This product

When I was asked to help run a Dungeons and Dragons club at

my school corporation I was given the opportunity to bring the
experiences I had playing the world's most popular roleplaying game
to the next generation.

In this product you will find a guide on how to run a West Marches
inspired campaign and two encounters you can plug into any existing
campaign.

*miniatures not included*

 The Setting

You should start with a walled village or fort on the edge of

civilization. I suggest using office grid paper as it is cheap and
effective when using simple isometric shapes as shown above. The
reason we are starting on the border of civilization is that the idea of
a West Marches game is that players are exploring a wild and
untamed land where all their adventures begin and end in the
village. Starting and ending in the same place is useful as not all
students will be present to play every week and having to pick up a
game in the middle of a dungeon without key players can really ruin
the experience. In my setting the players start and end their
sessions in the Smiling Dog Inn. A friendly lodging that provides
warm meals, baths, rooms, and work for adventurers.
 The Village
It is not a bad idea to involve your students in the creation of your
setting. The setting I have placed all the adventures included in this
product is that of a plucky little town on the edge of a vast and
perilous swamp.

*The town mayor and guard

ensure the laws are followed
within the village walls.

The village can be more than just a safe place for players to
resupply, it can be an adventuring location as perilous as the
wilderness. Some locations expected to be present if you plan to run
the adventures included in the product are; A cozy inn, a well stocked
general store, a sturdy old keep, a ramshackle wizards tower, and a
temple to no god in particular.
 Character Creation &
Leveling Up
The issue I have run into the most with running D&D club is
the process of character creation. It is tedious and can cut into
valuable play time. I highly recommend using digital tools like
D&D Beyond, Fast Character, and others to expedite the process.
I also recommend having new players come in with characters at
the same level as everyone else to avoid unnecessary prep.

Level 5 Level 10 Level 20

I found that if you have players level up every two weeks it aligns well
with the flow of the school year. At an average of five levels every
nine weeks students who participate throughout the year will end up
with a max level character. You can scale this very easily to your
schedule. If your club only meets twice a month then you can simply
have players level up each time they play. The idea is that by the end
of the nine weeks players should gain around five levels which puts
them in the next tier of play.
Preparing for Play
You do not need to invest hundreds of dollars in core rulebooks,
miniatures, terrain, or even dice to run a successful Dungeons and
Dragons club. Those items are very useful and enhance everyone's
experience, but take it from someone who has invested heavily into
the hobby when I say, “You do not need to buy everything at once.”

I started in this hobby playing with bottle caps and maps drawn
on the back of university dining hall lunch menus. The bare
minimum you need to start is the System Reference Document or
SRD for short. It is a free product that contains the core rules to run
the Fifth and current edition of D&D. You need to have a set of dice
or have your students download a free dice rolling application from
their app store. Lastly you will need to print out character sheets for
players. I will provided a link to all the materials listed above on the
materials page. Once you have all these things accounted for
ensure that your students have their character sheets filled out and
you will be ready to play!
Week 1 Adventures
The first week of this program is broken up into two adventures
that should take around an hour to complete with time for a break in
the middle. It is broken up like this to teach players mechanics of the
game without overwhelming them. If you are lucky enough to have
multiple game masters you can run these games and have your
players switch game masters after the break to keep the experience
fresh.

The Caravan’s Curse Key to the City

“A Combat Focused “A roleplay heavy
Encounter” Encounter”
The Caravan’s Curse
“You have all found yourselves escorting a caravan bringing food, weapons, and news to
(Insert your village name). It has been a long but quiet journey with few issues aside from
a broken axle and an argument over pay. You breathe a sigh of relief as you see the last
roadhouse before the city come into view. Thoughts of a clean bed and warm food flee
your mind as your ears are filled with the bellowing sound of a war horn. An arrow digs
itself deep in the shoulder of the wagon driver. You are under attack!”

