This ruleset for DMing a West Marches game is taken from the “Daddywarbux” West Marches Discord server, which is one of the largest West Marches communities. The framework it constructs is very useful for having a consistent play experience in a west marches setting, and though it may require some adjustments for our own, smaller community, it certainly is helpful.
Adventuring Tiers
All adventures follow the Dungeons and Dragons Tier system, which separates the power level of adventurers. The Tiers are the following:
Tier 1: Levels 1 - 4
Tier 2: Levels 5 - 10
Tier 3: Levels 11 - 16
Tier 4: Levels 17-20
In a westmarches game, players are not always the same level. However, to play in a tier, one may not be above the maximum or below the minimum level. So for example, a level 5 adventurer may not play in a Tier 1 game.
A crucial balancing aspect that DMs use to create and balance games in a West Marches session, is the Average Party Level, or APL. This Term describes the average of all the party members’ levels added together. Fractions are rounded up.
For example: An adventuring group of a level 1 cleric, a level 4 fighter, and two level 2 rogues would be APL 2.25, or 3 rounded up.
The rules below are guidelines, DMs are not required to follow them. I (Norm) will personally be breaking many of them.
Balancing
To Balance Encounters, APL is used. As DM, you have an XP budget to create encounters according to the Thresholds outline in Chapter 3 of the DMG: Creating Encounters.
Page 82 outlines XP thresholds for encounters, page 83 shows the XP budget per character per Day.
Personally, I recommend using online tools such as Koboldplusclub for encounter creation, since they do all the complicated calculations for you.
With increasing tier, the XP thresholds also deviate from the DMG. To challenge players, you may multiply the outlined XP thresholds by the tier. So E.G. a tier 2 encounter may multiply the thresholds by 2 and increase the XP budget.
Rewards
Rewards depend on the Tier of the session.
XP rewards are measured by APL. A GM is allowed to give out XP up to the Adjusted XP per Day outlined on page 83. For example, for an APL 4 group, the maximum XP reward a GM may give out is 1700 per character.
Gold rewards are measured solely by the Tier of the session.
Tier 1 may receive up to 400gp per group per session.
Tier 2 may receive up to 1200gp per group per session.
Tier 3 may receive up to 6400gp per group per session.
Tier 4 may receive up to 24000gp per group per session.
Magic item rewards are also measured by Tier. A GM may give out one tier appropriate magic item and one tier appropriate consumable per session.
Tier 1 may receive uncommon items.
Tier 2 may receive uncommon or rare items.
Tier 3 may receive uncommon, rare, or very rare items.
Tier 4 may receive uncommon, rare, very rare, or legendary items.
Permanent magic items are distributed at the end of a session.
Permanent magic items have specific rules for distribution to promote equity. Follow these steps to determine how to distribute permanent magic items.
• If all the players at the table agree on who takes possession of a permanent magic item, that character gets the item.
• In the event that one or more characters indicate an interest in the item, the character who possesses the fewest permanent magic items gets the item. - Consumable Magic Items and Common Magic items are not included in your Magic Item Count.
• If the interested players have the same number of permanent magic items on the characters they played during that session, the item’s owner is determined randomly by the DM—usually by rolling a die.
Downtime
For every session a player is a part of, they accrue one workweek of downtime. Downtime can be used at the beginning of a session to pursue one of the various Downtime activities in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, for example pit fighting, crafting a magic item, working, researching something, etc.
Retiring
When your West Marches character reaches level 20 they have the option to retire from the adventuring life. When a character retires they take all of their wealth and belongings and settle down in town. They are no longer valid for West Marches games but still can be used for roleplay in the tavern. Doing so allows you to grant a ONE TIME benefit chosen from the list below to give to one of your characters:
They also have the option of 'moving up' to godhood via the Genesys rules.
Gift of the Elders: The character you award this to may begin play in the West Marches at level five. They may also choose one of the following magic items to claim: Arrow Catching Shield, Bracers of Defense, Canaith Mandolin, Necklace of Prayer Beads (with six beads), Staff of the Woodlands, +2 Wand of the War Mage, +2 Rod of the Pact Keeper, or a +2 weapon. The character also begins play with three potions of healing and 250gp.
Trained with a retired adventurer: Your level one character may begin with an ability score improvement. Variant Humans and Custom Lineage are not permitted to replace this ASI with a feat.
Rebirth: Your character relinquishes all their magic items for a chance to adventure once more! The retiring character remains a valid West Marches character but makes the following changes:
- They remove ALL magic items from their inventory and log; including things with permanent, persistent effects. All persistent effects are lost.
- They retain all mundane equipment, wealth, and downtime accumulated. They also gain a bonus of 50 Downtime Days and 50k GP.
- They return to level one. They keep the same race and name, but all other attributes of the character can be changed, at your discretion. During this next playthrough, all XP requirements needed to obtain a level are twice the regular amount. (PHB, Chapter 1, Character Advancement, P.15)