You are already putting a lot of work into GMing a game, don’t make things harder on yourself by being inefficient. As you GM more, you will find little tricks that make the game go faster and smoother and which will make your job easier. I’ve been GMing for a few years now, so let me teach you a few tricks I’ve learned along the way.
Tip #1: Initiative Rolling
This tip is twofold: 1) You should roll initiative for your players. 2) Copy-paste is your friend.
First of all, don’t ever ask your players to roll initiative. Play-by-post is already an inherently slow medium so don’t make it slower by waiting for the players to roll their own initiative before starting combat. You will waste at least a day doing it that way. Just roll everyone’s initiative for them and then post the initiative tracker (see above) so combat can start right away.
Second of all, since you’re going to be rolling initiative (and maybe even Perception or Sense Motive) for your players more than once, don’t waste time retyping it before each combat. Type out an initiative block once and then copy-paste it somewhere you can access. Some people save it on the Campaign Info tab, others save it in a text doc. This will save you a lot of wasted keystrokes retyping it each time (not to mention the time it takes to look it up each time).
Tip #2: Knowledge Rolls
I’ve never been a fan of the question-answer method of knowledge rolling. First of all, that’s sort of a common convention but it’s never actually mentioned in the CRB. But more importantly, that sort of back-and-forth can slow down gameplay. Instead, post knowledge spoilers ahead of time, like so (the spoilers won’t work inside another spoiler):
Quote:
You walk in on a towering monstrosity with four arms, eyes shining with a mix of intelligence and cruelty.
{spoiler=DC 23 KN (planes) }Whereas the succubus is a demon that works her wiles by exploiting the physical lusts and needs of her prey, the glabrezu is a tempter of a different sort. Ferocious and bestial in form, the glabrezu is in fact a master of trickery and lies. With its ability to cloak its true form in pleasant illusions, the glabrezu uses it magic to grant wishes to mortal humanoids as a method of rewarding those who succumb to its guile and deceit…..
Glabrezus are demons with DR/good; immunity to electricity and poison; resistance to acid, cold and fire; and spell resistance.{/spoiler}
{spoiler=DC 28 KN (planes)}A wish granted by a glabrezu always fulfills the wisher’s need in the most destructive way possible-although such methods might not be immediately apparent.
Glabrezus have true seeing and can rend with their pincers. They have a number of spell-like abilities, including greater teleport, wish, power word stun, and reverse gravity.{/spoiler}
Tip #3: Haunts
Haunts are a pain in the ass. When you encounter them, first of all read and reread how they work to make sure you understand it because they can be confusing. Furthermore, they can be tricky to do over PbP. After trying several methods, here is what I consider the best (again, the spoilers won’t work inside another spoiler):
Quote:
{spoiler=DC 20 Perception}You hear a moaning from the chair in the corner of the room.
[ooc]DC 15 KN (religion) to recognize this as a haunt. If you then beat a 10 initiative check, you can take a surprise round action (standard or move) before it manifests.{/spoiler}
Alternatively you could roll the Perception checks for your party and do it this way:
Quote:
{spoiler=Trotter and Sad Rock}You hear a moaning from the chair in the corner of the room.
DC 15 KN (religion) to recognize this as a haunt. If you then beat a 10 initiative check, you can take a surprise round action (standard or move) before it manifests.{/spoiler}
The second method is probably faster as it doesn’t require you to wait for everyone to roll their own Perception checks.
Tip #4: Doors
Don’t let your party stand outside a door for too long. If they are having trouble moving from room to room, ask them (in the Discussion thread) to create SDOP (Standard Door Opening Procedure). For some groups this might involve the rogue taking 20 to check for traps before letting the paladin lead the way in. For others it might involve everyone else standing back while the barbarian and fighter smash the door down regardless of traps or locks. From then on you can move them from room to room and assume they do roughly the same thing each time without having to state it explicitly.
If the door is locked but well within the skill of the party’s disabler to open, just assume they get it open and move on. Don’t waste a day waiting for them to roll a Disable Device or say they are taking 10 to open it. In my opinion, doors are not really the most interest part of the dungeon or the story and unless they have a trap they shouldn’t be a big discussion point in your play-by-post campaign.
Tip #5: Empty Rooms
Sometimes dungeons will have rooms with nothing or little in them; maybe just a quick Knowledge or Perception check or a small pile of coins. Don’t be afraid to open those doors for the players and just post the quick description and Perception/Knowledge spoiler. You could spend a few days opening each door individually, but that will be boring and not a whole lot of fun. Or you can be an efficient GM and assume they would open those doors anyways so just go ahead and move them through the boring rooms and get to the more interesting stuff.
