The East Marches is a campaign that isn't a campaign at all, but instead a collection of adventures from an ever evolving and revolving cast of characters, run by any number of DMs each putting their own stamp into the blank slate world of Gokiya. Each adventure is designed to be self-contained so that the commitment of both the DM and players doesn't extend beyond a session or two. DMs are free to create as many sessions or adventures as they want. Players are free to play in as many adventures as they want. Experience, rewards, and items will be controlled in such a way that the campaign's cast of characters don't get too spread out in terms of levels and overall power.

How do I join?

Create an account with Kanka or link it with your google account (keep in mind if you use your real name on your google account, we may be able to see that).

How do I play?

Once you're in, create a character based on the new character guide, which will establish the current starting point for all new characters. This will be your character that you may use for any number of adventures. If you wish to create more than one character, feel free - but do note that experience and other rewards are earned per character. Use whatever method you wish to create your character - pen and paper, a pdf, an app, a website, etc. but do note that you will ultimately need to transfer it to Roll20, where all adventures will be played. If you wish to create your character straight away in Roll20, go for it! If you're not sure how to go about the process, ask! Plenty of people will be willing to help you get your character on track.

When you have a character you're satisfied with, it's time to pick an adventure. The quest tab will have a list of potential open quests/adventures to choose from, run by any number of DMs that belong to the campaign. Pick one that suits your experience level, play style, or general interests. Once an adventure is full, the DM and players work together to pick a day and time to play the session.

How do I DM?

If you have an interest in DMing as well as playing, create an adventure in the quests tab according to the guidelines and make sure to specify level range, #of players, difficulty, etc. The adventure is yours to run and can be as firmly or loosely planned as you want, but should be limited to something that can be completed in a session (or two if the first session runs long). Members of the East Marches can be both a DM and a player, but never in the same adventure. A DM is free to create and run as many sessions as they want.

What does an adventure look like?

It looks like whatever the DM (or the players, if they have input in the creation of the adventure) wants it to look like. Want to create a dungeon crawl? Perfect. A single large battle? Go for it. A heist mission? Sounds great. All adventures are launched from the guild airship and every adventure ends with the characters returning to that same airship. Beyond that, the locations you encounter are up to you and fit into the world however you wish them to fit.

What does the world look like?

In the beginning, the world doesn't look like anything. It's a blank slate. Each adventure can add something tangible to that world, whether it's the name or location of a forest, a town, a river, etc. Future adventures can revisit those locations or piggyback off of them to reveal more of the world. Or a DM can choose to take the airship to a different spot entirely to create something completely new. I (Ratbrother) will do my best to keep track of the world and make it make sense as more is added to it by updating a world map so that players and DMs alike can see their shared creation and by creating pages like locations, characters, etc. to keep tabs on what has already been created.