Pathfinder-by-Post

Cool Beans.

To add to this, I began running Play by Post (PbP) games when I deployed, finding it impossible to find a group, and even if I was able to, attempting to coordinate such a group while deployed would be nearly impossible. Having no idea how to go about it, what to expect, or any idea how I was going to even handle things like maps, reporting, chronicle sheet distribution, or many of the little things that might come up I didn't even know at that point I might run into.

But, I jumped right in, learning as I went. I didn't have any real PbP or even Online Play experience, and while it was a bumpy road, it was a very educational one as well.

And there are a great deal of benefits to the online PbP experience. For example, it's pretty fantastic to be able to meet new folks from all over the world, and strike up some Out of Character (OOC) conversation. It's very nice having a record of everything that's happened in the scenario/module/ap that you can scroll back and look at if you forget a detail or simply have one of the derp moments. But, for me, one of the great things about PbP is that due to the speed, an average game generally runs around 1 month, because of that, it's nice to be able to play essentially every day in small portions, and to me I feel I get a greater sense of reward and accomplishment at the end that I do in a Face to Face (F2F) traditional tabletop game. Which makes sense for all the time one needs to put in. I've heard a lot of people also praise the fact that, because so much of the scenario happens through text, it's a lot easier to do the Role Playing side, when you have time to explain and detail your actions and are not really competing with others in the same way for spotlight.

So, if you are considering trying out PbP, either to dip your toes in or want to get in but don't know how, feel free to PM me or ask any question you might have, and I, and I'm certain many others, will try to help as much as we can.

If you’re interested in getting your feet wet in Online Play via VTT, please come and check out the Pathfinder Society Online Collective! We’re an email list/online forum dedicated to forming PFS games via VTT, and we would love to have you join our community of gamers!

I'm really looking forward to this!

And, this is a great opportunity to announce one remaining seat at my table for We Be Goblins, with the possibility of WBG Too and WBG Free to follow.

Sign-up here

I started my PFS GMing career by last minute replacing a GM for year of the Shadow lodge. Might as well kick off my online GMing with Siege of Serpents.

Looking forward to it!

There are many tables for "Siege of the Serpents" planned for this event, and it will be exciting.

The Flaxseed Lodge, a bastion of great Play-By-Post (PbP) here on the Paizo forums has a collective sign-up sheet listing many (but not all!) of the planned tables. If anyone is table hunting for that scenario, it may be a good place to start.

Getting into my first PbP this very weekend. :D

I came across the various mustering threads a couple weeks ago and hot damn are they popular. I can't seem to find a game I haven't played that isn't full or almost full. Not complaining, this is awesome!!!

I came across the various mustering threads a couple weeks ago and hot damn are they popular. I can't seem to find a game I haven't played that isn't full or almost full. Not complaining, this is awesome!!!

If you ever have that issue, it's perfectly okay to request someone run a game. I have often found that many of the normal Online DM's will gladly do so, and I also wouldn't be surprised if some of the players offers up their seats, too.

It's a pretty awesome community.

We've still got slots open in our Online Gameday PBP games over at Mythweavers

Over at Myth-Weavers we have several low-level modules that have spots open as well as a CORE table of 6-18.

Specifically:

CORE 6-18
Emerald Spire level 1
Godsmouth Heresy
Murder's Mark

I've been fortunate to participate in an entire Adventure Path (Council of Thieves) and a scenario in the play-by-post format, and I absolutely agree that it's a great way to explore roleplaying interactions in greater depth than would be possible at a typical face-to-face table. Seeing the constant PbP traffic on the paizo.com messageboards is a really uplifting reminder of how popular this option is and how important it is for the Pathfinder Society team to support it.

And that's not even mentioning the virtual tabletop (VTT) format.

Jesse Davis, Andrea Brandt, Nicholas Louie, and I were also part of a panel at PaizoCon called Running RPGs Online. My link is to the Know Direction team's recording of the seminar. Hopefully we'll be able to run another one next year—or, as we figured out by the end, run two different ones to split up the information even more.

Also a very informative Podcast. :)

This is kind of cool. The only question I've really got is, how do chronicle sheets work? Do you print them, write on them, scan them back in, and then e-mail them? I'd hope it isn't that complicated.

I completely endorse Play-by-Forum (PbF0 as a terrific avenue for Pathfinder. PbF is where I first learned Pathfinder, and it is how I have earned all my GM stars.

