About GM MindXing
GM Philosophy
As a GM I am guided by one primary objective and that is to have fun and facilitate all of the players in having fun. Everything else is subject to this objective. If we're not having fun, then someone is doing something wrong.
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How I Play
In a play-by-post environment I have four main areas of focus: the posting pace is good, the role playing is at a high level, the game mechanics are clear and efficient, and players aren't fighting with each other. When all of these things are handled correctly, PbP can be one of the most satisfying gaming experiences around.
Pacing
I like fast moving games so in general I expect players to post at least once per day during the week and once per weekend. However, most of the time I will post much more frequently than that. If players keep up with my posting rate then we can often get up to three or four posts per day. This depends entirely on a player's real life availability so I don't expect it. If a player is going to be offline for an extended period of time and will be unable to post, I prefer for them to me botting instructions, or just let me know. We all have a real life (probably) and that certainly can take precedence at times.
Roleplaying
In my experience, play-by-post games offer a lot more room for active and engaging role playing. I suppose that this is because there is more time to craft a response as well as the fact that "on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." It's much easier to write out silly voices and actions than it would be to perform real time in front of your gamer buddies. Since improved role play is available, I encourage players to take adavantage of that by providing descriptions of your character, their actions, and even the environment. For example, instead of:
"Bob stabs Joe."
write:
"Bob holds the short sword tightly in his hand. The leather windings on the hilt are starting to get sweaty as this fight seeems to just go on and on. With a flash, seeing a gap in Joe's armor, he jabs forward at the dark looking thief."
I especially appreciate role play that includes other player characters. On the other hand, if it is your turn in the iniative order, make sure that your post is not _just_ role play but it also should include your actions.
Mechanics
In terms of combat round mechanics, I use the "block initiative" technique. This means that at the beginning of combat, all participants are ordered based on initiative rolls. All allies that appear next to each other in the intiative order are lumped together as a single initiative block. Players within the same initiative block can go in any order. The order of posting (within that initiative block) is the order in which things occur. Enemies and NPCs are combined into their own intiative blocks that I manage.
I ask that each player keeps a current status line. The status line is how I know the important details about your character. This line should be in the following format:
CG Male half-elf rogue 1 | HP 9/11 | AC: 16 T:13 FF:13 | F +1 R +5 W +0 (+2 vs. enchantments) | Init +9 | Perc +6 | Low-light vision | Trapfinding +1
When posting die rolls, please include each modifier separately as well as an explanation of each. This helps me understand the roll and saves time since I don't have to ask clarifying questions. For example:
[ dice]shortbow@blue,PBS,into melee,bless[/dice]: 1d20 + 2 + 1 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 1 - 4 + 1 = 6
When there are contigent actions, such as a parry/riposte for a swashbuckler, feel free to post those actions and rolls in a spoiler. If the event that triggers the contingent action happens, then I'll open the spoiler and apply it.
Conflicts
The last important point has to do with dealing with conflict. Sadly, sometimes there are conflicts between players or with the GM. I ask that we all try to be adults and keep things civil on the message board. If things start to get out of hand then I'll ask for the discussion to move to PM. Sometimes I will have to be the boss and make a decision and ask the players to just be ok with it. If there are issues that seem to go on for too long, and as a last resort, I will get the VC involved. Hopefully I never have to go that far.
Botting Policy
If it has been over 24 hours during the week, or 48 hours over the weekend, since your last post, I reserve the right to bot you in order to keep the game moving forward. I will first try to follow your bot instructions. If you don't have any instructions or they don't apply, I will use my best judgement to take an action consistent with your previous actions. I will not use up limited-use items, spell slots above 0, or abilities unless it seems extremely necessary or appropriate.
