excitement of 
  discovery and the challenge of the unexpected to a prominent role at the 
  heart of the play experience. For that reason, features that would trivialize 
  a large aspect of exploration (that is, navigation) are severely problematic.
   
  Besides all of that, the ranger is already particularly strong in 
  a place so thoroughly wild as the Marches. If you find yourself turned off 
  from the class by this feature adjustment, don’t worry! You will not find 
  yourself to be substantially less powerful because of it.
  RANGERS AND GETTING LOST
  The ranger’s 1st-level feature Natural Explore states that a ranger “cannot 
  be lost except by magical means.” 
   
  This feature, which is already somewhat unclear, is antithetical 
  to the design of the West Marches, which prominently features players 
  having to navigate on their own wits. Getting lost is a natural part of 
  exploration, and should be embraced! 
   
  Any time a feature states that a character cannot be lost, replace 
  it with the following:
   
  When you are in the wilderness, you can at any time retrace your 
  steps exactly the way you came, until you return to the Town. Once you return 
  to the Town, this ability resets.
  This means that rangers can always find their way home, and can find their 
  way to locations they’ve been to on the same mission. It’s a powerful tool, 
  certainly, useful for all kinds of expeditions. However, it doesn’t extend 
  past one mission, which means that after a ranger returns to town, they 
  have to rely on their knowledge and the map, just like everyone else.
  MODIFIED EQUIPMENT
  Along with an emphasis on wilderness travel comes the need for explication 
  on the specific effects and usages of certain common survival tools. This 
  section expands on the rules for some items found in the Player’s Handbook. 
  Equipment listed here as the same weight and cost as listed there, but with 
  these additional or modified effects:
   
  Bedroll. Keeps you warm at night, preventing the effects of cold 
  weather while taking a long rest.
   
  Blanket. Keeps you warm at night, but lacks the padding of 
  a bedroll. While taking a long rest with a blanket prevents the effects of 
  cold weather, when you finish a long rest during which you slept in only a 
  blanket, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of 
  one die).
   
  Cold Weather Gear. A set of thick, insulated clothing, designed 
  for extremely cold conditions. Cold weather gear weighs 8 lb., and makes 
  the wearer immune to the effects of extreme cold.
   
  Mess Kit. So long as they are kept clean, proper utensils and 
  cooking supplies allow a character to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. 
  When eating with a mess kit, Constitution saves made to resist disease from 
  unclean food are made with advantage.
   
  Rations. Rations are made-to-last food wrapped in protective 
  packaging. Rations never rot, can be submerged in water without issue, 
  and are suffer no ill effects from extreme heat.
   
  Tent. A tent provides shelter for two Medium or smaller 
  creatures. Up to four Medium creatures can fit into a tent if necessary, but 
  all creatures regain no spent Hit Dice upon finishing a long rest. 
  Imagine requiring any training beyond your 
  own raw, physical form. Simply comical.
  
  75
  PROGRESSION OPTIONS
  This section contains optional modifications to existing Experience Point 
  based progression which serve to encourage good player behavior as well 
  as productive engagement with the world of the West Marches and the 
  other player characters in your game. Consider implementing some or all 
  of these rules in your game:
  CHARACTER TIERS
  The West Marches are an extremely dangerous place. The creatures, 
  people, and even the climates there are rarely friendly, if ever. Adventurers 
  and explorers lead brief lives characterized by violence, trauma, and strife; 
  their woes are many, and the road is long, but those who travel it reap 
  unimaginable rewards.
   
  The death of a character in the West Marches is impactful. It’s 
  highly recommended that you observe the following rule concerning the 
  death of characters in your game:
  Tiers of Play
  There are four tiers that players can attain. The first includes characters of 
  levels 1-4. The second, characters of levels 5-10. The third, 11-16, and the 
  fourth, 17-20. When a character dies, their player’s next character begins 
  at the bottom of the dead character’s tier; for example, Robin’s character, 
  Alphaeus, dies at level 3. Robin’s new character, Belisaria, begins at level 
  1. Once Belisaria makes it to level 5, any character that Robin plays (for 
  example, Corcoran) would begin at level 5, in the event that Belisaria dies.
  EXPERIENCE POINTS
  It is highly recommended that you utilize an XP-based progression system. 
  Using XP allows expectations for the rate of progression of characters to be 
  more manageable and concrete, in turn leveraging player discouragement 
  that can arise from the use of less quantifiable means of tracking progression 
  that the game has to offer.
   
  Additionally, using vallows players to form educated judgments 
  about the areas of the map that contain challenges that are appropriately 
  difficult for their level, and encourages them to engage specifically with 
  those challenges rather than remaining in regions for which they are over-
  leveled.
   
  Reward experience points at the end of a mission, when the 
  player characters return to the Town. Any experience earned from the 
  mission (not including roleplaying and log-keeping experience, described 
  below) should be split evenly among the party members that make it back 
  to the Town alive after a mission.
   
  In addition to an XP-based system for progression, consider 
  employing the following extra opportunities for the players in your game 
  to earn additional experience points outside of combat, bearing in mind 
  that experience points gained by these means should also be split among 
  the party members that return to the Town:
  Discovery Experience
  When players visit a new region or dungeon, meet an important character, 
  or uncover a pivotal secret, grant them an amount of experience points that 
  increases proportionally to the importance or significance of the discovery 
  and the difficulty of the surrounding region. While the exact number of 
  experience points granted for discovery should be largely at the GM’s 
  discretion, consider the values in the Discovery Experience table as a good 
  general guide. 
   
  Discovery should be awarded to the entire party; that is, it is 
  divided amongst the characters in the party when they return to the Town 
  at the end of a mission. Only award experience once per discovery, even if 
  characters that did not discover it themselves become privy to it for the first 
  time.
  Significance
  Description
  Experience
  Insignificant
  A discovery with no significant 
  consequence; something obvious, 
  or something that will not generally 
  affect the way player characters 
  approach any situation, such as the 
  knowledge that elk inhabit a region.
  Easy
  Noteworthy
  Something not immediately obvious 
  which players would be well-advised 
  to make a note of, such as the presence 
  of a special monster in a region, 
  meeting a significant NPC, or spying a 
  significant structure from afar.
  Medium
  Important
  Something hidden, new, or secret 
  which has come fully to light. This 
  includes visiting a prominent new 
  area, meeting the leader of a faction, 
  and delving into a dungeon for the 
  first time, for example.
  Hard
  Pivotal
  Something extremely important to 
  understanding the fundamental fabric 
  of the West Marches as a whole, such 
  as the revealing of the true nature of 
  a god, the discovery of an artifact, 
  or anything else that will profoundly 
  affect the way player characters will 
  approach situations.
  Deadly
  Discovery Experience
  Roleplay Experience
  When player characters engage in any of the following behaviors during 
  roleplay on a mission, award them with an amount of experience points 
  equal to 200 × that character’s tier. If they engaged in the same behavior 
  more than once during a mission, award them double that amount.
  It’s recommended that players make notes of instances on a mission where 
  they fulfilled any of the above behaviors. At the end of the mission, each 
  player in turn should report the behaviors they engaged in on that mission 
  and award experience points as necessary, with the GM as final arbiter of 
  which behaviors were impactful enough to warrant the reward. 
   
  Roleplaying experience can be granted to multiple characters 
  for the same decision or scene, if it applies to more than one character.
  Logkeeping Experience
  If a player writes a thorough and complete log, in character, of a mission 
  they were on, award them with an amount of experience points equal to 
  200 × their character’s tier.
   
  Logs should be kept in a readily-available location, such as an 
  online directory. Logs can be referenced at any time outside of session, but 
  shouldn’t be referenced in session. 
  • You make a significant decision that is influenced by your race, class, 
  or background.
  • You make a significant decision that is influenced by your personality 
  traits, ideals, bonds, or flaws.
  • You make a significant decision that is influenced by existing or past 
  relationships with other party members.
  • You learn or teach lore or knowledge that is believed to be true and 
  significant.
  • You have a gritty, verisimilitudinous scene — a slice of life for the 
  professional adventurer.
  • You make a decision that affects all of the roster, the Marches as a 
  whole, or an entire faction.
  I do not respect my prey, but if there’s one thing 
  about adventurers I admire, it is their tenacity 
  in walking. On my mother’s wings, I cannot 
  fathom how exceedingly drudgerous all that 
  travelling must be. What do they do all day, 
  walking along on their own two legs?
  Always be sure to keep a log! If I didn’t 
  write down logs of everything I or the Big 
  Guy did, I’d forget it all in a day. I write 
  about anything that catches my eye—like 
  mountains or birds or gold—and every word 
  the Big Guy tells me to note down.
  
  76
  On Playing in Real Time
  In some social settings that allow the players in a West Marches game to be 
  more consistently and regularly available for missions, such as on a college 
  campus, it can be possible to run the game in real time: that is, for every 
  day that passes in real life, so too does a day pass in game time. Playing in 
  real time can make a world of difference in terms of how simple it is to keep 
  track of where each player character is in the space of the game because 
  it implicitly applies a temporality to the game world that has a real-world 
  analog; one that we as players and GMs are inherently accustomed to.
   
  It also means that it becomes possible to play the game at all 
  times, in a way; for example, the GM might set up a mode of communication 
  that players can use to have conversations with NPCs and with one another 
  while in the Town without having to worry about how much time has 
  passed in game as those conversations run their course. This could be a 
  digital messaging platform, for instance. Many modern ones (as of the 
  writing of these words) have support for user role assignment and multiple 
  discrete chat channels for separating topics; these features can all be used 
  to model different parts of a contiguous game. Perhaps chat server channels 
  could directly model different sections of the Town and the conversations, 
  transactions, and other scenes that transpire there.
   
  Additionally, playing in real time opens the door for a blurring 
  of the lines between the game world and reality; for example, the GM 
  might create a dungeon that is only accessible to the characters on a specific 
  cycle of the moon, an NPC that only appears once every two weeks in real 
  time, or a deadline for a mission to rescue a character or deal to be fulfilled. 
  Dated ultimatums like these implicitly carry a weight of urgency that 
  transcends the construct of separation of player and character by virtue of 
  their enforcement by the march of real time.
   
  Playing in real time does not mean that players in a party on 
  a four-day mission, for example, must play D&D for four days straight, 
  though the mission is said to have begun on the day in real time on which 
  the session was played. It simply means that when a party plays a session in 
  which four days pass in game, the players whose characters comprised that 
  party cannot interact with the game for four days of real time thereafter. By 
  logical extension, things that happened on the second day of the mission 
  in game are thought of to have happened on the day after the session was 
  played in real time, and so forth.
   
  Playing in real time can be fun, rewarding, and interesting. It 
  poses a unique tabletop gaming experience that the versatility of a West 
  Marches campaign is inherently well-suited for. If you have the ability to 
  set up the infrastructure, technological or otherwise, that could facilitate a 
  game run in real time, it is highly recommended that you do.
   
  There are only a few additional structural things to keep in mind 
  when you play in real time:
  • A party that embarked on a mission that lasts three weeks, for example, 
  cannot participate in the game at all for the 21 days for which their 
  characters are on thought to be on mission in the game timeline. 
  • As a GM, you must take vigilant notes on the day-to-day events of multi-
  day missions. It may become relevant when multiple parties are exploring 
  the wild concurrently in game time. 
  • While it is obviously possible for a party to happen to be in the same 
  place at the same game time as another separate party whose mission 
  was played out earlier in real time, it is highly recommended that you 
  as a GM establish with your players that it is simply not conducive to an 
  intelligible narrative for the two parties to interact. It’s okay to fudge the 
  timing on encounters like these in the interest of maintaining a coherent 
  and linear game timeline.
  • Encourage players to stagger their missions such that parties are not 
  always comprised of the same players. This is something that can happen 
  when multiple parties are able to be on-mission at the same time; one 
  will arrive back to the Town, make a new plan, and re-embark before the 
  other party returns, at which point the second party will return home 
  and do the same. All of the characters in your game should have the 
  opportunity to interact with one another.
  • Ultimately, it is important for players and the GM to communicate 
  extensively when playing in real time. Don’t be afraid to create or adjust 
  house rules at any point during the course of your game if something is 
  causing friction out of character. Creating an atmosphere of trust and 
  reliability is key to playing a West Marches game in real time.
  
  77
  STEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLES
  APPENDIX II:
  This appendix contains a step-by-step guide to making an example faction, 
  an example region, and an example dungeon. We’ll be using content 
  generated exclusively from the random tables we provide, but we’ll be 
  making slight adjustments and tweaks, just as you should do, too. 
   
  This appendix has a more colloquial voice, like a long sidebar.
  EXAMPLE REGION
  To start with, we’ll work on a region. We’ll go through its difficulty, 
  environment, climate, size, landforms, inhabitants, and encounters. At 
  each step, we’ll cover our thought process and detail our methods.
  Difficulty
  This region is going to be close to the town. We recommend you build 
  outwards, expanding in roughly-concentric circles away from the town. 
  Ideally, you want to have regions planned approximately one circle outside 
  of the furthest your players have gone, so that when they look to the 
  horizon, you can tell them what they see. This is, of course, more difficult 
  to do as time goes on, as your circles get bigger, but you’ll also have to do 
  it less frequently, since each circle will take more time for your players to 
  get through.
   
  Because this particular region is going to be relatively close to 
  home, it should be relatively low-level. While randomly-determining the 
  difficulty of a region can be interesting, having a more guided difficulty 
  early on can be a good idea. In this case, we’re just deciding that this region 
  will be suitable for characters of about level 4. This is a little wiggly, so we 
  might have encounters that will be a bit more or a bit less difficult.
  Environment & Climate
  We want to make something sort of rough and wild and untamed, so we’re 
  going to make a swamp. Swamps are among the toughest regions in the 
  Marches: they’re very slow to travel through and difficult to navigate, and 
  while water is plentiful, it’s likely brackish and not safe to drink. 
   
  Our Marches as a whole are going to be generally subtropical, so 
  they’ll be rich, green, and wet. We could roll individually for this region’s 
  climate, but in this case we’ve decided not to. For early on regions, it can be 
  a good idea to not alter climate too drastically, so as to build a sense of what 
  “normal” in the Marches looks like.
  Size
  The question of how big to make a region is always a difficult one. On some 
  level, the Marches should be vast, spreading, wilds as far as the eye can see. 
  On the flipside, the adventurers will have to walk everywhere they go, at 
  least to start with, so huge regions will mean a lot of walking to and from 
  missions. 
   
  While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, players generally don’t 
  like walking. Some of it is good, since it sets the tone and lets them talk 
  and plan, but after a while, it gets dull. Furthermore, the more spread 
  out landmarks are, the easier it is to get lost; it’s easy to get lost anyway, 
  even in tight spaces, and so vast wildernesses only make getting lost more 
  likely. On a practical level, long walking journeys also eat time out of every 
  session at the beginning and end.
   
  Because of this, we recommend smaller, denser regions, but 
  ones that rapidly escalate in difficulty and danger. 
   
  As a very basic rule of thumb, we recommend that regions be no 
  larger than twenty miles in any given direction, and no less than about eight 
  miles in any given direction. This will give you regions that take a few hours 
  to cross at bare minimum, but can easily eat up days of travel time if players 
  don’t know what they’re doing. As always, you can and should adjust these 
  as necessary.
   
  For our purposes, we’ll say that this swamp is sort of oblong-
  shaped, about 15 miles the long way and 10 miles the short way. Not too 
  big, not too small.
  Structures & Landforms
  We rolled on the Structures & Landforms table and got a 5, which means 
  that somewhere in these swamps, there’ll be huge tree rising up out of the 
  waters (page 39). Given that this is a swamp, we imagine that this tree is 
  a vast, spreading mangrove tree, with roots piercing the water, and great 
  thick vines hanging from its broad crown. A proper marshland tree, one 
  strange and evocative; it’s a classic trope, really, but one that will serve us 
  well enough. 
   
  It’s not 100% obvious yet what this tree does or why it’s here, 
  but it’ll be important and useful later, so we’ll hang onto it as a signpost for 
  future reference.
  
  78
  Modifiers
  So far, we’ve got a big warm swamp with a giant tree that stands somewhere 
  within it. Now, it’s time to roll on the Region Modifiers table (page 40): 
  we got a 12, which states that murders of crows followers any travellers 
  through the swamp, marking them for unfriendly eyes. 
   
  That’s interesting. It means that there’s someone or something 
  that these crows report to, and that someone or something intends to keep 
  an eye on everything that goes on within the swamps as a whole. It adds a 
  level of sentience and mystery to the swamp’s inhabitants, whatever they 
  may be. 
   
  We’re going to roll on the Modifiers table again to get another 
  one, just to add to the complexity of the region. Normally, keeping 
  modifiers to a minimum in earlier regions is a good idea, but this is shaping 
  up to be the kind of region that the players will venture into multiple times 
  with ongoing mysteries, so adding another layer isn’t such a bad idea. 
   
  On our second roll, we got a 9, which says that the region is full 
  of misleading signs and waystones. In this case, they’ll likely be deliberate, 
  placed there specifically to fool adventurers into an early grave, or at least 
  away from the swamp. This is especially good as a secondary modifier, 
  since it’s unlikely to lead to direct combat or otherwise purely harm the 
  adventurers—just get them lost. 
   
  There’s a narrative thread here: some reclusive being, possibly 
  from within the tree, that has set up signposts to ward off adventurers, but 
  even still, they employ watchers to keep an eye on things in the event the 
  signs fail. It points to a wary individual, possibly paranoid—someone with 
  secrets to hide and powerful means to do it. 
  The Mechanics of Modifiers
  In our case, both of our modifiers are relatively straightforward: we have 
  misleading way-signs, and we have murders of watchful crows.
   
  These way-signs are common, they’re all over the place; it’d be 
  hard to miss them. We’ll say that every hour (not every watch, but every 
  hour) a party spends travelling, they have an 85% (or 5-in-6) chance of 
  spotting a misleading way-sign. If they decide to follow it, it’s guaranteed 
  to be wrong. Later on, we’ll add in a table of what those wrong way-signs 
  might say, but as a baseline, they’ll give the wrong cardinal direction. 
   
  There probably aren’t that many travellers in this swamp, but the 
  crows have a far amount of distance to cover, so we’ll say there’s a 65% (or 
  4-in-6) chance of there being a murder observing the party over any given 
  watch. These crows are magical, probably, and so their communication 
  magic can be interfered with, potentially. For now, we’ll say that if attacked, 
  the crows will fly off and return 1d4 hours later. Details like that might get 
  changed in the future, but for now they’re more than workable.
  Inhabitants
  Given the many safeguards of whatever being built the signposts and 
  controls the crows, it’s likely that the permanent inhabitants of this 
  particular swamp—or at least the more human, non-bestial ones—are 
  subjects, followers, or devotees of that particular being. Whether this out 
  of respect, love, or fear is up for debate, but we can start to set out some of 
  the basics of who might dwell in this swamp, and where.
   
  In this case, we’re going to decide that this swamp is inhabited 
  with Lizardfolk, a large reptilian humanoid race, one with a taste for raw 
  flesh. The group (or possibly groups) that live in this swamp are especially 
  fond of raw flesh, ideally if it can be pulled from creatures still-living. They’ll 
  likely waylay any travellers they can to devour their flesh, and probably 
  have some kind of horrible ritual way of doing it. They probably aren’t a full 
  faction unto themselves, just a few local clans or settlements, but we’ll see. 
   
  On top of the Lizardfolk, we probably also have your usual 
  roster of swamp-dwelling nastiness: crocodiles, overly large insects, will-
  o’-the-wisps, venomous serpents, endless mosquitoes, poisonous frogs, 
  and some kind of fast-spreading mushroom. 
   
  We might also add some variety of faeries, some living plant-
  type creatures, some more mythical monsters like Basilisks, some swamp-
  dwelling elementa, or other, fouler things. All of this depends on where the 
  narrative of our swamp region swings, and all of them would be too much, 
  but we’ll definitely add in at least one kind from those categories.
   
  As for our trickster recluse, the crow-keeper, it’ll likely be some 
  stripe of mage. Lizardfolk aren’t particularly fond of interloping magicians, 
  so their relationship is likely more driven by fear—or possibly mutual use—
  rather than obedience or friendship. We’re going to hold off on deciding 
  exactly who this mage is for now, as they’re still developing over time.
  Inhabitant Settlements
  For now, we’re going to give the Lizardfolk a handful of settlements 
  scattered across the swamp. We don’t need to flesh these out immediately, 
  necessarily, but it’s worth daydreaming a few concepts and thinking about 
  how big each one is.
   
  For our purposes, we’ll say that each settlement has 30-60 
  (4d10+20, say) Lizardfolk within, and is ruled by its own local warlord, 
  supported by a handful of loyal soldiers and maybe a priest. The rest of 
  the population are a mix of hunter-gatherers, builders and artisans, and 
  farmers of whatever fish or insects the Lizardfolk eat. 
   
  If players declare a mission that will take them to a village or 
  very close to one, we’ll flesh out a map of the village proper and start 
  assigning names and things, but for now that’s not necessary. 
  
  79
  Encounters
  Given that we’re aren’t entirely finished with figuring out who’s going to be 
  in this region, our encounter table won’t be quite complete, but here’s an 
  outline of what it might look like. 
   
  Bear in mind that this table will be rolled on every time the 
  party runs afoul of a random encounter in the region, and is set for a party 
  of 4-5 adventurers that are about level 4:
  d12
  Encounter
  1
  5 + 1d3 crocodiles, sitting on the surface of the water like so 
  many dead logs.
  2
  1d2 giant scorpions, scuttling amongst the twisted trees.
  3
  1 + 1d2 wills-o’-the-wisp, hovering and flashing in the distance.
  4
  1 + 1d2 swarms of venomous snakes, slithering out from the 
  undergrowth.
  5
  4 + 1d4 lizardfolk, hunting and foraging for one of their 
  settlements.
  6
  1 lizardfolk shaman + 1d4 lizardfolk, out to collect fungi and 
  alchemical supplies.
  7
  1d6 + 2 10 ft. circles of quicksand, formed from loose muddy 
  earth and unseen currents.
  8
  2 + 1d3 giant toads, sunning themselves and keeping an eye out 
  for prey.
  9
  To be determined, probably something from a local faction.
  10
  To be determined, probably something from an adjacent 
  region.
  11
  To be determined, probably something from a different 
  adjacent region.
  12
  Roll twice on the table, and have both emerge simultaneously.
  Swamp Encounters
  For the time being, this will serve our purposes well. We might need to 
  expand this table later, if there’s a chance of other monsters drifting by, but 
  for now, it’s plenty to work with. Note that we added in loose earth, like a 
  riptide; this kind of thing is common enough in swamps that it makes for 
  a good encounter, even if the adventurers aren’t strictly fighting anything. 
  It’s also important to note that while there are definitely denizens of the 
  swamps, like poisonous frogs or bloodsucking mosquitoes, they aren’t 
  considered to be enough of a threat to be a full encounter. The adventurers 
  might run into them for sure, but they aren’t truly dangerous, so they don’t 
  get added.
   
  Later, we might add more to this table: more hazards, perhaps, 
  or more enemies. If we push much above this current number of enemy 
  encounters, we might consider the region to have an above-average level 
  of danger, and thus weight the default encounter chance higher, perhaps an 
  additional 5% or 10%. (see page 43) It’s also worth mentioning that if the 
  adventurers are close to a Lizardfolk settlement, we might just declare that 
  they run afoul of Lizardfolk, rather than roll on a table. 
   
  On top of this, there’s that 65% (or 4-in-6) chance that, any given 
  point, the party’s being watched by a murder of crows, from our mysterious 
  friend the crow-keeper. For now, we’ll say the crows won’t help a fight 
  either way, but that might well change.
  Watch out for the lizardfolks. They might seem 
  like big leathery kobolds, but they’re not. 
  They’re meaner—and hungrier.
  
  80
  Moving On
  For now, this is what we’re going to leave this region with. There are, 
  obviously, gaps and holes in our knowledge, but that’s alright. Consider the 
  following questions as we move forward:
  • Who is the crow-keeper? How do they control the crows, and why do 
  they ward off travellers? 
  • Where did the giant tree come from? What is inside?
  • How do the Lizardfolk villages feel about the crow-keeper? How do 
  they feel about outsiders? How long have they been here?
  • What used to be here, before the Lizardfolk? What about before the 
  crow-keeper? What about before the giant tree?
  These questions don’t need answers now, but you should keep them in the 
  back of your mind as we proceed forward. We’ll mull over the answers as 
  we work on a faction and dungeon, and then knit all of them together. 
  EXAMPLE FACTION
  Now, we’re going to build an example faction. We’ll go through its territory, 
  theming, population, numbers, cultures, bases, motivations, and how the 
  faction might develop. Along the way, we’ll explain our thinking and how 
  we arrived at each of the choices we did.
  Territory
  Factions are generally elevated to the position of faction by being able to 
  have influence over more than region. If a faction has control over but a 
  single region, they’re not a fully-fledged faction: they’re just locals, people 
  for the adventurers to tangle with when they pass through, but little more. 
   
  While we say a faction controls a region, that control should 
  be relatively limited. The West Marches are a harsh, brutal, unforgiving 
  land, one that makes it exceedingly difficult to conquer or settle. After all, 
  if this wasn’t the case, the Marches likely would’ve been conquered by the 
  Empire long ago. 
   
  Therefore, while factions certainly can have influence over a 
  region, the area they strictly control is likely centered around their bases 
  and strongholds, and not the interspersing wilderness. They have power, 
  yes, but utter dominance no. 
   
  Exactly how much territory a faction controls depends largely 
  on the nature of the faction, the kind of territory they control, and the raw 
  strength of the faction as a whole. A council of dragons, for example, could 
  control huge swathes of territory, but likely rule only in the lightest sense, 
  that none will challenge them. By contrast, a factory of modrons will likely 
  only control a few buildings at a time, but will run the inside quite literally 
  like clockwork. Dwarves rule undergrounds but rarely above; centaurs 
  claim whole forests, but are nomadic; a witch will claim an entire town, 
  and have every resident under their eye. Territory is extremely relative.
   
  For our purposes, this particular faction is going to stretch into 
  the previously-detailed swamp, but also cover several areas to the north 
  and west: some hills, some scrubby woodlands, and the base of some 
  mountains. We might need to tweak that in the future, but for now it’s good 
  enough.
  Theming
  Themes govern both the broad design aesthetics of the faction, and the 
  deeper questions that pervade a faction for your players to interact with. 
  It’s a more, vague abstract thing—a guiding principle or intent, rather than 
  any kind of strict rule or facet. Still, we’re rolling for the theme early, to get 
  a sense of where this faction’s going to end up.
   
  Rolling on the Faction Themes table (page 46), we got a 13, 
  which is the theme of “Majesty.” Majesty, broadly defined, is impressive 
  dignity, beauty, magnificence, particularly in the context of royalty or 
  nobility. It’s a theme that intersects with power, hierarchies, deference, 
  tradition, and human perception. It pushes questions like “How are our 
  perceptions of power influenced by the traditions we were raised in?” and 
  “Is there a difference between actual power and merely the perception of 
  power?” It’s a juicy, dramatic theme, one with lots of good potential for 
  players to run into.
   
  On a practical design level, it makes for a faction that leans hard 
  into ranks, castes, designations, levels of advancement—the monarch and 
  their underlings—as well as one that directly tackles tradition, change, 
  and the acquisition of power—the power of the monarch as emblem 
  of tradition. It’s a faction that pays lots of deference to a leader or small 
  group of leaders, places importance on rank inside the faction, and has (or 
  possibly plays at having) a rich tradition of power. 
   
  More than that, we don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.
  Bases
  The base of a faction should be striking, impressive, engaging—big and 
  bad and eye-drawing. Given that our faction’s theme is majesty, it’s doubly 
  important this location is impressive, or at least once was. 
   
  Rolling on the Faction Bases table (page 47), we get a 4, which is 
  an enormous shadowy pit. It’s a bit of an odd choice for a majesty-themed 
  faction, as a big pit suggests more of a haunted or ruinous angle, but 
  perhaps that could work? Maybe this faction is obsessed with hierarchy and 
  glory specifically because their old establishment was destroyed? A kind of 
  “reaching for the past-that-never-was” angle, pining for the good old days 
  that never actually happened. 
   
  More broadly, it’s worth thinking about the kind of faction that 
  makes a big shadowy pit their base of operations. On a basic level, that 
  means they’re either highly devoted or creatures that can see and operate 
  in the dark. On a little more advanced level, it suggests individuals that are 
  willing to tolerate bad conditions, an oppressive atmosphere, a high level 
  of creepiness in their environments. Because factions trend villainous, this 
  pushes a kind of zealotry, a fanaticism to their cause and whatever majesty 
  they still hold. It’s a good angle for a group with cult-like tendencies, and 
  makes for dramatic and expressive villains.
  
  81
  Population & Numbers
  As with territory, how many creatures there are within a given faction is 
  quite relative. If the faction is composed of giants, one or two dozen will be 
  plenty, but if the faction comprises mere goblins, it will be almost nothing. 
  Likewise, a host of elementals two hundred strong is unstoppable, while 
  an orcish warband that size is quite standard. The relative strength matters 
  more than the strict numbers—use your own good judgement. 
   
  In our case, we rolled on the Faction Population table (page 
  49) and got an 8, for knights or heroes. This tracks well with the majesty 
  theme—knights are servants of a monarch, after all, and hero-worship fits 
  well into the “fallen throne” imagery of a giant shadowy pit. 
   
  While knights and heroes are traditionally thought of in a 
  positive sense, it’s not difficult to spin them towards villainy. Knights are 
  enforcers of the status quo, servants of a higher authority—elegant and 
  sometimes legendary soldiers, but soldiers still. If the faction centered 
  around a fallen monarchy (like the kind that might lie at the bottom of a 
  huge pit), these knights become zealous servants of a regime that no longer 
  exists. Heroes, likewise, can be turned towards evil through their over-
  righteousness or over-willingness to serve their cause. A hero that believes 
  so thoroughly in their own virtue that they are, ironically, totally willing to 
  commit horrific acts. It’s a bit tragic, but that doesn’t them from being evil.
   
  As for exact numbers, that will depend a little bit on exactly how 
  far this faction spreads and how big those regions are, but we can do broad 
  strokes. The faction will be primarily humanoid, based on a mixture of the 
  descendants of the fallen monarchy and more recent recruits. Knights and 
  heroes suggest that, rather than strength being derived from pure numbers, 
  the faction’s power instead is drawn from their training, equipment, and 
  raw prowess. A few powerful individuals, rather than a mass of weak ones. 
  Given that, we can say that, as a loose estimate, an outpost of this faction 
  will have 5–10 individuals, a stronghold will have 10–30, and their main 
  base of operations, the pit, will have north of 50. All told, probably between 
  100 and 200 people—not much for a humanoid faction, but still a steep 
  challenge for players.
  Culture & Hierarchy
  So, we have a band of knights sworn to some kind of fallen throne or crown 
  based out of a giant pit, searching for some kind of chosen one—probably 
  an heir to said fallen throne. What do these people look like? How do they 
  think? How do they approach life?
   
