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After viewing the premiere of Critical Role Campaign 4, it becomes apparent that labeling this latest undertaking as "rotating-player format" was somewhat inaccurate. The fresh Dungeons & Dragons story set in the realm of Aramán, designed by Brennan Lee Mulligan, promises to be an epic and enjoyable journey, yet the opening episode shows it won't follow the West Marches structure.

The Elements That Characterizes a Rotating-Player Game

Campaign 4 features an large cast of thirteen players who will take turns at the session by dividing into multiple rotating groups. While rotating players is a core premise of a West Marches campaign—first pioneered by game creator Ben Robbins—the real execution and format are quite distinct from what Critical Role is presenting in this newest installment. But, if you are curious about West Marches and want to know why it might be a good option for your own game, read on.

The Origins of the West Marches Style

West Marches was originally the setting for a campaign led by Ben Robbins, who also created the games Microscope and Kingdom. To solve the common problem of varying player availability, Robbins introduced the idea of not having a fixed group. Since he could draw from a big group of players, he allowed them to arrange sessions freely. Once a sufficient number of players agreed on a date, the game would run as needed.

Having a rotating "group" is great for players: No matter if you can play weekly or once a month, you will consistently have a place at the table.

As a Dungeon Master, though, it demands a specific mindset when constructing the campaign. West Marches is, at its heart, a sandbox campaign where players explore the world without being tied to an overall plot. At the conclusion of each session, they return to town to rest and organize their next expedition. This is essential to allow DMs to run a game with rotating players and flexible scheduling. Consider crafting a large, epic narrative, filled with villains, factions, and plot milestones, but without being sure who the protagonists will be at each session.

Why This Style Prevents Story Unresolved Endings

Certainly every DM has had a session conclude on a huge cliffhanger featuring a particular character, only to discover that the participant was unable to attend the next session. It's similar to if Frodo had to step away from Mount Doom briefly before tossing the Ring. West Marches avoids this by essentially removing the central plot. However, that doesn't mean a West Marches-style campaign has no story.

As stated by Robbins: "There was background and linked details. Clues discovered in one place could shed light elsewhere. Rather than just being an fascinating detail, these clues result in tangible discoveries."

The Way Critical Role Diverges from the Sandbox Approach

At first, I thought a comparable approach would occur with Critical Role Campaign 4, with the mythology of the world developing naturally and slowly through players’ actions in each episode, but I was mistaken. Episode 1 is strongly filled with pre-existing lore, and there is a powerful, overwhelming plot that guides the characters. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but West Marches provides a pretty different experience from many D&D campaigns, one that is worth trying at least once.

Tips for Running Your Personal West Marches Campaign

In my initial, extended custom D&D campaign, I started from a concept like the classic The Keep on the Borderlands D&D module, which subsequently influenced Robbins’ original West Marches. After an intro, the players found themselves in a frontier town, a classic "final bastion of civilization" environment. From there, they get the opportunity to explore the surrounding wilderness, either motivated by quests gathered in town or by their own curiosity. This method of play is heavily location-based, so if you're planning to attempt it, make sure to stock up your wilderness with interesting locations to explore. The last thing you want is your players declaring, "Today we want to check out the mysterious ruins in the Swamp of the Dead," and having no content prepared.

• For me, I prefer having a strong plot in my campaigns, so I also scattered several story leads for an overall narrative, both in town and in the wilderness.
• I think that pure sandboxing and aimless dungeon crawling can grow tiresome after a while, but Robbins raised an key point in this aspect when he described the origin of West Marches.
• "The reason in setting things up this way was to overcome player disinterest and unthinking 'plot following' by putting the players in control of both scheduling and what they did in-game."

Achieving Equilibrium in Every Game Type

The takeaway here is that regardless of the style of campaign you're running, it's important to find a balance between your role as a DM in guiding the narrative and players’ agency. Whether you're designing a intricate death maze for a traditional dungeon crawl or determining the fate of the world in a Critical Role-style campaign, consistently consider what your players may want to do. You set up the table, but they choose what to eat.

The Present Is a Perfect Moment to Begin a Sandbox Campaign

It might be the ideal time ever to start a West Marches-style campaign. D&D’s latest starter set, Heroes of the Borderlands, is a comeback to the Keep on the Borderlands, providing the ideal foundation to pull new players into this style. An add-on recommends how to better connect the different quests in the set, but you can also run this as the center of a sandbox campaign and expand it as it continues.

Actually, the coolest aspect of the original West Marches is the collaboration between the changing players. The town tavern had a map of the nearby areas carved into a table, where groups added information and drew new areas as they discovered them. This not only meant that players could help each other even while not playing at the table at the same time, but also that the world of West Marches grew naturally as the players explored it. If you're a DM who is attempting to create a custom campaign or world for the first time, West Marches could be just what you need.