How Do I Get Started?

If you're hoping to join our little campaign here, here's how you get started:

* Check out my Startplaying (if you're coming from Startplaying, you can skip this step).

If you're not coming from Startplaying.games, check out my Startplaying to just peruse the website and get familiar. That's where you'll be signing up for sessions.My current going rate is $10/2 hours, $15/4 hours, and $20/6 hours.I am not currently taking 1 or 8 hour games.

* Read: What Is West Marches?

If you are completely unfamiliar with the style of game we're playing, here's the explanation of the what's, how's, and why's of West Marches.

As a note, this is a *style* of playing. It's a supplemental rule system to be played *alongside* a system like D&D 5e, D&D 4e, D&D 3.5e, Pathfinder, Pathfinder 2e, etc, etc. It does not replace any rules, but is a guide on how to play them a little differently.

* Optional: Read What Should I Buy on D&DBeyond?

The short answer? Nothing, so long as you're in my campaign. For the long answer, click here.

* Read: Setting and Rhea.

If you haven't gotten a sense yet of the setting the game will be taking place in, this is the most current explanation. This will also give you a sense of the naming conventions of the setting.

* Read: Session 0 and Schedule a Meeting

You're okay with the price, the West Marches (WM) style, and the setting sounds cool. What's left? Send me a message on Startplaying to ask for my Discord and read the Session 0 page. The Session 0 page will inform you of my expectations and provide a partial (but incomplete) guide to character creation. I'll send you a consent form you need to fill out and return to me, so that I understand your expectations. We'll then schedule a meeting to build your character, upon which I'll give you the join link to the campaign on D&DBeyond so you can get access to all of the content I own on the website. I'll also send you the server invite.

As a note, be sure to have a working microphone; all meetings and sessions are over Discord voice channels. Cameras are optional but recommended!

* Read: House Rules

These are the rules changes I've made to D&D 5e. Unlike the West Marches style I mentioned earlier, these actually do change and replace some of the rules of the game.

* Read: Starting Magical Items

Everyone gets 1 item off this list for their character in addition to their starting equipment.

* Read: Bounty Board

Okay. You understand the game and how it's going to work and have your character built. Congratulations! It's now time to actually start playing. The Bounty Board is the current mission list. Select one that sounds interesting to you, find a date and time that works best for your schedule (I am in Pacific Standard Time if you want to make my life a little easier), and go into the Discord. You'll find that there are 3 channels that are labeled some variation of "lfg". Go into one of those channels (preferably one that hasn't seen activity in a while) and ask if anyone wants to join you on that date and time for the quest you picked out.

As a note: if there are multiple sessions being planned at once, it's okay! It doesn't mean that your session you want to play in isn't happening. My hope is to be running 3-5 sessions *every week* eventually, so that means that there's going to be overlapping planning periods. As long as you have at least 3 people for your session, you'll be set to play that day.

* Read: Mission Summaries

Once you've got your group together, go back through the linked Mission Summaries to see if any other group has been through the area you're venturing into. They may have left behind clues or encountered what you're looking for once before.

Once you have finished your quest, *do not* post your mission summaries here on the wiki. Post them on the Discord. Once I see that you've posted it, I will copy/paste it into the wiki. I do this myself because the mission summaries are *for the other players* and they are not notified if you post it on the wiki, only I am. So it's a waste of your time. If you want to go back and make edits, make it on the Discord post and let me know, I'll update accordingly.

* Introduce Your Character

It's finally arrived; you have a small crew, you have a quest, you have a date and time, and you know what the report was last time someone came through. Now what? Now it's time to introduce your character! In the server's #character-introductions channel, you can either write up a summary or there is a little form I put in the pinned messages you can use if you're not the creative writing type.

* Optional: Read XP Leveling

If you want to understand how I'm awarding experience, read this page.

* Read: Current XP Totals

You've just come back from your quest and gotten some sweet loot and some sweeter experience. But, wait, who's tracking the experience? For the time being, I am, as D&DBeyond does not allow me to change the values of experience needed to level and I am using a modified system. You can find how much experience you earned during a given session usually within a few days of finishing your quest.

* Refer a Friend

If you have a friend or loved one who'd like to come play with us, bring them! You and your friend will get to play that first session for free. This is once per friend, so if you have multiple friends you'd like to invite, you can spread them out and get a few sessions in a row for free.