*Read text in the grey box aloud to your students.*

Bursting from the woods a band

of lizardfolk raiders appear with
clubs. There are a number of
lizardfolk equal to the amount of
players present minus 1. They
wish to capture the players in
order to ransom them back to
the town. If a player is reduced
to zero hp they are knocked
unconscious and a lizardfolk will
attempt to carry them into the
swamp at half movement next
turn. If all players are captured
they are sold back the town on
the following morning and will
wake up in the temple having
Either on a dry erase board or paper
their wounds healed.
draw a swampy road with dense trees
around it. Every inch is five feet with the
lizardfolk appearing around thirty feet
away from the players. At this time have
the players roll their initiative and roll a
single initiative count for the lizardfolk.
(They all act at the same time)
The Caravan’s Curse
Continued
“As the last lizardfolk falls and you catch your breath the caravan leader limps over. He
thanks you all for having saved his life and says that he will reward you when you get to
the city. His face turns white as another war horn can be heard in the far distance. The
caravan leader yells, “Get to the roadhouse before more attack!”
*Read text in the grey box aloud to your students.*

Keep initiative but give the players
three rounds of actions before you
introduce the next encounter. To
get into the roadhouse safely the
party must pass one of the
following dc 10 skill checks.
● Persuasion (Convince the
Road Warden to open up)
● Acrobatics (To climb the wall
and unlock the door)
● Lock Picking (To Lockpick the
door)
● Athletics (To push open the
heavy wooden doors)
● Arcana (To activate the magic
runes that lock the door)
Should the players fail to get into
the road house the caravan master
offers to pay the road warden to
open the door.
If players decide to fight instead of
hiding in the roadhouse 1d4+1
lizardfolk appear to attack the
players and gather their fallen.
After beating on the doors for a
few minutes the lizardfolk lose
interest and gather their dead
before departing the road. The
caravan master returns to his cart
and the players make it to the city
with no trouble. The session ends
with the players all getting 50 gold
pieces each and one roll on the
magic item table found in the
handout section.
 Key to the City
“You have all arrived in (insert village name) during the Freedom Festival. You learn from
excited townsfolk that the annual event celebrates a battle against the lizardfolk of the
swamp nearly one hundred years ago. Children swing clubs at straw lizardfolk filled with
sweets, young men and women dance arm in arm, and adventurers test their skills at the
tournament. You are invited to join in the festivities by excited locals.
*Read text in the grey box aloud to your students.*

Present the players with the Contests

festival grounds map and starting
with the player to your left have
them attend whatever event they
choose. Players must make a skill
check against the following chart.
● 1-9: Failure
● 10-15: Normal Success
● 16-19: Impressive Success
● 20: Critical Success
● Frog Rodeo
(Athletics or Animal Handling)
“The nearby swamp produces
amphibians of unusual size. Locals have
gathered up a few “Bullfrogs for a rodeo.
● Crossbow Game
(Ranged Attack)
“Set up at a safe distance in the far
corner is a series of targets and
crossbows mounted to a table.”
● Pie Eating
(Constitution Save)
“Who can woof down the most pies! First
place gets a special prize!
● Singing
(Performance or Persuasion)
“A stage has been set up in front of a
series of bleachers. Bards and poets
battle to be the best.”
● Lizard Pinatas
(Melee Attack)
“In celebration of the defeat of the
lizardfolk straw lizards have been stuffed
with prizes.
● Arm Wrestling
(Athletics or Intimidation)
“Test your strength against the toughest
wrestlers around!”
 Key to the City
Continued
“The festivities continue on long into the night with lots of eating, dancing, and activities.
The mayor of the villages goes around with slips of parchment taking down everyone's
name for a grand raffle. The prize of the night is the key to the city. Mounting the podium
the mayor addresses the excited the crowd and goes to open the wooden case containing
the key to find that it empty!”
*Read text in the grey box aloud to your students.*
The key to the city has been Once the traitor is
stolen and it is up to the players to dispatched or knocked
find out who did it. The town guard unconscious the town guard
blocks the exits and will not let take them away. Anyone who
anyone leave until the key is made a successful skill check
found. The following suspects during the first half of the
stand out ot the players as having session gets a prize from the
interacted with the mayor before magic item chart. The key to
the theft. To keep the mystery alive the town is presented to any
roll a d4 and have that suspect be member of the party who did
the lizardfolk spy who stole the not win a skill contest. The
key. (re-roll 4s) Once revealed session ends with every
they will attempt to fight the player either getting and item
players. from the games or a key.
Bad Guys
Magic Item Table
 Materials

● https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/system
s-reference-document-srd (System Reference
Document)
● http://www.fastcharacter.com/ (Character
Builder)
● https://www.dndbeyond.com/ (Character Builder
for Phones)
● https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dice-3d-7pixels/id
1263339902 (Apple Online Dice Roller)
● https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co
m.vuesoft.critdice&hl=en_US (Android Dice
Roller)
 Thank you for
downloading this
product
If you enjoyed this please consider following me
as I create more D&D content for after school clubs.
Questions or concerns can be sent to my email at
cbrenton@orleans.k12.in.us.