Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are the best excuses I’ve found to collect my friends in a room, eat snacks, and play make-believe like we use to on the school playground.
Wait, no—uhhhh …
They’re a structured and collaborative storytelling game where players assume the roles of fictional characters and navigate shared narratives.
Yes. We’ll go with that.
Unlike the anarchy that comes with young children and recess, TTRPGs do have rules. However, these usually just go so far as to make sure that everyone plays fair. What makes them unique, however, is that TTRPGs are one of the few spaces where an individual can drive their narrative, becoming both audience and author … with the added bonus of getting to hang out with friends and eat snacks.
West Marches (also known as Westmarches) are a distinct style of TTRPGs, started by someone with either too many friends to fit in a room or with a chronic problem of aligning schedules. This format shifts away from a singular game master and singular party, to a pool of players who hop in and out of play to explore the setting at their own pace. Online server-based adaptations of Westmarches increase accessibility and engagement even further, allowing a wider range of players to participate in a pick-up, put-down style of gameplay from virtually anywhere.
Yes, even in the bathroom at work.
And guess what? A huge nerd with a psychology degree decided to go and research these communities. (It’s me. I’m that nerd.)
This article explores the findings of a recent study into how the West March format can be used as a therapeutic tool, particularly for queer individuals and those navigating mental health challenges.
Playing a Role: How Dungeons and Dragons has Evolved as a Hobby
Dungeons and Dragons started in a basement with kids rolling dice and crunching numbers. For decades, it remained that way.
With the release of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition in 2014, though, the game took a step away from its crunchy, number-based, dungeon-crawling origins. The flexible, easily-interpreted rule set took on new meaning in the form of creative self-expression and role-play. This freedom, combined with the innate idea of escapist fantasy and pursuing an ideal reality where one can be a hero, appealed to the bookworms of quiet corners and closets … and the game, in particular, caught fire within the queer community.
In the years following—especially during the pandemic—TTRPGs evolved further, becoming tried-and-true coping mechanisms so prominent that it has sparked a whole new wave of research into how these games can develop social skills and soothe depression. Entire organizations like Game to Grow have been formed with the explicit goal of healing through the game. These organizations use role playing games to support people with anxiety, depression, trauma, and neurodivergence, and use TTRPGs as a means of fostering social skills, processing emotions, and building confidence.
However, if there is one thing that has remained consistent with TTRPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons throughout the years, it is the single greatest demon.
Those of you familiar with the hobby already know what I’m talking about.
That’s right.
Scheduling.
West Marches: Easy, Cheap, Fun
West Marches go a long way to alleviate this burden, and Virtual West Marches even moreso. They offer players the opportunity to access the game wherever they are whenever they like. This provides access to people with disabilities, social anxiety, or other challenges that might prevent them from engaging in conventional tabletop sessions, and brings people together from all walks of life, offering a unique sense of diverse community that appeals to all identities, and championing creative freedom in a way that not even traditional TTRPG settings allow.
However there is a problem.
These communities are remarkably hard to find.
They usually spread by word of mouth, easy-to-miss recruitment channels, or niche forum boards (such as Disboard). Furthermore, the intimate nature of these communities often makes them fiercely protective of those within them. It comes as no surprise that while plentiful research has been conducted on TTRPGs as a whole, Westmarches remain an obscure enigma.
Or rather, as this qualitative study found, a hidden gem.
The Groundbreaking Research: Roll for Healing
Roll for Healing was a qualitative study involving grounded theory and narrative analysis of the Virtual West March medium.
A few friends and I created the RP-oriented, high fantasy, Virtual West March Discord server Dreams of Nakaen back in September of 2024. Since then, it has grown to house 40 players, 60 characters, six Dungeon Masters, and has a healthy, friendly, affectionate culture that I would not give up for anything. That I could host the study there was a massive bonus.
Eleven players were interviewed regarding their experiences, not only in Nakaen but in Westmarches as a whole. In this, the same sentiments were echoed again, and again, and again.
The biggest draws to this game are (as you may have already guessed) accessibility, and the potential to lead a second or parallel life in an autonomous, fantasy-based world. However once there, it turns out to be not the connections that the characters form with each-other, but the players behind them in the out-of-character community that contribute the most to feelings of enjoyment. Many players cited meeting some of their closest friends through this hobby without ever meeting in person.
There is another key finding, however.
While I had suspected that these spaces could operate in ways similar to group therapy, I did not expect them to already be doing so. What’s more, this phenomenon operates completely independent of facilitation. It doesn’t even need a therapist involved! Echoed again and again were the sentiments that expressing problems, fielding advice, and contributing to others was one of the biggest positive gains of the ‘neighborhood’ that Westmarch communities like Nakaen provide.
The game itself is a bonus.
A very, very queer bonus.
Interested in getting involved yet? Check out these queer-run, RP-Oriented, culturally healthy Westmarches!
Dreams of Nakaen – The server with a small-town feel in which these findings were sourced, operated by yours truly.
Arn – An older Westmarch with a large team of attentive Dungeon Masters. Explore the jungle continent of Eikos!
See you in fantasy land.