  These are the questions of culture, organization, and hierarchy; 
  on their face, they don’t seem particularly relevant for a game about 
  exploring the wilderness and killing monsters, but making convincing 
  cultures will add depth and meaning to your game. Culture forces more 
  nuance and complexity, it changes enemies from “faceless goons to be cut 
  down the second they’re spotted” to “people who are opposed to the player 
  characters, but still possess humanity.”
   
  What does the culture of our majestic knightly faction look like? 
  Well, it’s probably quite stiffly-structured. Knights acquire ranks and 
  Motivation
  As you can probably tell, the more charts you roll on, the more defined 
  your faction becomes, and the less you’ll feel the need to roll on the next 
  one. If you think you’ve got a faction nailed down and can just figure out the 
  results from there, feel free to do it. Rolling on further tables can add twists 
  and turns to the faction as a whole, which is good, but if you’re latched 
  onto some concept, feel free to branch away from the tables. These are 
  guidelines, not hard rules. 
   
  We rolled on the Faction Goals table (page 48) and got an 11, 
  “Seek the chosen one.” This changes the arc of the faction, at least in part. 
  Previously, as a band of knights obsessed with majesty and nobility living in 
  a giant pit, it seemed their focus would be on resurrection or bringing back 
  what was lost—a goal based on whatever fallen monarchy they were based 
  around. 
   
  By getting a new goal of searching for some chosen one, that 
  shifts the dynamic. It means that these knights are not, strictly, seeking 
  to restore what used to be; rather, they’re searching for some prophetic 
  individual that will instead make everything better. The focus is still on 
  the filling the “majestic gap” as it were—as these knights probably lack a 
  central figurehead—but it’s not direct restoration so much as fulfillment of 
  prophecy. It’s not a huge shift, but it’s a shift for sure. 
  Further Development
  For now, we’re going to leave this faction be. There’s still more work to be 
  done, obviously, but we’re at the point where we want to start connecting 
  this faction to the history of the Marches, the regions they inhabit, and 
  their relationships with other factions. For now, consider the following 
  questions as we move forward:
  • What caused the former throne of majesty to fall? What used to be 
  where the pit is now?
  • How do the Knights interact with their neighbors? Do they believe in 
  honorable deals and alliances, or is everything in their path just there 
  to be conquered?
  • How willing are the Knights to sacrifice in their search for the chosen 
  heir? At what point is a mission too dangerous or costly to be worth 
  it?
  • Where are the Knights next planning to expand? Where are they next 
  looking to search for their chosen heir? 
  Keep these in mind relative to our existing swampland region, and the 
  dungeon we’re about to work on—a dungeon inside the swamps, but 
  currently controlled by the Knights.
  honors, and the others respect them; it’s militaristic, both by dint of being 
  composed of martially-inclined people and because they have imperialistic 
  ideals of majesty. What titles, sigils, honors, and medals a specific knight 
  holds matters a great deal here, and so most of their group strive to earn 
  more wherever they can. 
   
  If we lean harder into the “fallen kingdom” angle, there’s likely 
  a cultural focus on that which came before—the people who imitate the 
  stories and legends of what came before are lauded for it. Those kinds of 
  stories, the glorious misty nostalgic ones, are the bedrock of this sort of 
  group’s psyche. When they search for meaning and truth in the world, they 
  look backwards, to the hazy past, where everything was good and just; or 
  at least, that’s what the knights believe. 
   
  It’s this combination—the rigid military honorific-meritocracy 
  and the pining for the glory days of yore—that builds villainy. These are 
  knights who will do anything to win fame and honor, and they believe that 
  they’re owed the entire world. It’s a nasty pairing, one that’s both ugly and 
  vicious but also possesses a touch of tragedy. Perfect for the West Marches.
  Linking Factions Together
  The more that you can link factions together, the more interesting your 
  game will be. Give them shared history, shared ideals, shared conflicts, and 
  shared borders. Let the factions play into and against each other, whether 
  their conflict draws from recent disputes or age-old feuds. 
   
  Linking factions across shared history also ensures that, when 
  your players attempt to interrogate a member of a faction—which they 
  almost certainly will do—they will never hear quite everything at once. A 
  faction will its own versions of history, and its members will explain events 
  differently. It’s then on the players to piece together what the truth is, 
  drawing from the different-but-related faction accounts.
   
  Furthermore, tying factions together breeds drama: as factions 
  quarrel, they will form alliances, hatch secret schemes, stab each other in 
  the back, and make plays against each other’s holdings—all of which can 
  and should include the adventurers. Building a series isolated, sectioned-
  off factions means each will feel static and rigid; tying them together 
  ensures messy, complicated drama will emerge.
  I don’t like knights very much. In the 
  stories they’re always very nice and 
  kind and gentle, but the ones I’ve met 
  in real life are real scab-eaters. Nasty, 
  brutal, and instilled with a sense of self-
  importance that makes me want to gag. 
  I like knights quite a bit. Always keen to charge 
  straight at me and throw caution to the wind. 
  The armor also means their meat sizzles nicely, 
  like some kind of metal crab. Scrumptious.
  
  82
  EXAMPLE DUNGEON
  Onto an example dungeon. For us, we want to combine our example faction 
  and region, so this will be a dungeon location inside our swamp, currently 
  occupied by our Knights (and possibly other denizens, depending). We’ll 
  cover its hook and premise, the basic layout and map, its dangers and 
  denizens, some of the strategies players might employ, potential history of 
  the dungeon itself, how the dungeon might change, and a treasure room 
  within the dungeon itself. 
  Dungeon Type & Hook
  To begin with, the basic dungeon type. With a roll on the Dungeon Types 
  table on page 51, we can determine that this dungeon is a vault—a place 
  where valuables are (or were) stored. The question immediately arises: 
  what’s being stored here? We don’t know yet, but we’ll get an answer soon. 
   
  For now, think about what this looks like from the outside: a 
  vault is usually underground, and in the case of a swamp, it would have to 
  be deep underground, so as to reach solid earth underneath all the muck 
  and mire. That suggests some kind of basic above-ground structure, and 
  then much more of the vault’s complex itself underground. 
   
  As we proceed forward, it’s worth considering the broader, 
  overarching lore and history of the Marches. We aren’t going to delve into 
  that here and now, since that kind of scope would grow rapidly and be 
  largely unhelpful, but these kinds of questions are important to dungeons 
  like a vault. Most of the factions in the Marches lack the current resources 
  to be building huge underground structures, so most dungeon complexes 
  will be from some historical era (see page 64). We’re going to refer to “an 
  ancient civilization” or “the old kingdoms” here, but you should fill in those 
  gaps yourself. 
   
  In our case, the hook will be the exterior structure, something 
  weird and kind of foreign: a large dome, a polygonal prism, or something 
  else architecturally significant. It’s overgrown at this point, due to sitting 
  in a swamp for a long time, but the core structure—and its deviance from 
  normal design—is there. Unusual architecture is a very fast and simple way 
  of communicating the age and wonder of a previous realm; if there are 
  exceedingly difficult-to-make structures still standing, it implies that said 
  previous realm had secrets and knowledge now forgotten. We might also 
  pick some unusual building material, some odd metal or strange stone.
   
  In addition to the physical dome itself, some Knights of our 
  previous faction are camped outside. They’ve been here for some time, 
  weeks or months, and so have basic buildings set up: lean-tos, big tents, 
  fire pits, that kind of thing. Their smoke columns can be seen from a ways 
  around, especially as Lizardfolk (the more common inhabitants in this 
  swamp) don’t use fire as much as other humanoids.
  Layout
  The basic breakdown of the dungeon is as follows:
  1. The Dome. The dungeon’s main entrance is covered by a large dome 
  of a strange copper alloy, now covered in verdigris. It is approximately 
  40 ft. in diameter and 20 ft. high. There are four semi-circular openings 
  in the dome at each of the cardinal points.
  2. The Knights’ camp. The Knights have set up a semi-permanent 
  residence outside of the Dome, with two large tents, a couple of 
  cookfires, and a few other hasty amenities. Within the camp, there 
  3 Knights, either lounging and cooking during the day, or sleeping at 
  night. The tents holvd ten cots in total.
  3. Spiral stairs. In the center of the Dome, there is a 10 ft. diameter 
  spiral staircase descending downwards; the stairs, walls, and central 
  spire are all made of the same copper alloy as the dome itself. Lying 
  next to the stairs is a roughly 400 lb. metal lid, which the Knights have 
  moved away, but could be placed back onto the stairs. The stairs go 
  down for approximately 40 ft. before reaching the main atrium. 
  4. Vault atrium. At the end of the stairs is a 40 ft. circular chamber with 
  three passageways branching off of it, each of which has a closed 
  copper door at the start. The chamber is made of the same copper 
  alloy, but swamp water and muck have slowly seeped in over the 
  centuries, giving everything a damp, rotted scent. 
  5. Knight bunks. To the east of the atrium, down a 20 ft. hallway, there 
  is another 40 ft. circular chamber, which the Knights have set up as 
  a temporary resting space. Three hammocks are suspended from 
  the walls, there are remnants of meals in a corner, and bits of armor 
  have been strewn around. 1-2 Knights rest in their hammocks during 
  the day, while all three sleep at night. At the south end of this room, 
  there is another door from which slowly leaks more swamp scum; the 
  Knights have boarded it over and clogged the cracks with cloth, but 
  some still leaks through.
  6. Flooded chamber. Through the leaking door of the bunkroom is a 20 
  ft. passage and 40 ft. circular chamber, all of which have been flooded 
  with murky, sludgy swamp-water. As soon as the door is opened, the 
  water will come rushing out. If the flooded chambers are investigated, 
  5d10 gold pieces can be found, along with a copper-and-amethyst 
  necklace worth 75 gold pieces, and 2d12 copper machinery pieces, 
  each of which weighs approximately 5 pounds and can be sold for 1 
  gold piece to a general store, or 10 gold pieces to a specialist, like a 
  tinkerer. Additionally, the western wall of the flooded chamber has a 
  large crack in it, leading towards the linked tunnel.
  7. Storage room. To the west of the atrium, down a 20 ft. hallway, there 
  is yet another 40 ft. circular chamber, which the Knights are using 
  as a storage room. Digging supplies—shovels, buckets, pickaxes, and 
  so on—are scattered everywhere, along with hodge-podge armory of 
  weapons and ammunition. To the south, there is another door, which 
  the Knights have boarded up, and covered with warnings to not enter.
  8. Automata chamber. To the south of the storage room, down another 
  20 ft. hallway stained with blood, there is a 40 ft. circular room which 
  contains 16 defensive automata (use the animated armor statblock), 
  made of the same strange copper alloy. The front automata have 
  slightly-damaged metal plating, and are stained with dried blood. The 
  automata are dormant, but if someone enters the chamber, they will 
  awaken and attack; if the way is clear, they will attack anyone and 
  everyone inside the whole dungeon. Each automata contains a crystal 
  inside its heart which can be sold for 5 gold pieces. At the eastern 
  edge of the chamber, there is a wide crack in the wall, which leads to 
  the linked tunnel.
  9. Linked tunnel. Between the flooded and automata chambers, there is 
  a narrow tunnel which links between them. The tunnel is about 2 feet 
  in diameter, and runs 80 ft. long; the center is elevated from the two 
  entrances, up about 20 ft., thus emerging from the floodwaters. At the 
  top of the elevation, at the center of the tunnel, there is an ancient 
  grimy skeleton, clutching a dagger made of desecrated bone, a pouch 
  of 120 gold pieces (now very old and weathered), and a parchment 
  note long since withered away.
  10. Vault door hallway. To the north of the atrium is a 40 ft. hallway; in 
  the center of it, 20 ft. in, there is what appears to be a set of double 
  doors. In fact, these doors are two enormous metal shields, wielded 
  by a stone golem, which is the main guardian of the Vault; the 
  golem has orders to not let anyone through unless the pass-phrase 
  is spoken, and obeys its orders to the letter. 1 Knight stands in front 
  of the doors, sketching the passageway and mumbling to themselves 
  about unbreakable doors. The “doors” have no handles, keyholes, or 
  obvious means of entrance. If they are tapped or knocked upon, a 
  heavy metallic voice will say, in draconic, “Pass-phrase, please.” (The 
  pass-phrase should be something of your determination, based on the 
  outside lore of the world.) If the doors are attacked, rammed, pried 
  apart, or otherwise damaged, the golem will attack, wielding the 
  shields as weapons. 20 ft. past the golem is the Vault itself.
  11. The Vault. The Vault is at the end of the north hallway from the 
  atrium, past the door-golem. It’s a 20 ft. circular chamber, made of 
  mostly-untouched copper alloy; inscriptions in draconic line the 
  walls, telling tales of ancient victories and defeats. The Vault holds 
  500 gold pieces, a ruby ring worth 250 gold pieces, a set of full plate 
  made from orichalcum, a gambeson of gliding made from nimbus 
  silk, and a variable staff made from wolfram.
  You call that a vault? Don’t make me laugh. 
  Gotta agree with the Big Guy here. This is 
  the kind of small potatoes he’d send us to go 
  and retrieve, rather than go himself. If you 
  think this is real treasure, just you wait 
  and see.
  
  83
   THE
  OVERGROWN VAULT
  1
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  SPIRAL STAIRS
  GUARDED HALLWAY
  VAULT
  KNIGHTS’ CAMP
  THE DOME
  VAULT ATRIUM
  KNIGHT BUNKS
  FLOODED CHAMBER
  LINKED TUNNEL
  AUTOMATA CHAMBER
  STORAGE ROOM
  THE DOME
  
  84
  Hazards, Options, & Tools
  The immediate outside of the dungeon is relatively straightforward—the 
  Knights are cold and cautious but not immediately hostile. They’ll do their 
  best to prevent anyone from getting inside, to the point of violence if needs 
  be. 
   
  Above ground, there’s obviously sunlight during the day, but at 
  night, the camp above is lit only by torches and campfires. The underground 
  sections have torches and lanterns
   
  Underneath the dome are the top of the stairs, and the large 
  lid-plate that was previously covering them. The Knights have moved it to 
  the side, but it could be moved back; it’d take a hefty Strength roll, but it’s 
  doable. Once back on the stairs, it’d be extremely difficult to move from 
  underneath—potentially sealing those beneath inside. Combined with 
  water (or smoke, or something else), it could make for a deadly trap.
   
  The inside of the underground space is lined with metal, but due 
  to the age of the vault itself and the Knights’ activities, it’s grown weaker. 
  If any of the walls sustain significant damage, they’ll begin to crack; a few 
  rounds later, they’ll break open entirely. While the surrounding area’s 
  terrain is not entirely water, the marshy soil is certainly liquid enough to 
  begin surging in, flooding the underground sections. The vault itself will 
  remain closed (unless it’s already been opened), but everything else will be 
  filled with swampy sludge in a matter of minutes.
   
  The two southern hallways have been sealed by the Knights, but 
  if the barricades are broken or otherwise gotten-past, the adventurers could 
  reach the copper automata or the flooded chamber. The automata’s orders 
  are to protect the vault and drive out intruders (in that order), so while the 
  immediate targets are the adventurers, with some clever maneuvering, the 
  automata could be turned against the Knights. The flooded chamber could 
  pose a useful distraction, and is far more controllable than simply smashing 
  open one of the walls.
   
  As with the automata, the stone door-golem if provoked, will 
  attack any near it. This might be adventurers or Knights or both—it’s just 
  a matter of who’s closest and who presents the largest threat. The door-
  golem is provoked by any significant damage, and then won’t stop until 
  all intruders are dead or gone. It’s also worth bearing in mind that a stone 
  golem’s swings could easily start damaging the walls, thus triggering the 
  sludge flood from the exterior mid-fight.
  Treasure Rooms
  Because this dungeon is a vault, first and foremost, the main treasure room 
  is obvious—it’s the vault itself, behind the golem. 
   
  The hidden linking passage is sort of a micro-treasure room; 
  it’s more about the usefulness of being able to traverse from the automata 
  chamber to the flooded chamber directly, but the dagger and money are an 
  added bonus.
   
  For a level 4 dungeon, a stone golem is a significant challenge, 
  but, critically, it’s a very “brute force” challenge. A band of level 4 characters 
  are unlikely to be able to beat a golem in a simple back-and-forth slugfest, 
  but golems are not particularly bright, and are not very nimble either. A 
  clever group of players could likely think of some way to trap or disable 
  the golem without engaging it directly. Critically, because the golem is the 
  door, they don’t even need to kill it—just keep it occupied long enough to 
  get all of the loot of the treasure room, then make a run for it. 
   
  You should customize and adjust the loot in the treasure room 
  to fit your Marches’ history. We’ve listed some items, but you should 
  adjust them, modify them, make them yours. Remember, this place was 
  constructed by some long-gone ancient civilization, and whatever they 
  were storing here warranted significant protection. The loot should contain 
  bits and pieces of the lore, and should start filling in small areas of history 
  and uncertainty. Put the important history on the things they care about.
  More Than Just Loot
  Treasure rooms obviously contain treasure, but bear in mind that “treasure” 
  doesn’t always have to be literal gold and silver, or even magic items. 
  Treasure could be secrets, lore, keys to further treasure rooms, means of 
  travelling quickly (like secret passages or teleportation circles), maps, an 
  NPC to recruit, or something else entirely.
   
  You should be sure to have literal treasure some of the time, but 
  don’t feel constrained: treasure rooms can contain anything of value, no 
  matter its precise physical form.
  We always put traps out to guard our stuff. 
  More traps means more kobolds means more 
  loot. It’s simple arithmetic, really.
  
  85
  Possible Dungeon Outcomes
  Changes to a dungeon are almost never guaranteed; there are simply too 
  many factors— from its inhabitants, its environment, and the adventurers 
  who arrive—to say with any certainty how a dungeon will change over 
  time. Still, it’s worth thinking about broad patterns of how the dungeon 
  may change, if certain possibilities come to pass. Think about the more-
  likely things that players will do, and work from there. Right now, we’re 
  going to go through some of the possible outcomes, and talk through how 
  the dungeon might change as a result:
   
  Outcome #1: The adventurers clear the dungeon wholesale. In 
  this case, the adventurers come in, kill or defeat all of the Knights, trap or 
  defeat the door-golem, and take all of the loot. The vault is still intact, just 
  unoccupied. After this happens, the Knights will likely be hesitant about 
  returning, and so the vault will turn over in control. Local Lizardfolk in the 
  swamps might move in, another faction might take the opportunity to take 
  control, the crow-keeper (watching via crow-vision) might take command, 
  some local animals or monsters could use it as a lair, or some passing 
  band of renegades might just set up shop. Whichever, the vault becomes 
  occupied by another, likely weaker group or individual. Regardless of who 
  it is, try to broadcast the shift in control—locals might talk, there might 
  be territorial markings, there could be more smoke columns, that kind 
  of thing. There’s nothing worse for players than expecting a once-cleared 
  dungeon to be empty, only to have it be filled with additional threats. 
   
  Outcome #2: The dungeon is cleared, except for the vault itself. 
  This is much the same as the previous outcome, except that the door-golem 
  still resides and the vault still holds its treasures. This means any future 
  occupants can’t provoke the golem or risk attack, but if word gets out, 
  scavengers might come, and end up in the same situations as the Knights—
  not fully occupying the vault, but still in the general area.
   
  In both of these cases, the Knights will eventually send a squad 
  to investigate what happened to their comrades. Depending how many 
  resources the order as a whole has, and how pressed they are elsewhere, 
  they might possibly try to reclaim the vault, but this is unlikely—in the 
  Marches, once a holding is lost, it’s usually lost for good.
   
  Outcome #3: Some, but not all, of the Knights are killed or 
  driven out. Exactly what happens after this varies based on how many of the 
  Knights are dead, but the broad strokes remain the same: the Knights send 
  word to their next-largest outpost, who runs it up the chain of command, 
  and either the Knights retreat from the vault or reinforce it. Because these 
  Knights are deeply hierarchical and traditionalist—and because the secrets 
  in the vault might well be important to their search for the heir—they will 
  likely not retreat, instead choosing to reinforce the vault. Whenever the 
  adventurers return, there will be more Knights than before, now keeping 
  tighter guard. As before, this should be telegraphed: the surrounding areas 
  might suffer more attacks, the Knights might set up defenses further afield, 
  that sort of thing.
   
  If, in the course of being half-defeated, the vault gets looted by 
  the player characters (or anyone else, really), the Knights will likely relay 
  that as well. This will increase the Knights’ as a whole animosity towards 
  the adventurers as a group, and likely mean any future talks will be on 
  thinner ice than previously. 
   
  Outcome #4: The adventurers are driven off by the Knights. 
  Here, the Knights probably still send word back to their commanders, and 
  are lauded for the trouble. A note is made of the attack, and any identifying 
  information about the adventures is put down. Otherwise, though, given 
  their beliefs of their own superiority, the Knights would probably just 
  congratulate themselves and keep going.
   
  Outcome #5: The dungeon is flooded, sealed, or destroyed. If 
  the dungeon is removed or inaccessible, the Knights might return once 
  to examine their former outpost and see if anything can be salvaged; 
  afterwards, they’ll leave. It’s possible that some distant future faction might 
  return to the site, but otherwise, the dungeon is abandoned to the marshes. 
   
  Obviously, you don’t need to come up with all of these 
  possibilities for all of your dungeons, every time. These are just meant 
  to be illustrative of how an example dungeon might change—when the 
  players deal with a dungeon and depart, that’s the time to think through 
  the ramifications.
  Moving Onwards
  This dungeon’s just about ready to go: you might want to make tweaks and 
  adjustments, but it’s playable as-is. As we proceed, consider the questions 
  this dungeon poses (both to the players and yourself):
  • Who built the Vault originally? What is the strange copper alloy they 
  use in their designs?
  • What significance does the loot inside the Vault hold for the greater 
  world? Why was it sealed away?
  • How did the Knights find out about the Vault? Why do they care 
  about getting inside so much?
  Moreso than with the faction or region, these questions are tied to the 
  broader world and the history of your Marches. These aren’t questioned 
  to be answered in isolation—they should be informed by the lore of your 
  world. Dungeons hold the keys of history; as designer, it means that your 
  lore dictates your dungeons.
  Where I strike, nothing remains. If you ever 
  hope to stand equal to the beasts of the Marches, 
  you must give no quarter and strike without 
  mercy. Who knows, in time, you might find life’s 
  easier without morals.
  
  86
  TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
  We now have an example region, an example faction, and an example 
  dungeon, more or less completed for play; from here, we’re going to put the 
  finishing touches on each, and link them all together. This means answering 
  some of the questions we posed earlier, assigning names and titles, and 
  finishing out any unfinished bits and pieces. 
   
  Critically, we won’t be answering questions related to lore or 
  history or mythology; those answers you need to decide yourself. Trying 
  to write generic lore tends to feel, well, generic; because a high level of 
  specificity and nuance is required, we aren’t going to try and provide 
  simple examples here.
   
  Still, there’s still quite a bit we can do. 
  Names & Titles
  First off, we’re going to name things; for more generic regions, this is a 
  somewhat arbitrary process. Later on, you might want to name things in 
  specific ways and follow certain conventions to reinforce lore and themes, 
  but for now, we’re just going to go with what seems cool.
   
  Here are some names, some of which come from the Names 
  tables in Appendix VIII (pages 118), and some of which we just came up 
  with on our own:
  • The swampland is called the Sidewinder Swamp, named for the 
  venomous snakes that dwell within. 
  • The great tree in the center is called the Crowned Allmother. Crowned 
  for the hanging branches, Allmother for its wide reach.
  • The Lizardfolk settlements are named things like Mire’s Reach, 
  Fenhaven, and Bogtown.
  • The crow-keeper is called just that, Crow-Keeper. Who they are and 
  what they want remains to be seen.
  • The Knights are called the Order of the Dying Moon. That dying 
  moon probably has something to do with the former glory they’re 
  trying to reclaim.
  • The Order’s base of operations, the giant pit in the ground, is called 
  the Maw of Perdition. Also probably has something to do with the 
  dying moon, and their reclaimed glory.
  • The chosen one the Order searches for, drawing on their name, is 
  called the Lunar Heir.
  • The Order keeps somewhat ordinary knight-naming conventions: at 
  the top is the Grandmaster, followed by Elders, Paladins, Knights, 
  Squires, and Neophytes.
  • The Vault is called the Clandestine Sepulcher, as is written in draconic 
  throughout its interior.
  You can and should change all of these to better fit your game. They’re 
  merely examples, vague suggestions and possibilities; the more you fit 
  them to your game, the better it will be.  
  Unknown Names
  There is a very good chance that, as you play, players will not learn the 
  names of things. Sometimes, this will be because they don’t care or took 
  poor notes, but in many cases they just won’t know—this is very common 
  in dungeons especially, where the original creators are long dead or 
  gone. But, just because they don’t know the names of things doesn’t stop 
  players from naming things, and thus you should expect lots of nicknames, 
  placeholders, and stand-in names.
   
  For example, if you create a dungeon called the Unceasing 
  Caverns of Infernal Atonement, filled with demons and glimmering red 
  crystals containing the souls of the fallen, your players will probably call it 
  something like “demon crystal cave,” or “the cave where all those weird red 
  crystals were that sometimes screamed.”
   
  This is a good thing! It means your players are engaged, and 
  are invested in keeping track of things. That said, remember to remain 
  objective; if you use their terminology, they’ll believe it’s correct, even 
  when it’s not. Only describe places in ways that can be objectively 
  observed—unless they’re talking to an NPC, in which case you should use 
  only the names that the NPC would know. 
   
  It’s tricky, but keeping track of who uses which names and how 
  will make your game far more immersive.
  Coming Together
  We’re now going to answer whatever questions we can; it won’t be all, but 
  it’ll be some.
   
  The Order of the Dying Moon, by and large, is not friendly to 
  any of the inhabitants of Sidewinder Swamp. They view the crows and 
  their Keeper as a hostile force, and attack the crows on sight. They believe 
  the Lizardfolk to be mere locals in the way of their greater purpose; while 
  they know to directly attack the Lizardfolk on sight, they hold them in 
  contempt. The Lizardfolk, in turn, won’t hesitate to drive out the Order or 
  keep a close eye on their scouts.
   
  As the Order pushes deeper into Sidewinder, drawing closer to 
  the Allmother, they grow increasingly weary and haggard. They’re used 
  to fighting in hills and on plains, not slogging through marshlands. While 
  nearer the borders they’re willing to fight and die, closer to the Allmother, 
  deeper into the swamp, they’re more likely to break and retreat.
   
  The Crow-Keeper, the Allmother, and the ancient coppery 
  ruins scattered throughout the swamplands (of which the Clandestine 
  Sepulcher is merely one) are all linked together. They are the ancient and 
  precursor beings, amidst the middling marshlands and Lizardfolk, and the 
  newer incursions of the Order and the adventurers. You can envision how 
  the layers of history might emerge from there.
   
  As you develop more regions, factions, and dungeons—along 
  with the lore of your Marches—you should continue to link them together. 
  Unite factions along common history lines, use the geographical anatomy 
  of regions to tell a story, have the lore of dungeons connect across space. 
  Every question should have an answer elsewhere in the Marches.
  How Many of Each?
  The question of “how big should the West Marches be?” is a common one. 
  Narratively speaking, there’s no real right answer; they need to feel vast yet 
  also surmountable, totally unknown yet still able to mastered.
   
  Mechanically, though, the answer is clearer: because players are 
  risk-averse, there should be enough content of each approximate level to 
  get them to the next level plus a bit of surplus, but not more. For example, 
  to get from Level 1 to Level 2 requires 300 XP per player; if you have, say, 15 
  players, you should have enough content suitable for Level 1 characters to 
  get all of them up to Level 2, plus a touch more. 15 × 300 is 4500, plus, say, 
  an extra 20%, for a total of about 5400. This means that, across all of your 
  Level 1 regions and dungeons, there should be approximately 5400 XP for 
  them to earn, in encounters, exploration, and challenges. Obviously, this 
  will somewhat imprecise—random encounters see to that—but that is the 
  ballpark you should aim for.
   
  Why do this? Why calculate to such a fine degree? The answer, 
  as always, is that players are risk-averse. If there is XP available that requires 
  minimal risk, even if they are far over-leveled for it, they will choose to earn 
  that XP, rather than risk more for greater rewards. If they’re all Level 6, 
  and there are Level 4 dungeons available, they’ll take the Level 4 dungeons, 
  since even though it will take them far more dungeons to reach level 7, their 
  chances of failure are much lower. 
   
  But, if there is appropriately-constricted amounts of XP 
  available, players will be forced to venture further, to risk more, to brave 
  the dangers of the Marches. This is good—challenge is fun, and so ensuring 
  that players actually do have to face challenge will make your game better 
  in the long run. 
  Good Luck!
  It’s a daunting task, building the West Marches, and while these examples 
  may feel overwhelming, don’t fret. Build your Marches deliberately, 
  consciously, with an eye for nuance and detail and subtlety; build your 
  Marches to be exciting and dramatic and mysterious. 
   
  Don’t get bogged down in lore or precise dungeon layouts or 
  getting everything perfect; there is nearly always more space to explore, so 
  if your first few regions and factions are crummy, don’t despair. In the end, 
  you will craft wonders and legends.
  Why bother creating? Why not simply 
  destroy everything you path, regardless 
  of what it may be? What joys are there in 
  creation that can be matched with the raw 
  power of utter annihilation?
  
  87
  THE SISTERS GAUNT
  APPENDIX V:
  The Sisters Gaunt are a trio of powerful hag sisters that dwell in a huge dead 
  tree. They make for dangerous enemies, powerful allies, or both—hags are 
  nothing if not fickle, so their allegiances can shift with the wind.
   
  The Sisters are here both for you to use in your own Marches, 
  and to serve as an example of how a boss monster (or bosses, as the case 
  may be) could be constructed. As always, you can and should feel free to 
  tweak, modify, and adjust the Sisters however you please; they’re here for 
  you to use.
  PLACING THE COVEN
  Where exactly the Sisters go in your Marches is up to you. They have a 
  murky, swampy sort of aesthetic to them; they and their home, Rothollow, 
  would go nicely in the Sidewinder Swamp, if you plan on using it. 
  Otherwise, they could fit into any sort of forest, moorland, or marsh with 
  almost no changes. If you’re willing to tweak their flavor around a bit, you 
  could easily fit them into craggy hills, arid badlands, silty coastlines, or 
  somewhere else entirely. 
   
