West End Forest

West End Campaigns have a lot to offer a Dm and the players who participate. First the wold is only potentially mapped out, so there is as much room for improvisation and expansion as you will ever find in a campaign. Second, there are grand running themes throughout the Campaign Setting that allow for excellent character development and smooth Role Playing.

Of course the most important part of any story is the characters who are the protagonists in it. The best characters are not the ones with the best ability scores, the highest character level, or the most pluses. The best characters are those who;

It is therefore best to sit down with each player and ensure that they understand the feel and flow of West End before they even create a concept for a character. If a character just does not seem to fit, do not be afraid to ask the player to make another character. This will provide better game play in the long run.

The setting is the next important factor in West End Campaigns, and it is one that must be understood and in fact felt to truly run the game. The setting of West End emphasises several important themes that will be in the game.

Loneliness: The town of West End has been completely cut off from all sources of ideas, news, and even new faces for a long time now. There is no way for the citizens of West End to rejuvinate their culture except from within. This seperation leads to a palpable feeling of loneliness which is evident at levels throughout the whole culture. While this loneliness weighs on the entire society, it leads smoothly into the next them...

Family: This is not only blood relations but the family of the entire town together as one entity. Everyone knows that they are alone so people will do almost anything not to alienate themselves, their family, their group or even their business. Social death in West End could lead to quite literal death without the support network that has grown up in the town. There is virtually no poverty because everyone has to work hard just to survive. A frontier attitude has formed in a town that has nowhere to turn. This Family culture is beautiful to experience because you see a town of good people being genuinely good to one another. To be belligerent, arogant or even unfriendly is just unthinkable. This makes interation with people surprisingly easy, but keeping secrets rather difficult.

Unknown Destiny: The citizens of West End do not know what will happen to them in the future. While the concept of predestination is not totally foriegn, the idea of a clear path towards the future is foolish fancy. Not a soul in West End knows what will happen to them or how many more years they can go on living and existing. There are not enough people in West End to send out explorers in every possible direction. While life goes on nothing is certain. Even the gods do not reveal to their most devout priests what the future may hold.

General Concepts

These are the things that make a West End campaign different from your average campaign that do not apply to setting. You may wish to change some of these, but these are things that can make the campaign unique and especially memorable

Alchemy: Without help and completely alone, people in a standard fantasy town can only rely on magic. In a town filled with craftsmen, miners, geologists, explorers and toolmakers however, science was created. The depth of this technology is up to the Dm, but some suggested items would be in the alchemical section of the Players Handbook. Additionally, there are some other things that can be included such as Denim, crossbows, catapults, items that simulate magical items and perhaps even gunpowder. I chose not to use gunpowder because I thought it could be unbalancing or unlike fantasy.

Racial intermingling: West End is a game that involves racial harmony. Humans and Dwarves and to a lesser degree Elves are still different races, but mixed together as one. This allows characters of different races to truly and finally act as one and genuinely complement each other in your party.

Plot ::

Now here is the part that is up to the DM that is running the Campaign. West End is a campaign setting. As a campaign setting, the DM must create their own plot, which will bring it's own adventures and themes to the game. Below I will describe the Plot line that I used in case you need a starting point.

The Darklings: I listed a template for Darkling in the Races section, but a darkling can be whatever you want them to be. The point behind darklings is that not only are the people of West End alone, but there is something out there in the darkness hunting them. At first the Darklings are a rumor, but the party should encounter them personally at some point. It would become up to them to find out more about them. Darklings are in some way immune to normal weapons. In my campaign, the Darklings would reform in their city if they were killed by normal weapons. This not only served to keep the party from being able to examine them closely, but allows the victory of defeating them while keeping them a menace. The party's role in this plot would be to find a way to defeat the Darklings for good. This could be by finding a weapon to destroy them, or in the superpowered version by going into their city with an army and destroying them. The Darkling plot is one that can keep the party guessing and always providing action at the most important moment.
Lost Gods: This plot thread fit in nicely with the Darkling role. A lost God exists who holds they keys to darker and more mysterious secrets which may allow the party to gain victory. When I did it I had it result in an enormous change in the Charleton religion worshiping the All-father.
A Second City: This is another one I worked in smoothly with the Darkling threat. A second knight named Sir Rensin, who was always jealous of Sir Gregory, left Dimhold at the same time Sir Gregory did to establish a keep for himself. Sir Rensin and his knights know nothing of West End or it's truncation. The town of Redkeep where Sir Rensin lives exists only to take over West End and its mine. They also know nothing of the corruption of West Ends mines. About the time of the game's beginning plans are already underway for the conquering of West End. The party could be involved in actively fighting them or in establishing diplomatic relations to clear up misunderstandings.
Multi-plane Madness: The world West End exists in is completely cut off from most of the outer planes, hence the banned spell list and limited ability of clerics to cast powerful spells. With this plot twist, creatures from other planes begin appearing as the walls between planes begin to break down. It is up to the party to either reistablish the planer borders or fight off the invading outerplaner armies. This one would make an interesting foil to the simple and home-like existance of West End.
Magical Failure: Magic is failing in West End. This could be because of the anger of the gods, the prevalence of technology, or a Darkling plot. Without magic, it will be difficult, but important for the party to do old fashioned research to get to the bottom of this magical failure. If there is no wizard in the party, there could be no answer to this at all making your campaign EXTREMELY low magic.