The Shadowdark Western Reaches campaign will be run by David and Eden Pocai through the Cincinnati Adventurer's Guild. Our goal is to provide an open, welcoming environment for everyone to play and enjoy the Shadowdark adventures. Sessions will be scheduled and documented via Discord.
This is an open-world, player-driven campaign. You’ll explore ancient ruins, battle monsters, uncover treasure, and shape the world — all on your own terms.
A West Marches campaign is an episodic, player-driven role-playing game structure designed for flexibility and open table play, allowing for a rotating cast of players and ad hoc scheduling. The core of the West Marches style is exploration and discovery, with the game world structured as a wilderness or region filled with points of interest such as dungeons, ruins, and factions, often organized on a map that evolves as players explore.
Sessions are self-contained, often resembling one-shot adventures, and are typically scheduled on short notice by players coordinating through a shared platform like a Discord server. After each session, players are encouraged to submit session reports - written, artistic, or multimedia accounts of their adventures - to share discoveries and keep the entire player base informed. This system fosters a sense of community and world-building, as players collectively contribute to the campaign’s evolving lore and map.
You decide what to do and where to go.
You form your own groups with a player cap of X players each session
All adventures begin and end in Town.
The world changes based on what you do.
Share maps, rumors, and discoveries with other players.
Not every fight is fair — running away is wise.
After each session, someone writes a report.
Downtime actions help you prepare between adventures.
Link to the original West Marches blog by Ben Robbins.