  The Sisters are a little unique in that while hags are villainous, 
  they also can be uneasy allies. The Gaunt Coven has many goods and 
  services available—food, potions, scrolls, artifacts, secrets—many of 
  which the adventurers might have use of. The Sisters will be at their most 
  interesting if placed in a position, both physically and politically, where the 
  players can treat them as foes, allies, or something in between.
  THE SISTERS
  There are three sisters that make up the Gaunt Coven: Morgan, Gertrude, 
  and Sybil. They shared one mother, Eugenia Gaunt, who originally planned 
  to grow her coven beyond three; as soon as they came of age, the Sisters 
  ousted her. 
   
  When they’re united together, the Sisters are a force to be 
  reckoned with. That said, it’s rare that they’re truly united on anything; 
  the three of them squabble, bicker, and quarrel with each other near-
  constantly. Not a day goes by inside Rothollow without at least one minor 
  argument breaking out between them, usually over some perceived slight 
  (which may or may not have been truly intended).
   
  Still, even one Sister alone is dangerous, and if something really 
  threatens the Coven, they’ll always side with each other over an outsider.
  Shared Characteristics
  All of the Sisters share some similarities: each has the ability to magically 
  disguise themself as someone else, each has some spellcasting abilities 
  (though this varies), each has free passage throughout Rothollow and 
  the surrounding marsh, each has a pair of razor-sharp claws, and each is 
  cunning, sly, and cruel. 
   
  The Sisters are not above impersonating each other to outsiders, 
  if it comes down to it, though they’d never do so to one another. Likewise, 
  while each Sister schemes and plots individually, they do so against 
  outsiders far more than to each other. 
   
  The Sisters share a loose command of their minions. Gertrude 
  spends the most time organizing them and sending them out, but Morgan 
  can always find one or two to run an errand for her. Sybil rarely, if ever, 
  speaks or issues orders to the Coven’s minions. 
   
  On the whole, the Sisters are more alike than they are different, 
  really. They all lust for power, they all hate beautiful or lovely things, and 
  they all share the same bitter guile. 
  Shared Spellcasting
  While all three Sisters are within 30 ft. of each other, they can cast the 
  following spells, but must share the spell slots among themselves:
  1st level (4 slots): identify, inflict wounds, ray of sickness
  2nd level (3 slots): enlarge/reduce, hold person, ray of enfeeblement
  3rd level (3 slots): bestow curse, counterspell, lightning bolt
  4th level (3 slots): blight, polymorph
  5th level (2 slots): contagion, geas, scrying
  6th level (1 slot): eyebite, circle of death
  For casting these spells, each Sister is a 12th-level spellcaster that uses 
  Intelligence as her spellcasting ability score. The spell save DC is 12 + the 
  Sisters’s Intelligence modifier, and the spell attack bonus is 4 + the Sister’s 
  Intelligence modifier.
  Coven XP
  Each Sister individually is approximately CR 5, worth 1,800 XP. However, 
  because the Sisters operate as a group and gain power when together, a 
  Sister that is fighting as a part of the Gaunt Coven as a whole is approximately 
  CR 7, worth 2,900 XP. 
   
  Put another way, each Sister is worth 1,800 XP, but once all three 
  are dead and the Coven is destroyed, the adventurers gain an additional 
  3,300 XP.
  Legendary Actions
  The Sisters, as a Coven, have three legendary actions, choosing from the 
  options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time, and only 
  at the end of another creature’s turn. The Sisters regain spent legendary 
  actions at the start of Gertrude’s turn.
  Melee Attack. One of the Sisters makes a melee attack.
  Hidden Step. One of the Sisters immediately turns invisible, until she next 
  attacks or casts a spell, or until her concentration ends.  
  Cantrip (Morgan Only). Morgan immediately casts a cantrip.
  Into the Pot! (Getrude Only). Gertrude immediately takes the Into the Pot! 
  action, provided she has at least one target grappled.
  Clarify Weakness (Sybil Only). She, Morgan, and Gertrude have advantage 
  on their next attack roll, until the end of Sybil’s next turn.
  
  88
  Sybil Gaunt
  Sybil, the youngest, is of middling width and height, and typically dresses 
  in a collection of wrapped rags, cloth, and the like. Her hair is pure white, 
  and goes in all directions. She carries a myriad of tools for reading fortunes: 
  cards, sticks, dice, bones, runestones, and so on. She also tends to wear a 
  blindfold, as she claims that it helps her second sight (whether this is true 
  or not is up for debate).
   
  Sybil possesses some powers of prophecy and prediction, and 
  can see the future, sometimes. She sees glimpses of mortals’ fates and pasts, 
  and will sell you your future, for a price. For this reason—along with her 
  own insistence—she is sometimes called “the Oracle.” If her minions ever 
  pass by her, they usually refer to her as “Lady Oracle.”
   
  Sybil herself is mostly distant and pensive. She spends a great 
  deal of time alone, standing at the top of Rothollow or wandering the 
  marshlands, half-lost in visions. When she does come back to her sisters, 
  she’s the quietest of the three, but also the most vindictive. Both Morgan 
  and Gertrude are a touch more wary of antagonizing Sybil, as she is spiteful 
  without limits. 
   
  If Sybil wanders fars from Rothollow, she takes on the 
  appearance of a thin, waifish girl, dark of eye and darker of heart. She’ll 
  play at being lost, confused, or afraid, and then drown anyone who tries to 
  help her. Sybil often says that haruspicy is best performed on victims who 
  least suspected their fate.
   
  Sybil wears her Seer’s Blindfold, and carries her Tome of Truth.
  Morgan Gaunt
  Morgan, the middle sister, is the tallest and bone-thin. She dresses in long 
  robes and a coat like a wizard, ragged and worn, plus a pair of hefty basilisk-
  leather boots. She is almost completely bald, but wears a very wide hat to 
  cover it. She carries a gnarled staff and an ancient, yellowed spellcasting 
  manual. 
   
  Morgan is a magician, a witch, and thus spends much of her time 
  practicing spells, enchanting objects, and doing magical research. Because 
  of this, she’ll often send out the Coven’s minions in search of magical 
  materials, rare alchemical supplies, and arcane texts. When addressing her, 
  her minions usually call her “Mistress Morgan,” which pleases her greatly. 
   
  Of the three Sisters, Morgan is the most brusque, the most-
  disliked by the minions. She’s full of invective, referring to any incompetents 
  by all manner of colorful insults and nicknames. Most of the time, she 
  broods in her study, mulling over old volumes of magic, grumbling about 
  whatever latest annoyance has plagued her. In some cases, Morgan might 
  be willing to sell or trade for some of her trinkets and volumes, though she’s 
  always loathe to do so
   
  When Morgan has to leave Rothollow to retrieve some tome 
  or sample her minions couldn’t, she’ll sometimes wear the disguise of 
  a witch—tall, imperious, and elegant, but still maintaining her haughty 
  disinterest. If she encounters travellers that don’t make an effort to bow and 
  stoop, she’ll blast them to pieces.
   
  Morgan wears her Big Hat and Bogstalker Boots, and carries 
  her spellbook.
  Gertrude Gaunt
  Gertrude, the eldest, is broad and heavy, and wears an enormous stained 
  apron. Her hair is a foul reddish orange, which she keeps tied in a knot. She 
  wields a meat hook and a butcher’s cleaver; her apron pockets are always 
  filled with meat, plants, and herbs. 
   
  Gertrude is a brewess and cook, and always keeps a huge black 
  iron cauldron simmering at the base of Rothollow. Gertrude has deep and 
  abiding knowledge of the natural world around her, and can make the most 
  delicious (or the most foul) of meals, drinks, and tea. If any guests come to 
  Rothollow, she’s sure to offer them tea and biscuits, which are delicious—
  unless the guests ask about them, in which they’re horrid.
   
  For the most part, Gertrude is fairly genial to her minions, 
  sisters, and any outsiders. She’s the most likely to take in what she calls “lost
   pets,” and does the most business with outsiders; most of her time is spent 
  making food and drink, ordering the minions about, and ensuring that her 
  Sisters’ activities aren’t causing too many problems. She likes to be called 
  “the Brewmother,” which most of her minions are happy to do. That said, 
  when her ire is piqued, Gertrude is a dangerous foe indeed.. 
   
  Gertrude leaves Rothollow the least, and is the least likely to 
  disguise herself when she does, but on the rare occasion she needs to, she 
  disguises herself as a broad-shoulder warrior, clad in leather and chain, fiery 
  of hair and temper. Most of the time, though, she’s content to travel as her 
  normal haggish self, revelling in misery and rot.
   
  Gertrude wears her Brewmother’s Apron, and carries 
  Thewcarver and her cookbook.
  Sybil Gaunt
  Medium fae, neutral evil
  Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 97 (13d8 + 39)
  Speed 30 ft. 
  STR
  17 (+3)
  DEX
  17 (+3)
  CON
  16 (+3)
  INT
  16 (+3)
  Saving Throws WIS +8, CHA +7
  Skills Arcana +7, Deception +7, History +7, Insight +12, Perception +8, 
  Religion +7
  Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., truesight 10 ft., passive Perception 18
  Languages Common, Deep, Draconic, Elvish, Giant, Primordial, Sylvan
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) see Coven XP
  Amphibious. Sybil can breathe air and water.
  Innate Spellcasting. Sybil’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell 
  save DC 15). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no 
  material components:
  At will: dancing lights, minor illusion, vicious mockery
  Mimicry. Sybil can mimic animal sounds and humanoid voices. A creature 
  that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 17 
  Wisdom (Insight) check.
  Precognition. Sybil has advantage on all Dexterity saving throws, and has 
  a +5 bonus to initiative rolls. All attacks of opportunity made against her 
  have disadvantage.
  Actions
  Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 
  + 3) slashing damage.
  Illusory Appearance. Sybil covers herself and anything she is wearing or 
  carrying with a magical illusion that makes her look like another creature 
  of her general size and humanoid shape. The illusion ends if Sybil takes a 
  bonus action to end it, or if she dies. 
   
  The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical 
  inspection. Otherwise, a creature must take an action to visually inspect 
  the illusion and succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check to 
  discern that Sybil is disguised.
  Imposed Visions (Recharge 6). Sybil reaches out and touches a creature 
  within her reach, filling their mind with visions of their own doom and 
  destruction. That creature must immediately make a DC 16 Intelligence 
  saving throw or immediately suffer 6d6 psychic damage, be knocked prone, 
  and become stunned for one minute, suffering half damage on a success. 
  At the end of each of the creature’s turns, it can repeat the saving throw, 
  ending the stunning on a success. 
  Clarify Weakness. Sybil blinks and sees a moment into the future. She, 
  Morgan, and Gertrude have advantage on their next attack roll, until the 
  end of Sybil’s next turn.
  Invisible Passage. Sybil magically turns invisible until she attacks or casts 
  a spell, or until her concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). 
  While invisible, she leaves no physical evidence of her passage, so she can 
  be tracked only by magic. Any equipment she wears or carries is invisible 
  with her.
  
  89
  Morgan Gaunt
  Medium fae, neutral evil
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 97 (13d8 + 39)
  Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft. (with her Bogstalker Boots)
  STR
  17 (+3)
  DEX
  15 (+2)
  CON
  16 (+3)
  INT
  19 (+4)
  WIS
  14 (+2)
  CHA
  15 (+2)
  Saving Throws INT +8, WIS +6
  Skills Arcana +12, Deception +6, History +8, Perception +6, Stealth +6
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
  Languages Common, Abyssal, Draconic, Goblin, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) see Coven XP
  Amphibious. Morgan can breathe air and water.
  Innate Spellcasting. Morgan’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma 
  (spell save DC 14). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no 
  material components:
  At will: dancing lights, minor illusion, vicious mockery
  Mimicry. Morgan can mimic animal sounds and humanoid voices. A 
  creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful 
  DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check.
  Spellcasting. Morgan is a 10th-level spellcaster. She can cast any of the 
  spells that appear on the Coven’s list, as well as any spells that are in her 
  spellbook, but uses the Coven’s collective spell slots. Her spellcasting 
  ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks).
  Actions
  Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 
  + 3) slashing damage.
  Illusory Appearance. Morgan covers herself and anything she is wearing or 
  carrying with a magical illusion that makes her look like another creature 
  of her general size and humanoid shape. The illusion ends if Morgan takes a 
  bonus action to end it, or if she dies. 
   
  The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical 
  inspection. Otherwise, a creature must take an action to visually inspect 
  the illusion and succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check to 
  discern that Morgan is disguised.
  Invisible Passage. Morgan magically turns invisible until she attacks or 
  casts a spell, or until her concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). 
  While invisible, she leaves no physical evidence of her passage, so she can 
  be tracked only by magic. Any equipment she wears or carries is invisible 
  with her.
  Cantrips: create bonfire, prestidigitation, thorn whip
  1st level: comprehend languages, identify, shield
  2nd level: crown of madness, mind spike, web
  3rd level: fear, fireball, fly
  4th level: arcane eye, black tentacles, wall of fire
  5th level: scrying, telekinesis
  Gertrude Gaunt
  Medium fae, neutral evil
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 110 (13d8 + 52)
  Speed 30 ft.
  STR
  20 (+5)
  DEX
  13 (+1)
  CON
  19 (+4)
  INT
  16 (+3)
  WIS
  14 (+2)
  CHA
  15 (+2)
  Saving Throws STR +9, CON +8
  Skills Arcana +7, Animal Handling +6, Deception +6, Medicine +6, Nature 
  +11, Survival +6
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
  Languages Common, Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Orcish, Primordial, Sylvan
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) see Coven XP
  Amphibious. Gertrude can breathe air and water.
  Innate Spellcasting. Gertrude’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma 
  (spell save DC 14). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no 
  material components:
  At will: dancing lights, minor illusion, vicious mockery
  Mimicry. Gertrude can mimic animal sounds and humanoid voices. A 
  creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful 
  DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check.
  Actions
  Multiattack. Gertrude makes two attacks, one with Thewcarver and one 
  with her meat hook. If she has a target grappled, she can replace one attack 
  with Into the Pot!
  Thewcarver. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 
  (2d6+5) slashing damage.
  Meat Hook. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 
  10 (2d4 + 5) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 17). 
  Gertrude can only have creautre grappled at a time in this way.
  Into the Pot! Gertrude moves within 5 feet of her cauldron, and attempts 
  to place one grappled target into the pot. The target must make a DC 
  17 Strength saving throw, or immediately suffer 4d6 fire damage and 
  be restrained and blinded. At the start of each of the target’s turns, they 
  immediately suffer an additional 4d6 fire damage, and can use an action 
  to make a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check to escape from the cauldron.
  Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 
  + 3) slashing damage.
  Illusory Appearance. Gertrude covers herself and anything she is wearing 
  or carrying with a magical illusion that makes her look like another creature 
  of her general size and humanoid shape. The illusion ends if Morgan takes a 
  bonus action to end it, or if she dies. 
   
  The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical 
  inspection. Otherwise, a creature must take an action to visually inspect 
  the illusion and succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check to 
  discern that Gertrude is disguised.
  Invisible Passage. Gertrude magically turns invisible until she attacks or 
  casts a spell, or until her concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). 
  While invisible, she leaves no physical evidence of her passage, so she can 
  be tracked only by magic. Any equipment she wears or carries is invisible 
  with her.
  I’ve met the Sisters before! They’re kind 
  of, you know, weird? But they’re nice.
  When I met Gertrude, she gave me some of 
  the most delicious stew I’ve ever had. No 
  idea what was in it, but I loved it!
  Morgan threatened to turn me into a slug, 
  and Sybil I’d enjoy being a slug more, but 
  they’re still nice in my book.
  The Coven is a valuable ally and a dangerous 
  enemy. We’ve met several times in the past; 
  Sybil’s foresight is deeply useful. Still, at 
  some point I may have to destroy them; it 
  would be a shame, but some sacrifices are 
  worth the reward.
  
  90
  ROTHOLLOW
  Rothollow is a large, dead tree trunk, sitting on a small isle in the center 
  of a sprawling, murky lake. It houses the Sisters, their workspaces and 
  bedchambers, a few of their favored minions, a vast collection of trinkets 
  and curios, a narrowboat, and a handful of oubliettes beneath the roots.
  1. The Swollen Lake
  The lake surrounding Rothollow, called the Swollen Lake, is filled with 
  dark, cloudy water, swirling with silt and mire. Anyone who studies for 
  a minute or two will see things seethe beneath the surface, roiling and 
  churning amidst the murk. 
   
  If the all three Sisters agree and speak their secret pass-phrase, 
  they can extend a knotty bridge of roots and vines, thus connecting 
  Rothollow to the mainland, but otherwise it is impossible on foot. 
   
  The Sisters and their minions are free to swim in the Swollen 
  Lake without harm, but anything else that tries—even naturally-inclined 
  swimmers like Lizardfolk—will find themselves the subject of the Sisters’ 
  defenses. The Lake houses a large number of water snakes, piranhas, and 
  bloodsucking leeches, all of which are eager to feast on creatures that do not 
  have the Sisters’ blessing warding them off. 
   
  On top of the smaller creatures, the Swollen Lake also houses a 
  gigantic alligator, named Mister Lurk.
  2. The Lecher’s Daughter
  In addition to Rothollow itself, the Coven also has a long narrowboat, a 
  slow-moving river barge, called The Lecher’s Daughter. The ship is rotted 
  and mildewing, but still stays afloat, powered by old magic and spite. The 
  Sisters can swim, but if the whole Coven ever wants to travel through the 
  marsh as one, they take the Daughter—it’s just not dignified enough to swim 
  to an important meeting.
   
  The Daughter doesn’t have much in the way of special defenses 
  or equipment, but is narrow and agile enough to navigate even the most 
  treacherous of marshy river passages. 
   
  The Lecher’s Daughter is captained by a surly redcap named 
  Roscoe, along with a crew of bullywugs, collectively called the Suitors.
  3. The Rotted Isle
  The island that Rothollow proper sits on, sometimes called the Rotted Isle, 
  is little more than a marshy outcropping, now overrun with roots and vines 
  from the tree trunk itself. The soil is marshy, like as not suck your boots off 
  your feet as you walk, and has a putrid, pungent smell hanging in the air.
   
  The west side of the Isle has a small cluster of outbuildings and 
  shacks, which house most of the Coven’s immediate minions. Nearby is a 
  small creaking jetty, where The Lecher’s Daughter docks when not out in 
  the marshes. On the opposite side lies Gertrude’s garden, where herbs and 
  vegetables grow.
   
  The Isle is home to a dozen or so more of the Suitors, a sullen 
  elven woman named Belladonna, a pair of sahuagin brothers called Left & 
  Right, a half-ogre named Grashara, a handful of orphan humanoid children 
  called the Ducklings, and a bewitched toad named Hortensius.
  4. The Parlor
  At the base of Rothollow is the parlor, the Sisters’ main convening space. It 
  is a wide, open chamber, with a door on both sides. The floor is filled with 
  overstuffed rotten chairs and couches, small rickety tables, and shelves 
  creaking with odds and ends. In the center of the room is a large hexagonal 
  dining table, etched with the relief of a screaming face.
   
  The Sisters use the ground floor as an all-purpose meeting 
  room: they’ll convene with each other, make deals with outsiders, issue 
  orders to their minions, and hold family dinners. It’s a busy common room 
  for the most part, with minions often moving in and out through day and 
  night. 
   
  Hortensius, the Coven’s toad-herald, sits just outside the parlor, 
  ready announce any visitors to the tree. 
  5. The Kitchen
  Beneath the ground floor lie Rothollow’s kitchen, where Gertrude holds 
  court. In the center of the room is her great black iron cauldron, where 
  stew eternally simmers, but throughout the room there are myriad other 
  cookpots, stovetops, griddles, and roasting spits. The walls are lined with 
  cabinets and shelves, filled with meats, vegetables, spices, and herbs.
   
  The kitchen is hot, steamy, and busy. Rats scurry across the 
  floorboards, picking up any scraps left behind (and Gertrude leaves plenty); 
  there are nearly always one or two Ducklings and a handful of the Suitors 
  tending to the kitchen. Better-known guests of the Sisters will sometimes 
  be invited down to the kitchen to deal with Gertrude directly, rather than 
  formally meet with her in the parlor.
   
  The kitchen has windows along its upper walls, peeking out 
  among the roots; these are used both as ventilation for steam, and so 
  Gertrude can spy on approaching visitors while not leaving her cauldron.
  6. The Oubliettes
  The lowest level of Rothollow houses the oubliettes: 5 small, narrow cells, 
  sunk into the floor. The oubliettes are waterlogged, ranging from ankle- to 
  waist-deep based on the Swollen Lake; they’re always cold, and never see 
  sunlight.
   
  The Sisters use the oubliettes primarily as holding cells; 
  sometimes their deals will involve them capturing or acquiring individuals, 
  who are then kept beneath the tree trunk and fed slop from the kitchen. 
  Prisoners in the oubliettes have a low life expectancy, so it’s not unheard-
  of to have the minions go down and treat a sickly prisoner—or even pull 
  a prisoner up for a few hours, stuff them full of restorative stew, and send 
  them back down.  
   
  The Sisters also use the oubliettes as a threat for the Suitors and 
  Ducklings; from time to time, someone will be made an example of and 
  be thrown into an oubliette for a day or two. “Listen to your Brewmother 
  now, or I’ll throw you in the oubliette!” is a common thing to hear from the 
  kitchen during meal time.
  7. The Library
  Above the parlor is the library, which doubles as Morgan’s workshop. The 
  circular walls are lined with mildewing bookshelves; in the center of the 
  room are several long trestle tables, where open tomes, scrawled notes, 
  half-finished projects lie. While still damp, the library is a bit drier than 
  the lower levels; rather than rot, the air is filled with the scent of must and 
  old leather. 
   
  Morgan spends most of her time here, alone, tinkering and 
  reading. Ducklings and Suitors are banned in the library, and the other 
  minions are only allowed up by explicit permission. Anyone who breaks 
  these rules is liable to be thrown into an oubliette, or else have some 
  horrible curse cast on them by Morgan.
   
  The exception to this rule are Madra and Gadhar, two smoky 
  grey shadowhounds that Morgan keeps permanently summoned. They’re 
  loyal only to her, and are clever to perform most basic tasks while being 
  vicious enough to tangle with most would-be foes. Their kennels are in the 
  library, and when not out on an errand, they spend their time following at 
  Morgan’s heels.
  In all honesty, Rothollow might be the only place 
  in the Marches whose beauty can rival my lair. 
  The Sisters just fundamentally understand what 
  makes a domain appealing; they know all the little 
  details that make it intimidating yet comforting. 
  Every time I visit the Rotted Isle, I’m reminded 
  of some new change I must have Zadrok and the 
  kobolds make to my abode.
  It’s true. I like the Sisters a lot, but every time the Big Guy 
  visits them, it means that for the rest of us, we’ll be spending 
  the next week redecorating the lair again.
  
  91
  8. The Bedchambers
  9. The Rooftop
  1
  THE SWOLLEN LAKE
  2
  THE LECHER’S DAUGHTER
  3
  THE ROTTED ISLE
  4
  THE PARLOR
  5
  THE KITCHENS
  6
  THE OUBLIETTES
  7
  THE LIBRARY
  8
  THE BEDCHAMBERS
  9
  THE ROOFTOP
  ROTHOLLOW
  The top floor of Rothollow is where the Sisters sleep; three overripe four-
  poster beds sit up against the walls, and a mildering circular carpet lies in 
  the center. Cracked paintings and moth-eaten tapestries hang from the 
  walls; defiled tea sets sit on every bedside table.
   
  Despite its would-be opulence, none of the Sisters spend much 
  time in their bedchambers. They’re usually too busy or preoccupied to 
  spend much time truly lounging, and so generally only return to the 
  bedchambers when they sleep. 
   
  Minions are allowed in the bedchambers, to wait on the Sisters 
  or sweep up, except for the Suitors—their name still carries some weight, 
  after all.
  From the broken bark of the Rothollow trunk peeks out a conical rooftop, 
  accessible through a narrow trapdoor from the bedchambers. The roof is 
  always wet, swept with wind and rain, and any paint that once adorned the 
  shingles has long since worn off. 
   
  The rooftop houses a sentient scarecrow named Haybrain. He 
  serves as watchman and spotter for Rothollow at large; anyone approaching 
  will be seen by Haybrain, who then relays the sighting to the Sisters. 
   
  Other than Haybrain, Sybil is the only person that spends any 
  kind of time on the rooftop, lost in a trance, murmuring to herself. She’s 
  known from time to timev to leap from the rooftop, diving down into the 
  Lake beneath. 
  
  92
  GAUNT COVEN MINIONS
  Beyond Sybil, Morgan, and Gertrude, the Sisters keep a number of servants 
  in their employ; they tend to the tree, help with meals and experiments, 
  run errands, send messages, collect ingredients, retrieve items, scout foes, 
  and otherwise perform any task the Sisters see fit to send them on. 
   
  Each minion’s employment varies. Some, like the Suitors and 
  Ducklings, are kept around primarily through manipulation and threats; 
  some, like Left & Right and Grashara, are paid in food or gold or trinkets for 
  their work; some, like Roscoe and Belladonna, owe a debt to the Sisters; 
  and some, like Haybrain and Mister Lurk, stay with the Sisters because it’s 
  better than risking the wider world.
  Belladonna the Elven Thief
  Bellada on-Navarak, or Belladonna, is an elf indebted to the Sisters; she 
  stole an artifact off a minion, and rather than risk reprisal, elected to work 
  for the Coven instead. She works primarily as their thief and enforcer, 
  recovering artifacts, stealing prizes from debtors, dealing with unwanted 
  visitors, and threatening the lesser minions when they won’t cooperate. 
   
  Belladonna herself is sullen, coy, and angsty. She spends most of 
  her time sitting at the edge of the Swollen Lake, writing moody poetry or 
  skipping stones. She’s clever, certainly, and creative in her methods, but is 
  easily insulted and spiteful. None of the other minions are friendly to her; 
  Belladonna takes orders solely from the Sisters.
   
  Belladonna is a master thief.
  Master Thief (1,800 XP)
  AC 16  HP 83  SPD 30’  Prof. +3
  S+0  D+4*  C+2  I+0*  W+0  Ch+1
  Cunning Action dash, disengage, hide as bonus
  Evasion on DEX saves
  Multiattack: 3 shortswords. 
  Shortsword: M W ATT +7 1d6+4. Sneak Attack +4d6
  L. Crossbow: 80’/320’ R W ATT +7 1d8+4. Sneak Attack +4d6
  Uncanny Dodge halve damage from one attack as reaction
  The Ducklings
  The Ducklings is the collective name given to a handful of humanoid 
  children that have found their way to the Sisters. Some were kidnapped, 
  some had their parents murdered, some were just found lost in the marsh. 
  They perform many of household tasks around Rothollow: tending the 
  garden, cleaning the house, helping with cooking, netting for leeches, and 
  serving as guinea pigs for Morgan’s experiments.
   
  The Ducklings are almost never sent away from Rothollow, as 
  they have an annoying tendency to try to escape, and then they must be 
  punished. They’re generally either a source of amusement for the other 
  minions and thus liked, or are tolerated with silence. The exception to this 
  are the Suitors, who view the Ducklings as their hated rivals, and constantly 
  try to jockey for the Sisters’ affections over the Ducklings.
   
  When a Duckling reaches adolescence, they are either eaten by 
  the Sisters or else try to escape, during which most die and then are eaten 
  anyway.
   
  The Ducklings are commoners.
  Commoner (0 XP)
  AC 10  HP 4  SPD 30’  Prof. +2
  S+0  D+0  C+0  I+0  W+0  Ch+0
  Fist: M W ATT +2 1.
  Grashara the Half-Ogre Apothecary
  Grashara is a half-ogre half-orcish woman that works as an apothecary for 
  the Coven. She, more than Gertrude herself, decides what grows on the 
  Isle’s garden, and it’s her that tends to minions that are wounded or sick. 
   
  Grashara is a contracted employee of the Sisters; she works for 
  room and board, plus her pick of ingredients for potions and salves. Even in 
  the Marches, there aren’t many places that will readily accept a half-ogre, 
  and while the Coven isn’t exactly kind, they’re more welcoming of outcasts 
  than most.
   
  Grashara is generally cool and standoffish, but does care about 
  her gardens and apothecary work; when she’s with a patient, she’s thorough 
  and even-handed. Because Grashara has patched wounds or applied salves 
  for just about everyone in or around Rothollow, she’s well-liked by the 
  other minions, or at least pleasantly ignored.
  Half-Ogre Apothecary (450 XP)
  AC 12  HP 30  SPD 30’  Prof. +2
  S+3  D+0  C+2  I+1  W+1  Ch+0
  Healer use a healer’s kit to heal 1d6+4 HP
  Fist: M W ATT +5 1d4+3
  Haybrain the Scarecrow Lookout
  Haybrain is a living scarecrow, enchanted by Morgan to have some 
  semblance of life within his straw-filled mind. Haybrain sits on Rothollow’s 
  roof all day and night, unsleeping and ever-watchful, ready to raise the 
  alarm if intruders approach.
   
  Because he was made by Morgan and because he does not 
  possess great intelligence, Haybrain is content to do little more than watch. 
  If anyone tries to talk to him, he has a mean, sneering attitude, like as not to 
  mock and belittle before he approaches ordinary conversation. 
   
  Because Haybrain is so isolated and so aggravating to speak to, 
  he’s generally ignored the other minions. They leave him alone, and he 
  leaves them alone.
   
  Haybrain is a scarecrow. 
  Scarecrow (450 XP)
  AC 11  HP 36  SPD 30’  Prof. +2
  S+0  D+1  C+0  I+0  W+0  Ch+1
  Resist non-magic bludgeon, pierce, slash
  Vulnerable fire
  Immune poison, charm, exhaust, frighten, paralyze, unconscious
  False Appearance as an ordinary scarecrow
  Multiattack: 2 claws.
  Claw: M W ATT +3 2d4+1, DC 11 WIS save or frighten for 1 turn.
  Terrifying Glare: 1 creature 30’ DC 11 WIS save or frighten and 
  paralyze for 1 turn.
  If the Big Guy does decide to go to war 
  with the Coven eventually, do you know 
  why he’s gonna win? Because they don’t 
  have a scribe! How’re they supposed to 
  coordinate all those minions of theirs if 
  none of them can write orders? If it comes 
  to a fight, the Coven’s finished.
  