For those who are looking to give it a try, I must recommend RPGGeek.com; and specifially, the Pathfinder Society Guild on the site. A lot of games are played over there, and the community is very helpful, kind, and welcoming on the internet!

And, if anyone is interested, I have one slot open at my table for Siege of Serpents. The other players are all 2nd or 3rd level. If interested, hop on over, say hello, and we'll be glad to take care of you!

If you have any questions regarding RPGgeek, the guild, or Play-by-forum; I invite you to contact me. I'd be glad to answer questions and help you get your feet wet. Come join the revolution!

This is kind of cool. The only question I've really got is, how do chronicle sheets work? Do you print them, write on them, scan them back in, and then e-mail them? I'd hope it isn't that complicated.

What I do is either copy the Chronicle Sheet page and create a new PDF or I'll print it out and then scan it so I have a PDF copy of the blank form. (Adobe, and most common PDF Reader Programs have a built in way to edit PDFs. With Adobe, simply hit the Comments bar in the upper right hand side and then select Text.) Then, I fill in all the information that is universal, (the event code, sub-tier, date, etc. . . and save that. Finally, I then go through and just enter all of the individual player/character information, saving a copy of each one into a file. Once all of them are complete, and I've double checked for errors, I highlight them all, right click, and make sure I apply the Read Only option. This means that others can not alter what I've put in, such as changing the GP.

Once all that is done, I simply upload them all into a Google Drive folder, and post the link in the game itself, allowing everyone with the link to view, which means they can download and print as needed, or simply use the PDF version. It sounds like a lot of work, but honestly, after getting the hang of it, I can have 7 or 8 Chronicles completed, uploaded, and the link posted in about 20 mins, and I try to have this all done before we actually get to the end of the game.

Finally, because it is stored on Google Drive, (or whatever similar thing you might like), and the players can always look at all their old games pretty easily, if they ever loose their Chronicle, it's not too difficult to go track it down again in the original form.

As for the player's side of things, they are getting a fully signed Chronicle Sheet with all of the info put in. The normal rules for physical copies of things doesn't apply fully to PbP, so it is ok to use digital sheets if the DM requests them. All in all, it is the exact same as a real life game, just a little bit different way to prep and get the sheets to the players. I've seen some GM's that literally handwrite the info out and then scan or email it to each player. I've even seen people take a picture of the Chronicle sheet and send it.

There isn't a right way, per se, as long as it works reasonably.

Man, I love PbP and I love PbP Gameday!

If you are new to Play-by-Post and would like to get into a game, I have decided to run one specifically for new players. Please feel free to have a read of my recruitment thread and, if you're interested, give it a go. I highly recommend the format to all who love their storytelling.

The Confirmation Recruitment

Thank you to Jesse for making this all happen... for the fourth time now! Thanks to John and all the PFS staff for the boon support. It's awesome that we PbPers don't miss out on the convention-style events.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I usually print out chronicles and fill them out by hand the same way I would in any game. I scan those as PDFs and get them out to the players that way. I'm happy to send those in the mail to anyone who wants them. A stamp is a small price to pay considering the time players put into playing... but all of my players have thus far been fine with the scanned sheets.

I am very excited to participate in my first play by post starting this Thursday.

I want to participate in my first PbP also, but I'm still looking for a game I want to play.

The Fox, I'd guess that starting on the 19th there's going to be a number of openings in scenarios that are currently full, as people who signed up some time ago will fail to show.

My dance card's fairly full right now, but I could offer a table of something fairly simple (most likely First Steps, Silverhex, or Phantom Phenomena) geared towards new players as well.

If you have a specific scenario request, posting HERE or HERE would probably be the best way to make that happen.

I've been curious to try PbP for a while, but haven't gotten around to it. I'm just checking the upcoming game day event, but every table I check is full, even if the event list says it isn't.

Wilmannator's run of The Confirmation seems like it would be perfect for me, but I actually don't have a PC I can play in that right now. My only level 1 PC has already been through it, and I already played it at level 2. I really don't want to start another character right now, as I already have more than I have a chance to actually play, which is part of why I'm looking for online games.

Any chance someone's running a table of Wounded Wisp that isn't full?

Just another advertisement for the Myth-Weavers Pathfinder Chapter. We have an active group. We also have several GMs, and if one GM either drifts away from a PbP, or cries for help, another GM takes over the game, so you don't have to worry about your game just dying because the GM disappeared.

