1. [u]Communication Information:[/u]
The site for Online PACG has recently been released for players to use as an additional aid for turn play and the like. If you intend to use and/or update the game based on actions be sure to let myself and your teammates to understand the current state of that tool.
2. I will post the locations without cards so you can post starting location and starting hand. Unless you want to change it, the starting player of the next scenario will be the person who is scheduled to go next after the scenario conclusion.
3. With the exception of the initial post, don’t wait for me to post a scenario update before taking your turn. In general, I prefer to not post updates because they’re gigantic walls of text and get in the way of reading everyone’s great roleplay and what other people did on their turns and what cards they have available. I’ll post an update whenever decks are shuffled, locations are closed, a new page starts up, or if it’s simply just been a while (3-5 turns) when convenient to do so, but don’t expect me to be constantly posting them after every turn. I usually post (or ping) on discord when BR is posted.
4. Use your Notes wisely. The Notes section is a great way to share what cards are available for others to use, or if you have any relevant powers. I encourage you keep it up to date.
5. Bold actions that involve other players. If you’re using someone else’s card or if someone else at your location is impacted by something you do, bold that action and name that character so they don’t accidentally skip over it when skimming your post.
One option to help with some of the items above is to maintain a status sheet and use that (see resources below). Another option is to list a summary at the end of your post.
6. Include check types and difficulty in your dice tags. You should also list the outcome after the die roll; it helps when reading the post to make sure die roller is working as expected and everyone understands reasons for actions. One of these is far more readable than the other, and lets you know at a glance whether or not you succeeded without having to reference the other card:
Combat 12 with Longsword: 1d10 + 1d4 + 5 ? (1) + (1) + 5 = 7 Did not defeat Monster vs
1d10 + 1d4 + 5 ? (6) + (2) + 5 = 13
7. If you are going to be unavailable for an extended period of time, please ensure that your deck handler is linked and available for other players, and provide instructions so that other players can bot your turn. I recommend putting the link in your alias Profile (put it in the Class line, and wrap it in the url tags so it turns into a link -- see "How to format your text" below the reply box for details on how to do that if you aren't sure or PM me to ask for examples)
8. Take-backs or retcons have a limited window of being able to happen, with exception of invalid plays/turns and to a limited extent ignored instructions specified for other players. Use resources wisely, and keep in mind all the resources you and group have available and the other perks you get in Organized Play such as accessory re-rolls and die bumps.
9. Try to be consistent with how you handle posts and order of operations. Stick with determining order to be either the play order or with you as #1. Naturally, there may be times where it makes more sense to change the order and often can list reason in post. For example, if everyone takes a d4 damage then it may make sense for the person that has a spell in their hand to protect someone else to be resolved first and then handle the others in descending order of importance. Another example I do is even though I may automatically succeed or fail is that I always make the roll in order to make sure that roll is assigned or in case I mistakenly think it was a failure/success, etc (only exception is if I want to choose to banish a boon).
[u]Things that make gameplay smoother:[/u]
1. If a location is shuffled, you can continue to examine or explore cards in it by rolling a die to see which card you examine/explore. No need to wait on me to post an update first with the shuffled deck.
2. When encountering a card, be very explicit in what card you are encountering (Canyon Card 6: Temptation of Favor for example). This helps other players at the same location know where you left off so they don't accidentally encounter the same cards that you just got through and have to re-do their turn.
3. Use your Notes section to describe any cards or powers that can be used to assist other players on their turns and that you are willing to use. If you post that certain cards are available for use, state what the card does as well and/or make sure the information is available in your deck handler.
4. When something impacts another player (a power that affects all characters at your location, or you're playing one of their cards), bold that thing so that it stands out (and/or update State Sheet).
5. For games where closed locations are banished, spend a few minutes at the beginning of each scenario to list the order of locations you would prefer to move to.
[u]Things that make deck upgrades smoother:[/u]
1. Write a list of your 2-5 most desired deck upgrades, in order, and roll 1d1000 for each of them. Discussing loot distribution in Discord helps as well.
You can also post what you are looking for in your profile and/or Notes list to help people decide what resources to use when handling boons
2. That will let folks look through those lists and see how everyone can get their #1 preferred upgrade without lots of times lost in back-and-forth. If people are fighting over an upgrade, the d1000 roll is used to determine who gets it (highest roll wins;Highest 1st choice pick will always trump someones highest 2nd choice pick and so on).
[u]Tools out there:[/u]
Paizo Campaign Tools for Chrome or
FireFox
General PbP ACG info Macro Coding to help with the repetitive nature of posting (Many people have templates stored to copy and paste for their post)
A state sheet can help keep things clear between BR postings. I have played several scenarios in a campaign where us players only received the initial BR run even though locations were shuffled or multiple cards being moved around locations, etc
Example of a State sheet:
State Sheet
[u]Other Resources:[/u]
- [PFSACG] Flaxseed On Deck Adventure Card Guild Lodge
- Character sheets of various flavors by Yewstance and the community