  93
  Hortensius the Toad
  Hortensius is a fat, almost spherical toad, as big around as large grapefruit. 
  He serves as Rothollow’s herald, and so sits on a wooden post just outside 
  the trunk’s main entrance to the parlor. Anyone who approaches, be 
  they Sister, minion, or outsider, is announced by Hortensius in an almost 
  absurdly deep, booming, melancholic voice. 
   
  If someone approaches that Hortensius does not know, he will 
  politely greet them, ask them their name, title, and business, and then 
  announce them to Rothollow.
   
  By and large, it is the Sisters who most like Hortensius; they 
  find him oddly amusing. He’s seen as a nuisance by the other minions, 
  and is virulently hated by the Suitors, who see his position as herald as 
  supplanting them, not to mention their similar froggy physiques.
   
  Hortensius uses the frog statblock.
  Toad (0 XP)
  AC 1  HP 1  SPD 20’, swim 20’  Prof. +2
  S-5  D+1  C-1  I-5  W-1  Ch-4
  Amphibious
  Standing Leap 10’ long, 5’ high 
  Left & Right the Sahuagin Hunters
  Lifrusk and Raktusk, usually just called Left & Right, are a pair of sahuagin 
  twins, the aquatic shark-people; hunters who specialize in ambush and 
  murder. They’re used primarily as mobile muscle by the Sisters, able to 
  bring significant brute force to bear when subtlety and guile have failed. 
  When not hunting down those on the Coven’s hit list, the two also hunt 
  game, bringing in most of the meat that the Coven consumes. 
   
  For the most part, Left & Right keep to themselves. They’re 
  feared by most of the minions for their ferocity and bloodthirstiness, and 
  so are left well alone. From time to time, they’ll work alongside Belladonna 
  or Roscoe, so they maintain the bare minimum of cordiality with them, but 
  otherwise they are distant creatures. 
   
  While the Sisters pay Left & Right well in meat, gold, and 
  gemstones, they have the most transactional relationship; if a better 
  employer were to come along, or the Sisters turned on the siblings, they’d 
  have no issue abandoning the Coven.
   
  Left & Right both use the sahuagin baron statblock.
  Sahuagin Hunter (1800 XP)
  AC 16  HP 76  SPD 30’, swim 50’  Prof. +3
  S+4  D+2*  C+3*  I+2*  W+1*  Ch+3
  Blood Frenzy adv. vs. creatures beneath full HP
  Limited Amphibiousness needs to submerge once every 4 hours
  Shark Telepathy magically command sharks up to 120’ away
  Multiattack: 1 bite, 2 claws or trident.
  Bite: M W ATT +7 2d4+1.
  Claws: M W ATT +7 2d6+4.
  Trident: M or 20’/60’ R W ATT +7 2d6+4 or 2d8+4 if two-handed.
  Madra & Gadhar the Shadowhounds
  Far and away Morgan’s most successful experiment was the transformation 
  of a pair of ordinary mastiffs into two shadowhounds: smoky black dogs 
  infused with magic from the vale of shadows, able to blend into murk and 
  shade. 
   
  Despite being dangerous and shadow-infused, the two dogs 
  themselves are both quite friendly, at least when not ripping someone 
  to shred’s on Morgan’s orders. Most of the time, they act like ordinary, 
  cheerful dogs: they follow their mistress, they bark at strangers, they chase 
  small animals (and usually catch them), they investigate strange new smells 
  and sounds, and generally have free run of Rothollow. 
   
  For the most part, Madra & Gadhar are liked by the other 
  minions; the Ducklings are a little bit intimidated at first but learn fast, 
  Belladonna and Grashara find them good company, and Roscoe and Left 
  & Right appreciate having companions that don’t talk. The Suitors both 
  fear and hate the shadowhounds, but know better than to ever tangle with 
  them.
   
  Madra & Gadhar are both shadow mastiffs.
  Shadow Mastiff (450 XP)
  AC 12  HP 33  SPD 40’ Prof. +2
  S+3  D+2  C+1  I-3  W+1  Ch-3
  Ethereal Awareness can see ethereal creatures and objects
  Keen Hearing & Smell adv. on relevant Perception checks
  Shadow Blend while in shadow, become invisible as bonus action
  Sunlight Weakness disadv. while in bright sunlight
  Bite: M W ATT +5 2d6+3, DC 13 STR save or prone
  Mister Lurk the Giant Alligator
  While the Coven controls most living things in and around Rothollow and 
  the Swollen Lake, there is one key exception: the gigantic alligator that 
  drifts through the Lake, dubbed Mister Lurk.
   
  Mister Lurk has but one goal: to eat as much as possible while 
  exerting as little effort as possible. Because of this, the Sisters have found 
  him more useful to keep around than kill or drive out. They share a kind of 
  bloodthirsty symbiosis: Mister Lurk hunts any swimmers the leeches don’t 
  catch, and in exchange he’s allowed to lounge and eat as much as he can of 
  said swimmers, along with the occasional unlucky Suitor.
   
  Such is the life of a giant alligator, and it is one Mister Lurk very 
  much enjoys.
   
  Mister Lurk uses the giant crocodile statblock.
  Giant Alligator (1800 XP)
  AC 14  HP 85  SPD 30’, swim 50’  Prof. +3
  S+5  D-1  C+3  I-4  W+0  Ch-2
  Hold Breath for 30 minutes
  Multiattack: 1 bite and 1 tail.
  Bite: M W ATT +8 3d10+5, grapple and restrain (escape DC 16).
  Tail: 10’ M W ATT +8 2d8+5, DC 16 STR save or prone.
  
  Roscoe the Ship Captain
  Roscoe is a surly, grouchy redcap, a kind of fae not unlike a burly, foul-
  mouthed gnome. He is the captain of The Lecher’s Daughter, and rarely 
  goes more than ten paces from his ship. For the most part, he ferries about 
  the minions on whatever jobs they have been assigned, and brings invited 
  outsiders across the Lake to Rothollow. 
   
  Roscoe serves at the pleasure of the Sisters; he lost a bet with 
  them some time ago, and does years and years of servitude in repayment. 
  While he obviously resents them for this, he also respects them; he knows 
  that, were their positions reversed, he would do the exact same and still be 
  justified for it. Such is the nature of fae.
   
  Because Roscoe runs the Daughter with an iron fist, he’s rather 
  hated by the Suitors; otherwise, though, he’s generally well-liked among 
  the other minions. He’s grumpy and cranky, but has an avuncular style that 
  many—particularly the Ducklings—tend to like.
   
  Roscoe is a redcap.
  Redcap (700 XP)
  AC 13  HP 45  SPD 25’  Prof. +2
  S+4  D+1  C+4  I+0  W+1  Ch-1
  Iron Boots disadv. on Stealth
  Outsize Strength counts as medium while grappling
  Multiattack: 3 sickles. 
  Sickle: M W ATT +6 2d4+4. 
  Ironbound Pursuit: move up to speed, target makes DC 14 DEX save 
  or3d10+4 and prone.
  The Suitors
  The Suitors, as dubbed by the Sisters, are roughly two dozen bullywugs—
  preening and puffed-up frog-people—that serve the Coven. They perform 
  maintenance tasks alongside the Ducklings: cooking, cleaning, ensuring 
  Rothollow remains at the proper level of decay, and so on. Additionally, 
  they also perform many of the tasks away from Rothollow: running 
  messages, foraging for food, collecting ingredients, and serving as scouts 
  (and bait) for potential enemies. Finally, they crew The Lecher’s Daughter, 
  under Captain Roscoe, who mocks and belittles them relentlessly.
   
  Bullywugs are prone to petty rivalries and bitter envy, and the 
  Suitors’ position at the bottom of the ladder—other than perhaps the 
  Ducklings—only exacerbates these feelings. Every Suitor is constantly 
  putting on airs, striving to earn the approval of the Sisters, and doing 
  anything they can to undercut their fellows. They are regularly bullied by 
  Roscoe, Belladonna, and Haybrain; Left & Right and Madra & Gadhar 
  have all learned that while murdering a Suitor will earn the Sisters’ ire, 
  frightening them for sport brings a laugh. 
   
  Still, the Suitors stay, both because their pride couldn’t bear to 
  abandon the chance for greatness and because a bullywug cannot outrun a 
  sahuagin, a shadowhound, or—if it comes down to it—a hag.
   
  The Suitors are bullywugs.
  Bullywug (50 XP)
  AC 15  HP 11  SPD 20’, swim 40’  Prof. +2
  S+1  D+1  C+1  I-2  W+0  Ch-2
  Amphibious
  Speak with Frogs & Toads
  Swamp Camouflage adv. on Stealth while in swamps
  Standing Leap 20’ long, 10’ high
  Multiattack: 1 bite, 1 spear. 
  Bite: M W ATT +3 1d4+1. 
  Spear: M or 20’/60’ R W ATT 1d6+1 or 1d8+1 if two-handed.
  Imagine running from a fight! None of us 
  would ever do that. No indeed, no chance 
  whatsoever. Kobolds are famous for their 
  bravery and courage and willingness to 
  stand and fight nasty foes, even ones that 
  are ten times our size. Fearless in danger, 
  that’s us kobolds!
  
  95
  THE COVEN IN COMBAT
  Taking on the Coven in open combat is a formidable task. Rothollow is quite 
  defensible, and the myriad minions mean that any aggressive adventurers 
  will be hard-pressed to reach the Sisters themselves without expending key 
  resources. Once reached, the Sisters are dangerous opponents in and of 
  themselves, with plenty of tricks and tools at their disposal.
  The Sisters
  The Sisters support each other as best they can; focused around Gertrude’s 
  cauldron. Each Sisters can vanish and reappear, making them wily and 
  mobile fighters. Morgan can use her spells to damage groups of enemies 
  at once; Sybil can impose visions of a target’s doom to freeze up the most 
  powerful targets. Weaker foes are easily grappled by Gertrude and forced 
  into her cauldron, where they slowly boil to death.
   
  The Sisters will defend each other over any minions, but if one 
  falls, the other two will retreat, abandoning Rothollow. Mister Lurk knows 
  not to attack them, and so they can easily vanish into the murky waters of 
  the Swollen Lake. Afterwards, they’ll bide their time, and then return in 
  vicious counter-attack.
  Minions
  Because the minions have varying levels of loyalty and combat prowess, 
  they treat a potential attack against the Sisters differently. 
   
  Belladonna will fight off any attackers—using the shadows and 
  sneak attacks to her advantage—until one or more Sisters falls in combat. 
  Then, she’ll turn and run; if the Daughter is still around, she’ll take that, 
  otherwise she’ll try to swim across the Lake.
   
  The Ducklings will flee at the first sign of combat, taking shelter 
  in their huts, in the kitchen, and any nook or cranny on the Rotted Isle; they 
  then try to hide. If one of the Sisters dies, each Duckling has a 50% chance 
  to make an attempt to escape; they’ll stay in their hiding places otherwise. 
  The Ducklings will try to flee on the Daughter if it’s available; otherwise, 
  they’ll try to swim across the Lake.
   
  Grashara won’t retaliate against any attackers, but will defend 
  herself if directly attacked. She’ll tend to any wounded on the Isle that she 
  can get to and bring them back to her hut. Once the combat’s over, she will 
  yield to the victor and tend to their wounds.
   
  Haybrain, as a literal creation of Morgan, will fight to the death 
  to defend her and her Sisters. He’ll likely be among the first to raise the 
  alarm, given his position. If Morgan dies, he’ll freeze up, 
   
  Hortensius takes no sides, and instead will continue to announce 
  anyone coming or going from Rothollow through the main parlor door, as 
  well as proclaim great honors to the fallen. If the Sisters are defeated, he 
  will serve the victors as loyally as he did the Coven. 
   
  Left & Right will fight off any attackers and defend the Sisters 
  until either one of the Sisters falls, either of them drops below ⅓ HP, or 
  they are made a significant offer of gold (or other valuables). If it’s one of 
  the former two, they will both flee the Isle by swimming; if it’s the latter, 
  they may ally with the attackers, depending on how good the deal is.
   
  Madra & Gadhar, as creations of Morgan, will fight to the 
  death to defend her and her Sisters. If she’s slain in combat, they’ll take on 
  much more normal dog-like behavior, likely involving them vanishing and 
  fleeing Rothollow. 
   
  Mister Lurk will attempt to eat any attackers swimming towards 
  Rothollow, any dead bodies that float in the water or are near to the shore. 
  Once the Sisters are defeated, he’ll eat anyone in the water, regardless of 
  who they are (or were, like as not).
   
  Roscoe will fight to defend the Sisters against any attackers; if 
  they come over the water, he’ll bring the Daughter out to attack them on the 
  Lake, too. If all three of the Sisters die, Roscoe will surrender, and explain 
  that as a fae, he now owes a debt to the victors.
   
  The Suitors will rush near the attackers and yell a lot about 
  honor and glory, but won’t make much in the way of actual attacks. If one 
  of the Sisters, Roscoe, or Belladonna actively yells at them to fight, they’ll 
  push into the fray, but otherwise they hang back and avoid the fight. If one 
  of the Sisters dies, or if multiple Suitors die in short order, they’ll break and 
  flee, swimming across the Lake.
  Zadrok’s only saying that because he knows—as 
  do all of my servants—that if he runs, things will 
  only be worse him upon his eventual return.
  
  96
  SERVICES FROM THE SISTERS
  While the Coven might well end up as an enemy group to the adventurers, 
  if they take a more peaceful tactic, the Coven has many powerful services 
  available to those willing to pay the price.
   
  Each Sisters offers something different: Sybil has her prophetic 
  gifts, Morgan has her magic, and Gertrude has her meals. Each is valuable, 
  and each is different.
  The Sisters’ Price
  Generally speaking, the Sisters do not charge their clients in gold or silver. 
  From time to time they may accept gemstones or jewelry, but for the most 
  part, they trade in favors. Exactly what the Sisters are asking for varies, 
  but: Morgan typically asks for the recovery of some rare text or artifact, 
  Gertrude asks for some harvest of unusual flora or fauna, and Sybil asks for 
  information and secrets belonging to someone else.
   
  The size and scope of these favors depends on the size and scope 
  of what the adventurers are asking for in return. Consider, for each service 
  offered, how long it would take to acquire otherwise; this is your rough 
  measuring stick. For example, a serving of Bogdweller Soup is roughly 
  equivalent to a few potions of water-breathing; rare and valuable, but not 
  absurdly difficult to acquire otherwise. Thus, in return, Gertrude might ask 
  the adventurers to find her the stinger of a wyvern, or the four heads of a 
  chimera. Weigh the tasks against the rewards as you might for any other.
   
  However, because hags are notorious for their guile, try to have 
  the tasks the Sisters assign be somewhat malevolent, ideally indirectly 
  so. Harvested tree bark, for example, might come from a dryad queen’s 
  favored grove, causing her to wither without it; an ancient text on healing 
  might stop a band of siblings from saving their diseased parents; a secret 
  love affair between two youths might spark a war. Hags delight in cruelty 
  and malice and ugly truths, so whenever they can, the favors they ask bring 
  only ruin.
  Prophecies & Portents
  While Sybil is flighty and sometimes difficult to find, she is willing to read 
  the future of the Guests of the Coven, for a price. 
   
  Sybil has two primary services available: the first is that she will 
  take the palm of the client, and offer a piece of insight into some possible 
  opportunity or danger in their future. When Sybil reads an adventurer’s 
  future in this way, the player rolls 1d20 and records it; any time in the next 
  week, that player can use that foretold roll in the place of any attack roll, 
  saving throw, or ability check made by the player or a creature they can see. 
  Once Sybil has read someone’s future in this way, she will not do another 
  reading for them until they have used their current opportunity.
   
  The second, and more traditional service, is a divination into the 
  client’s far future. This is a much hazier, less direct service, like as not to be 
  obscured in metaphor and analogue as it is to be taken clearly.
  d12
  Reading
  1
  Justice. A court sentencing a murderer; secrets and lies exposed 
  to the whole of a kingdom to know; the common folk rising 
  against their oppressors.
  2
  Safety. A scouting party fleeing to their army; shelter found in 
  the wilds from the rainstorm; arrows sinking into a shield on the 
  battlefield.
  3
  Evil. A tyrant rising to power amidst crowing supporters and 
  dead opposition; a dead friend, laid to rest, risen once more by 
  ill magic; innocent lovers dragged from their bed.
  4
  Trickery. A forger layering cold iron coins with golden leaf; a 
  dagger flashing beneath swirling cloaks and hooded faces; a lie 
  told, bold-faced, to the world.
  5
  Change. Summer being cast aside in favor of a crisp autumn 
  morn; a child growing to adulthood in a few heartbeats; a castle 
  being worn down by footfalls and time.
  6
  Return. A prodigal child coming home to their house after years 
  away; birds roosting in springtime after a winter away; a lost 
  sock being rediscovered beneath a dusty bedframe.
  7
  Loss. Flames consuming a handed-down family home; disease 
  stealing children from their parents’ arms; a ship sinking into 
  thrashing waves.
  8
  Chaos. Scrambling against an overwhelming current of nameless, 
  faceless, desperate bodies; air suffused with ash from an unseen 
  blaze; a sudden, unmistakable shuddering of the earth.
  9
  Authority. An army led by an iron fist sweeps across the land. 
  There is no recourse, no chance for resistance; a shadow-figure 
  in a blinding throne.
  10
  Joy. A coming-together of friends; an unexpected turn of 
  undeniably good luck; a celebration of life after a brush with death.
  11
  Control. The somber interior of a war room; the client pushes 
  an effigy across a large-scale map of an unknown place, and the 
  gathered generals sob.
  12
  Death. Utter, inscrutable nothingness, a starless void; a 
  crumbling, unreadable tombstone overgrown with vines; a 
  huge black dog, ever-following and never-sleeping.
  Oracular Insights
  
  97
  Magic & Trinkets
  Morgan has numerous spell scrolls available for sale as well as a collection 
  of strange magical trinkets. None of them can be trusted to behave 
  as advertised, but they come cheaper and easier than their ordinary 
  counterparts might suggest otherwise.
   
  Morgan will only offer the barest explanations for the items and 
  scrolls being sold; she always just says something simple like “it’s an old tea 
  set,” or, “it’s a scroll that turns people into animals.”
   
  When a player identifies one of the scrolls, they learn that it 
  is the base spell and that there are some manner of additional or altered 
  effects on the scroll, but not what those effects are.
  d12
  Spell Scroll
  1
  Fireball, but any resultant flames reverse the effects of water & 
  oil: oil extinguishes them, water causes them to spread further.
  2
  Detect thoughts, but any thoughts or feelings the caster tries to 
  read are always the target’s worst thoughts and feelings about 
  the caster.
  3
  Major image, but any illusory creatures created act on their own 
  volition, spewing insults and making rude hand gestures.
  4
  Charm monster, but the charmed monster acts like a hyperactive 
  puppy; aggressive, naive, needy, and desperate for attention.
  5
  Polymorph, but the target is transformed into the opposite 
  creature than the caster intended: dogs into cats, elephants into 
  mice, lions into sheep, and so on.
  6
  Mirror image, but the illusions created are of the caster’s fellow 
  party members, instead of the caster themselves.
  7
  Zone of truth, but the targets can only lie; to the caster, they 
  seem to be telling the truth.
  8
  Water walk, but the targets can only walk on the underside of 
  the surface, underwater. Gravity pulls them towards the surface, 
  regardless of which side they are on.
  9
  Spirit guardians, but the guardians appear as twisted fae, and the 
  caster cannot control who is designated as friends or foes.
  10
  Hideous laughter, but while the target laughs, they suffocate.
  11
  Create food & water, but once someone takes a bite of food or 
  sip of water, they must keep consuming until all the food and 
  water is gone. 
  12
  Contact other plane, but the spell contacts either Morgan, 
  Gertrude, or Sybil, randomly determined; the caster does not 
  know this.
  Spell Scrolls for Sale
  d12
  Magical Trinket
  1
  A human eyeball floating in a jar of green fluid. It always looks at 
  the closest living thing, even if that thing is invisible.
  2
  A bell that is silent to everything except rats; when rung it, all 
  rats within 500 ft. will rush towards the bell.
  3
  A knife with two blades and no hilt. It is impossible to use 
  without cutting one’s self.
  4
  A pair of dice carved from bone; they always roll a 7, even if you 
  take one die away.
  5
  A small black notebook. Anything written in the notebook 
  becomes twisted and warped over the course of a day, 
  eventually turning into blasphemous insults.
  6
  A cracked and chipped tea set. Anything drunk from the set 
  makes the ingester throw up violently five minutes later.
  7
  A preserved dwarf’s head. If someone holds the head upside by 
  the beard for one minute, they can see through the dwarf’s dead 
  eyes until they release the beard.
  8
  100’ of fine silk rope; if left unattended and unobserved for an 
  hour, it will tie itself into a noose.
  9
  A knapsack that can hold 200 lbs. of gear while still weighing 
  only 10 lbs. Anything placed inside that hasn’t been salted will 
  be permanently eaten by the knapsack.
  10
  A carved wooden flute; it can only play in minor keys, and 
  causes anyone who listens to think of a dear person that recently 
  died.
  11
  A fine handheld fan; any wind blown by it takes on the smell of 
  rotten eggs.
  12
  A wolverine skull on a length of twine; if held in front of you 
  like a censer, it will swing towards the nearest bones.
  Magical Trinkets for Sale
  Dishes
  Gertrude’s stew cauldron is always brewing and her ovens are always hot. 
  Unlike Morgan’s trinkets, Gertrude’s foodstuffs are usually either strictly 
  beneficial or harmful—she makes them too frequently and in too large a 
  quantity to properly spin each into strange directions. 
   
  Like Morgan, however, Gertrude is rarely forthright in what her 
  dishes entirely do, preferring to sidestep and deflect when asked probing 
  questions. All guests are freely offered a single bowl of stew, which will 
  always be beneficial—unless they hesitate or imply Gertrude is attempting 
  trickery, in which case the stew will become harmful.
   
  Gertrude will also sell recipes from her cookbooks, much 
  as Morgan sells her trinkets and Sybil her prophecies. Each dish has 
  three principal ingredients, plus broth and whatever additional meats or 
  vegetables the chef would like to add. (Gertrude most commonly makes 
  hers with rat, crab, eel, turnips, beets, and onions; when she can get it, her 
  preferred meat is that of humanoid children.)
   
  If an adventurer wishes to cook a dish, they need the requisite 
  ingredients, a workspace with an over or cauldron, and one hour’s time. If 
  they have any talent or training in cooking, no roll is required; otherwise, it 
  requires a DC 10 Survival (Intelligence) or Survival (Wisdom) check. 
   
  The recipes listed provide enough food for two people; they 
  must be consumed within 1 hour after the brewing is finished, and last for 8 
  hours.
  
  98
  1. Giant’s Arm Stew
  +2 Strength
  Ingredients
  1. Liver of a giant
  2. Owlbear’s talons
  3. Chestnut bark
  Recipe
  1. Chop the liver.
  2. Powder the talons and the bark, together.
  3. Stir all into broth. Add vegetables and seasoning as desired.
  Effects
  Makes you quite a bit stronger. Very useful when you need to throw 
  someone out of the house.
  2. Spark Wine
  Resistance to Fire
  Ingredients
  1. Salamander tongue
  2. Fire beetle wings
  3. Spicy peppers
  Recipe
  1. Crumble the wings over your preferred wine. White is best.
  2. Crush the peppers, add them in.
  3. Squeeze out the tongue into the drink.
  Effects
  Helps you deal with intense heat, if it comes to that. Don’t drink it too 
  fast.
  3. Silvertongue Cut
  +2 Charisma
  Ingredients
  1. Heart of a fiend (a Devil is ideal)
  2. One drow’s eye and ear
  3. Frog legs
  Recipe
  1. Mash the eye, ear, and the heart together.
  2. Spread them over your preferred meat (mine is crab, usually).
  3. Garnish it with fried legs.
  Effects
  Somehow, it lets you speak a little more clearly, a little more gracefully.
  4. Finger-Melt Jello
  Resistance to Acid
  Ingredients
  1. Slice of a jelly (black or yellow)
  2. Mimic flesh
  3. Oranges
  Recipe
  1. Get the juices out of the oranges.
  2. Seal the juice, flesh, and slice into a jar. Shake vigorously for 10 
  minutes.
  3. Serve cold, and eat fast. 
  Effects
  Acidic stuff, spitter juice and whatnot, will hurt you far less. Very 
  handy. 
  5. Quickeye Pie
  Ingredients
  1. Quickling feet
  2. Piercer’s eye (or a Roper, if you can get one)
  3. Wings of a hawk
  Recipe
  1. Sear the feet and the wings. Batter them if you can.
  2. Mix with veggies and croutons.
  3. Stick the eye on a toothpick and serve. 
  Effects
  Makes you just a bit faster getting up out of your chair.
  6. Glowy Pudding
  Resistance to Radiant
  Ingredients
  1. Pegasus wing (if you can get unicorn horn, use that as garnish)
  2. Deep cattle’s head
  3. Wild fireflies, not jarred
  Recipe
  1. Get a nice pudding; mash the fireflies and put them in.
  2. Stuff the cattle’s head with the pudding
  3. Fry the wings, then dip them in the pudding.
  Effects
  Lets you cope when the angels and holy folks bring out their bright 
  weapons.
  8. Punch-o-Thunder
  Resistance to Lightning  & Thunder
  Ingredients
  1. Blue dragon scales
  2. Wood from a tree struck by lightning
  3. Shrimp, ideally fresh
  Recipe
  1. Get the prawns grilling on a fire built from the tree.
  2. Crush the scales as best you can; use magic if you have to.
  3. Scatter the scales over the prawns; serve on skewers. 
  Effects
  Little shocks will brush off you easy. Big shocks, too, sometimes.
  9. Brainy Brew
  +2 Intelligence
  Ingredients
  1. Tentacles of an craniophagic deep-kind
  2. Nose from a mage (any will do)
  3. A good stout
  Recipe
  1. Dice the tentacles. Drain them best you can.
  2. Sear the nose. Make sure it’s nice and crispy.
  3. Mix them in with the stout, leave it upside down in a cask for a 
  week or two, then drink fast. 
  Effects
  Helps the memory and thinking, all sorts of good for puzzles and 
  games.
  10. Bogdweller Soup
  Ingredients
  1. Crocodile teeth (alligator will not do)
  2. Fresh gill of sahuagin
  3. Swamp-algae bloom, the more toxic the better
  Recipe
  1. Crush the teeth and algae using a mortar and pestle.
  2. Once the teeth are a paste, soak the gills in the paste for a day.
  3. To achieve the full effect, suck the tooth-algae mixture through 
  the gills. The gills themselves need not be eaten, but don’t let 
  that stop you.
  Effects
  Grants the ability to breathe murky swamp-water for a time.
  Advantage on Initiative
  7. Hardy Hash
  Ingredients
  1. Troll hands
  2. Flail snail flail
  3. Crocodile hide
  Recipe
  1. Sear the troll’s hands. More than they already should be, at least.
  2. Crack the flail open, and spread the juices over the hands.
  3. Wrap the whole thing in the hide. Serve hot. 
  Effects
  Makes you tough. Tougher than basically anything.
  +2 Constitution
  Amphibiousness
  
  99
  11. Astral Salad
  Resistance to Force
  Ingredients
  1. Elongated skull of an astral-person
  2. Phase spider legs
  3. Various greens, as fresh as you can
  Recipe
  1. Boil the skull, then saw the top off.
  2. Dice the legs, then fry and batter them. 
  3. Mix your greens in the skull, and use the legs for croutons.
  Effects
  Sometimes magic you use to hit stuff likes to hit back—this helps with 
  that.
  12. Dollop of Grace
  +2 Dexterity
  Ingredients
  1. Tendrils of a flickering tentacle-panther
  2. Pixie wings
  3. Grasshoppers
  Recipe
  1. Powder the grasshoppers and the wings.
  2. De-spine the tendrils, then fry them until they get juicy.
  3. Dust the tendrils with the powder.
  Effects
  Makes you more lithe, more agile, and a good deal better at reaching 
  under the bed when you lose your spectacles.
  13. Splinter Whiskey
  Resistance to Psychic
  Ingredients
  1. Eyes of a many-eyed deep one (the more powerful, the better)
  2. A handful of rats
  3. A sharp whiskey, but not a scotch
  Recipe
  1. Carefully scoop out the brains of the rats.
  2. Make them into a paste, slowly adding the eyes.
  3. Dissolve the paste in your whiskey. 
  Effects
  Helps to guard your mind, keep you firmly rooted in the here and 
  now.
  14. Owl Bake
  +2 Wisdom
  Ingredients
  1. One giant owl or owlbear, whole
  2. A priest’s tongue (doesn’t matter which god they serve)
  3. Stuffing, ideally with garlic and onion
  Recipe
  1. Pluck the owl(bear), and then stuff it.
  2. Bake it for several hours, checking regularly.
  3. Jam the priest’s tongue into its beak. Serve whole.
  Effects
  Makes you a bit more put together, a bit more canny, a bit more aware. 
  15. Deathly Dish
  Ingredients
  1. Worm-spawn of a slumbering elder being (no carcass—just the 
  worms)
  2. A ghast’s belly-fat
  3. Meat, with the bones still in it
  Recipe
  1. Clean the belly, then fill it with water and hot stones.
  2. Boil your meat, keeping the bones in. Season as needed.
  3. About a half hour in, drop your worms into the brew. Make sure 
  the wriggling stops before you eat.
  Effects
  Makes you just a bit faster getting up out of your chair.
  16. Rattlesnake’s Pleasure
  Resistance to Poison
  Ingredients
  1. A wyvern’s gland
  2. Head of a poisonous great-toad (gold is the best)
  3. A live rattlesnake
  Recipe
  1. Hollow out the head, and fill it with water.
  2. Pour the Wyvern’s juices in, let them boil then cool.
  3. Drown the rattlesnake in the drink. Leave it in for one hour, 
  then eat.
  Effects
  Helps with all of the venoms and poisons out there in the world. 
  18. Infernal Delight
  Always know a lie when heard
  Ingredients
  1. The flank of a deceased fiend (ideally a Demon)
  2. Blood of a fire giant
  3. A lump of volcanic rock
  Recipe
  1. Get the prawns grilling on a fire built from the tree.
  2. Crush the scales as best you can; use magic if you have to.
  3. Scatter the scales over the prawns; serve on skewers. 
  Effects
  Lets you know a lie when spoken aloud, unless spoken by a true fiend.
  19. Cloudtop Crumble
  Resistance to damage from falls
  Ingredients
  1. The feathers of a eagle-feathered kith
  2. The spined tail of a manticore
  3. Flour from wheat grown on a mountainside
  Recipe
  1. Powder the feathers up finely, mix half with the flour.
  2. Hack up the manticore tail, fill in the crumble.
  3. Bake, then sprinkle the other half of the feathers on top.
  Effects
  Helps the memory and thinking, all sorts of good for puzzles and 
  games.
  20. Chilled Bone-Loaf
  Ingredients
  1. Tail of a winter wolf
  2. Yeti’s gizzard
  3. Assorted meats with the bones still on, for the loaf
  Recipe
  1. Dice the gizzard, mix well with the meats.
  2. Shave the tail, stuff it in with the loaf. Keep the fur.
  3. Bake the loaf, and sprinke the fur on top. 
  Effects
  Grants the ability to breathe murky swamp-water for a time.
  Resistance to Necrotic
  17. Shepherd Pie
  Ingredients
  1. Gnoll ears
  2. A homunculus eye
  3. A few pounds of flesh, taken from a shepherd (any kind of person 
  with a flock will do, but shepherds are leaner than clergy)
  Recipe
  1. Melt the homunculus eye over a low flame. Be sure to scoop the 
  pupil out first, or the ears will not stiffen up properly.
  2. Line a bowl with the ears and drizzle in the melted eye.
  3. Fill the ear-lined bowl to the brim with flesh. Smother in eye-melt.
  Effects
  Those who partake of the prepared dish share a psychic connection 
  for a time.
  Telephathy between those who eat it
  Resistance to Cold
  
  100
  MAGIC ITEMS
  APPENDIX IV:
  In this appendix, you will find descriptions of 20 items of power whose 
  specific effects and abilities are particularly suited for a game in the West 
  Marches. Their primary focus is in interacting with the wilderness, with 
  information and discovery, and with developing character through play; 
  these general ideas can also serve as a guidepost from which you can begin 
  to think about additional existing magic items you may want to include in 
  your game, or items you may want to create specifically for it.
   