We do have some openings for the PbP gameday. My own game of "From Under Ice" (which is CORE) still has several openings.

@Fromper: It can be hard to get into a PbP game when you don't have any games to refer to. Some GMs (self included, in general) favor recruiting experienced PbP players over new ones. It's a shame, but it tends to make for a smoother game.

The reason I set up my game was specifically to address that problem and to give folks a chance to get a scenario under their belt that they could point to for future recruitment. If you're worried about investing time in character creation, I'd be fine for you to play a PreGen. Keep a look out for other games, but feel free to apply for mine if you can't find one. I'm not closing recruitment until September 28 (unless it gets crazy).

Useful Guides

For anyone new to PbP, and for those who've played for a while, there are some guides out there that are simply fantastic. Try these on for size!

Doomed Hero's Guide to Play-by-Post Gaming - basics of play by post. Don't neglect to read Doomed Hero's reply to himself.

Painlord's Guide to Advanced Play by Post - great guide that builds on Doomed Hero's work and, in my opinion, gets down to just the right level of detail for helping improve any PbP game.

Wilmannator's Guide to Successful Play-by-Post Recruitment - Shameless plug for my own guide to posting PbP recruitment threads.

Hope you enjoy the above guides. They can't be linked to enough.

Haven't ever tried out PBP before <_<; I kinda thought it seemed too slow and I've kinda bad experience with forum rps, but I figured out I should try it out anyway before judging it.

But now I don't really have clue which game apply to or how to do this, even with those guides ._.; Kinda scared of joining random game and being notably bad at it

I looked at the Warhorn page for AetherCon, but I didn't see any PFS games listed. Are those posted somewhere else, or are not all of the games up yet?

I came across the various mustering threads a couple weeks ago and hot damn are they popular. I can't seem to find a game I haven't played that isn't full or almost full. Not complaining, this is awesome!!!

Yep, most of us do requests, so if you are really passionate about a scenario then just ask.

I am fielding extra tables for Gameday IV based on requests etc - one regular player needed We Be Goblins one and asked, so fifteen minutes later we had a full muster.

Try the Flaxseed lodge, it seems a lot of us online GM's congregate there.

I looked at the Warhorn page for AetherCon, but I didn't see any PFS games listed. Are those posted somewhere else, or are not all of the games up yet?

The PFS game list was to be sent to AetherCon staff this past weekend,so I'd expect games to start popping up on the Warhorn this week or next.

Haven't ever tried out PBP before <_<; I kinda thought it seemed too slow and I've kinda bad experience with forum rps, but I figured out I should try it out anyway before judging it.

But now I don't really have clue which game apply to or how to do this, even with those guides ._.; Kinda scared of joining random game and being notably bad at it

Do feel free to apply for my game. I'm expecting to give out a lot of help to all the newcomers to PbP, so you shouldn't feel behind at all. Everyone will be in the same boat. I'm also very experienced at keeping things moving, if you're concerned about pace.

Is anyone doing a confirmation/first steps/MotFF scenario? I'd like to give this a try. but am completely blind going in.

Edit: That's what I get for not reading everything. :-( Thanks Fromper. reading more now.

Is anyone doing a confirmation/first steps/MotFF scenario? I'd like to give this a try. but am completely blind going in.

See Wilmannator's posts upthread. He's doing The Confirmation. If it was any other replayable level 1 scenario, I'd join. But unfortunately my only level 1 PC right now has already played that one.

And no, I don't want to play a pregen. The entire point of looking for PbP for me is that I'm trying to find more opportunities to play my characters.

Fromper, how would you feel about First Steps? I'm relatively new to PBP myself, so I'm mostly sticking to running simple things, and it's definitely a bit easier to GM than Wounded Wisp. I could put together a table if there's at least a couple interested.

Fromper, how would you feel about First Steps? I'm relatively new to PBP myself, so I'm mostly sticking to running simple things, and it's definitely a bit easier to GM than Wounded Wisp. I could put together a table if there's at least a couple interested.

I could do First Steps. I know the adventure like the back of my hand from having played/GMed it 8 or 9 times in the past, but I could do it again with Molos, just for a chance to play that character.

