This is an amazing topic and one that I'm constantly working with because I play a lot of games that, even though they are not West marches, are very open ended games. One example is I'm playing Dolmenwoos right now and really letting the players do what they want and go where they want to go.
To that end I've got some questions. Feel free to answer what you want and ignore the rest 😃
1. What's this NPC database you've got? Any chance you're gonna talk/share it in a future article? Or is it something you could just give a description/screenshot of? I have an adventure database, but I've never seen an NPC database and it seems very interesting.
2. If the players hear about a rumor or even start a quest and then fail to continue pursuing it, do you roll to see if someone else resolves it? Or do you sort of leave it floating in a quantum state unresolved until the players come back?
3. Have you ever thought about including a mega dungeon somewhere nearby? That the players could opt to explore when they want it? Thinking about Stonehell as an example.
4. Since you're running shadow dark, what are you using for your retainer and mount rules? Are you somewhat handwaving it or our players just not getting into that kind of thing?
Plus a scribbly notebook where I jot down any time I mention a character and want a reminder. Eventually those go into Scabard.
And thirdly, a folder on my laptop that just found art from around the internet that inspires an idea for a character.
I could totally do a whole article on how I go about creating and organizing NPCs!
2. Yes, and ... it's been tricky to know when to do that. I play it by ear. I often give people the sales pitch that one of the benefits of joining a West Marches game is they don't have to commit to playing on a regular basis. So I wouldn't want to punish someone because they only play sporadically.
But I have done it. If the character goes on multiple other adventures without returning to the unfinished one, then it's fair game for NPCs. I don't have any rule against players sniping an unfinished quest from another, but for the most part people have been good about not doing that on their own.
3. I have! Although at 4-levels it's probably a little smaller than a "typical" megadungeon. I placed the Basic D&D adventure The Keep at Koralgesh just across the harbor. It took nine trips before they finally cleared it out. The prime mover of that adventure was a Priest of Ord who's now 9th level. Her retirement plans involve moving into the old Keep and establishing it (and the abandoned village I placed outside) in the name of her god.
I've got a couple others that big placed, but no one has bitten on one yet.
4) I use the retainer rules from Letters from the Dark vol IV. They're a little expensive but, but I'm okay with that because I don't want to run large parties of NPCs. In fact, I've told people they can't hire one if there are five characters or more (except in the rare case when a particular adventure is important to that NPC).
On the other hand, that opens an avenue to create a benefit out of the "gain an ally" result from the carousing table. Our rule is an ally will be willing to accompany the character on an adventure without the usual up-front costs, but a full share. But it still follows the 'not with 5 players or more' rule.
Mounts ... I haven't done a lot with yet. Due to the lore and history of my world (maybe another post some day), horses have been very rare in Schadengard, and the ones that are there are mostly needed for farm work. But a large shipment of horses just arrived from overseas so they're available, but expensive. So far no one has tried to initiate combat with one - they've just been used for cutting down travel time between dungeons, so I haven't had to face the question of mounts in combat. :)
Thanks so much for the details in all those answers. It's super interesting to see how other people approach these situations.
1. I'll have to check out your database when I get a chance and see what it looks like. I've actually never heard of Scabard at all, so it would be cool to see what you do with it.
Even with the disorganization, I'd still love an article on how you "collect" them and use them.
4. Letters from the Dark vol IV is what I’ve considered using when I start up my Shadowdark Play-by-Post once the western reaches come out.
This is an amazing topic and one that I'm constantly working with because I play a lot of games that, even though they are not West marches, are very open ended games. One example is I'm playing Dolmenwoos right now and really letting the players do what they want and go where they want to go.
To that end I've got some questions. Feel free to answer what you want and ignore the rest 😃
1. What's this NPC database you've got? Any chance you're gonna talk/share it in a future article? Or is it something you could just give a description/screenshot of? I have an adventure database, but I've never seen an NPC database and it seems very interesting.
2. If the players hear about a rumor or even start a quest and then fail to continue pursuing it, do you roll to see if someone else resolves it? Or do you sort of leave it floating in a quantum state unresolved until the players come back?
3. Have you ever thought about including a mega dungeon somewhere nearby? That the players could opt to explore when they want it? Thinking about Stonehell as an example.
4. Since you're running shadow dark, what are you using for your retainer and mount rules? Are you somewhat handwaving it or our players just not getting into that kind of thing?
Thank you so much for these great questions!
1. I wish my NPC database was as well organized as I implied, lol. It mainly exists in three places. My formal collection is here https://www.scabard.com/pbs/campaign/4198779/character
Plus a scribbly notebook where I jot down any time I mention a character and want a reminder. Eventually those go into Scabard.
And thirdly, a folder on my laptop that just found art from around the internet that inspires an idea for a character.
I could totally do a whole article on how I go about creating and organizing NPCs!
2. Yes, and ... it's been tricky to know when to do that. I play it by ear. I often give people the sales pitch that one of the benefits of joining a West Marches game is they don't have to commit to playing on a regular basis. So I wouldn't want to punish someone because they only play sporadically.
But I have done it. If the character goes on multiple other adventures without returning to the unfinished one, then it's fair game for NPCs. I don't have any rule against players sniping an unfinished quest from another, but for the most part people have been good about not doing that on their own.
3. I have! Although at 4-levels it's probably a little smaller than a "typical" megadungeon. I placed the Basic D&D adventure The Keep at Koralgesh just across the harbor. It took nine trips before they finally cleared it out. The prime mover of that adventure was a Priest of Ord who's now 9th level. Her retirement plans involve moving into the old Keep and establishing it (and the abandoned village I placed outside) in the name of her god.
I've written some other articles about this dungeon here https://markcasiglio.substack.com/p/the-joy-of-non-obvious-tools
and here https://markcasiglio.substack.com/p/fewer-rules-have-made-better-characters
I've got a couple others that big placed, but no one has bitten on one yet.
4) I use the retainer rules from Letters from the Dark vol IV. They're a little expensive but, but I'm okay with that because I don't want to run large parties of NPCs. In fact, I've told people they can't hire one if there are five characters or more (except in the rare case when a particular adventure is important to that NPC).
On the other hand, that opens an avenue to create a benefit out of the "gain an ally" result from the carousing table. Our rule is an ally will be willing to accompany the character on an adventure without the usual up-front costs, but a full share. But it still follows the 'not with 5 players or more' rule.
Mounts ... I haven't done a lot with yet. Due to the lore and history of my world (maybe another post some day), horses have been very rare in Schadengard, and the ones that are there are mostly needed for farm work. But a large shipment of horses just arrived from overseas so they're available, but expensive. So far no one has tried to initiate combat with one - they've just been used for cutting down travel time between dungeons, so I haven't had to face the question of mounts in combat. :)
Thanks so much for the details in all those answers. It's super interesting to see how other people approach these situations.
1. I'll have to check out your database when I get a chance and see what it looks like. I've actually never heard of Scabard at all, so it would be cool to see what you do with it.
Even with the disorganization, I'd still love an article on how you "collect" them and use them.
4. Letters from the Dark vol IV is what I’ve considered using when I start up my Shadowdark Play-by-Post once the western reaches come out.