  You may be surprised to see that none of the items in this section 
  are affixed with the +X bonuses to attack and damage rolls and that are 
  commonly found on magic items. This is by design; you should apply a 
  numeric bonus to an item for which it is appropriate as needed for your 
  specific game. In addition, when you insert these items into your game, 
  consider having them be made of one of the special crafting materials 
  detailed in Appendix V (page 103). 
  1. Bogstalker Boots
  A predator’s greatest weapon is patience.
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement), 2 lb.
  A pair of stained crocodile-leather boots, permanently dripping with 
  swamp mire. While attuned to the boots, you gain the following benefits:
  • You gain a swim speed of 40 ft., and can walk on the surface of water 
  at the same speed.
  • You can breathe underwater, and do not suffer penalties from 
  obscurement while underwater.
  • While in swamps or marshes, if you stay completely still for 1 minute, 
  you turn invisible until you move, attack, or cast a spell. If you turn 
  invisible while underwater, you can move freely until you emerge, 
  attack, or cast a spell.
  3. Boots of Leaping & Landing
  Equally good at both saving cats in trees and catching dragons by the tail mid-
  flight.
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement), 2 lb.
  A pair of tough, cracked leather boots, lined with threadbare wool. While 
  attuned to the boots, you gain the following benefits:
  • Your jump distance triples.
  • Whenever you take the dash action on your turn, you can choose to 
  gain a level of exhaustion and triple your jump distance again.
  • As a reaction, you can cast the feather fall spell targeting only yourself. 
  After you have cast feather fall in this way three times, and you cannot 
  do so again until you complete a long rest.
  6. Distant Ubiquity
  To the untrained eye, this beast is a junker. To the trained eye, however, this 
  junker is a beast.
  Magic weapon (handaxe), legendary (requires attunement), 2 lb.
  A simple handaxe forged from a single piece of rusted metal; each side of 
  the head has a twisting glyph carved into it. While attuned to the axe, you 
  gain the following benefits:
  • The axe’s thrown range increases to a short range of 60 ft. and a long 
  range of 180 ft.
  • As a bonus action, you can cause the axe to freeze in place. While 
  frozen, the axe will not move, even defying gravity. The axe can hold 
  up to 10,000 lb., and a DC 30 STR check can move it, but otherwise 
  nothing can make it move.
  • As a bonus action or reaction, you can unfreeze the axe, at which 
  point it will resume its previous movement, preserving inertia.
  5. Deadking’s Hammer
  Wield the might and skill of the ancient fire giant king-smiths.
  Magic weapon (any hammer), rare, weight varies.
  A gigantic hammer, forged from dark iron; giant runes are written along 
  the haft. The hammer provides the following benefits:
  • Any hit scored against an object or structure automatically becomes 
  a critical hit.
  • When you destroy one object of Large size or larger, you gain one 
  charge.
  • You can hold a maximum of ten charges.
  • You can expend one charge to cast knock without using a spell slot, or 
  five charges to cast fabricate without using a spell slot.
  • When you finish a long rest, any unspent charges are lost.
  2. Boots of Cartography
  Why wonder when you can wander?
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement), 2 lb.
  A pair of worn leather boots, lined with silken-soft fur. While attuned to the 
  boots, you gain the following benefits:
  • You ignore difficult terrain.
  • You have advantage on saving throws made to resist or avoid being 
  knocked prone, losing your footing, or being moved against your will.
  • You can use an action to learn which way is north, your current 
  elevation above or below sea level, and the number of days until the 
  next full moon. You can do this again after completing a short rest.
  • As an action, you can activate the Boots’ mark, which lasts for 24 
  hours or until activated again. While the mark is active, you always 
  know the precise distance and direction from yourself to the mark.
  4. Brewmother’s Apron
  Some think a spattering of viscera across the chest is a symbol of strength. 
  Seems more like a waste of shirts.
  Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement), 10 lb.
  A heavy cloth-and-leather apron, permanently discolored. While attuned 
  to the apron, you gain the following benefits:
  • The apron’s pockets can hold up to 100 lb. of flesh, meat, or body 
  parts, but the apron never weighs more than 10 lb.
  • Anything placed in the apron’s pockets takes twice as long to rot.
  • As an action, you can consume one body part weighing 10 lb. or more 
  inside your apron. For 10 minutes, you gain one of the following traits 
  of the creature from which the body part came:
   ◆ One of your ability scores is replaced with the creature’s score.
   ◆ You gain one of the creature’s senses.
   ◆ You gain one of the creature’s immunities or resistances.
   ◆ You can read, speak, and write one of the creature’s languages.
  • You cannot clean your hands of blood or gore.
  All of these treasures and more can be found in 
  a true dragon’s hoard. Even now, you piteous 
  wretches yearn and lust for the meager coppers, 
  squirreling them away like mewling goblins.  
  Imagine my vault: riches as glittering as these, 
  only ten-thousandfold. 
  
  101
  9. Hex-Dome Shield
  Precision dwarven engineering.
  Magic armor (shield), very rare (requires attunement), 8 lb.
  A weighty brass shield, forged into an elongated hexagon. Its geometric 
  device depicts a mountain beset by crashing storms. While attuned to the 
  shield, you gain the following benefits:
  • As an action, you can slam the shield into the ground, which creates a 
  15-ft. dome of shimmering golden hexagons. The dome can hold nine 
  medium creatures if packed tightly. Creatures, objects, and magical 
  effects cannot pass through the shield.
  • As a bonus action, you can lift the shield back up again, dissipating 
  the dome.
  • The dome has 100 HP, AC 15, and resistance to all non-magical 
  damage.
  • Once the dome has been destroyed or willfully dissipated, it cannot 
  be created again until you have taken a long rest.
  8. Gambeson of Gliding
  Sure, you look like some kind of overgrown squirrel, but you can also fly.
  Magic armor (leather), rare (requires attunement), 13 lb.
  A fitted leather gambeson, well-made and well-maintained. A fine layer of 
  glimmering mesh connects the sleeves of the jacket to the waist, and the 
  in-seam of the legs together. While attuned to the gambeson, you gain the 
  following benefits:
  • As a reaction while in the air, you can spread your arms to magically 
  glide. While gliding in this way, you fall only 10 feet per round, and 
  can move up to 60 feet laterally on your turn using your movement. 
  When you touch the ground, you stop gliding, but take no damage 
  from the fall.  You can use a reaction or bonus action to stop gliding. 
  If you bring your arms together or otherwise stop spreading them 
  apart, you will begin to fall.
  • As an action, you can magically launch yourself up to 120 feet in the 
  air. Once you launch yourself in this way, you cannot do so again until 
  you complete a short or long rest.
  7. Grappler’s Dagger
  There are one thousand and one things you can do with an ordinary knife—
  this knife can do one thousand and two.
  Magic weapon (dagger), very rare (requires attunement), 1 lb.
  A bright and shining dagger, wicked sharp. The hilt is wrapped in soft grey 
  cloth. While attuned to the dagger, you gain the following benefits:
  • When the dagger is not in your hand and is within 120 feet, you can 
  use a bonus action to cause silk rope to appear from the last free hand 
  that held it to the dagger. The rope is automatically attached to the 
  dagger, and is wrapped tightly around the hand.
  • When the rope is summoned, you can use a reaction or a bonus action 
  to cause the rope to tighten:
   ◆ If the dagger is simply loose, this causes it to return to the hand 
  holding the rope, whereupon the rope vanishes.
   ◆ If the dagger is embedded in a creature or object, either you are 
  pulled to it or it is pulled to you. If it weighs less than you do, it 
  is pulled 60 feet towards you; if you weigh less than it, you are 
  pulled 60 feet towards the object.
  12. Myriad Cloak
  Lost from another world, never to return.
  Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement), 3 lb.
  A shimmering, iridescent cloak, with every color on it somewhere. If you 
  spend too long looking at a particular spot on the cloak, it changes colors 
  within a flicker of light. Upon first seeing the cloak, you are struck with its 
  intense, wondrous beauty, and are filled with an intense desire to go on a 
  long journey. The inside of the robe is a simple grey silk, with a ten-pointed 
  star stitched along the back in golden thread. While attuned to the cloak, 
  you gain the following benefits:
  • As an action, you can teleport to a location you have previously been 
  to on your current plane of existence.
  • When you teleport, you can hold the hands of two other people. They 
  can each hold the hand of one other person, who can hold the hand of 
  one other person, and so on. Every person in this chain is teleported 
  with you.
  • Each time you teleport, there is a 5% chance per person being 
  teleported that you will all be teleported to a random location not on 
  your current plane of existence. For example, if you are teleporting 
  with two other people and yourself, there is a 15% chance of this 
  occurring.
  10. King’s Saviour
  A bodyguard like no other.
  Wondrous item, uncommon, 1 lb.
  A simple wooden spoon, with five holes cut in the main bowl of the spoon, 
  to allow liquid to strain through.
   
  If a container of liquid is stirred thrice clockwise and thrice 
  counterclockwise with the spoon, any poisons, toxins, or diseases are 
  removed from the liquid, rendering it safe to drink.
  11. Morgan’s Big Hat
  Prized accessory of Morgan Gaunt.
  Wondrous item, rare, 2 lb.
  A deep dusty blue witch’s hat with an exceedingly wide brim, reaching 
  nearly four feet in diameter. While you wear the hat, you gain the following 
  benefits:
  • You know the prestidigitation cantrip.
  • You can read any text or writing held underneath the brim of the hat, 
  regardless of language or available light sources.
  • You have advantage on saving throws against being blinded.
  • You will never get wet as a result of falling rain, snow, or other 
  precipitation, and neither will anything held under the hat’s brim.
  • One small item weighing 10 lb. or less can be placed in a very small 
  extra-dimensional pocket located in the cone of the hat; the hat never 
  weighs more than 2 lb. If you store an animal in the hat, it can breathe 
  and does not need to eat or drink while it remains in the hat.
  
  102
  18. Tome of Truth
  Absolute power necessitates absolute sacrifice.
  Wondrous item, legendary, 5 lb.
  A weighty tome wrapped in leather; a dozen yellow eyes slowly open and 
  close on the cover. The interior pages are blank.
   
  You can write a specific question in the Tome, close it, and then 
  re-open it: a truthful and complete answer will be written inside. When the 
  Tome is next closed, both question and answer will have vanished.
   
  After a year and a day has passed, you can write another question 
  and receive another answer. If you permanently sacrifice 1d6 HP off of your 
  maximum HP, you can reduce this waiting period to a week, until the next 
  question is asked, at which point it resets once more.
  20. Witch’s Strongpot
  Hot things hot, cold things cold, in things in, out things out.
  Wondrous item, rare, 25 lb.
  A small black iron cauldron with a lid, approximately 2 ft. in diameter; it 
  can hold about 15 gallons of liquid. Small runes and glyphs are etched along 
  the rim.
   
  The cauldron can hold any liquid in its interior without damage, 
  including otherwise-dangerous substances such as acid or lava. The 
  cauldron maintains the liquid’s temperature, but the outside is always cool 
  to the touch; when the lid is placed on the cauldron, no liquid can escape.
   
  If the cauldron is empty, you can spend 10 minutes circling 
  the rim of the cauldron with a stick to generate a musical tone. After 10 
  minutes, the cauldron casts lecanomancer’s tiny hut, but the hut’s walls are 
  always colored black, and it smells of soot inside. The hut is centered on the 
  cauldron, and ends if the cauldron is moved.
  14. Seer’s Blindfold
  Sight has made you blind. Open your true eyes. 
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement), 1 lb.
  A ratty, crusty strip of cloth, worn from years of use. While attuned to the 
  blindfold, you the following effects apply:
  • You are blind.
  • You gain blindsight to a range of 30 ft.
  • When you cast a divination spell that has a chance for failure after a 
  number of uses, such as augury or divination, you gain one bonus use 
  per day that does not count toward the spell’s cumulative chance for 
  failure.
  • When you finish a long rest, roll 1d20 and record the number rolled. 
  You can replace any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw made by 
  you or a creature that you can see with this foretelling roll. You must 
  choose to do so before the die is rolled.
  13. Ring of the Elder-Root Tree
  The Elder-Root Trees are now lost, but a few relics of theirs still endure.
  Magic ring, very rare (requires attunement), 1 lb.
  A twisted, gnarled ring, made of three strands of root woven together. As 
  you wear it, roots slowly begin to grow up your finger and onto your hand, 
  gently binding you to the ring over a course of weeks and months. While 
  attuned to the ring, you gain the following benefits:
  • You know the druidcraft cantrip.
  • You can speak and understand the language of beasts and plants.
  • Your skin takes on a polished wooden look and texture, and you are 
  permanently under the effects of the barkskin spell.
  • You can sense the distance and direction of bodies of water of at least 
  100 gallons within 1 mile of you.
  • If you sleep within 100 ft. of one of those bodies of water, you regain 
  all of your hit dice instead of half, you do not need to drink water the 
  next day, and you wake up slightly damp.
  15. Sixth Tower Breastplate
  When the great city fell, each of its towers were razed to the ground, one by 
  one. The sixth tower was the last to fall.
  Magic armor (breastplate), rare (requires attunement), 20 lb.
  A steel breastplate etched with the designs of a city wall, cracked and split 
  in a dozen places. While attuned to the breastplate, you gain the following 
  benefits:
  • When you reach 0 hitpoints, make a DC 10 Constitution saving 
  throw. On a success, you may immediately spend one hit die to regain 
  hitpoints; on a failure, you fall unconscious, as normal.
  • Each time you fall unconscious, the DC increases by 5. The DC resets 
  back to 10 after you complete a long rest.
  • You gain a scar each time you reach 0 hitpoints, rather than each 
  time you fall unconscious. Any scars you gain are particularly large, 
  prominent, and gruesome.
  19. Variable Staff
  Handy in just about every dangerous situation, and then some.
  Magic weapon, rare (requires attunement), 6 lb.
  A heavy wooden staff, wrapped in layered cloth; both ends are tipped with 
  metal. While attuned to this weapon, you gain the following benefits:
  • The staff has the Heavy, Reach, and Two-Handed properties.
  • The staff deals 1d10 damage; the damage type varies.
  • The staff has 5 charges; as a bonus action, you can do one or more of 
  the following effects (non-stacking), expending 1 charge per effect:
   ◆ Transform the head of the weapon into the head of an axe, 
  pike, glaive, mace, bardiche, bill, hook, scythe, or simple haft. 
  The damage type changes between bludgeoning, piercing, and 
  slashing accordingly.
   ◆ Cause your next hit to deal an extra 1d10 damage.
   ◆ Cause your next hit against an object or structure to count as an 
  automatic critical hit.
   ◆ Grant yourself +1 AC until the end of your next turn.
   ◆ Remove the Heavy and Two-Handed properties until the end 
  of your next turn.
   ◆ Extend the weapon’s reach to 15 ft. until the end of your next 
  turn.
  • The staff regains 1d4+1 charges after completing a long rest.
  16. Sworn Silence
  ...then say nothing at all.
  Magic weapon (any sword), rare (requires attunement), weight varies.
  A gleaming metal blade, with seven holes inset through the fuller. While 
  attuned to the sword, you the following effects apply:
  • The sword carries 7 charges. At dawn, it regains 1d6+1 charges.
  • When you make a saving throw against being charmed or other mind-
  altering effects, you can expend 1 charge to give yourself advantage 
  on the saving throw.
  • When you hit a target with the sword, you can expend one charge to 
  force the target to make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw; on a failure, 
  the target cannot speak. Casting greater restoration or similar ends 
  the effect.
  • You have advantage on checks made to determine if someone is telling 
  the truth, or otherwise hiding or avoiding the truth.
  • You cannot lie.
  17. Thewcarver
  From grave to table.
  Magic weapon (handaxe), uncommon (requires attunement), 2 lb.
  A large meat cleaver, stained and nicked from years of use. While attuned to 
  the cleaver, you gain the following benefits:
  • The cleaver can hold 3 charges. When you reduce an enemy to 0 HP, 
  you regain 1 charge.
  • When you hit a target, you can expend 1 charge to deal an additional 
  1d6 damage, and the target must make a DC 15 Strength saving throw. 
  On a failure, the target is knocked prone, and their speed is reduced 
  by 10 ft. for the next hour.
  • When you harvest a creature using the cleaver, you harvest twice as 
  quickly, gain twice as much, and have advantage on rolls to do so.
  Unfortunately, the Big Guy doesn’t give me much 
  magic, not after I accidentally severed all of old 
  Shikrak’s limbs with a wand one time. Oh, well.
  
  103
  CRAFTING MATERIALS
  This appendix contains a list of 23 crafting materials for use in your game. 
  These magical metals and innately powerful substances can be contorted 
  into armor, weapons, and other useful tools; when determining appropriate 
  loot to award your players, consider including weapons, armor, or tools 
  fashioned from these materials. You might even choose to allow your 
  players a chance to acquire the raw versions of these materials for use in 
  specific crafting recipes.
   
  There are three well-established magical metals that you may 
  have encountered in your games before:
  Silver
  Weapons made from or plated in silver ignore the damage resistances of 
  certain monsters. Additionally, a creature wearing armor forged from silver 
  cannot be possessed, such as by a ghost. 
  Mithril
  All objects made from mithril weigh half as much as their ordinary 
  counterparts. Heavy armor made from mithril does not cause the wearer 
  to suffer disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and does not impose 
  any penalties for sleeping in. 
  Adamantine
  And here are 20 additional metals and other materials that you have likely 
  not encountered before:
  1. Quicksilver
  A silvery metal that turns to liquid quickly easily, but has strange properties. 
  Alchemists call it hydrargyrum or mercury; it is believed to cause madness in 
  magicians, if used for too long.
  • When left in extreme heat for more than 10 minutes, all objects forged 
  from quicksilver will rapidly melt.
  • When left on a flat surface or in a pool of water, weapons made from 
  quicksilver will spin in place to point northwards, regardless of where 
  they are.
  • Armor made from quicksilver, due to its natural liquidity, only takes a 
  single action to don or doff.
  2. Electrum
  In some regions, this alloy of gold and silver is used as currency. Elsewhere, it 
  is known as eldergold or pale gold, and prized by princes and kings above all 
  others. Each culture uses electrum differently, just as no two alloys are quite 
  the same.
  • All objects made from electrum are highly reflective, and can be used 
  as a mirror. The reflection will be slightly discolored, but it is quite 
  clear regardless.
  • When dropped in a container of water, weapons made from electrum 
  will slowly purify it of disease. Over the course of an hour, an electrum 
  weapon can purify up to one gallon of water.
  • Creatures wearing electrum armor cannot be magically aged.
  3. Orichalcum
  Also called Atlantean iron or seasteel, orichalcum is mined from deep ocean 
  caverns, where light has not shined in thousands of years. It’s prized by aquatic 
  rulers of all kinds, and famously worn by storm giant prophet-kings.
  • Weapons made from orichalcum do not suffer disadvantage when 
  fighting underwater.
  • When a creature wearing orichalcum armor reaches zero hitpoints 
  while underwater, they begin rising to the surface at a rate of 30 ft. 
  per round.
  4. Thunderbolt Iron
  Known by many names—meteoric iron, sky iron, starmetal—thunderbolt iron 
  is mined from fallen meteorites. It cuts fast and light through the air, and is 
  claimed by lore-smiths to seek to return to the sky from whence it came.
  • Weapons forged from thunderbolt iron automatically gain the thrown 
  property, with a short range of 10 ft. and a long range of 20 ft. If the 
  weapon already has the thrown property, its short and long ranges 
  both increase by 10 ft.
  • A creature wearing armor made from thunderbolt iron suffers only 
  half damage from falling. 
  5. Wolfram
  A strange and rare metal, much-debated: alchemists refer to it as tungsten or 
  scheelite, while priests call it halo-iron or luminous steel. Regardless, wolfram 
  is highly conductive of light, and is closely connected to the cycles of night and 
  day.
  • When a light effect—such as the light spell—is applied to an object 
  made of wolfram, the radius of the light is doubled, and appears 
  almost blindingly bright. 
  • If held up to the light of the sun, a weapon made of wolfram can be 
  studied for one minute to learn the exact number of hours, minutes, 
  and seconds until sunset.
  • A creature wearing armor made of wolfram needs 2 fewer hours of 
  sleep than normal, and suffers no penalties for sleeping in it.
  APPENDIX V:
  • All objects made from adamantine weigh about 120% what their 
  ordinary counterparts; thus, an ordinary object that weighs 5 pounds 
  would, if made from adamantine, weigh 6 pounds. 
  • While wearing armor or wielding a shield made from adamantine, a 
  creature counts any critical hit against them as a regular hit instead.
  • Weapons made from adamantine score automatic critical hits when 
  attacking objects (but not creatures).
  So much finery, so many infinite combinations of 
  metal, jewels, and raw ego. Sometimes, in the late 
  hours of night, I take every delight in my hoard, 
  scatter them, and then re-arrange them just so. 
  Mark my words: without gold, you are nothing.
  
  104
  6. Stygian Iron
  Also called shadowsteel or hellmetal, Stygian iron is a composite metal of 
  the lower planes, tempered in water from the River Styx. It is wielded most 
  commonly by devils and demons, but is also favored by cultists, heretics, and 
  blackguards.
  • When in darkness, Stygian iron turns invisible; unless it is in direct 
  light, it is impossible to see. 
  • When in light, Stygian iron casts no shadow.
  7. Ignan Brass
  Forged in the conflagratory smithies of the Elemental Plane of Fire, Ignan 
  brass is eternally hot to the touch, and always glimmers a brilliant red-yellow. 
  On the material plane, it’s also sometimes called king’s metal or sunsteel. 
  • All objects made from Ignan brass glow with dim light for a radius 
  of 5 ft.
  • Anyone wielding a weapon made from Ignan brass can use an action 
  to strike it with another piece of metal to instantly start a small fire, 
  as with a tinderbox.
  • A creature wearing armor made from Ignan brass ignores the effects 
  of extreme cold.
  8. Terran Quartz
  Collected from the fathomless core of the Elemental Plane of Earth, Terran 
  quartz is dense and slightly translucent. Geomancers call it krystallos or divine 
  crystal, and prize it for the construction of magical devices and artifacts.
  • All damage dealt by weapons made from Terran quartz is non-lethal.
  • A creature wearing armor made from Terran quartz has advantage on 
  ability checks and saving throws made to resist being knocked prone 
  or moved against the wearer’s will, as well as ability checks and attack 
  rolls made to knock prone or move an enemy against their will.
  9. Sunken Ice
  At the existential fringes, the Elemental Plane of Water turns bitter cold, and 
  freezes solid. It is here that sunken ice can be chipped away, sliver by sliver, 
  until it can be warmed and molded into something new. On the material 
  planes, it is sometimes called farfrost or brumal crystal, and is believed to be 
  an ill omen. 
  • A creature wielding a weapon made form or coated in sunken ice 
  cannot be disarmed of the weapon against their will.
  • When wearing armor made from or coated in sunken ice, a creature 
  ignores the effects of frigid water, and will never break or fall through 
  thin ice.
  • Additionally, sharp, spiky objects—such as pitons—that are made 
  from sunken ice, once hammered or thrust into place, will never 
  come loose.
  10. Seraphite
  Sometimes known as angelic bronze or heavensteel, Seraphite is the metal 
  forged by the upper planes. It is bright and pure, and cannot be made into 
  alloys or composites of any kind. When gods bestow weapons, they are crafted 
  from Seraphite.
  • When dealing damage to undead or fiends, Seraphite weapons count 
  as dealing radiant damage.
  • A creature wearing Seraphite armor has advantage on death saving 
  throws.
  • Additionally, when a creature that is carrying Seraphite of any kind—
  such as weapons, armor, jewelry, or even just a trinket—dies, their 
  soul will never go to the lower planes. At worst, it will return to the 
  Wheel and begin anew.
  11. Desecrated Bone
  Harvested from the cadavers of powerful undead, desecrated bone is weird 
  and accursed, known for permanently carrying the scent of rot. It’s prized by 
  necromancers, who refer to collections of it as “pale ossuaries,” and use it for 
  profane rituals.
  • Meat hunted or harvested with a weapon carved from desecrated 
  bone takes twice as long to rot as normal, but always tastes as if it has 
  just gone bad—even if perfectly healthy and fresh.
  • A creature that wears armor carved from desecrated bone only needs 
  half as much food and water as normal to survive, but they will grow 
  thin and gaunt nonetheless.
  12. Lycanthrope Leather
  Tanned were-hide, lycanthrope leather shares some of legendary hardiness of 
  were-beasts. Properly treating it takes years of experience and strange mutative 
  magics, but tanners will be paid handsomely for their work.
  • A creature wearing armor or clothing made of lycanthrope leather 
  can walk an extra two hours per day without being required to make 
  saving throws against exhaustion.
  • Additionally, lycanthrope leather will never tear, rip, snap, wear 
  down, or otherwise break or become damaged over time. It can be cut 
  with a silver weapon, but will never simply break of its own accord.
  13. Sylvan Bark
  Either hatefully harvested by lumberers or freely given by a dryad, Sylvan bark 
  is the bark of a sacred Fae tree. Druids hold it dear, as do all faeries; it is 
  traditionally worn by Fae nobility at festivals of the passing of the seasons.
  • A creature wearing armor made from Sylvan bark can speak to and 
  understand the language of wild animals and plants.
  • Chests, boxes, and containers made form Sylvan bark cannot be 
  broken open or damaged by any worked tool, such as a lockpick or 
  axe. Unworked objects, however, like claws or teeth, can still deal it 
  harm.
  
  105
  17. Nimbus Silk
  Spun from wind-worms farmed on the drifting sky-cities of the Elemental 
  Plane of Air, nimbus silk is prized far and wide for its mysterious properties. 
  It’s known across the planes by many names—cloth-o’-the-cloud, thunder-
  thread, typhoon rope, and more—but is universally sought after as a luxury.
  • Any length of nimbus silk will vibrate when a storm will occur in the 
  next 8 hours.
  • Weapons made from or strung with nimbus silk, such as a sling or 
  longbow, ignore the effects of high winds, and can make attacks at 
  their long range without suffering disadvantage.
  • Nimbus silk rope is climbed at double the normal climbing speed.
  • At their wielder’s choosing, whips made from nimbus silk can be 
  completely silent.
  18. Dryftwood
  The Astral Sea collects a great deal of detritus; whenever ordinary wood lands 
  in its silver waves, the wood is slowly transformed to dryftwood. Dryftwood 
  is mostly ordinary wood, but can contain huge amounts of water, stored 
  seemingly nowhere.
  • When placed in water, an object made of dryftwood slowly absorbs 
  the water, at a rate of 1 gallon per hour. Dryftwood can hold a number 
  of gallons equal to its weight without increasing its weight at all.
  • As an action, a creature can release all of the held water at once, which 
  sprays in every direction.
  19. Clockwork
  Created by the greatest manufactories of the Plane of Law, clockwork 
  weapons and armor are made of thousands of spinning gears, hissing pistons, 
  and churning engines. They, like their creators, are unceasingly tireless and 
  perfectly engineered. 
  • Clockwork weapons and armor take 100 years and a day to create, and 
  can never be repaired.
  • An attacker wielding a clockwork weapon never makes attack rolls: 
  instead, they add their to-hit modifier to 10, and use that as the attack 
  roll.
  • When any creature attacks a creature wearing clockwork armor, the 
  attacker does not make an attack roll: instead they add their to-hit 
  modifier to 10, and use that as the attack roll.
  20. Metamorphic Matter
  Metamorphic matter, when it appears, usually takes the form of an undulating, 
  pulsing morass. It’s literally impossible to work with, and takes random forms 
  when it materializes. On the occasions it manifests as useful equipment, it is 
  deeply strange and independent, and takes no accounting of its wielder or 
  wearer.
  • Weapons and armor of metamorphic matter cannot be created or 
  destroyed, nor can they be altered in any intentional way.
  • When an attacker wielding a weapon of metamorphic matter makes 
  an attack roll, they hit if the result is even, and miss if the result is odd.
  • When a creature attacks a creature wearing armor made of 
  metamorphic matter, they hit if the result of their attack roll is even, 
  and miss if the result is odd.
  15. Titanium
  Sometimes called giant’s steel or bright-iron, titanium is extremely durable, 
  and prized for making arms and armor. It is said to be made from the body of 
  a fallen god, though no one knows for sure whether this is true.
  • When a titanium weapon scores a critical hit, it deals an additional 
  1d4 damage on top of the ordinary critical damage.
  • Creatures wearing armor made from titanium have advantage on 
  Strength checks made to push, pull, or lift heavy objects.
  • The DC to break or escape from manacles, chain, and restraints made 
  from titanium is raised by 10.
  16. Obsidian
  Not strictly a metal, but rather a black glass, made in extremely high heat. For 
  this reason, it’s sometimes known as dragonglass or vulcan-stone, and is prized 
  by sorcerers, occultists, and ancients. 
  • When placed in a small fire, such as a torch, campfire, or candle, an 
  obsidian object instantly snuffs it.
  • Weapons edged with or made from obsidian deal only piercing or 
  slashing damage. Any damage dealt by obsidian weapons counts as 
  magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance.
  • A creature wearing armor lined with or made from obsidian ignores 
  the effects of extreme heat.
  14. Demigel
  Nobody really knows where demigel comes from. It’s a gelatinous, slimy, sticky 
  material, and is clearly magically-imbued, but its precise origins are a mystery. 
  It goes by different names—alchemical ooze, planar slime, starjuice—but 
  scholars are quite uncertain of exactly what demigel is.
  • Weapons covered with or made from demigel can always be drawn or 
  stowed as a free action.
  • Armor covered with demigel allows the wearer to fit through spaces 
  one size smaller than them without suffering any penalties.
  • Any weapon, armor, or tool coated in demigel protects the item from 
  any monster effects that would permanently damage the item, such as 
  from rust monsters or black puddings.
  
