Further Reading

Essential Reading

These three resources form the conceptual foundation of The Western Horizon.

West Marches: The Campaign Structure

• westmarches.games/guide/what-is-west-marches
• westmarches.games/guide/running-west-marches

Proactive Roleplaying: The Play Philosophy The Game Master’s Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying by Jonah and Tristan Fishel (Media Lab Books, 2023). Key concepts: goals over hooks, factions as opposition, clocks, encounter design.

Microscope: The Collaboration Model Microscope by Ben Robbins. Guiding principles: everyone is equal, don’t contradict established content, be specific, let others surprise you.

Where to Buy the Source Games

Ben Robbins’ Games — lamemage.com

• Microscope, Microscope Explorer, Kingdom

Shawn Tomkin’s Worldbuilding Games — exaltedfuneral.com

• Ex Novo, Ex Umbra

Other Worldbuilding Games

• Beak, Feather, & Bone — possible-worlds-games.itch.io/beak-feather-bone
• I’m Sorry Did You Say Street Magic — seaexcursion.itch.io/street-magic
• The Perilous Wilds — drivethrurpg.com

Solo & Hexcrawl Tools

• DELVE & RISE — blackwellwriter.com
• Mythic GME — wordmillgames.com/mythic-gme.html
• Ironsworn — ironswornrpg.com
• Hexmancer — traversefantasy.itch.io/hexmancer
• The Alexandrian Hexcrawl series — thealexandrian.net

Video Essays

Faction Design & Political Play “Do You Want Political Games?” (Mystic Arts) — youtube.com/watch?v=Hnr6Mr1436M The three-faction (good/bad/ugly) framework.

Campaign Management Tools

Wiki: Obsidian (obsidian.md), Notion, World Anvil Scheduling: Discord, When2Meet Maps: Hex Kit, Owlbear Rodeo, Dungeon Scrawl

Start simple. Discord, Obsidian, the source games you’re actually using, and the Proactive Roleplaying book. Add tools as you discover what your table needs.