No one has actually asked how we run the Kaserne on the Borderlands campaign, but I figured I’d throw together a breakdown of the basic logistics.

(if you aren’t familiar with the concept of a West Marches campaign, go read Ben Robbins’ original series of posts on the subject. Seriously.)

Coordination

I’m currently running for eight players. We have a private Discord server which we use for all our scheduling, worldbuilding, and between-session communication. Its one limitation is long-term recordkeeping, so I’m considering shifting to a forum for some content, but Discord’s always-on nature makes it very convenient for actual conversations.

(Initial recruiting was easy because everyone is either an original member of, or immediately adjacent to, my college-era World of Darkness gaming group, most of which still maintains contact. So I didn’t have to go far to seek players.)

After some initial shuffling about, we seem to have locked onto a monthly scheduling cycle. At the beginning of the month, I look at my personal and work calendars and determine the nights on which I expect to be available to run. My players typically carve out one evening a week, though we do have some weeks with a weeknight slot and a Saturday slot.

I require them to commit to a date and give me their agenda at least 48 hours in advance so I’ll have enough time to put together a session. I’ll run with as few as three people signed up, though so far I’ve had between five and eight for any given session.

The biggest scheduling problem so far has been player reluctance to commit to a time slot that might exclude someone. I think traditional linear campaigns have given us an expectation of maximizing inclusion. I’ve tried to set different expectations here with the statement that this is more like a LARP (which all my players have experienced, most of them extensively), in which it’s not expected – and, indeed, is often physically impossible – to be involved in everything that happens over the course of a weekend.

I also write campaign posts here with my players in mind. Those who miss a session can get caught up (assuming that it’s pretty close to what the other PCs would have told their character).

Platforms

As previously mentioned, we’re using Discord for scheduling and between-session communication. We also use it for voice comms during play. I’ve set the server to require push-to-talk to reduce the amount of people talking over each other, and because I got tired of interruptions from people yelling at cats.

Our virtual tabletop for this campaign is Forge. This is the first time I’ve used it, but I wanted to give it a shot because of the available official rules pack. One of my players was an early adopter and was able to give me a solid tutorial in its use. The official material isn’t perfect, but it’s a 95% solution for me, which is far better than I could have gotten out of Roll20’s current offerings. I’ll go into a bit more detail on how I handle character management, inventories, journals, and battlemaps in a future post.

The World and the World Map

Previous blog posts have shown the gradual reveal of the world map:

It should be unsurprising that I’m using the Poland map included in the T2k 4e boxed set and the Forge system pack. The players’ home hex, for those following along with the full map, is Af25, the approximate location of the real-world Ponikla.

For reasons which will eventually be revealed in play, I’m running their world map with heavy fog of war. They have to explore a hex to open it up on the world map. However, as the GM, I can see the whole thing. Thanks to Forge’s ability to link journal entries to map icons, I have GM notes on encounters, locations, and factions scattered across the world map. This includes canon locations of major military units (I’m using the 1e continuity) as well as a large amount of material inspired by Jed McClure’s Old School Polish Sandbox hexmap and key.

This framework enables me to improvise encounters and locations that are somewhat internally-consistent.

Session Prep

When my players decide where they’re going and what they’re doing, I check my GM notes to see if I have anything already there. If not, I’ll come up with something based on nearby items of interest, my random encounter generator, and my overall intentions for the campaign.

For exploring a new hex, I try to seed at least three distinct items. These can be combat encounters, noncombat encounters, interesting problems to solve, recoverable potential resources, or things that tie into the campaign’s overall evolving plot. I also establish what the hex’s terrain is like (starting with the base terrain type[s] shown on the world map) and what was there before the war.

We don’t always get to all of the prepped elements in a single session. Depending on what I had prepped, I’ll either retain it in my GM notes for a later encounter in the same hex, or I’ll recycle it for future use in an appropriate place.

As my PCs start getting out of their home hex region, they’ll start rubbing up against some of the local factions I’ve established. For each of these, I have a home base, an area of influence, resource surpluses and needs, general military strength, and overall agendas. These should enable me to determine how members or leaders of the faction will react to PC actions. Factions will also change over time, either in response to PC actions or as a result of the established trends in the 1e setting and continuity.

Overall, my sessions so far have been about 10% random tables, 40% preparation, and 50% improvisation off the first two elements.