Creating New Characters

West Marches uses the Dungeons & Dragons 5e system. Character sheets can be found on the official D&D site. The basic rules for the game are available for free on the site as well, and contain a step-by-step guide on how to build a character. West Marches has some specific rules in addition, described below.

Stats
Stats are done by standard array or point buy with the standard 27 points, and are never rolled. If you'd like to use a point buy calculator, one can be found here."What is point buy? Point buy is a system wherein you have a number of points which you spend on ability scores within a range of 8 to 15 for each score. It allows greater customization than using standard array while keeping things balanced between players.  It's described in detail on page 8 of the Basic Rules or page 13 of the Player's Handbook."When choosing things like race and class, certain materials have been approved for use in West Marches. Anything found in the Player's Handbook or Xanathar's Guide to Everything is approved, as well as specific things from other sources. See Character Creation: Allowed Materials for a full list of what's allowed.

Levels
West Marches characters level up on a set schedule, such that all characters are the same level at all times. This helps keeps things balanced among players as well as making it easier for the DMs to know how to balance encounters. All level-ups happen on Friday night/Saturday morning after club. If you're still playing at midnight, you won't level up until after your game has concluded.

Below is the leveling schedule for season 5.

Equipment
All characters start with the equipment listed for their class and background as well as one randomly rolled trinket (page 160-161 of the PHB). Players may choose to roll for their starting gold instead of taking their class's standard equipment; ask a DM to oversee the roll. Note: Rolling for gold replaces only your class equipment, as per a house rule.

In addition to the standard equipment, characters receive additional gold and equipment based on their starting level, shown in the table below. Refer to the section on Landmark Magic Items for more information about the items mentioned below and the approved list of uncommon items.

Purchasing Additional Equipment
Standard adventuring equipment may be purchased at any time for the prices listed in the PHB and may be sold for half that price. DMG poisons may also be purchased for the prices listed in that book, and sold for half those prices.

Published and approved magic items may be purchased at character creation at the following prices. Following your character's introduction, however, magic items can only be bought or sold through the appropriate downtime options. All prices listed are in gold.

RP-Only Characters
Any character that has yet to be played in a game is considered an RP-only character.

RP-only characters receive the same gold and equipment as listed above when they're introduced to RP channels. RP-only characters receive landmark magic items at the same time as normal PCs, but they do not accrue downtime. Instead, if an RP-only character becomes a normal PC by being played in a game, they receive the difference between the starting gold they received when they started as an RP-only character and what they would receive as a new character of the current level. They have the option to buy magic items at such a time at the prices listed above.

Downtime
West Marches runs in approximately real time. The month and day will always be the same in the world of West Marches as it is in the real world, though the year may be different. Because of this set-up, characters have a lot of time on their hands to do things besides adventuring: they might spend their time working somewhere in town, participating in the popular pit fights, crafting magic items with ingredients they've picked up on quests, training in new skills, or any number of other pursuits. For a full list of what's possible, see the page on downtime.

Downtime is accrued with each week of West Marches games, often, but not always, with an additional week of downtime over breaks. What happens over a break will be announced on the Discord, and DMs are happy to answer questions at the start of game.

For new characters, the starting gold they receive stands in for any downtime preceding their current level. When a character plays in their first game, they receive as many weeks of downtime as have accrued since the latest level-up, and continuing accruing downtime as normal. For example, if you bring in a new character for the first game at level 4, they'll receive 225gp as their starting gold and 1 week of downtime, since the level-up would have occurred directly following the game a week prior. For information regarding the current level, see the wiki homepage.

Resolving Downtime
Players are invited to resolve downtime ahead of time by contacting a DM via Discord. Downtime may also be resolved at the table before a game begins. Note that any mechanical effects from downtime are not considered official and cannot be benefited from until that character has played in a game.

Home Town
A basic overview of the setting can be found on the page introducing West Marches. Your character might be from one of the major cities described there, or from a "backstory island." A number of such locations can be found in the player-created society category, or refer to the page on creating lore if you'd like to make your own.

Gods and Religion
The main pantheons worshiped in the world of West Marches are the Dawn War (DMG p11), Greek (PHB p297), and Norse (PHB p298). Any other god or pantheon might have followers in WM; those three are simply the most common. There are player-created religions, too; you might browse through the category for ideas, or refer to the page on creating lore if you'd like to make your own.

Rules of Thumb
Do consult a DM whenever rolling something for your character sheet.

Do consult the allowed materials page to make sure your choices are WM-legal.

Do consult a DM about any world- or setting-affecting lore you come up with.

Do consult a DM if you have any questions. We're happy to help!

Role-Playing Between Games
There are West Marches RP (role-play) channels on the club Discord. Players are invited to use them between games if they wish, but they're entirely optional. For more information on how the RP channels function, see the page on RP Channel Rules.