  106
  OSR CONVERSION
  APPENDIX VI:
  While the Enchiridion is written for Fifth Edition, it is still broadly 
  compatible with most OSR systems. The core ideas, advice, and theory are 
  all system-neutral, so this section covers our tips and advice on converting 
  the finer details.
   
  This section is written specifically for an OSR table that wants to 
  convert the Fifth Edition mechanics here; if you’re running Fifth Edition, 
  everything here should work as-written, with no changes needed.
   
  While there are many, many OSR systems, this appendix is 
  written with some of the more popular ones in mind:
  • David Black’s The Black Hack
  • Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics
  • Tom Moldvay’s Basic Dungeons & Dragons
  • Ben & Jessica Dutter’s Five Torches Deep
  • Arnold Kemp’s Goblin Laws of Gaming
  • Ben Milton’s Knave
  • Daniel Proctor’s Labyrinth Lord
  • Gavin Norman’s Old School Essentials
  • Stuart Marshall’s OSRIC
  There are, certainly, many more OSR systems, and many more that will 
  work with the Enchiridion. The systems listed are simply ones that are 
  both popular and easily convertable; others may take more tweaks and 
  adjustments to be compatible.
  HITPOINTS & LETHALITY
  Player characters in Fifth Edition tend to have quite a lot of HP, relative 
  to their OSR counterparts. Even weak characters in Fifth Edition will still 
  be about earning 5 HP per level, where strong characters might well earn 
  10 HP or more per level. Because of this, Fifth Edition characters can take 
  quite a beating and still survive; player character death varies by table, but 
  is far less universal than it is at an OSR table.
   
  Because of this, you might find that the damage quantities from 
  hazards and other dangers are quite high; if a player character at an OSR 
  table gets hit with, say, an avalanche, they are very likely to die. On the 
  one hand, this might be too much, and you should consider reducing the 
  damage; on the other, a high level of lethality is a staple at many OSR tables, 
  and thus very dangerous hazards are to be embraced.
  The Old School Renaissance
  If you’ve never heard of the Old School Renaissance (sometimes called the 
  Old School Revival), shortened to the OSR, here is a very brief explanation.
   
  The OSR is a movement inside the broader fantasy RPG 
  community to return to what is perceived as the gameplay values of old-
  school games, the ones played primarily in the ‘80s. These values typically, 
  although not always, emphasize:
  • Player ingenuity and creative problem-solving
  • High lethality and a lack of strictly-balanced tactics
  • Sandbox style play using exploration and random generation
  • A lack of pre-written plot or storyline
  • Simpler, less mechanics-heavy gameplay and characters
  • A DIY aesthetic and mindset
  Obviously, this is not all that the OSR is about, and many of the most 
  popular systems and adventures break from one or more of those values.
   
  If you want to explore the OSR, we encourage you to read 
  through the systems we listed above, as well as some of the more popular 
  adventures, settings, and supplements. OSR content is designed to be 
  hackable; many books are not written with one specific system or ruleset 
  in mind, but rather with a sort of guiding ethos and rough outline which 
  can be adapted to other systems. 
   
  Because of the strong DIY streak in the OSR, much of the best 
  content can be found in media with far lower production values than might 
  be found in traditional RPGs: blog posts, zines, print-and-plays, shared 
  files, or even stranger formats. The advantage to playing in the OSR style 
  is that you always can and should be adjusting things to suit your table. 
  In Fifth Edition, deviating from rules-as-written is seen as something to 
  be avoided; in the OSR, playing at a table that wasn’t hacking their game 
  would be seen as quite strange.
   
  If you want to branch further afield from Fifth Edition, either 
  because you want something different or you because you like the old-
  school ethos or because you (justifiably) don’t like Fifth Edition’s creators, 
  the OSR might be for you.
  
  107
  ABILITY MODIFIERS 
  In Fifth Edition, an ability score bonus of +3 or higher is relatively common; 
  compounded with skills and proficiency bonuses, it’s likely that at Level 1, 
  a character will have a +5 bonus or higher in their specific areas of talent. By 
  Level 5, this will likely have increased to around +7; by level 10, it will likely 
  be +9; by level 20, it might be +11. Certain classes, like rogues and bards, 
  have expertise, which increases their bonuses further: a rogue having +10 
  to sneaking by level 5 is relatively common.
   
  Accordingly, the DCs for various checks—like navigation and 
  foraging—might seem high at first glance, but succeeding at even a DC 18 
  check is not-uncommon, particularly if characters have advantage. 
   
  For your OSR game, where ability scores and modifiers are 
  much lower, we might recommend reducing the DCs by roughly 30%. Flat 
  open grassland, for example, might have a navigation DC of 7 or 8, while 
  deep mountains might have a DC of 13 or 14. This is obviously flexible, and 
  you should adjust these DCs, along with all other DCs, accordingly. Think 
  through the broad levels of difficulty, and decide, at a baseline, how likely 
  you want success for each to be.
  & DIFFICULTY CLASSES
  MONSTERS
  While monsters in Fifth Edition do have hit dice, they are not used in the 
  typical sense: the hit dice vary in size based on the monster’s size, the 
  quantity of hit dice grows variably and rapidly, and hit dice do not affect to-
  hit rolls or XP earned. Accordingly, monsters in Fifth Edition tend to have 
  very high HP; we recommend roughly halving them to fit into a standard 
  OSR bestiary. 
   
  In addition to HP and hit dice, however, monsters in Fifth 
  Edition also have another rating to determine their overall power: 
  Challenge Rating, or CR. This is ordinarily meant to be used as a GM-facing 
  tool for building balanced encounters—with mixed success—but it can be 
  used almost identically as hit dice would be ordinarily in an OSR game, to 
  determine HP, to-hit rolls, and XP earned. 
   
  Unlike HP, monsters’ ACs are not dramatically higher than they 
  would be in most OSR systems; reduce them if you like, but they don’t 
  need to be lowered to be functional.
   
  On the flipside, monsters do tend to have high to-hit bonuses 
  relative to normal OSR player AC; even very low-level monsters will often 
  have a +3 or +4 to-hit. We recommend just using a monster’s (modified 
  from stock Fifth Edition) hit dice as its to-hit bonus, as is common OSR 
  practice. 
   
  Monster damage is slightly higher in Fifth Edition, but not much 
  more so; feel free to keep it or change it. Most of the additional effects that 
  monsters deal out can be used as-is from Fifth Edition with no changes.
  SAVING THROWS
  In Fifth Edition, saving throws function very similarly to ability checks: 
  they use the main six ability scores, but additional bonuses are sometimes 
  applied, based on a character’s class and items. Rather than use the specific 
  saves common to OSR systems, such as a save vs. magic wand or save vs. 
  dragon breath, Fifth Edition simply refers to Intelligence saving throws or 
  Dexterity saving throws.
   
  There is, unfortunately, no certain way to translate Fifth 
  Edition’s saving throws to the five commonly used in OSR systems. 
  There are some commonalities—save vs. paralysis usually translates into a 
  Constitution save, for example—but they are not guaranteed or reliable. 
  Because of this, we recommend that you decide which save to apply at the 
  table, based on the contextual narrative of the moment: look at the source 
  of the save, what’s forcing a player to roll, and make your best judgement 
  based on the situation at hand.
  CARRY WEIGHT
  In Fifth Edition, carry weight is tracked by the pound; every item has a 
  weight listed, and characters can carry a total of 5 × their Strength score 
  before becoming encumbered. Thus, a weak character could carry about 40 
  lb. of gear, while a strong character could carry about 80 lb. of gear. 
   
  If your OSR system uses inventory slots, we recommend a 
  rough ratio of 1 inventory slot being equivalent to roughly 5 lbs. As always, 
  you should use common sense and your good judgement to determine how 
  much a character can carry.
  CONDITIONS & EXHAUSTION
  Fifth Edition has a number of conditions that can be applied to a creature, 
  such as paralyzed or afraid. These can be applied as the Fifth Edition rules 
  describe them directly, or you can use whatever your system supplies, or 
  you can simply use your good judgement and apply what seems right: all 
  will work well.
   
  Exhaustion in Fifth Edition can be roughly equated to an 
  additional HP track: as a character suffers levels of exhaustion, they suffer 
  penalties and grow weaker, and eventually die. These are often applied 
  from non-damage sources, such as the weather or travelling too long, and 
  affect high- and low-level characters equally. We strongly encourage you 
  to use exhaustion, or a very similar system in your game; Fifth Edition’s 
  exhaustion rules are easily applicable to most OSR systems with no changes.
   
  A list of conditions and exhaustion effects can be found in 
  Appendix VII, on page 108.
  Fear not: no matter how or where we find 
  each other, I shall be your doom. 
  
  108
  CONDITIONS & EXHAUSTION
  APPENDIX VII:
  • A blinded creature can’t see and automatically fails any ability check 
  that requires sight.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature’s 
  attack rolls have disadvantage.
  Blinded
  • A charmed creature can’t attack the charmer or target the charmer 
  with harmful abilities or magical effects.
  • The charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially 
  with the creature.
  Charmed
  • A deafened creature can’t hear and automatically fails any ability 
  check that requires hearing.
  Deafened
  • A frightened creature has disadvantage on ability checks and attack 
  rolls while the source of its fear is within line of sight.
  • The creature can’t willingly move closer to the source of its fear.
  Frightened
  • A grappled creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any 
  bonus to its speed.
  • The condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated (see the condition).
  • The condition also ends if an effect removes the grappled creature 
  from the reach of the grappler or grappling effect, such as when a 
  creature is hurled away by the thunderwave spell.
  Grappled
  • An incapacitated creature can’t take actions or reactions.
  Incapacitated
  • An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic 
  or a special sense. For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily 
  obscured. The creature’s location can be detected by any noise it 
  makes or any tracks it leaves.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature’s 
  attack rolls have advantage.
  Invisible
  • A paralyzed creature is incapacitated (see the condition) and can’t 
  move or speak.
  • The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have advantage
  • Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 
  5 feet of the creature.
  Paralyzed
  • A petrified creature is transformed, along with any nonmagical object 
  it is wearing or carrying, into a solid inanimate substance (usually 
  stone). Its weight increases by a factor of ten, and it ceases aging.
  • The creature is incapacitated (see the condition), can’t move or 
  speak, and is unaware of its surroundings.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
  • The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
  • The creature has resistance to all damage.
  • The creature is immune to poison and disease, although a poison or 
  disease already in its system is suspended, not neutralized.
  Petrified
  • A poisoned creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability 
  checks.
  Poisoned
  • A prone creature’s only movement option is to crawl, unless it stands 
  up and thereby ends the condition.
  • The creature has disadvantage on attack rolls.
  • An attack roll against the creature has advantage if the attacker is within 
  5 feet of the creature. Otherwise, the attack roll has disadvantage.
  Prone
  • A restrained creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any 
  bonus to its speed.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature’s 
  attack rolls have disadvantage.
  • The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
  Restrained
  • A stunned creature is incapacitated (see the condition), can’t move, 
  and can speak only falteringly.
  • The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
  Stunned
  • An unconscious creature is incapacitated (see the condition), can’t 
  move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings
  • The creature drops whatever it’s holding and falls prone.
  • The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
  • Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 
  5 feet of the creature.
  Unconscious
  Some special abilities and environmental hazards, such as starvation and 
  the long- term effects of freezing or scorching temperatures, can lead to a 
  special condition called exhaustion. Exhaustion is measured in six levels. 
  An effect can give a creature one or more levels of exhaustion, as specified 
  in the effect’s description.
  EXHAUSTION
  Level
  Effect
  1
  Disadvantage on ability checks
  2
  Speed halved
  3
  Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws
  4
  Hit point maximum halved
  5
  Speed reduced to 0
  6
  Death
  Exhaustion Effects
  If an already exhausted creature suffers another effect that causes 
  exhaustion, its current level of exhaustion increases by the amount specified 
  in the effect’s description. A creature suffers the effect of its current level 
  of exhaustion as well as all lower levels. For example, a creature suffering 
  level 2 exhaustion has its speed halved and has disadvantage on ability 
  checks. An effect that removes exhaustion reduces its level as specified in 
  the effect’s description, with all exhaustion effects ending if a creature’s 
  exhaustion level is reduced below 1. Finishing a long rest reduces a 
  creature’s exhaustion level by 1, provided that the creature has also ingested 
  some food and drink.
  
  109
  TABLES
  APPENDIX VIII:
  Pace
  Distance per Hour
  Distance per Watch
  Fast
  4 miles
  16 miles
  Normal
  3 miles
  12 miles
  Slow
  2 miles
  8 miles
  Travel Pace
  Condition
  DC
  Soft surface, such as mud
  10
  Dirt or grass
  15
  Bare stone
  20
  Each day since the creature has passed
  +5
  Creature left a trail, such as blood 
  -5
  Tracker is travelling at a slow pace
  -5
  Tracker is travelling at a fast pace
  +5
  Tracking Difficulty
  1d12
  New Direction
  1-4
  Diagonally to the left
  5-8
  Straight ahead
  9-12
  Diagonally to the right
  Slightly Lost
  1d12
  New Direction
  1-2
  Directly left
  3-5
  Diagonally to the left
  6-7
  Straight ahead
  8-10
  Diagonally to the right
  11-12
  Directly right
  Significantly Lost
  Clear Skies
  Light Precip.
  Heavy Precip.
  Clear Skies
  1-16
  17-19
  20
  Light 
  Precipitation
  1-9
  10-17
  18-20
  Heavy
  Precipitation
  1-6
  7-13
  14-20
  Precipitation
  No Wind
  Low Winds
  High Winds
  No Wind
  1-14
  15-18
  19-20
  Low Winds
  1-10
  11-17
  18-20
  High Winds
  1-8
  9-14
  15-20
  Wind Speeds
  Clear Skies
  • No additional effects.
  Light Rain
  • Disadvantage on ability checks to climb or scale 
  objects and ability checks made to maintain 
  balance or keep one’s footing.
  Light Snow
  • The area becomes lightly obscured.
  • Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to 
  track creatures.
  Heavy Rain
  • Disadvantage on ability checks made to climb or 
  scale objects and ability checks made to maintain 
  balance or keep one’s footing.
  • The area becomes lightly obscured.
  • Open flames are extinguished.
  • Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks 
  relying on hearing or scent.
  • Disadvantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to 
  track creatures.
  • Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to forage 
  for water.
  Heavy Snow
  • The area becomes lightly obscured.
  • Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track 
  creatures.
  • The area becomes difficult terrain.
  • Wisdom (Survival) checks to forage for water 
  automatically succeed. 
  Precipitation Types
  No Wind
  • No additional effects.
  Low Winds
  • Clears light fog, smoke, or fumes.
  High Winds
  • Disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks.
  • Clears all fog, smoke, or fumes.
  • Extinguishes open flames.
  • Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks 
  relying on hearing.
  • Medium and smaller creatures with a fly speed 
  must return to the ground at the end of their turn, 
  or fall. Creatures with a hover speed have their 
  speed halved.
  Storm
  • The area becomes heavily obscured.
  • The area becomes difficult terrain.
  Storm Conditions
  TRAVEL & NAVIGATION
  Environment
  Travel Speed
  Food DC
  Water DC
  Navig. DC
  Arctic
  No effect
  15
  13
  10
  Coastal
  ½ speed
  10
  15
  13
  Desert
  No effect
  18
  20
  13
  Forest
  ½ speed
  10
  10
  15
  Grassland
  No effect
  10
  13
  10
  Hills
  ½ speed
  13
  10
  15
  Mountains
  ¼ speed
  15
  15
  18
  Swamp
  ¼ speed
  13
  10
  18
  Underground
  ½ speed
  18
  18
  18
  Urban
  ½ speed
  15
  13
  13
  Wasteland
  No effect
  20
  20
  10
  Environments
  WEATHER
  If you ever get really lost, just 
  walk towards where the sun rises—
  eventually, you’ll hit the Empire!
  
  110
  Source of Water
  DC
  Puddle or Plant
  10
  Swamp or Brackish
  20
  Salt Water
  30
  Water Cleanliness
  Source of Food
  DC
  Raw Meat
  10
  Rotten Meat or Dairy
  25
  Rotten Food (grains, fruit, vegetables, etc.)
  20
  Food Cleanliness
  Modifier
  DC
  Default
  10
  Creatures with a climbing speed
  +2
  Creatures with a flying speed
  +5
  Creatures with a swimming speed
  +5
  Creatures with a bonus to Dexterity (Stealth)
  +creature’s 
  stealth bonus
  Creatures smaller than medium
  +2 per size 
  smaller
  Creatures larger than medium
  -2 per size 
  larger
  Creatures rare or small in number
  +5
  Creatures common or large in number
  -5
  Survey DC Modifiers
  Modifier
  Base Units of Material
  Tiny
  1
  Small
  1
  Medium
  2
  Large
  3
  Huge
  4
  Gargantuan
  5
  Harvestable Parts by Size
  Percentage of Max Units of Material
  DC
  0%
  0
  20%
  5
  40%
  10
  60%
  15
  80%
  20
  100%
  25
  Harvest DC
  d20
  Town
  1
  Shipwreck of a prison boat.
  2
  Imperial colony or military outpost.
  3
  Industrial boom town, where the Marches’ natural resources are 
  gathered.
  4
  Settlement built around a mysterious magical beacon.
  5
  Temple dedicated to long-dead gods.
  6
  Camp within a sacred forest grove.
  7
  Hamlet built into a monstrous landmark, such as a massive 
  footprint or ancient skeleton.
  8
  Remote magical research station.
  9
  Large cave in the side of coastal bluffs.
  10
  Settlement constructed around natural hot springs.
  11
  Ruins of a once-great fortress.
  12
  Wagon train now permanently in place. 
  13
  Underground network of tunnels and shafts.
  14
  Waterborne web of rickety ships and rafts.
  15
  Grand, ramshackle manor, all ancient halls and forgotten wings.
  16
  Village built on the remains of an overgrown graveyard.
  17
  Enclave built around a huge otherworldly rock.
  18
  Camp in a high mountain pass.
  19
  Small pocket dimension beneath the roots of a great tree.
  20
  A single decrepit inn.
  Town Types
  d20
  Building
  1
  Bunkroom, dormitory, or barracks.
  2
  Smithy or armory.
  3
  Larder, storehouse, or granary.
  4
  Tanner, leatherworker, or furrier.
  5
  Saloon, taproom, or bar.
  6
  Tavern, mess hall, or canteen.
  7
  Tailor, mercer, or cobbler.
  8
  Cooper, carpenter, or woodworking shop.
  9
  Masonry, roofer’s shop, construction yard.
  10
  General store.
  11
  Butcher, fishmonger, or bakery.
  12
  Medical ward, doctor’s office, or barbershop.
  13
  Church, shrine, or temple.
  14
  Library, scribery, or bookseller’s.
  15
  Town well, reservoir, or aquifer.
  16
  Docks or stables.
  17
  Alchemy shop or apothecary.
  18
  Magic or curio shop.
  19
  Communal gardens or green.
  20
  Stone wall or wooden palisade.
  Town Buildings
  Monster CR
  Material Tier
  1–4
  Common
  5–10
  Uncommon
  11–17
  Rare
  18-23
  Very Rare
  24-30
  Legendary
  Material Tier by Challenge Rating
  SURVIVAL & HUNTING
  THE TOWN
  Stone buildings are my favorite to dissolve 
  into slag, I think, just because they’re so 
  strong normally. Then metal, then wood, then 
  thatch. Thatch just doesn’t melt properly.
  
  111
  d10
  Landform
  1
  Bluffs, extreme cliffs, or a chasm.
  2
  Massive mountain peak.
  3
  Volcano.
  4
  Huge tunnel or pit.
  5
  Enormous tree.
  6
  Web of lakes and streams.
  7
  Ruined fortress.
  8
  Ancient road, bridge, or stairs.
  9
  Faction stronghold.
  10
  Huge river or waterfall.
  Landforms and Structures
  REGION BUILDING
  d10
  Monster
  1
  A great sentient tree, slowly drifting across the world.
  2
  A dragon turtle large enough to be mistaken for an island itself.
  3
  An undersea leviathan or kraken.
  4
  A three-headed purple worm.
  5
  A long-dead tyrant, brought to life through profane ritual.
  6
  A conclave of many-eyed deep ones.
  7
  A demon lord seated atop a throne of contempt.
  8
  An avenging angel of flame and light.
  9
  A mechanical colossus the size of a mountain.
  10
  The tarrasque itself.
  Legendary Monsters
  d20
  Modifier
  1
  Anyone who spends the night in the region is aged magically by 
  1 year.
  2
  Every few hours, sudden lightning strikes near the party
  3
  Weather ranging into extreme heat or extreme cold in sudden 
  shifts.
  4
  A ghostly whispering suffuses the region; anyone there is unable 
  to escape it.
  5
  Fey magic abounds, meaning there is a small chance travellers 
  will be transported elsewhere.
  6
  As night falls, the quantity of monsters increases threefold.
  7
  Pockets of quicksand dot the region, sometimes obvious and 
  sometimes hidden.
  8
  Rockslides and avalanches are very common.
  9
  Misleading waystones and road-signs abound.
  10
  Any food consumed is unsatisfying; hair and nails grow at a 
  rapid rate.
  11
  Unease and discomfort suffuse the area; relaxation is impossible.
  12
  Murders of crows follow travellers, marking them for unfriendly 
  eyes.
  13
  Unending storms and fell weather wrack the region.
  14
  Each morning, there is a high chance heavy fog has rolled in 
  overnight.
  15
  Geysers burst through the earth often, and in unpredictable 
  locations.
  16
  Any blood spilt quickly draws in ravenous beasts.
  17
  Flash floods sweep through the regions irregularly. 
  18
  Any metal left in the region overnight quickly begins to rust and 
  decay.
  19
  The region is riddled with cliffs, gorges, and gullies, slowing 
  travel.
  20
  Volcanic eruptions alter the terrain near-constantly.
  Region Modifiers
  d6
  Climates
  d6
  Climates
  1
  Tropical; hot and wet
  4
  Temperate; cool and wet
  2
  Subtropical; warm and wet
  5
  Subarctic; cool and dry
  3
  Arid; warm and dry
  6
  Arctic; cold and dry
  Climates
  My cousin Klagix went exploring out into the 
  Marches, once, and we never saw her again. I 
  do sometimes wonder what happened to her, out 
  there. Maybe we oughtta go looking...
  Hazard Occurrence Chance by Environment
  Name
  Coast
  Desert
  Forest
  Grassla.
  Hills
  Mtns.
  Swamp
  Tundra
  Undergr.
  Urban
  Wastela.
  Avalanches
  5%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  20%
  75%
  0%
  30%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  Extreme Heat
  15%
  95%
  5%
  20%
  10%
  5%
  25%
  0%
  40%
  5%
  50%
  Extreme Cold
  15%
  30%
  20%
  20%
  30%
  60%
  5%
  95%
  20%
  10%
  50%
  Extreme Storms
  50%
  5%
  10%
  10%
  15%
  20%
  15%
  25%
  0%
  5%
  25%
  Frigid Water
  25%
  0%
  10%
  5%
  5%
  10%
  5%
  95%
  20%
  5%
  50%
  Fog
  40%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  20%
  10%
  20%
  0%
  10%
  30%
  Geysers
  10%
  5%
  5%
  5%
  10%
  15%
  5%
  5%
  10%
  5%
  10%
  Lava
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  0%
  15%
  0%
  5%
  Quicksand
  10%
  10%
  10%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  20%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  20%
  Rockslides
  10%
  0%
  5%
  0%
  20%
  40%
  5%
  5%
  60%
  10%
  10%
  Sandstorms
  5%
  30%
  0%
  10%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  0%
  15%
  Slippery Ice
  15%
  0%
  10%
  20%
  25%
  30%
  5%
  90%
  10%
  10%
  20%
  Thin Ice
  5%
  0%
  15%
  10%
  15%
  20%
  10%
  20%
  10%
  5%
  10%
  
  112
  Encounter Chance Conditions
  Condition
  % Chance Mod.
  Default
  10%
  Dangerous region
  Up to +20%
  Safe region
  Up to -10%
  Night
  +10%
  Light rain or snow
  -10%
  Heavy rain or snow
  -15%
  Storm
  -20%
  Fresh meat
  +5%
  Obvious trail
  +10%
  Bright light
  +15%
  Loud noise
  +10%
  Hidden camp
  -10%
  Proximity to hostiles
  Up to +20%
  Magical effects
  Up to +/-30%
  d12
  Encounter
  1
  5 + 1d3 crocodiles, sitting on the surface of the water like so 
  many dead logs.
  2
  1d2 giant scorpions, scuttling amongst the twisted trees.
  3
  1 + 1d2 wills-o’-the-wisp, hovering and flashing in the distance.
  4
  1 + 1d2 swarms of venomous snakes, slithering out from the 
  undergrowth.
  5
  4 + 1d4 lizardfolk, hunting and foraging for one of their 
  settlements.
  6
  1 lizardfolk shaman + 1d4 lizardfolk, out to collect fungi and 
  alchemical supplies.
  7
  1d6 + 2 10 ft. circles of quicksand, formed from loose muddy 
  earth and unseen currents.
  8
  2 + 1d3 giant toads, sunning themselves and keeping an eye out 
  for prey.
  9
  To be determined, probably something from a local faction.
  10
  To be determined, probably something from an adjacent 
  region.
  11
  To be determined, probably something from a different 
  adjacent region.
  12
  Roll twice on the table, and have both emerge simultaneously.
  Swamp Encounters
  ENCOUNTERS
  d20
  Encounter
  1
  A black dog the size of a horse, friendly and slobbery, that leads 
  you along the eventual road to Hell.
  2
  A white stag, only ever seen out of the corner of your eye; if 
  caught it grants a wish.
  3
  A silvery lynx, languid and lithe; it offers hidden truths if you 
  answer riddles correctly.
  4
  A towering figure clad in a heavy overcoat, searching morosely 
  for one of their “lost sheep.”
  5
  A ring of overgrown mushrooms; if you sleep inside the ring, 
  you are transported to the court of a Fae Queen.
  6
  A brass lantern fastened into the nearest sturdy surface, warm 
  and welcoming.
  7
  A series of enormous bear tracks that lead to a solid oak tree and 
  then vanish; if you wait until nightfall, a huge ghostly bear visits 
  and asks for honey and berries.
  8
  A silent knight, clad in rusty and battered mail; they will watch 
  your campfire for the night and keep you safe while you sleep.
  9
  A stone that spins in place according to the sun; on the equinox, 
  it points the way to a secret location.
  10
  A wandering tinkerer with a donkey; the tinkerer never speaks, 
  but the donkey drives a hard bargain.
  11
  An intelligent talking mouse, courteous and brave, wielding a 
  sword and shield; they are searching for their lost parent.
  12
  A procession of weeping ghosts, appearing when the moon is 
  full; if you follow them, they lead you to an ancient religious site.
  13
  A band of over-confident minstrels; they always say they’re 
  going the same place as you, but always give the wrong 
  directions.
  14
  A battered and nicked sword, once-fine but now rusted; when 
  found, it is jammed into the nearest solid object that is not a 
  stone.
  15
  A set of boot-tracks leading off the trail; if followed, you find a 
  pair of empty boots walking about of their own volition.
  16
  A tree bound in rope, root and branch; if you cut it loose, it runs 
  into the forest, cackling.
  17
  A pond or stream strewn with clothing, giggles resounding 
  nearby; if the water is investigated, nobody can be seen.
  18
  A lonely shed, beaten-up and rundown; inside, there is a 
  perfectly straight shaft, one mile deep.
  19
  A stranger clad in cowl and robe; they have no eyes or ears, but if 
  you ask a question, they will answer it truthfully, and then vanish.
  20
  A field of flowers that bend away from the party’s footsteps, 
  even if encircled.
  Cryptic Encounters
  
  113
  d20
  Goal
  1
  Obey their leader’s wishes.
  2
  Restore a broken artifact.
  3
  Dominate all life.
  4
  Protect a sacred location.
  5
  Reclaim lost territory.
  6
  Convert others to their beliefs.
  7
  Avenge an ancient wrong.
  8
  Resurrect a dead power. 
  9
  Learn forgotten secrets.
  10
  Control a source of resources.
  11
  Seek the chosen one.
  12
  Create a legendary object.
  13
  Slay an unstoppable monster.
  14
  Free an imprisoned being.
  15
  Escape an impending doom.
  16
  Prove themselves worthy.
  17
  Destroy an accursed site.
  18
  Bring everything to their level.
  19
  Open a planar portal.
  20
  Earn a single Wish.
  Faction Goals
  d20
  Population
  1
  Cultists or clergy.
  2
  Faeries or fae-folk.
  3
  Mages or witches.
  4
  Monsters or beasts.
  5
  Pirates or brigands.
  6
  Soldiers or warriors.
  7
  Travelers or nomads.
  8
  Knights or heroes.
  9
  Monster hunters.
  10
  Extraplanar beings.
  11
  Machines and automata.
  12
  Seafolk or mer-people.
  13
  Scholars or academics.
  14
  Artisans or craftspeople.
  15
  Marauders or raiders.
  16
  Undead or necromancers.
  17
  Draconids and their minions.
  18
  Plants and animals.
  19
  Giants or their kin.
  20
  A single linked mind.
  Faction Population
  FACTIONS
  d20
  Development
  1
  The faction recovers an artifact that the player characters were 
  searching for.
  2
  There is an abrupt change in the faction’s leadership.
  3
  The faction suffers heavy losses to a monster or another faction.
  4
  The faction claims a ruin or other strategic location.
  5
  The faction fortifies their base.
  6
  Members of the faction are captured by another.
  7
  An unexpected element discovers the faction’s base.
  8
  A splinter group breaks away from the faction.
  9
  The faction loses control of one of their outposts.
  10
  Natural disaster strikes the faction, at their base or elsewhere.
  11
  The faction unearths lost knowledge or ancient secrets.
  12
  The next step in the faction’s grand master plan is executed.
  13
  The faction lures the player characters into a trap.
  14
  A contract or agreement is made between two factions.
  15
  A covenant between the faction and another is broken.
  16
  The faction moves to war against another.
  17
  A once-lost source of power, such as an ally or artifact, suddenly 
  reappears.
  18
  The faction’s rank-and-file members grow displeased.
  19
  The faction triggers a long-forgotten curse or malediction.
  20
  The faction is contacted by denizens of another plane.
  Faction Development
  d20
  Theme
  d20
  Theme
  1
  Fears.
  11
  Forsakenness.
  2
  Nature.
  12
  Madness.
  3
  Mysticism.
  13
  Majesty.
  4
  Impartiality.
  14
  Nomadism.
  5
  Otherworldliness.
  15
  Draconism.
  6
  Judgement.
  16
  Sordidness.
  7
  Materialism.
  17
  Servility.
  8
  Knowledge.
  18
  Dysfunction.
  9
  Conquest.
  19
  Primality.
  10
  Industry.
  20
  Ancientness.
  Faction Themes
  d20
  Base
  d20
  Base
  1
  Hidden forest outpost.
  11
  Volcanic forge.
  2
  Underground catacombs.
  12
  Artificial island.
  3
  Grand cathedral.
  13
  Gargantuan beast’s skeleton.
  4
  Enormous shadowy pit.
  14
  Hollow mountain.
  5
  Floating cloud castle.
  15
  Sprawling ruins.
  6
  Underwater caverns.
  16
  Always-moving caravan.
  7
  Gilded palace.
  17
  Secluded monastery.
  8
  Mystical tower.
  18
  Massive warship.
  9
  Sealed vault, tomb, or crypt.
  19
  Impenetrable fortress.
  10
  Ancient labyrinth. 
  20
  Demiplane.
  Faction Bases
  Imagine needing allies to assert your utter 
  conquest of the Marches. Such a laughable 
  concept, really.
  The Big Guy likes to forget about us, sometimes. 
  
