PBP Noob questions

[Theta Thief]

Hello all,

So I've never played in a play by post game and I'm sure it'll be a while before I get into one but I have more than a few questions I'm hoping some veterans can give some advice on.

1. How does one "roll" in posts? I've seen in may recruitment threads where rolling is an option for character building where people will post what they "rolled". I'm sure this is a formula or script you can type into the post but I have yet to find such a thing anywhere on this site. While I'm sure there are plenty of point by games out there I'm sure it will still be required for combat and skill checks.

2. Should I make multiple aliases for one character with different point buy stats or should I just make one alias and update it accordingly?

3. Is there, in general, a good place to start when you are just starting to PBP? I do have many years of experience on roleplaying games, but I've never really done this before. I should maybe reword my questions here and ask instead what are the major difference between playing face to face and PBP?

4. Lastly is PBP as slow as everyone says it is?

Thank for any and all advice!

[DM Carbide]

Before I start, there's one thing that's not particularly obvious--this particular subforum is for out-of-character discussion in existing PbP games. This post should have been in the Online Campaigns General Discussion subforum, HERE. I'll be flagging this to get the thread moved.

So, rolling in posts. For a quick guide to general formatting, look below the text window and you'll see the line "How to format your text," with a button marked "Show" next to it. Click on the button and you'll get info on how the format codes work. For rolling dice, you do the following (with spaces inserted so it won't actually, you know, roll dice):

[ dice = Some text here ]1 d20 + 3[ / dice ]

Take out the spaces and this posts as:

Some text here: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Making up multiple aliases. That depends; you'll probably want to make up several different characters, depending on the game. However, let's say that you make up a 20 point paladin and apply to a Carrion Crown game. You get in, set up the appropriate alias, and play for a couple of months before the GM vanishes. (Sadly, this happens more often than we'd like.) Now, you can change the name of an alias if you've posted less than ten times with it, but by now you're past that. Before the next 20 point Carrion Crown recruitment comes up, though, someone recruits for a Wrath of the Righteous campaign. They're only a little ways into the first book, but their main combat-type has vanished. (Sadly, this also happens more often than we'd like.) A paladin would fit right in...trouble is, this particular GM has been paying attention to the lengthy discussions about Wrath of the Righteous, and wants 15 point characters. At that point you're best off revising the existing paladin and submitting it. Make sense?

Differences between FtF and PbP. PbP is much slower, but you can generally do better roleplay with time to craft your responses. I'd start with Pathfinder Society, actually--short scenarios, time to get a feel for the medium, and see if you like it before you commit to an AP.

Length of time: years, for an AP.

[rando1000]

#4 largely depends on what you're used to IRL. My tabletop games only play once every other week for 3 hours. So we get through about 4 module-sized adventures or so a year.

The PBP I'm gm-ing here just finished our 3rd Adventure (slightly smaller than module sized) in 6 months. We'll probably complete 7 story lines in a year.

So in my case, 4 detailed storylines vs. 7 slightly less intricate stories seems like about the same amount of material in the same amount of calendar time, it's just spread out over the full time vs. concentrated into 3 hour blocks.

Now, if you're used to gaming tabletop once a week for 7 hours, no, you're not likely to hit anywhere near that participation level.