I've never played Wounded Wisp, and I know it's replayable, which is why I suggested it. I'm fine with any level 1 replayable other than The Confirmation, since that's the one adventure I've played with my only level 1 PC.

Play-by-post is also great for those of us who have local play opportunities, but not 5-hour blocks of time convenient to other players. If I could start playing at 9PM, I could play every night - online play allows for that. Plus, I can game with the folks I've met at cons more often.

My favorite part of PbP is the amount of character development you can do. My inner monologue doesn't work at the table... but on the forums it shows motivation and insight into the character.

I also can't easily do other languages face-to-face, but मैं आसानी से अलग-अलग भाषाओं में बात कर सकते हैं !

It also has a slower pace, which can really suit some of the roleplay aspects that often go AWOL at the tale when the venue is closing and you gotta get'er done.

If you're new to the format, check out Painlord's Guide to PbP, which got me hooked.

Play-by-post is also great for those of us who have local play opportunities, but not 5-hour blocks of time convenient to other players. If I could start playing at 9PM, I could play every night - online play allows for that. Plus, I can game with the folks I've met at cons more often.

My favorite part of PbP is the amount of character development you can do. My inner monologue doesn't work at the table... but on the forums it shows motivation and insight into the character.

I also can't easily do other languages face-to-face, but मैं आसानी से अलग-अलग भाषाओं में बात कर सकते हैं ! ** spoiler omitted **

It also has a slower pace, which can really suit some of the roleplay aspects that often go AWOL at the tale when the venue is closing and you gotta get'er done.

If you're new to the format, check out Painlord's Guide to PbP, which got me hooked.

These are among the many reasons I got hooked on PbP too.

GM Lamplighter wrote:

Play-by-post is also great for those of us who have local play opportunities, but not 5-hour blocks of time convenient to other players. If I could start playing at 9PM, I could play every night - online play allows for that. Plus, I can game with the folks I've met at cons more often.

My favorite part of PbP is the amount of character development you can do. My inner monologue doesn't work at the table... but on the forums it shows motivation and insight into the character.

I also can't easily do other languages face-to-face, but मैं आसानी से अलग-अलग भाषाओं में बात कर सकते हैं ! ** spoiler omitted **

It also has a slower pace, which can really suit some of the roleplay aspects that often go AWOL at the tale when the venue is closing and you gotta get'er done.

If you're new to the format, check out Painlord's Guide to PbP, which got me hooked.

These are among the many reasons I got hooked on PbP too.

I second this, all of it. In fact I've become friends with Thunderspirit through PbP. To add to it, don't be intimidated at all. With VERY few expectations, the people on PbP are here to help you out. Keep it to the discussion tab, but don't be shy about asking for help.

As mentioned above, here's a link for a newbie friendly First Steps table:

First Steps for First Timers

Fromper, if this goes well, I'll do a Wounded Wisp as a follow up.

Also, this is a PERFECT excuse to get "the band back together" My high school group is split up all throughout the country, so this is how we stay in touch. PbP. So email them and get them on board!

So much truth here about how great PbP is! I'd echo Dungeon Master S (who I've just started playing with recently), that getting the band back together is possible. I now play PbP here regularly with a friend from college (now I get to kill him, since I'm finally the DM!) and a few folks I've met on the Paizo boards, a couple of whom I've come to know outside of the boards and gone to cons with.

And the depth of roleplay is unlike just about anything you'll find at a gaming table.

And I can do it from anywhere, at any time!

How often is the game list updated? Every game I've checked that was listed as open had been full for over a week, I can't find anything to play...

I just added mine (to the recruitment thread), & will run multiple tables to accomodate more players if need be :)

recruitment thread for Traitor's Lodge.

& to promote the PbP, I would never have been able to get started in my town-to-small for a regular group. PbP let me do so. I had been to PaizoCon & so had some experience, but most of my credits, especially early credits came from PbP. :) As you can see I still do not get local tables too often.

EDIT: if anyone has a Rise of the Serpents space please let me know :)

How often is the game list updated? Every game I've checked that was listed as open had been full for over a week, I can't find anything to play...

Sorry that you're having that experience, Rynjin! Jesse the online VC sent all of us GMs a note asking us to please indicate if our tables were full, but I'm sure that non everyone has done so yet.

As for myself, I GMed pBp for the first time due to this event. I signed up for Overflow Archives, but wound up running Risen from the Sands as a warm-up for my group of eager players and just finished it. It's an admittedly odd combination, but I'm going to make it work.