  114
  d20
  Meanwhile...
  1
  Rooms or whole wings of the dungeon collapsed.
  2
  The main entrance was filled in, naturally or artificially.
  3
  The floor of the dungeon caved in, exposing deeper layers.
  4
  Underground-dwellers accidentally tunneled into the dungeon.
  5
  The dungeon was overtaken by a nearby faction.
  6
  All the traps and defenses in the dungeon were sprung.
  7
  A wandering fey has bewitched the denizens of the dungeon.
  8
  The dungeon’s original creator or creators returned, at least 
  temporarily.
  9
  A desperate thief or runaway stashed some new artifact in the 
  dungeon.
  10
  Enterprising goblins have taken up residence in the abandoned 
  part of the dungeon.
  11
  New layers of traps and riddles were added.
  12
  A family of owlbears moved into the dungeon.
  13
  A source of clean water has formed, through natural springs or 
  rainfall.
  14
  A necromancer has begun plundering the dungeon for bodies.
  15
  A different band of would-be dungeoneers are in the midst of 
  clearing the dungeon.
  16
  Corpse-eaters of some variety have begun infesting the 
  dungeon.
  17
  A cache of natural resources, such as gold or rare mushrooms, 
  has been found within.
  18
  Another entrance, natural or artificial, has opened into the 
  dungeon.
  19
  Gelatinous oozes have begun consuming everything in the 
  dungeon.
  20
  A portal to another plane opened within the dungeon.
  While You Were Away...
  DUNGEONS
  d20
  Dungeon
  1
  Fortress.
  2
  Temple.
  3
  Catacombs.
  4
  Caverns.
  5
  Death Trap.
  6
  Forge.
  7
  Manor.
  8
  Shrine.
  9
  Library.
  10
  Laboratory.
  11
  Maze.
  12
  Nest.
  13
  Tomb.
  14
  Palace.
  15
  Vault.
  16
  Mine.
  17
  Sewer.
  18
  Lair.
  19
  Mountainside.
  20
  Planar Gate.
  Dungeon Types
  Don’t stay away from a dungeon too 
  long, or me and the rest of the crew 
  will come in and make it our new base! 
  Always fun to re-decorate someonee 
  else’s stuff.
  
  115
  Oracular Insights
  d12
  Spell Scroll
  1
  Fireball, but any resultant flames reverse the effects of water & 
  oil: oil extinguishes them, water causes them to spread further.
  2
  Detect thoughts, but any thoughts or feelings the caster tries to 
  read are always the target’s worst thoughts and feelings about 
  the caster.
  3
  Major image, but any illusory creatures created act on their own 
  volition, spewing insults and making rude hand gestures.
  4
  Charm monster, but the charmed monster acts like a hyperactive 
  puppy; aggressive, naive, needy, and desperate for attention.
  5
  Polymorph, but the target is transformed into the opposite 
  creature than the caster intended: dogs into cats, elephants into 
  mice, lions into sheep, and so on.
  6
  Mirror image, but the illusions created are of the caster’s fellow 
  party members, instead of the caster themselves.
  7
  Zone of truth, but the targets can only lie; to the caster, they 
  seem to be telling the truth.
  8
  Water walk, but the targets can only walk on the underside of 
  the surface, underwater. Gravity pulls them towards the surface, 
  regardless of which side they are on.
  9
  Spirit guardians, but the guardians appear as twisted fae, and the 
  caster cannot control who is designated as friends or foes.
  10
  Hideous laughter, but while the target laughs, they suffocate.
  11
  Create food & water, but once someone takes a bite of food or 
  sip of water, they must keep consuming until all the food and 
  water is gone. 
  12
  Contact other plane, but the spell contacts either Morgan, 
  Gertrude, or Sybil, randomly determined; the caster does not 
  know this.
  Spell Scrolls for Sale
  d12
  Magical Trinket
  1
  A human eyeball floating in a jar of green fluid. It always looks at 
  the closest living thing, even if that thing is invisible.
  2
  A bell that is silent to everything except rats; when rung it, all 
  rats within 500 ft. will rush towards the bell.
  3
  A knife with two blades and no hilt. It is impossible to use 
  without cutting one’s self.
  4
  A pair of dice carved from bone; they always roll a 7, even if you 
  take one die away.
  5
  A small black notebook. Anything written in the notebook 
  becomes twisted and warped over the course of a day, 
  eventually turning into blasphemous insults.
  6
  A cracked and chipped tea set. Anything drunk from the set 
  makes the ingester throw up violently five minutes later.
  7
  A preserved dwarf’s head. If someone holds the head upside by 
  the beard for one minute, they can see through the dwarf’s dead 
  eyes until they release the beard.
  8
  100’ of fine silk rope; if left unattended and unobserved for an 
  hour, it will tie itself into a noose.
  9
  A knapsack that can hold 200 lbs. of gear while still weighing 
  only 10 lbs. Anything placed inside that hasn’t been salted will 
  be permanently eaten by the knapsack.
  10
  A carved wooden flute; it can only play in minor keys, and 
  causes anyone who listens to think of a dear person that recently 
  died.
  11
  A fine handheld fan; any wind blown by it takes on the smell of 
  rotten eggs.
  12
  A wolverine skull on a length of twine; if held in front of you 
  like a censer, it will swing towards the nearest bones.
  Magical Trinkets for Sale
  d12
  Reading
  d12
  Reading
  1
  Justice. A court sentencing a murderer; secrets and lies exposed 
  to the whole of a kingdom to know; the common folk rising 
  against their oppressors.
  7
  Loss. Flames consuming a handed-down family home; disease 
  stealing children from their parents’ arms; a ship sinking into 
  thrashing waves.
  2
  Safety. A scouting party fleeing to their army; shelter found in 
  the wilds from the rainstorm; arrows sinking into a shield on the 
  battlefield.
  8
  Chaos. Scrambling against an overwhelming current of 
  nameless, faceless, desperate bodies; air suffused with ash from 
  an unseen blaze; a sudden, unmistakable shuddering of the 
  earth.
  3
  Evil. A tyrant rising to power amidst crowing supporters and 
  dead opposition; a dead friend, laid to rest, risen once more by 
  ill magic; innocent lovers dragged from their bed.
  9
  Authority. An army led by an iron fist sweeps across the land. 
  There is no recourse, no chance for resistance; a shadow-figure 
  in a blinding throne.
  4
  Trickery. A forger layering cold iron coins with golden leaf; a 
  dagger flashing beneath swirling cloaks and hooded faces; a lie 
  told, bold-faced, to the world.
  10
  Joy. A coming-together of friends; an unexpected turn of 
  undeniably good luck; a celebration of life after a brush with 
  death.
  5
  Change. Summer being cast aside in favor of a crisp autumn 
  morn; a child growing to adulthood in a few heartbeats; a castle 
  being worn down by footfalls and time.
  11
  Control. The somber interior of a war room; the client pushes 
  an effigy across a large-scale map of an unknown place, and the 
  gathered generals sob.
  6
  Return. A prodigal child coming home to their house after years 
  away; birds roosting in springtime after a winter away; a lost 
  sock being rediscovered beneath a dusty bedframe.
  12
  Death. Utter, inscrutable nothingness, a starless void; a 
  crumbling, unreadable tombstone overgrown with vines; a 
  huge black dog, ever-following and never-sleeping.
  GAUNT COVEN
  Remember, if you can, stay on the Sisters’ good side; do 
  favors for Morgan, praise Gertrude’s dishes, take Sybil’s 
  words seriously. Ingratiate yourselves with the Coven as a 
  whole. Then, once you’ve proven your worth and that you 
  uphold your end of the deal, turn on them and utterly destroy 
  them. Show not an ounce of mercy; your dominion must be 
  absolute.
  
  116
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Patch your cloak with skins from local critters; the stranger, the 
  better.
  2
  Sketch out a design for your next tattoo. 
  3
  Comb, brush, and oil your hair (and/or beard, if applicable).
  4
  Find the biggest object in the immediate vicinity, and then 
  climb to the top of it.
  5
  Try to lift the heaviest object you can find. You might need 
  some help.
  6
  Challenge someone to an arm-wrestling (or just regular 
  wrestling) competition.
  Barbarian
  DISCOVERY
  Bard
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Recite a piece of poetry or sing a road-song about the current 
  landscape.
  2
  Re-tune, re-string, re-tighten, and otherwise care for your 
  instruments.
  3
  Make up an epic story about something in the immediate 
  vicinity.
  4
  Tell a long, raunchy joke. The longer and raunchier, the better.
  5
  Rile another party member with playful (or not-so-playful) 
  insults.
  6
  Tell the most elaborate lie you can think of about one of your 
  past escapades.
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Ponder the most recent passage of scripture you’ve read. Ask 
  someone for help with your study when you get stuck.
  2
  Offer up some simple prayers of safety and wellbeing for the night.
  3
  Leave a symbol of your deity: a cairn of stones, for example.
  4
  Tend to the scrapes and bruises of your comrades; if there are 
  any long-term injuries, check up on them. 
  5
  Tell a story, mythical or otherwise, of your god.
  6
  Cook a meal for your compatriots; ask them for help in sourcing 
  ingredients.
  Cleric
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Count the year-rings on the nearest fallen tree. If it’s very young 
  or very old, tell someone.
  2
  Examine and analyze the local soil composition.
  3
  Search for the nearest nest, burrow, or den, to make sure it’s safe.
  4
  Seek the wisdom of the land itself. Listen to a stone or tree, and 
  ask for help from the party to interpret its message.
  5
  Shift into a creature totally unnatural for the current terrain, and 
  see how the local wildlife reacts.
  6
  Gaze at the skies above; attune to the patterns of wind and rain 
  and stars.
  Druid
  d20
  Reason
  1
  On the run from a powerful Imperial authority.
  2
  Revels in the lawlessness of the Marches.
  3
  Shipwrecked on the Marches.
  4
  Found Imperial life to be unconscionably dull.
  5
  Compelled to venture to the Marches in a vision from a god.
  6
  Seduced by the promise of treasure or lost secrets.
  7
  Hunting someone who has fled to the Marches.
  8
  Honorbound to cleanse the Marches of evil (or good).
  9
  Exiled from the Empire.
  10
  Abandoned in the Marches by family.
  11
  Desires territory, land, and conquest.
  12
  Ordered on a mission from the Empire.
  13
  Protecting someone else already going to the Marches.
  14
  Belief in a prophecy, real or otherwise.
  15
  Sentenced to the Marches as a penal colonist.
  16
  Escaping from the guilt of a past mistake.
  17
  Seeking a ruin, thought long lost.
  18
  Driven by raw ego to prove combat prowess.
  19
  Bound by some magical contract or covenant.
  20
  Lost en route elsewhere, with no means to return.
  Reasons for Leaving
  Significance
  Description
  Experience
  Insignificant
  A discovery with no significant 
  consequence; something obvious, 
  or something that will not generally 
  affect the way player characters 
  approach any situation, such as the 
  knowledge that elk inhabit a region.
  Easy
  Noteworthy
  Something not immediately obvious 
  which players would be well-advised 
  to make a note of, such as the presence 
  of a special monster in a region, 
  meeting a significant NPC, or spying a 
  significant structure from afar.
  Medium
  Important
  Something hidden, new, or secret 
  which has come fully to light. This 
  includes visiting a prominent new 
  area, meeting the leader of a faction, 
  and delving into a dungeon for the 
  first time, for example.
  Hard
  Pivotal
  Something extremely important to 
  understanding the fundamental fabric 
  of the West Marches as a whole, such 
  as the revealing of the true nature of 
  a god, the discovery of an artifact, 
  or anything else that will profoundly 
  affect the way player characters will 
  approach situations.
  Deadly
  Discovery Experience
  PLAYER DETAILS
  Someday, I hope to visit the great eastern Empire that I’ve 
  heard so much from my victims about. To destroy an entire 
  city of thousands in but a single day... that is a pleasure that 
  I have yet to experience. Another century, perhaps.
  
  117
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Re-oil your armor, adjust all the straps, and buff out the 
  scratches and nicks.
  2
  Sharpen your blade; offer to do the same for everyone else’s, too.
  3
  Exercise the muscles in your body that haven’t had their fill today.
  4
  Challenge another party member to a sparring bout.
  5
  Work on your bow accuracy with some target practice.
  6
  Fell a tree for firewood. Enlist the less physically-inclined party 
  members to help.
  Fighter
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Find the best spot for meditation; invite someone to meditate 
  with you.
  2
  Weave branches, stack stones, smooth soil; order from disorder.
  3
  Practice your balance, stretches, and meditative positions.
  4
  Toil on an extremely small, intricate work of art; if you don’t 
  have a current project, start a new one.
  5
  Challenge another party member to a footrace. Be sure to 
  blindfold yourself for a fair competition.
  6
  Explain a new insight you had into your mentor’s teachings to 
  someone else.
  Monk
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Skin animals, purify water, or dig a latrine; all the tasks your 
  protection from disease makes easy.
  2
  Ensure the campsite and surrounding are free from undue 
  influence.
  3
  Confess to someone a time when you were close to giving in to 
  temptation.
  4
  Reflect on how well you fulfilled your Oath over the past day.
  5
  Perform a sacred ritual of physical purity, such as washing your 
  body with oil. Encourage others to do the same, if they choose to.
  6
  Treat your fellow party members to a rousing sermon.
  Paladin
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Fletch new arrows to replace lost ones; if anyone’s missing any, 
  make enough for them, too.
  2
  Plot out the best path for tomorrow, before you actually need to 
  break camp.
  3
  Tell someone which part of the current landscape is your 
  favorite and least favorite; ask them for theirs, too
  4
  Create an elaborate camouflage for the camp. Enlist the party in 
  gathering materials to do so.
  5
  Burn something symbolically in the campfire. State whether you 
  actually believe it was useful to do so.
  6
  Clean animals carefully. Claim the best cuts of meat or the pelts 
  for yourself.
  Ranger
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Change the positions of all of the knives you keep on your person.
  2
  Count up your coin again; offer to do the same for everyone else.
  3
  Re-organize the gear in your pack; make sure you have enough 
  room for all the loot to carry home.
  4
  Make a bet on something frivolous: spitting distance, say, or 
  racing insects.
  5
  Get stinking drunk, and try to recruit everyone else to your cause.
  6
  Brood dramatically. If anyone asks why, give them a different 
  reason each time.
  Rogue
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Roam about, and see how the wildlife reacts to your presence.
  2
  Trim your nails, cut your hair, and check your body for unusual 
  growths (or cultivate them).
  3
  Safely discharge any pent-up magic that remains in your 
  bloodstream.
  4
  Perform an unusual rejuvenation ritual: place dirt on your eyes, 
  paint your chest in sap, or lie facedown in the snow.
  5
  Create something beautiful: a carving of wood, perhaps, or a 
  charcoal drawing. Then, destroy it.
  6
  Leave a symbol of your passage here; or, if you left one 
  unintentionally, take care to remove it. 
  Sorcerer
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Make certain that whatever mark your Patron left you with 
  remains hidden.
  2
  Prepare a simple sacrifice or offering to your Patron, such as 
  animal bones or a rare flower.
  3
  Search the campsite for unusual plants, animals, or terrain features.
  4
  Try to interpret a new sign from your Patron (whether there is 
  one or not).
  5
  Play “two truths and a lie” with your comrades. Offer to start. 
  6
  Roll bones, cast sticks, or read entrails for omens. Describe your 
  findings to the party.
  Warlock
  d6
  Activity
  1
  Tend to your spellbook; touch up any pages that are damaged 
  or lacking.
  2
  Take notes on the surrounding area; copy down any and all new 
  information.
  3
  Teach someone in the party some piece of information they’ve 
  never heard before.
  4
  Maintain your notes on the other members of the party. Ask 
  someone for help on interpreting your own handwriting, or 
  another member’s behavior.
  5
  Create harmless magic for practice; conjure humorous illusions, 
  simple objects, or colorful lights.
  6
  Prescribe an arcane ritual or esoteric poultice to ease another 
  party member’s ailments.
  Wizard
  Some of these sound like so much fun! Normall
  when we have spare time, we just like to hunt down 
  little bugs and then mash them into stew. 
  
  118
  NAMES
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Crannog
  1
  Copse
  2
  Crooked
  2
  Forest
  3
  Dappled
  3
  Glades
  4
  Gnarled
  4
  Green
  5
  Grey
  5
  Holt
  6
  Murk
  6
  Stand
  7
  Pine
  7
  Thicket
  8
  Raven
  8
  Timberland
  9
  Whispering
  9
  Weald
  10
  Witching
  10
  Woods
  Forest Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Crab
  1
  Bay
  2
  Deep Blue
  2
  Beach
  3
  Driftwood
  3
  Coast
  4
  Emerald
  4
  Coves
  5
  Rippling
  5
  Firth
  6
  Serpent’s
  6
  Lagoon
  7
  Stony
  7
  Seaside
  8
  Stormy
  8
  Shallows
  9
  Sunken
  9
  Shore
  10
  Tranquil
  10
  Wash
  Coastline Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Bleached
  1
  Barrens
  2
  Bone
  2
  Basin
  3
  Dry
  3
  Desert
  4
  Dust
  4
  Dunes
  5
  Empty
  5
  Expanse
  6
  Endless
  6
  Quarter
  7
  Painted
  7
  Sands
  8
  Pallid
  8
  Sea
  9
  Scorched
  9
  Solitude
  10
  Shimmering
  10
  Xeroscape
  Desert Names
  d20
  Descriptor
  d20
  Environment
  1
  Bone
  1
  Barrow
  2
  Buried
  2
  Catacombs
  3
  Butcher’s
  3
  Caverns
  4
  Cruel
  4
  Chasm
  5
  Cursed
  5
  Crypt
  6
  Dead
  6
  Demise
  7
  Filth
  7
  Den
  8
  Flagstone
  8
  Forge
  9
  Flooded
  9
  Fort
  10
  Forgotten
  10
  Grave
  11
  Godless
  11
  Keep
  12
  Hatred
  12
  Labyrinth
  13
  Haunted
  13
  Sepulcher
  14
  Hidden
  14
  Shrine
  15
  Profane
  15
  Temple
  16
  Rotten
  16
  Tomb
  17
  Shadow
  17
  Tower
  18
  Shrouded
  18
  Warren
  19
  Stygian
  19
  Well
  20
  Unholy
  20
  Ziggurat
  Dungeon Names
  d20
  Descriptor
  d20
  Organization
  1
  Anointed
  1
  Assembly
  2
  Burning
  2
  Band
  3
  Crucible
  3
  Clan
  4
  Dawn
  4
  Column
  5
  Divine
  5
  Company
  6
  Enlightened
  6
  Conclave
  7
  Enshrouded
  7
  Council
  8
  Fallen
  8
  Cult
  9
  Forsaken
  9
  Federation
  10
  Golden
  10
  Guild
  11
  Hell’s
  11
  Horde
  12
  Immortal
  12
  Host
  13
  Ironclad
  13
  Kingdom
  14
  Last
  14
  League
  15
  Lunar
  15
  Legion
  16
  Pauper’s
  16
  Monastery
  17
  Scarlet
  17
  Order
  18
  Sworn
  18
  Sect
  19
  Unborn
  19
  Synod
  20
  Undying
  20
  Throng
  Faction Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Designation
  1
  Banished
  1
  Edge
  2
  Bitter
  2
  End
  3
  Empire’s
  3
  Fort
  4
  Exile’s
  4
  Fringe
  5
  Final
  5
  Hope
  6
  Forsaken
  6
  Prayer
  7
  Heroes’
  7
  Refuge
  8
  Outlaw’s
  8
  Respite
  9
  Small
  9
  Rim
  10
  Western
  10
  Road
  Town Names
  Names can be ordered as descriptor then environment, such as “Bone 
  Barrens,” or as environment then descriptor, such as “Barrens of Bone.” As 
  always, these are inspiration, not prescription; tweak and adjust as you will.
  What is a name but a memory to ruin? A place 
  can only be destroyed when it is forgotten.
  
  119
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Boar’s Head
  1
  Bluffs
  2
  Broken
  2
  Crags
  3
  Bulwark
  3
  Downs
  4
  Earthen
  4
  Highlands
  5
  Iron
  5
  Hills
  6
  Razor
  6
  Knolls
  7
  Red
  7
  Mounds
  8
  Rolling
  8
  Ridgebacks
  9
  Shale
  9
  Slopes
  10
  Stilted
  10
  Upland
  Hills Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Falcon
  1
  Cliffs
  2
  Fury
  2
  Horns
  3
  Granite
  3
  Massif
  4
  Misty
  4
  Mountains
  5
  Rim
  5
  Peaks
  6
  Shattered
  6
  Range
  7
  Split
  7
  Sierra
  8
  Steepled
  8
  Spine
  9
  Sundering
  9
  Spires
  10
  Thunder
  10
  Teeth
  Mountain Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Biting
  1
  Depths
  2
  Bitter
  2
  Floes
  3
  Flaking
  3
  Frostworks
  4
  Frigid
  4
  Glaciers
  5
  Gelid
  5
  Sheet
  6
  Jagged
  6
  Shelf
  7
  Pale
  7
  Snowfields
  8
  Piercing
  8
  Taiga
  9
  Shivering
  9
  Tundra
  10
  White
  10
  Vale
  Tundra Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Arid
  1
  Fields
  2
  Sprawling
  2
  Flats
  3
  Dry
  3
  Glen
  4
  Jackal’s
  4
  Grasslands
  5
  Golden
  5
  Heath
  6
  Verdant
  6
  Moors
  7
  Windswept
  7
  Plains
  8
  Vast
  8
  Prairie
  9
  Amber
  9
  Savannah
  10
  Trackless
  10
  Steppe
  Grassland Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Black
  1
  Bog
  2
  Dripping
  2
  Marshes
  3
  Effluvious
  3
  Swamp
  4
  Fetid
  4
  Mire
  5
  Fungal
  5
  Sludge
  6
  Labyrinthine
  6
  Fen
  7
  Overgrown
  7
  Wetland
  8
  Stagnant
  8
  Estuary
  9
  Stinking
  9
  Quagmire
  10
  Swallow
  10
  Swale
  Swamp Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Accursed
  1
  Badlands
  2
  Barrow
  2
  Blight
  3
  Corrupting
  3
  Desolation
  4
  Crawling
  4
  Heaps
  5
  Drained
  5
  No-Man’s-Land
  6
  Forgotten
  6
  Scar
  7
  Grave
  7
  Scrublands
  8
  Last
  8
  Slough
  9
  Ochre
  9
  Wastes
  10
  Pestilent
  10
  Zone
  Wasteland Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Cobblestone
  1
  Borough
  2
  Old
  2
  Burg
  3
  Temple
  3
  Court
  4
  Thatcher
  4
  Fort
  5
  Rat’s
  5
  Gate
  6
  Cinder
  6
  Point
  7
  Lamplit
  7
  Ring
  8
  Pike
  8
  Square
  9
  Languid
  9
  Village
  10
  Hunter’s
  10
  Ward
  Urban Names
  d10
  Descriptor
  d10
  Environment
  1
  Cascading
  1
  Burrow
  2
  Deeprun
  2
  Catacomb
  3
  Dripping
  3
  Caverns
  4
  Glittering
  4
  Crawlway
  5
  Gloomwork
  5
  Delve
  6
  Igneous
  6
  Grotto
  7
  Sculpted
  7
  Hive
  8
  Silent
  8
  Hollow
  9
  Skittering
  9
  Mine
  10
  Umbral
  10
  Warrens
  Underground Names
  
  120
  GENERIC LORE
  d10
  This being was known for...
  d10
  But then was...
  d10
  And thus now is...
  1
  Hunting and eating children
  1
  Betrayed by a former ally
  1
  Transformed into a terrible beast
  2
  Bringing arcane magic into the world
  2
  Rebelled against by their mortal followers
  2
  Locked in an underworld prison
  3
  Raising mountains out of the sea
  3
  Seeking forbidden truths
  3
  Missing, simply vanished from existence
  4
  Splicing beasts together to make monsters
  4
  Struck by a falling star
  4
  Slumbering beneath the seas
  5
  Teaching humans how to work iron
  5
  Judged guilty in sacred court
  5
  Lost in an infinite labyrinth
  6
  Keeping the sun alight
  6
  Consumed with gnawing guilt
  6
  Reigning over a corrupted kingdom
  7
  Being completely, absolutely unkillable
  7
  Tricked by a lowly mortal
  7
  Fully descended into madness
  8
  Shattering the planar boundaries
  8
  Stripped of their magic
  8
  Hidden in a secluded private domain
  9
  Devouring the sky
  9
  Beguiled by a pretty face
  9
  Subsumed into the natural environment
  10
  Slaying legendary behemoths
  10
  Cursed by the moon
  10
  Permanently and irrevocably dead
  Ancient Beings
  d10
  The apocalypse took the form of...
  d10
  Which occurred because...
  d10
  And so now...
  1
  A second, red sun appearing at night
  1
  The gods went to war against each other
  1
  The sky is blue, rather than red
  2
  Forests growing to choke out all other life
  2
  A cabal of magicians made an error
  2
  Humans can’t breathe underwater
  3
  A tornado that spun the earth off its axis
  3
  A mortal king tried to ascend to godhood
  3
  The sun rises in the east and sets in the west
  4
  The moon falling out of the sky
  4
  A devil and an angel conspired together
  4
  Winter returns every year
  5
  Seas boiling over and dissolving
  5
  Miners dug too deep into the earth’s heart
  5
  Great monsters roam the earth
  6
  A final battle betwixt the living and the dead
  6
  The holy priesthood was embracingsin
  6
  The heavens and earth are disparate
  7
  A string of linked unending volcanoes
  7
  A group of righteous people were enslaved
  7
  The moon pulls at the sea itself
  8
  An unstoppable all-consuming beast
  8
  A great secret was brought to light
  8
  Trees can no longer speak to humans
  9
  An unrelenting plague
  9
  An ancient hunger must be fed
  9
  The earth is filled with precious gems
  10
  An extraplanar army’s unending advance
  10
  A petulant wizard lost their temper
  10
  Humans cannot cross the planes
  Apocalyptic Cataclysms
  d10
  This site originally was...
  d10
  Made by...
  d10
  Which explains why...
  1
  A throne for a forgotten queen
  1
  The first humans, working together as one
  1
  Vultures always circle high above it
  2
  A fortress for a clan of giants
  2
  A god, on a whim
  2
  Anyone who sleeps near it has nightmares
  3
  A portal to the primal planes of existence
  3
  A giant king-smith, as a wedding gift
  3
  Trees and plants do not grow on the site
  4
  A prison for an outcast god
  4
  A wizard struck with mystical madness
  4
  The entire site is flecked with gold
  5
  A monument after a century-long war
  5
  The veil between planes wearing thin
  5
  Travellers and wanderers make offerings
  6
  A city of ten thousand faeries
  6
  The otherworldly lover of a dying mortal
  6
  It reeks of brimstone and rotting corpses
  7
  An artistic work of unknown genius
  7
  Extraplanar wanderers making landfall
  7
  Whispers hang in the air nearby
  8
  A suit of armor worn by a titan
  8
  A dragon, refusing to be forgotten
  8
  Its dwellers’ appetites can never be sated
  9
  A vault to hold a hundred dragons’ hoards
  9
  A retinue of untiring zealots
  9
  Fires grow rapidly and cannot be contained
  10
  A nest of a gargantuan monster
  10
  No one, it’s always been there
  10
  The stars above cannot be seen above
  Mythical Sites
  
