Restock the Underworld

The Underworld grows and shifts. Between the end of the City Phase and the start of the next session, the GM revisits their Meatgrinder and City Events tables and replaces any entries that the players have already encountered. If an ogre is slain, a hidden room looted, or a rusty trap sprung, replace those entries with something new.

GMs should ask themselves: How has the Underworld been changed by the player’s actions? Factions will refill their posts. Other factions will move into cleared rooms. Other guilds meet with success or failure. The Underworld is dynamic, not static. Reflect the changing Underworld by adding new content to the Meatgrinder tables.

Advice for Exploration- (sidebar)

based Games (sidebar)

“The adventure is in the wilderness, not the town. As per the discussion of NPCs [non-player characters] … be careful not to change the focus to urban adventure instead of exploration. You can have as many NPCs as you want in town, but remember it’s not about them. Once players start talking to town NPCs, they will have a perverse desire to stay in town and look for adventure there. ‘Town game’ was a dirty word in West Marches. … You find things by exploring, not sitting in town — someone who explores should know more about what is out there than someone in town.”

• “Great Experiments: West Marches,” Ben Robbins

Example Contracts

Here are a few contracts that might be on a job board at your local tavern. Draw ~5 cards to create a job board.