A new online narrative campaign is starting on September 6th, on the Westmarches group Discord, and in collaboration with The Great Weave!

This campaign will gather participation from Soulbound roleplay groups, as well as players playing Age of Sigmar and Warcry, to decide the fate of a land caught between the claws of tzeentchians and the blades of khornates. Many powers in Thondia have a stake in this, and their agents can decide that course of the war.

We chatted with the lead NEO for the event, @Grubbo1 on Discord, about what players can expect from it. 

Q: Please summarize the event for us, what the campaigns’ stakes are, and what players can expect.
A: (This is a big war in Northern Thondia where a Khornate Empire from Aqshy invaded some territory held by worshippers of Tzeentch. This land was already full of infighting but they managed to put it aside to fight against the invading Khornates. This led to a domino effect as the scope of the war grew and armies from many Realms began to enter the fray. What is at stake is the fate of Northern Thondia.

The forces of Order want to keep the war contained as they amass armies to squash both sides. Destruction wants a good fight. Death is divided and are trying to gain a foothold. Forces of Chaos are aligned to either side, or have their own goals. It is a time for war and anarchy, but it is a time of opportunity as well.

Players can expect a dynamic, ever-shifting event where there are multiple ways to get involved. From playing or GMing Soulbound Sessions, playing War Cry or the [AoS] Wargame, or being involved in Text Roleplay, there are a lot of ways to get involved.


Q: What is the WestMarches group on discord, where this all started, and what kind of gaming can players expect to join up for?
A: The concept harkens back to the classic West Marches Format of playing [Dungeons and Dragons], where a bunch of players and their characters go forth into a dangerous world as a large group. Anyone can be a GM if they want, and people often have multiple Player Characters. In truth, the Campaign has evolved and is closer to a Living World. There are certain safe spots in the map Player Characters (PCs) can rest in, and develop as they continue to interact with each other. But there is still more danger to venture into and defeat.

We have quite a few GMs. We average ~8 Sessions/month between all the different groups. We encourage as many different GMs to run Soulbound Sessions. Some Sessions are one & done One Shots, others are longer multi Session Quest Chains. We are open to a lot of stuff. All of these Sessions are tied together in a wider meta-plot. 

We also have text-based roleplay channels, that people can engage in with their PCs, that you don’t need a GM for necessarily.


Q: The quest-based system seems perfect to prompt freeform participation, that allows players/GMs to flesh out their own details to contribute, especially by disparate Soulbound groups.  How much has this multi-group metaplot evolved? Where is it set in the Realms, and what impact have your stories caused so far? Explain us a bit how all these submissions are going to fit together.
A: The wider Meta-Plot is that all Sessions, and the upcoming Hellscorn Campaign, take place in Ghur during the Era of the Beast.
All of these different Champions arrive in Ghur in the wake of Kragnos’s rise, and they go on to fight his forces and fight the forces of Chaos, Skaven, etc, etc that are also plaguing the land of Ghur. So many different PCs come to Ghur for different motivations, but they are willing to put them aside to fight against the various greater scope enemies in the land. The Soulfire magics come from Ancient Drogrukh Energy.


Sometimes we have large plots, like the upcoming Hellscorn War. Or in the past the Binding fought against Chaos-worshipping Idoneth and they liberated an Air Temple from Kruelboyz. So even if a Session is self-contained (beat up some Skaven!) it still ties into the larger story of going about Ghur and taking on these threats & challenges.


Q: The Hellscorn War Campaign has opened up to other systems for participation, but the West Marches group originated as solely Soulbound-focused. Tell us a bit about how the specific opportunities the roleplay game opens up help a GM at exploring and fleshing out the map.
A: One of the great roleplay opportunities is that the war has brought together so many different interesting characters and groups into one area. Each part of the map reflects different aspects of the war, based on who is winning or losing. So the map will change based on the player’s decisions and how they interact with the different characters and groups. That makes exploring the map even more fun, since they aren’t just static locations, but dynamic areas shaped by player choice & decision.


Q: You are also asking for player participation in worldbuilding the campaign map itself, right? Right up the alley for worldbuilders. Please tell us a bit more about how these player contributions will be integrated, and how much players can expect to affect the world.
A: Yes we are! Players are always welcome to introduce armies that are fighting in the war, alongside characters and locations. One thing in particular I’m looking forward to is as the war wraps up much of the map that was owned by NPCs will be available to the players to take over. So there is a lot of potential for those interested in worldbuilding to come up with nations and kingdoms all born from how the Event goes and the decisions people make during the Event .


Q: How has the experience been, collaborating with The Great Weave (TGW), to make a campaign webpage on the site to host the information and story content? And where players can link their creations immediately?
A:Working with folks from TGW has been great. Especially for large overarching events such as this. Events like this make a nice framework that others can add to, and which can be reflected well in TGW Posts.

 
Q: What would you like to say to players out there, to motivate them to join the WestMarches and “Hellscorn War”?
A: I think there is something in this Event for everyone. From Intrigue Filled Text RP to Wargame Battles to Intense Fights against Demonic Foes. There is also alot of space in the Event for people to bring their own creativity, and not only will it be on display but it will affect the Campaign and map itself. If you like Soulbound, Age of Sigmar, or just worldbuilding or role-playing there is something for you here 

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Thank you, Grubbo!

We will be following the event online, so please keep us all updated on social media!

You can find the Campaign page here for more details.

What do you think about this event?
Do you have any questions for the NEO, and how they put manage these campaigns w many players’ and group contributions worldwide?
Leave your comments below!

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