One of my players is a first time pBper, and it's been fun watching him discover the format. I love PbP because you can stretch out and roleplay, taking time to explore mysteries and learn about your fellow players. Half the group that I'm gming for is European. I'd never have met these great players were it not for pBp!

Hmm

PS Aside to Wilmanattor -- I'm glad that you're running a table of the confirmation for newbies. Would you be willing to accept my friend Lady Ladile, who's done quite a bit of PbP but not PFS? Since watching me GM my first game, she just registered for PFS and wants to try it out. She got excited that you were offering the table and then realized that her character would not qualify because she's played PbP before.

PS Aside to Wilmanattor -- I'm glad that you're running a table of the confirmation for newbies. Would you be willing to accept my friend Lady Ladile, who's done quite a bit of PbP but not PFS? Since watching me GM my first game, she just registered for PFS and wants to try it out. She got excited that you were offering the table and then realized that her character would not qualify because she's played PbP before.

That will really depend on whether or not I get a full table. It really is for PbP newbies and not PFS newbies. I think it's much harder to get into PbP than PFS, though, so I'm sure Lady Ladile won't have any problems with the PFS format! Again, though, if I don't fill up, I'd be happy to have someone more experienced at PbP - like Lady Ladile - to come along. Please feel free to tell your friend to apply (link above) and we'll see how it goes!

I will let her know!

Hmm

How often is the game list updated? Every game I've checked that was listed as open had been full for over a week, I can't find anything to play...

I think a bunch of the "tables" of the Special have spaces.

EDIT: if anyone has a Rise of the Serpents space please let me know :)

I know mine has space for one at subtier 7-8.

There are several more, I think, as well.

I will let her know!

Hmm

GM Lari's First Steps game posted above is also a newbie table. Ask him if she'd be ok to play in that one.

Andrew Klein wrote:

How often is the game list updated? Every game I've checked that was listed as open had been full for over a week, I can't find anything to play...

I think a bunch of the "tables" of the Special have spaces.

I do see some, but none that would allow me to play my own character instead of a pregen to be in the right tier. If I knew I could get 5 sessions in before early November to get my only non-Core character into the 3-4 tier I would sign up for that.

Glad to see the PbP is getting some blog love. PbP is the best way to play, period...and I'm never wrong about anything, ever, so you know I'm right. And the Gameday IV has some great GMs going so it should be a blast.

TOZ, Fromper: I'm glad you're making your first forays into this. (Does anyone worry about TOZ making minimum posting requirements?)

Good luck all.

I do see some, but none that would allow me to play my own character instead of a pregen to be in the right tier. If I knew I could get 5 sessions in before early November to get my only non-Core character into the 3-4 tier I would sign up for that.

It would help if you were a bit more specific about what you were looking for. (Scenario? Tier?)

I'm inferring from your comments that you're looking for #6-97 Siege of the Serpents at the T3–4 level.

One place to check for a somewhat consolidated list of tables for that scenario is the Flaxssed Lodge muster sheet. It's not everything, but it has quite a few for that special, both core and standard, across many tiers.

It has not been said, but the natural place to look for PbP games in Paizo.com is in the Recruitment forum. Make sure you have the DEFOCUS option checked in (next to the forum title) in order to see all opened threads and not just those you have replied to. Most recent published games appear the first.

It is the fastest way to have a look on what is being started this week. I personally prefer it to navigate through different spreadsheets or selected threads which you often forgot you signed and require more clicks to reach and rendering power. Once you are playing, you can check the FOCUS option, so when you check the Online Campaigns forum you can see what games you applied to recruitment, and what games you are playing are receiving updates.

You can also check the Campaigns tab (mine in this example) to check what of your campaigns are receiving new updates. Regretfully those Recruitment threads you have answered do not appear there and if you have plenty of Campaigns you might need to scroll to see if there are updates (that is why I prefer scanning the Online Campaigns forum with the FOCUS option, as you see all updates in top very easily).

Another good way to keep yourself updated are the RSS feeds if you have such kind of tools. You can syndicate to threads or forums on the upper right corner of each campaign thread.

Finally, I want to highlight you can play this game with an old device, even a mobile phone.

Congratulations Jeese for all the great job you are doing!

(Does anyone worry about TOZ making minimum posting requirements?)

Actually, yes.