Shadows of the Swordspynes: The Road West

Getting Started: Campaign Quick Start Guide

Road West West Marches Campaign Rules

The Road West is a campaign that takes place in the Eastlands of Atheles. It centers on the stronghold of Elmhearth, and the Wanderers Guild, of which all adventures in the campaign are a part of.

Elmhearth was once just an outpost for the Wanderers, an adventurers guild. The nearby metropolis, Kowal, has fallen to dark times. You and others have fled to Elmhearth as a sanctuary. But for Elmhearth to survive, you must help its overseer, Helfen. The refuge needs food, protection, and especially gold. The Wanderers, the adventurers guild, wants a road out of Uthgard into the West. So besides helping supply the encampment, you are also tasked with taking expeditions into the wilds. You should map the best routes for roads, establish strongholds, and tame the wilderness so that there is a safe road west.

The Road West is also a way to test the newly designed SagaBorn Basic Roleplaying Edition. The game was submitted to Chaosium for their designer contest and needs people to help test it and refine the system.

Intro

You find yourself in Elmhearth, an outpost for the Wanderers. Kowal has become too dangerous for those who don’t fit within the city’s narrow cultural norms. You have come here for sanctuary and, hopefully, to start a new life away from the oppressive city.

What is the campaign?

Shadows of the Swordspyne is a living campaign, which will be run much like a West Marches campaign ( see Matt Colville’s video on it: https://youtu.be/oGAC-gBoX9k). Adventures will be player driven, and as we grow, we will add new SGs, new strongholds, and new players.

How is it played (aka how is it a living campaign)?

Elmhearth is a encampment which has become refuge for people leaving the turmoil of the city. The players will all work for the Wanderers, but the game will hinge on their participation. The players have to form a group, decide what they want to do, and contact a GM about setting up a session time. Plans must be submitted at least one week before the game session to give the GM time to develop an adventure.

Here is our full Road West West Marches campaign rules page.

What do I need?

You should bookmark the SagaBorn BRP website (https://www.sagaborn.com/games/sagabornbrp/) and download Fantasy Grounds (free edition) (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/home.php). Join our Discord channel.

How do I run a game?

We are keeping the StoryGuide pool small for now, but will expand in the future. You must play in at least 4 sessions within the campaign before you can apply to be a SG.

Shadows of the Swordspynes Adventurers

Shadows of the Swordspynes Non-player Characters

The Map

Map Rules

Request an adventure at the Adventure Contract!

Download the Settlement Guide for free:

Task Board

Please Reference the Expedition Reports on our Discord.

Tholas

Tholas is an enigmatic figure, a hunter from the In-between—a realm where shadows blend with memories, and where the Losvari, or “lost elves,” have long resided. Among his clan, few still remember the forests and ancestral lands of Atheles, for they have become creatures of twilight and illusion. Yet Tholas’ family, bound by their Anavari roots, maintained a fierce loyalty to the wild elven traditions. Unlike the rest of the Losvari, his kin still clung to the primal ways of survival and reverence for nature. For Tholas, the tales of Atheles and its vibrant, untamed lands filled him with longing, a desire to reclaim his heritage.

Drawn by a restlessness that could not be quieted, Tholas returned to Atheles before his family, threading his way through hidden pathways and emerging alone beneath the vast, moonlit skies of his ancestral land. He arrived in Elmhearth, a small haven surrounded by ancient forests and resilient folk struggling against the looming threat of the Uthgard Empire. Elmhearth’s people, though weary and worn, displayed a resilience that struck a chord with him—a strength that reminded him of his own kin, forced to adapt to a harsh existence in the In-between.

Tholas quickly found his place among the townsfolk, slipping through forests to scout for Uthgard patrols, guiding Elmhearth’s hunters, and teaching them the ways of the Anavari. As he aids the people in their plight, Tholas is aware of the shadows drawing closer, the empire tightening its grip on the region. Still, he remains, driven by a fierce sense of duty and perhaps a desire to carve a place for his family in a land that once belonged to them. He is haunted by the knowledge that, though his clan may eventually join him in Atheles, they will return as strangers, changed by their exile. Until then, Tholas walks the edge of the wild, a lone hunter in a land caught between fading memory and brutal reality.