Hi there. I was curious if I could pick up some tips and tricks from the GM's who visit here. I am thinking of running a full blown adventure but have never played or let alone GM'ed a play by post. It seems interesting and I have all the time in the world to manage it almost hourly.
I have found some ideas and how to's already but am curious to hear advice from whomever may have it.
I am an experienced GM at the VTT and may use Roll20 for any map token placements. If there is better options I am interested.
Should I avoid Adventure Paths and stick to Homebrew or do you think AP's are just fine with PbP?
I generally only run with 4 players. Do you think it's better to have more or less players in a PbP game?
I am sure I will have more questions as I get started but it would be cool to hear from some of you. Thanks and happy gaming!
First of all, if you haven't seen the stickied thread on PbP GMing, give it a read! There's a ton of good advice there.
Now, to try to answer your questions:
*Adventure paths are a hard place to start PbP. They're always popular, but they're always dying. I'd advise starting small, getting a feel for the ins and outs of PbP gaming with shorter games, and then thinking about an AP.
*Who the players are tends to be more important than the number. Four players can work great if they're all active and involved. Six players can work great if they're all active and involved. But you're usually not going to know ahead of time how good of players everyone will be (do your best, but you'll often be surprised even after doing your homework), so smaller numbers of players reduce the risk of finding out you have two people who tend to disappear for days at a time with no explanation. So it's easier to run with smaller numbers of players.
My suggestion?? Start small. Run a PFS scenario, even if it is not for PFS. Do something you can begin and end. I would suggest google slides for maps because most pbp players can use it, even if they are limited to tablets and smart phones for internet. Learn your pacing and your GM style.
I have no problem with 6 players in a PbP... If someone goes on vacation, the other players can pick up the slack. I also advise not doing homebrew until you have completed one or two games. The reason is that if life hits you hard and you're running a scenario, you can just pull out the box text and the monsters and keep going and you don't have to be creative to keep your game going. If life hits you hard and you're doing a homebrew, the well can run dry and your game come to a sudden halt.
Hmm
I think running a small scenario is a smart suggestion to start. After that, however, I would probably go with an adventure path (as long as you realize you're probably making a five-year commitment).
In my experience, people really like very short games or full campaigns. For whatever reason, modules have given me trouble whenever I've tried to run them and I've had to cut games short more than once when I've tried to just do a module.
I think if you have a good group, homebrew can work, but anecdotally I think they don't do as well as official APs. I think players just have more of an expectation of what they're getting into with APs and that helps keep things running. I'm not 100 percent sure about that, though, just my gut feeling.
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I like five players for a game. I think that is a good amount to keep things running. Too few players and you may not get a real flow going. Too many, and things can bog down with too much cross-talk, or too much requirement to DMPC folks in combat.
Speaking of which, I think combat is far more DM-intensive in PBP as you have to do a lot more adjudicating. Once I get into six PCs (and I include animal companions and other class-feature allies in that number), I start finding it frustrating to handle. My personal limit is five PCs, with no more than one class ally (eidolon, phantom, animal companion, etc.).
I'd look around at some other games for how you want to handle combat (and/or be open when you recruit about experimenting with what works best for you). I like group initiative, but not everyone does. Some of the other advice threads may also discuss this.
Oddly, I've had good luck with the two modules I ran in PbP. As a PFS GM, I appreciate modules because my GM shackles come partially off. Modules give a GM a lot more flexibility and freedom, and they also give you more space to develop non-player characters and build out your story.
I've run both Doom Comes to Dustpawn and Murder's Mark in PbP. Both were somewhat sandbox in feel, and allowed quite a bit of space for my PCs to run and explore while still accomplishing their main objectives. I ran both with a party of six, and so long as I kept things moving and the stakes high, the party stayed engaged and enjoyed their runs.
Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like modules are my natural PbP running length! They're just so darn satisfying for me!
Hmm
