The Stat Line:
Most players have a stat line just below his name, that looks something like
HP 9/9 | AC 17 T14 FF13 | Init +4 Perc +6 CMB +1 CMD 16 | F+1 R+6 W+0 | NG Tengu | Ninja (Scout) 1 | Hvy Crossbow +4; 1d10 19-20/x2 P | sheet
Make sure you character has one as well You can do this by going to your character profile (right-clicking on your character name in the forum thread gets you there), click edit, and enter the code into either the ‘race’, ‘gender’ or ‘class’ line of your character.
The Map:
Every campaign has a decimated map that I use for handouts, battle maps, character portraits and the likes. I also have a text box there with initiative code. Please take a moment to fill out your character’s initiative on one of the line (i.e. choose a line and replace ‘X’ with ‘Miko Teppen’ and ‘Y’ with ‘+2’).
The player icon on the battle map:
Please add your icon to the battle map I’m allowing every player to place and move his own icon on the battle map (though I can overrule that from time to time). Adding your own icon on google drive is simple. First, right-click on you character’s portrait in your browser and click on ‘copy image address’ (or something to that effect). Then go to the battle map, select ‘insert -> image’ and paste the url of your avatar image in the ‘by url’ box. Hit select, and your image should appear on the map. Resize, move and presto! You’re done.
GM Activity:
I’m a usa-based GM, and I typically do some short posting in the morning, and more extensive posting in the evening (subject to variation), and it’s very rare that I don’t get at least a daily update in.
Player Activity:
I recommend to post at least daily, also to keep a feeling for the flow of the game. I’m not keeping score. If a player falls silent, I’ll usually send a pm to inquire. It happens only rarely, but if a players drops, I usually continue with the table I have left.
Starting Combat:
I roll initiative myself (that’s why I need the init block in the map). I try to nudge init slightly so that players end up in larger blocks. I’ll indicate players that can move with bold names. If your name is bold, feel free to post an action. If your action depends on something happening “if mook A is still alive, then …, if not then …” feel free to post it like that.
In Combat:
I always appreciate it if you break down the bonuses you apply:
Short bow, into melee: 1d20+5-4
for a character with a +5 on ranged firing into melee is much easier to parse for me than
Short bow: 1d20+1
People tend to forget that +1 form inspire courage, and this way it’s easier for me to correct for that.
Combat Timeouts:
During combat I keep a 36-hour timeout: once I start a new combat round, everybody has a day-and-a-half to respond. That’s usually more than enough, but every now and then a player doesn’t get a post in. So as to not keep the rest often group waiting, If someone doesn’t post an action within 36 hrs, I will ask another player to post an action (within reason). I will keep doing that (without the 36 hr timeout) until the player checks back in. Of course, if the player indicated she’d be away, I’ll handle things differently.
PbP Basics:
Bold is for speech:
"Yes, let's get started."
Italic is for thoughts and mental communication:
Heheh. Little do they know what is coming for them
Regular text is for descriptions:
This DM sure looks like something from another plane, and even reeks faintly of sulphur.
And this is obtained by the 'ooc' tag and is used for out-of-character text.
You don't have to roll knowledge checks to remember this
The dice roller can be accessed by using the dice tag. Use dice=Description to describe the roll
If I roll one you all get cake: [dice=Cake]1d100 ⇒ 20[/dice]