  121
  d10
  The event involved a...
  and a...
  d10
  Who...
  d10
  Which in turn caused...
  1
  Single champion
  Mighty dragon
  1
  Broke a sacred covenant
  1
  A torrential, bloody war
  2
  Conquering warlord
  Hermitic scholar
  2
  Fell in love and produced a child
  2
  An unexpected golden age
  3
  Faerie trickster
  Quiet shepherd
  3
  Betrayed and backstabbed each other
  3
  A new island to emerge from the sea
  4
  Noble god
  Chaotic god
  4
  Fought a bitter, vicious duel
  4
  A huge scar to be rent across the land
  5
  Half-mad alchemist
  Primal elemental
  5
  Allied together against a greater foe
  5
  The fall of a once-exalted god
  6
  Terrible beast
  Resplendent city
  6
  Discovered a dangerous secret
  6
  The loss of a priceless heirloom
  7
  Eternal wanderer
  Beguiling demon
  7
  Settled an age-old conflict between them
  7
  A cataclysm of apocalyptic proportions
  8
  Heavenly angel
  Prideful emperor
  8
  Held a contest of riddles
  8
  An empire’s people to flee in an exodus
  9
  Wise old tree
  Wild blue sea
  9
  Committed untold heresy
  9
  A new dynasty to be born
  10
  Deep sea monster
  Wily jester
  10
  Conspired to steal great riches 
  10
  A forest to reject the changing of seasons
  Legendary Events
  d10
  The artifact is...
  d10
  And it’s significant because it was...
  d10
  But currently, the artifact is...
  1
  A sword made from a dead god
  1
  Wielded in a cataclysmic duel
  1
  Shattered into a thousand pieces
  2
  An elixir of eternal life
  2
  Used to save the life of a dying loved one
  2
  Buried with its dead wielder
  3
  A crown forged from dragon’s teeth
  3
  Offered up in sacrifice to a god
  3
  Embedded in the heart of a living monster
  4
  A gauntlet imbued with starlight
  4
  The symbol of a once-eternal dynasty
  4
  Still wielded by its most recent claimant
  5
  An amulet trapping a monster inside of it
  5
  The one weakness of an almighty being
  5
  Sealed away in an underworld vault
  6
  A ring with the mind of a king inside it
  6
  Collateral in a pact made with the Devil
  6
  Remade into a different, warped version
  7
  A tome hiding the true names of the gods
  7
  The focus of an all-knowing magician
  7
  Venerated by a cult of followers
  8
  A pair of boots that can walk across planes
  8
  Stolen from a celestial vault by a mortal
  8
  A trophy in the hoard of a dragon
  9
  A shield that blocks the passage of time
  9
  The only evidence of regicide
  9
  Powering the husk of a dying tyrant
  10
  A mask that conceals your immortal soul
  10
  Once gifted to a pauper who had nothing
  10
  Replaced by a facsimile, and thus lost
  Significant Artifacts
  d10
  The leader originally was...
  d10
  Who rose to power by...
  d10
  But now is...
  1
  A poor subsistence farmer
  1
  Earning the love and respect of their peers
  1
  Haunted by the ghost of a dead rival
  2
  An arrogant, swaggering noble
  2
  Murdering their superior and seizing power
  2
  Unable to escape their followers’ obsession
  3
  A sage consumed by hunger for knowledge
  3
  Being openly chosen and blessed by a god
  3
  Vexed by a long-forgotten mystery
  4
  The secret child of two feuding houses
  4
  Ending an age-old conflict between factions
  4
  Cursed by an ancient relic gone awry
  5
  An orphan abandoned on a temple’s steps
  5
  Fulfilling a prophecy, to the word
  5
  Publicly known as an oathbreaker
  6
  A raging, unstoppable warrior
  6
  Unlocking ancient mysterious power
  6
  Shirking their duties to enjoy themselves
  7
  A zealous pilgrim burning with faith
  7
  Slaughtering everything in their path
  7
  Consumed with worry and self-doubt
  8
  A great beauty, beloved by all who saw them
  8
  Vanishing when their enemies came hunting
  8
  Attacked on all sides by their enemies
  9
  A wandering minstrel and storyteller
  9
  Recovering an artifact of great strength
  9
  Slowly descending into madness
  10
  The seventh child of a seventh child
  10
  Inheriting their former mentor’s mantle
  10
  More ambitious and brutal than ever
  Faction Leaders
  d10
  This person came to the Marches to...
  d10
  But then they...
  d10
  And now they...
  1
  Practice a heretical religion
  1
  Were possessed by an extraplanar being
  1
  Have retired to run a simple tavern
  2
  Study forbidden magic in private
  2
  Ran afoul of an accursed site
  2
  Study ancient curses and how to break them
  3
  Fulfill the tenets of a doomed oath
  3
  Fought a duel with an undead champion
  3
  Brew strange alchemical mixtures
  4
  Loot mountains of lost treasure
  4
  Became obsessed with a specific mystery
  4
  Forge exclusively with organic materials
  5
  Die a lonely exile’s death
  5
  Were transformed into an animal
  5
  Build ships of enchanted wood
  6
  Discover the fate of a missing friend
  6
  Grew addicted to alchemical substances
  6
  Carve runes into any available surface
  7
  Pursue a hated rival who fled
  7
  Lost a bet made with the Devil
  7
  Whisper addled prophecies aloud
  8
  Find a body of long-forgotten wisdom
  8
  Accidentally freed an imprisoned monster
  8
  Raise dangerous monsters from birth
  9
  Join a demon-worshipping cult
  9
  Became indebted to a local god
  9
  Tinker endlessly with clockwork devices
  10
  Escape Imperial punishment
  10
  Fell in love with another Marches inhabitant
  10
  Cavort with a band of raucous compatriots
  Wandering Strangers
  
  122
  d666
  Title
  d666
  Title
  d666
  Title
  111
  All-Conqueror
  211
  the Damned
  311
  Giantslayer
  112
  the Almighty
  212
  Dances-on-Graves
  312
  the Gilded
  113
  Angelblood
  213
  the Defiler
  313
  God's Executioner
  114
  Anointed
  214
  Demonspawn
  314
  Grave-Turner
  115
  Arco-Flagellant
  215
  the Demure
  315
  Greenskin
  116
  Banner-Bearer
  216
  Dirge-Caller
  316
  the Gutless
  121
  the Bastard
  221
  Dragonsbane
  321
  Half-Moon
  122
  Beloved-by-Bards
  222
  Drawn-and-Quartered
  322
  the Hammer
  123
  Bitterbite
  223
  Drinks-Deep-of-the-Wine
  323
  the Hanged One
  124
  of the Blighted Woods
  224
  Dropper-of-Eaves
  324
  Hardy-of-Liver
  125
  the Bloodhound
  225
  the Drowned
  325
  Head-Taker
  126
  the Bloody-Mawed
  226
  Duke of Nothing
  326
  the Headless
  131
  the Blue
  231
  Emperor-in-Exile
  331
  Heartstealer
  132
  Boilmonger
  232
  the Enlightened
  332
  Heavy-Handed
  133
  the Boisterous
  233
  the Everlight
  333
  the Heir Apparent
  134
  Bonemasher
  234
  the Exegetic
  334
  Hell's Hammer
  135
  Born-of-the-Forge
  235
  Exsanguinator
  335
  Hellfire
  136
  Born-Yesterday
  236
  Eye-Snatcher
  336
  the Herald of Ages
  141
  Brassmonger
  241
  Face-of-Boils
  341
  Heresiarch
  142
  the Brindled Boar
  242
  the Faceless
  342
  the Hook-Fingered
  143
  Broadstride
  243
  Fish-Stealer
  343
  Horsefaced
  144
  the Broken
  244
  Five-Pointed
  344
  the Hungry
  145
  the Bulbous
  245
  Flamestruck
  345
  the Imprisoned
  146
  the Burned
  246
  Flaming-Feet
  346
  the Invincible
  151
  the Chained
  251
  Flap-Eared
  351
  Ironpalm
  152
  the Chef
  252
  the Fleet
  352
  the Jackdaw
  153
  the Chimera
  253
  Flesh-Hangs-Loosely
  353
  Joyous
  154
  Cloudrender
  254
  Flesh-Sculptor
  354
  the Judge
  155
  Coldhearted
  255
  the Fleshbiter
  355
  the Keeper of the Inferno
  156
  the Collector
  256
  Forder-of-Seas
  356
  the Kingslayer
  161
  the Concealed
  261
  Forgotten 
  361
  Knife-Thrower
  162
  Corpse-Speaker
  262
  the Frigid
  362
  the Last Scion
  163
  the Coveted
  263
  Frostblood
  363
  the Late
  164
  Crown-Snatcher
  264
  the Gangrenous
  364
  the Lawbringer
  165
  Crowsbane
  265
  Gatekeeper
  365
  Leatherback
  166
  the Cutup
  266
  Gazes-at-the-Horizon
  366
  the Left-Foot
  Titles & Epithets
  TITLES & EPITHETS
  Generate titles for epic characters from this table by rolling 3d6 and reading the values from left to right as they fall.
  
  123
  I believe that “the Scribe” is suitable for now.
  d666
  Title
  d666
  Title
  d666
  Title
  411
  Lion-Roarer
  511
  the Satirist
  611
  Threeskins
  412
  the Lonely King
  512
  Seeker of Truth
  612
  Thrice-Crowned
  413
  Long-Sought-After
  513
  Seeks-Many-Bones
  613
  the Thunderheart
  414
  the Longnailed
  514
  Serpent-Singer
  614
  the Tongue-Eater
  415
  Longshanks
  515
  Seven-Toad
  615
  the Toothless
  416
  the Lost
  516
  Seven-Toed
  616
  the Toothsome
  421
  the Maddened
  521
  Sharp-Wit
  621
  Tremorfoot
  422
  the Magpie
  522
  the Shifter
  622
  the Trickster
  423
  Man-Mangler
  523
  Silvertongue
  623
  Twelve-Lashes
  424
  Many-Eyes
  524
  Sky-Whisperer
  624
  Twice-Buried
  425
  Many-Knuckled
  525
  the Small
  625
  Twice-Struck-by-Lightning
  426
  Mead-Drinker
  526
  Smote-Upon-the-Rock
  626
  Two-Faced
  431
  Mirth-Maker
  531
  the Snarling
  631
  Two-Tongued
  432
  the Moldable
  532
  Spits-Upon-the-Weak
  632
  the Tyrant
  433
  the Moon's Breath
  533
  the Splendid
  633
  Unbidden
  434
  Mountain-Smasher
  534
  Squallwalker
  634
  the Unbound
  435
  Mournsong
  535
  Starborn
  635
  the Unbreakable
  436
  Nimble-Tongued
  536
  Stone-Thrower
  636
  Undulating
  441
  of Noble Brow
  541
  Stormborne
  641
  the Undying
  442
  of the Northern Wind
  542
  Sun's Light
  642
  Unquenchable
  443
  Not Forgotten
  543
  the Sunken Lord
  643
  the Unthroned
  444
  the Old Guard
  544
  the Supple
  644
  the Vile
  445
  One-Eye
  545
  Sweat-Dripper
  645
  the Virulent
  446
  the Peacemaker
  546
  Sword of the Dawn
  646
  the Vitriolic
  451
  the Peacetaker
  551
  Sword-Swallower
  651
  Voice of Sorrow
  452
  the Pestilent
  552
  Teller-of-Truths
  652
  Walks-Upon-the-Moors
  453
  the Pious
  553
  of Ten Thousand Names
  653
  the Wall-Written
  454
  Priest-Hater
  554
  Tender-of-Groves
  654
  the Wart-Sucker
  455
  the Punctual
  555
  Tendertouch
  655
  Wise Fool
  456
  the Quick-and-Dead
  556
  Terror of the Lake
  656
  the Wish
  461
  the Ravenous
  561
  Terrorbane
  661
  Witchfinder
  462
  the Renegade
  562
  That-Which-Knows-Sin
  662
  Wolfshead
  463
  Returned
  563
  That-Which-Needs-Violence
  663
  the Xenolith
  464
  Runner-on-the-Plain
  564
  That-Which-Seeks-Blood
  664
  Yellowbellied
  465
  Rust-Maned
  565
  That-Which-Walks-in-Shadow
  665
  the Zealot
  466
  Salt-Upon-Wounds
  566
  the Thick
  666
  the Zetetic
  Titles & Epithets
  Oooh, what if I was called “Zadrok Lion-Roarer,” 
  or “Zadrok the Faceless?” Those both sound real 
  neat for me! What do you say?
  
  124
  KICKSTARTER BACKERS
  APPENDIX IX:
  Seekers
  @_niten, AC Severin, Boulder Bender Productions, Brian Kole, 
  Christopher Dean Jr., DarkSolstice Games, Dr. Obscure, ELF Vesala, 
  Glenn McMath, Guy Edward Larke, Hayden Robertson, Lucas J. Cifranic, 
  M. Smith, Markus Geiger, Mikołaj Sajdak, Otter, Ricardo Sedan, Ross 
  Snyder Jr, Ryan Paton, and Zac Goin 
  Aahron Yang,  Adam S., AeonAGV, Alan Albano, Alan Cranston, 
  Alexisaok, Alvaro Torres-Gomez, Amadan, Andrew Joubert, Andrew 
  St Laurent, Arkanjil, Arseni Kritchever, Ash Monogue, Austin Flaherty, 
  Autolycus, Ben Dutter, Benjamin Johnston-Leamon, Benjamin Nitti, 
  Björn Prömpeler, Bloomington Adventurers For Hire, Bob Huss, Branden 
  Gill, Bratwurster, Breon, Brigonos, Bryn Matthews, Cadithial, Cameron 
  Youngs, Carey Williams, Castreek, Charles Summerhill, Chris Clary, 
  Chris Shorb. Chris Walker-Bush, Christian Kuhn, Christopher Brown, 
  Christopher Lytle, Christopher Villeneuve, Ciergan, Cody Dent, Corinna 
  Clanton, Craig Crossbard, Craig Dey, CW, D. Lybarger, Dariolink, David 
  B. Semmes, David Edelstein, David Paul Guzmán, David Ruski, Dengt_
  Echo, Dexter Chu, DM Jefi, DoombeaR Cave, Douglas, Dr Jon’s, Dr Ron 
  Legere, Dragongunblade55, DrSbaitso, Dylan Carlson, Dylan V., Edward 
  Batman, Edward Engquist, Edward G. Haggerty, Jr., El Jeffe, Eli Martin, 
  Eugene Helm, Evan Bright, Evan W.J. Parson, Evii Paladin, Faye Wildes, 
  Fearchar Battlechaser, Felix Chung, finalpride, Frank Filz, Frédérik 
  Rating, Fredrik Brandberg, Freykeitschroud, greenwizard, Greg Lohman, 
  Gregory Hicks, Guild of Appropriations, Tinkers, and Displacement, 
  Gustavo Rocha, Hunter Brennan, Ian Wright, Icaro Santos, J Sprague, 
  J. Tone, J. Weisser, J.H. Anthony, J.T. Dimino, Jack Kessler, Jack Smith, 
  Jake Byrne, James Cole, Jason C Harris, jason e. bean, Jason Marks, Jeff 
  Hosmer, Jeff Pierce, Jens Cramer, Jeremiah Tolbert, Jeremy Kear, Jerrod 
  J Rose Jr., Jesse D., Jim “Wilmanric” Pacek, Jim Hackett, Jim Stoner, 
  Joel MacRitchie, John Zhang, Jon G, Jonathan Black, Jonathan Chen, 
  Jørgen Sætermo, Joseph Cook-Williams, Josh, Josh Pilachowski, Joshua 
  Dougherty, Justin Sadosky, K.Horigan, Kamish Bhai, Kaytee Pappas, 
  Kerri Coffey, Kevin C Johnson, Kevin R. Smith, Krister Persson, Krycek, 
  Kutotsu, Kyle G. Crider, Len C, Leo Lin, Lilly Ibelo, Lorenzo Bonilla, 
  Lukas Feinweber, Luke Haggard, Luke Swadling, Maarten Bukkems, 
  Malcolm Coull, Maria Rowena Josephine Auxillos, Mark Buzby, Mark 
  Eckenrod, Mark Finn, Mark Hanna, Mark Schumann, Marshall Mowbray, 
  Martin Greening, Mathew McCarthy, Matilda Schlax, Matt Helms, 
  Matt Schlotte, Matt Sinclair, Matty K, Matty Wilkerson, Max Kindred, 
  Menachem Cohen, Michael Owen Hill, Miguel Tortosa, Mike Fennell, 
  Mr., Jay, N. Guenther, N.O., NeonBuddha, Nigel McShane, Nils Werner, 
  Norman F, NP, Oh SeungHan, Oniricsword, Oscar Lowry, Patricio 
  Aguilera, Patrick P., Patrick Trapp, Paul Leary, Paul Lukianchuk, Paul 
  S., Paul Schifferer, Peter Wood, ProfBeard, Purpose-Porpoise, Quillion 
  Fellghast III, Ralph Holland, Rani Sharim, Red, Riccardo “Musta” Caverni, 
  Richard Henning, Richard Moss, Richard Walls, Rick Barton, Robertl, 
  “Jefepato” Dall, Robert Mohl, Rune, Russell Ventimeglia, RVH, Rye 
  VanStry, Sam Brockelbank, Samantha Michaels, Scott Cook, SeaLandRay, 
  Sean Kelly, Sebastian Müller, Simon O, Sister Anthea the Techno Nun, 
  Stands-In-The-Fire, Steve Arensberg, Steve L, Steven “Sammo” Simmons, 
  Tessara, Thaldon Magedrake, That Dutch Sir, Tim Czarnecki, Todd 
  Stephens, Tomas Burgos-Caez, Tomas Wynne, Tony Fucina, Travis 
  Palm, Trent Hergenrader, Trevor Hardy, Trip Space-Parasite, Tuomas 
  Lempiäinen, Waylander, Will and Maura Barron, Will McConnell 
  Simpson, William Brook, Z.Vanetti, Zahear, and zemesan
  Mercenaries
  Aaron F Stanton, Aaron Rhoads, Abigail, adam oedekoven, Adrian Eccles, 
  Alan M, Alex Parker, Alex Toomey Westcott, Allan Rodda, Andrew 
  Bahls, Andrew M, Andy Tri Nguyen, Anthony Campla, Anthony W, Bill 
  Sundwall, Blarghedy, Brad McMullen, Brandon, Brandon Salisbury, Brian 
  Fortunato, Brian Nugent, Brock Auston, Burzum, C. Edward Brown, 
  Casey Radalia, Casper Kirketerp-Helenius, Chris Swanson, Christian 
  Torstensson, Ckalex, CLWeeks, Cody Blaschke, Colin Anders Brodd, 
  Colin J, Connor Stokes, Conor Keane, Cora Neas, Crafts + Minis, Craig 
  Hindle, Daigoro Oshita, dalmoz, Damian AdamsM, Daniel W. Bøgedal, 
  David J Plamondon, Diogo Nogueira, Dorian Wright, Doug Hulsether, 
  Douglas Meserve, Dylan Medici, Edgar Gonzalez, Edward Hogan, Eloise 
  Bowyer, Eric Azama, Evan Jones, Fabian Reisner, Gaspar Quelhas Lima, 
  Geoffrey Lloyd, Godu, Gord Sellar, Granby Limb, Grant Barbee, Grazul, 
  Heel Turn Radio, J. Evans Payne, J.S. Majer, Jacob Blackmon, Jake Comer, 
  James Hatchett, James Hopefl, James Powell, James W. Armstrong-
  Wood, Jamie Corfield, Jamie Walter, Jason Cree, Jennifer Patterson, 
  Jeremy Esch, John B. McCarthy, John C. Randall, John Johnson, John R. 
  VanBenschoten, John Wicker, Joshua Palmer, Joshua Wiebelhaus, Kevin 
  B., Kiely Fickus, Lance Duncan, Lars Hovgaard Jensen, Lee Saferite, 
  Loren Small, Louis G Pratt, Luca Lettieri, Luke Fabis, Luke Trevino, 
  Majdi Badri, Marshall Miller, Martin, Martyn French, Matthew Jones, 
  Matthew T. Ricks, Melisa Gibbs, Merrill Hebert, Michael Hansen, Michael 
  Walker, Mike Musteric, Mike Ross, Morten Vesterager, Myr Stormcaller, 
  Nate Whittington, Nicholas Kerr, nick fin, Nicolai Rerup Nielsen, Nils 
  du Trag, Orgdrannof the Thief, Patrick Salemme, Paul Vogt, Peter James 
  Freeman, Ralph Morgan, RemasM, Robert Martin, Roger Rebisz, 
  Adventurers
  Aaron Lloyd, Aaron Sweigart, Adam Longley, Adam Sebzda, Aeon, Art 
  Braune, Brandon Szabo, Brian Mahoney, Bryan McEntire, Christopher, Cory 
  Johns, Craig Earl, Currfuldan, Daniël Harmsen, Daniel Pye, Darcy van de Rijt, 
  David Matz, Dennis Timm, Domenico Iovino, Egil Töllner, Evan Johnson, 
  Fuzztastic!, Gary McBride, George Cummings, GK, Gregory A. Lusak, Jason 
  Bostwick, Jeanne Frenken, Joe Field, Joe Yowell, John “Udono” Nakar, Jon 
  Ferguson, Jonathan “Buddha” Davis, Joshua Miller, Juan Camilo Gomez, Karl 
  Grette, Keith Davies, Kevin Freeman, Kory Beatty, Lane Abshire, Marcus 
  S. Schuch, Mark Asteris, Martin M., Matt Cramsie, Michael Stevens, Moritz 
  Boehm, Murray Shaw, Nicholas MacDonald, Nicholas Phariss, Obslin, 
  Oddtwang of Dork, Paul Baker, Ralph Mazza, Rebecca Davis, Renata Fearns, 
  Robert Thomas, Ross Aitken, Royal E. Frazier Jr, RunTheCastle, Rylan 
  Kovach, Sam Costidell, Sascha Bay, Sean M. Cooper, Shannon Carl, Steven 
  Roemer, StreetMonk, Thalji, The Pink Phantom, Thomas, Thomas Milazzo, 
  Tim Saiers, Todd K., Tom Williams, VickyR, w. David Lewis, and Ward
  Heroes
  Agrayday, Anonymous (2x), Astolpho, Benjamin Snead, Big Tyler, Brother 
  Tom, Bryan Watson, Chip Inman, Chris B, Chris Cascioli, Clint Malcolm, 
  Corey Raines, Curtis W. DeGidio, Dan Vehslage, Daniel Nagle, Dante 
  Lyndell Johnson, Dante Sclafani, David “Throk” Joy, David Awesome 
  COle, David Simkins, Doug “Dhomal” Raas, Espen Borgen, Figment 
  of Your Imagination, Fred Herman, Hamilton “Verdestrom” Spivey, 
  Ian Barnes, James Garmson, JD Walsh, Jeremy “Jezza” Styles, Jesse & 
  Olivia, John “johnkzin” Rudd, John Blau, John G. Snyder, Jon Rainey, 
  Joseph Stecher, Juan “Zeromegas” Gonzalez, Justin Lopez, Kai Q, Kaleb 
  Kronimus, Kay Schwenk, KOZ1K, Larry Norris II, Leonard Lee, Levity 
  Studios, Lluew Grey, Michael “Al” Ross Remes, Nathan King, Owen “Dig” 
  Crary, Philip W Rogers Jr, Robert Tankersley, Roel & Leah van Heusden, 
  Rohit Kaushik, Russell Hoyle, Sam Belisle, samurguybri, Trojan Points, Ulf 
  Lilienthal, William E. Staab, William Gallagher, and xaosseed
  Legends
  Robert “DM Bob” Brown
  Giant
  Rosaria Thorne, Scott A. Adams, Scott Turnbull, Sean McGuirl, Seth 
  Hutchinson, Simon Ward, Steffan Thomson, Stephen Green, Steven Kei 
  Kenobi, Tad Duncan, The Weule Brothers, Thomas Sterchi, Thomas van 
  Eijl, Tim Smith, Trent Laidlaw-Hall, Tyler S, Tyson Land, W. Gage Berry, 
  Washington Laws, Wes Hilmeyer, Wilhelm Fitzpatrick, William J. Scott 
  III, Zach Battista, and Zachary Pruckowski
  
  125
  OPEN GAME LICENSE
  The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
  1. Definitions: (a)”Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)”Derivative Material” 
  means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, 
  addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) 
  “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)”Open Game Content” means 
  the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is 
  an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered 
  by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means 
  product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic 
  elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic 
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  abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any 
  other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the 
  Open Game Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or 
  the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, 
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  in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License 
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  3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
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  15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  
  126
  INDEX
  Adamantine, 103
  Artificers, 33
   
  Creating, 33
   
  Tier, 35
  Avalanches, 27
  Bedroll, 18, 74
  Blanket, 18, 74
  Blinded, 108
  Boss, 55
  Catalysts, 34
  Character Roster, 32
  Charmed, 108
  Cleanliness, 23
  Climate, 38
  Clockwork, 105
  Coastline, 38
   
  Names, 118
  Cold, 18, 28
  Cold Weather Gear, 74
  Components, 32
  Conditions, 108
  Crafting, 32
  Craftspeople, 33
   
  Creating, 33
   
  Features, 34
   
  Tier, 35
  Danger Level, 11
   
  Dungeons, 52
   
  Regions, 36
  Deafened, 108
  Demigel, 105
  Desecrated Bone, 104
  Desert, 38
   
  Names, 118
  Discovery, 75
  Dishes, 97
  Dryftwood, 105
  Dungeons, 50
  Bosses, 55
   
  Danger Level, 52
  Ecology, 53
  Example, 82
  Layers of History, 51
  Names, 118
   
  Principles, 50
   
  Returning, 54
   
  Types, 51
  Electrum, 103
  Emergent Narrative, 67
  Encounters, 42
  Chances, 43
   
  Design, 57
  Environment, 38
  Equipment, 74
  Example Dungeon, 82
  Example Faction, 80
  Example Region, 77
  Exhaustion, 108
  Explorer, 73
  Exposure, 18
  Extreme Cold, 28
  Extreme Heat, 28
  Extreme Storms, 28
  Factions, 44
   
  Bases, 47
   
  Development, 49
   
  Example, 80
   
  Motivation, 48
   
  Names, 118
   
  Population, 49
   
  Principles, 44
   
  Territory, 45
   
  Themes, 46
  Feats, 73
  Fifth Edition, 11
   
  Converting to OSR, 106
  Fishing, 22
  Fog, 26
  Food, 22
  Foraging, 22
  Forest, 38
   
  Names, 118
  Frightened, 108
  Fudging, 61
  Gaunt, 87
   
  Coven, 87
   
  Gertrude, 89
   
  Morgan, 89
   
  Sybil, 88
  Gertrude Gaunt, 89
  Geysers, 27
  Grappled, 108
  Grassland, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Harvesting, 25
  Hazards, 27
   
  Occurrence chance, 28
  Heat, 18, 26
  Hills, 38
   
  Names, 119
  History, 63
   
  Generic, 120
   
  Layers of, 64
  Hook, 50
  Hunting, 25
  Ignan Brass, 104
  Incapacitated, 108
  Index, 126
   
  Of the designer, 68
   
  Of the player, 68
  Indexical Storytelling, 68
  Invisible, 108
  Iron Gut, 73
  Izirion, 7
  Landforms, 39
  Lava, 27
  Layers of History, 64
   
  Dungeons, 51
   
  Timeline, 64
  Legendary Actions, 87
  Lines & Veils, 6
  Lore, 63
   
  Dump, 66
   
  Principles, 63
  Lost, 19
   
  Rangers, 74
  Lycanthrope Leather, 104
  Magic Items, 100
   
  For Sale by Morgan, 97
  Map, 14
   
  Drawing, 16
  Materials, 35
   
  Crafting, 103
   
  Tier, 35
  Mess Kit, 74
  Metamorphic Matter, 105
  Missions, 13
  Mithril, 103
  Morgan Gaunt, 89
  Mountains, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Names, 118
   
  Unknown, 86
  Navigation, 18
   
  Directional, 19
   
  Landmark, 18
  Nimbus Silk, 105
  Nomad, 73
  NPCs, 66
  Obsidian, 105
  Old School Renaissance, 106
  Oracular Insights, 97
  Orichalcum, 103
  OSR, 106
  Paralyzed, 108
  Petrified, 108
  Player, 10
   
  Feats, 73
   
  Narrative, 70
   
  Pool, 10
   
  Backstories, 72
  Player Pool, 10
  Poisoned, 108
  Precipitation, 20
  Progression Options, 75
  Prone, 108
  Prophecies, 96
  Quicksand, 27
  Quicksilver, 103
  Rain, 20
  Rangers, 74
  Rations, 22, 74
  Regions, 36
   
  Danger Level, 37
   
  Example, 77
   
  Inhabitants, 41
   
  Modifiers, 40
   
  Principles, 36
  Restrained, 108
  Rockslides, 27
  Rothollow, 90
  Safety Tools, 6
  Sandbox, 62
  Sandstorm, 70
  Scheduling, 13
  Sea Dog, 73
  Seraphite, 104
  Sharp Eyed, 73
  Shelter, 18
  Silver, 103
  Sleeping, 18
  Slippery Ice, 27
  Snow, 20
  Spell Scrolls for Sale, 97
  Storms, 20
  Strong Back, 73
  Structures, 39
  Stunned, 108
  Stygian Iron, 104
  Sunken Ice, 104
  Surveying, 24
  Survivalist, 73
  Swamp, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Sybil Gaunt, 88
  Sylvan Bark, 13
  Telegraphing, 50
  Temperature, 21
  Tent, 18, 74
  Terran Quartz, 104
  Thick Skin, 73
  Thin Ice, 27
  Thunderbolt Iron, 103
  Tiers of Play, 75
  Titanium, 105
  Town, 30
   
  Names, 118
   
  Principles, 30
  Tracking, 18
  Travel Activities, 16
  Travel Pace, 17
  Treasure, 58
  Lore, 58
  Rooms, 56
  Trinkets for Sale, 97
  Tundra, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Unconscious, 108
  Underground, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Urban, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Verisimilitude, 62
  Visibility, 19
  Warmth, 18
  Wasteland, 38
   
  Names, 119
  Watches, 16
  Water, 22
  Wayfinder, 73
  Weather, 20
  Wetness, 18
  Wind, 21
  Windjammer, 73
  Wolfram, 103
  X-Card, 6
  XP, 75
   
  Discovery, 75
   
  Logkeeping, 75
   
  Roleplaying, 75
  Zadrok, 7
  And now my task is finished. Go, 
  seek your fortune. I earnestly await 
  our final, deadly confrontation.
  Thanks for reading! Hope 
  it helps your survive in the 
  Marches just a bit longer! 
  Good luck out there!
  
  HEED THE CALL
  Here, at the end of the road, there lie uncharted 
  wilds, where courage of heart and the spirit of 
  discovery still ring true. Here, beyond the edge of 
  the map, relentless peril may crush the soul of the 
  unworthy, yet it shall stoke the embers of greatness. 
  Here, amidst the ruin and brimstone, awaits the 
  forge of heroes, where legends are tempered in fire 
  and blood.
  Welcome to the West Marches.
  Izirion’s Enchiridion is a guide and toolbox for 
  running your own games in the campaign style of 
  the West Marches, designed to facilitate a large 
  pool of players that create their own parties and 
  plan their own missions to explore a sprawling, 
  persistent wilderness. As they delve deeper into 
  the Marches, they will uncover ancient mysteries, 
  challenge mighty foes, and blaze the path that 
  will determine their fate.
  Inside, you will find rules for wilderness travel 
  and exploration, toolkits for building your own 
  regions and factions, and guidelines for writing 
  and designing complex layers of history. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/Izirions Enchiridion of the West Marches.pdf