The Lost March
Basic RulebookBest For
Groups who want a long old-school sandbox campaign that turns treasure into faction rank, training and eventually conquered land.
Core Mechanic
A skill check rolls a pool of d6s equal to the skill level: one to five dice, plus a die for some class bonuses. Normally a 6 is a success and a 5 is a partial success. An Ability adjustment either widens the success range or adds a critical-failure range on the lowest faces. Settlement, wilderness and combat checks are opposed by the referee's dice, where equal results cancel and a partial success downgrades a full one. In combat, successes and partial successes are assigned to attack or defend. A hit deals the weapon's maximum damage on a success or its minimum on a partial success.
Players learn one d6-pool check and an Ability adjustment table that shifts the success and critical-failure ranges. The depth sits in how wounds, carried load and memorized spells all draw on the same four Ability scores. Faction rank ladders, training rolls and three exploration procedures add steady bookkeeping for the referee and the group.
- Free to tryFull core rulesLegally free as an SRD, PDF, or official web rules
- Get it nowAvailable nowFree to download or read online
- –IndexNo back-of-book index or page-keyed reference tables
- ✓GM guidanceA chapter on how to run the game
- ✓Examples of playRules shown in action at the table
- ✓Quick referenceCheat sheet or summary tables
- ✓Cross-referencesRules point to each other by page
4 of 5 book tools found in the core book
Highlights
- There are no hit points: wounds lower Ability scores directly, so an injured character can carry less treasure home.
- The lawful factions sell ranks and months of training for gold, so treasure replaces experience as the advancement currency.
- Each exploration turn, the referee secretly rolls hazard dice sized by difficulty (1d6 on plains, 3d6 in swamps), and each 5 or 6 adds a complication or an encounter.
Considerations
- Dice resolve only a set of defined checks, so players usually get past traps and puzzles by describing what their characters do rather than by rolling a skill.
- Wounds normally heal at one Ability point per day of rest, and ten or more days of healing cost a month of training.
- Characters begin as agents of a supremacist colonial reconquest, a premise the book states openly and asks the referee to expose through play.
No verified third-party publishing route found · Reviewed 2026-11-13 · Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. Rules license Proprietary A bounded review of the rulebook and the creator's itch.io pages found no licence, credits page or published third-party publishing terms.
Similar systems
- Swords & Wizardry — Dungeon delving, deadly wilds, and strongholds carved from the frontierCompare The Lost March vs Swords & Wizardry
- Old-School Essentials — Perilous dungeon expeditions and wilderness exploration in search of treasureCompare The Lost March vs Old-School Essentials
- Worlds Without Number — Gritty sandbox fantasy with deep campaign-building toolsCompare The Lost March vs Worlds Without Number
- White Box: FMAG — The original fantasy RPG distilled to its simplest form: four classes, compressed modifiers, and room to make it your ownCompare The Lost March vs White Box: FMAG
- Mausritter — Sword-and-whiskers roleplaying as brave mice in a huge, dangerous worldCompare The Lost March vs Mausritter
- Dolmenwood — Adventure and peril in fairytale woods where factions vie for control of an enchanted forestCompare The Lost March vs Dolmenwood