Hi,
I'd like to ask a few things about PbP games. I am an experienced 3.5/pathfinder player but have never participated in a PbP. I was wondering if someone could kinda give me a rundown on how things work such as-
how often should you be able to post to conievable play in them.
how are rolls/checks and whatnot determined?
what kinda of info should be prepared and what tools on the computer/internet should be used?
I'm attempting to figure out if I can work a PbP game into my current schedule or not, and knowing the answers to the above questions, as well as any tips from experience plays/dms would greatly be appreciated and be a helpful step towards my attempt to give it a try.
I'm new to it myself but if you look beneth the message and box that you write posts in and the BBCode you see this:
which is done by using the code dice. for example: [ dice ] without spaces) for the start of the code and [ /dice ] for the end of the code, also without spaces as I did above.
Attacks Draztik
If you've ever done roleplaying online then it's a mix of the two worlds which is perfect for me, once I get a into a game.
edit: just found out it has to be a small d for dice rolls.
All the things you are asking about vary among DMs, but to answer for myself I can say:
1) I expect my players to post at least once every 24 hours on weekdays.
2) There are some good online dice rollers, like Invisible Castle.
3) How much background you need varies. I suggest you look around in some profiles in some ongoing games. Usually you don't need any special tools (except the dice roller).
In my experience to be a good player you should be able to log in often to keep the game running, but it needn't take long to write a post. I've had some pretty awesome players in my games, but I think that in the long run it is the characters that are memorable, not the writing. You'll find that once you get into character a little goes a long way.
Also prepare for disappointment. It takes a lot of commitment for a PBP to really get off the ground. But on the other hand, when they do they are a gift that keeps giving.
Welcome Draztik
I'll echo overfiend and Black Tom's statements as being fairly dead-on. Adding my own:
1) Generally speaking, rule of thumb tends to be post once a day on weekdays. Most times, you may get a few posts in during the weekend from some players. Although it isn't crucial, it may be helpful to check during combats if your DM is on top of the responses and post more.
2) There's a basic roller in place here, but others have mentioned Invisible Castle as well. As far as rulings and guidelines, most DMs try to setup the rules of requirements or special guidelines if there are any. Otherwise, I think everyone tries to chip in and keep it honest.
3) As mentioned, it varies from DM to DM. The most essential is usually having the mechanics down in the character alias for the DM to review - HP, AC, Skills, roll checks, spells, abilities, etc.
Beyond that, depends on how much background you want to create and what the DM feels he needs to build you into the PbP he is running.
As far as tools, that can vary. In addition to the Invisible Castle dice roller, I would suggest you check out the SRD20 websites - they can be handy to have the rule sets at your side without books. Some folks utilize GoogleDocs online to make maps, keep track of treasure, etc. Some DMs also utilize RPGtools or other sites to make combat maps, etc.
Hope that helps. Good luck if you decide to plunge into a Pbp game.
Also prepare for disappointment. It takes a lot of commitment for a PBP to really get off the ground. But on the other hand, when they do they are a gift that keeps giving.
Definitely. From my experience, I'd say three out of four play-by-post games die off pretty quickly (i.e. after one or two encounters). But on the other hand, a game that ends up lasting a long time can be a blast!
You might also look into play-by-email games. They generally go even slower than play-by-post (!), but I generally find them to be a bit more stable. I've been playing in one game for over four years, and the game started five years before that (moving from 3E to 3.5E to a reboot in 4E)!
Echoing all the above.
I run three games on these boards and have played (or am playing) in a few. Like others, I can confirm that while a good many games die off, the ones that do run are enormous fun.
The key thing is to keep participating as a player and to be prepared to nudge things along as a DM. That means in practice being more forceful about getting players to make choices than I would be in a table game. Time zones, real life and the fear that you're stealing another player's thunder makes many players cautious about saying "Yes, this way.".
When I'm running a game, I set out the rules up front and try very hard to stick to them. In my case, these are very simple.
1. If you're between combats, it's up to you how often you post, but I'll feel alarm bells going if you don't show for more than a week.
2. In combat, you have 24 hours to post once your turn comes up or you'll get a pathetic plea for posting followed by a DMPC of your character that round.
3. Roll however you want. I tend to home roll for games I DM and use the online roller for player posts. This is due to the Paizo boards eating one too many carefully constructed page long narratives with many monsters, and it's bad for my blood pressure to re-do those.
From the DM perspective, I would say that if you're using a pre-published adventure, be prepared to telescope A LOT. Combat is very, very slow in a pbp. An encounter/trap/social scenario that takes 15 minutes to deal with in real life is going to eat days or weeks on the boards. Go through that adventure before you start and mentally decide which encounters are really going to advance the plot. Use those, ditch the rest.
Use maps if you possibly can. They help enormously in combat. That's not an absolute must - there are some great DMs on here who don't bother and get by with narrative and invention. I'm not capable of that level of skill and in any case run all my stuff under 4e which is highly dependant on characters knowing where they are.
Personally, I award double XP and allow players to level pretty frequently.
There is an excellent stickied thread at the top of the Player Discussion forum with a ton of advice on DMing that's well worth taking a look at.
Thank you all very much for your input.
I think I will most likely be looking to try to find one here in the near future. One of my biggest concerns was that i'd probably only be able to post once every 24 hours and wasnt sure if that was too little lol.
I'll have to do some lookin around, but unfortunately seems i wont be able to do any dice rolls (therefore limited posting ability) while I'm at work (like I am now) because of computer restrictions it wont let me open things like spoiler tabs and the bbcode thing at the bottom of the post. And usually my time at work is when I am on the boards the most lol
but my other concern was that im not too familiar with stuff such as putting spoilers or bbcodes or anything like that into posts.
is there anything on the site here that kinda explains that kinda stuff to someone new to the forums?
but again thank you all for taking the time to lend your tips/experience.
Thank you all very much for your input.
I think I will most likely be looking to try to find one here in the near future. One of my biggest concerns was that i'd probably only be able to post once every 24 hours and wasnt sure if that was too little lol.
Once a day is usually fine, in my experience.
I'll have to do some lookin around, but unfortunately seems i wont be able to do any dice rolls (therefore limited posting ability) while I'm at work (like I am now) because of computer restrictions it wont let me open things like spoiler tabs and the bbcode thing at the bottom of the post. And usually my time at work is when I am on the boards the most lol
What happens when you type [ dice ]1d20[ /dice ] (without the spaces, of course) in your post? That's the most typical way of rolling dice (the BBCode thing at the bottom is just a list of possible tags to use, one of which is the [ dice ] tag).
The inability to open spoiler blocks might be a slight problem; some DMs like to use them.
In addition to all of the above, and reading the sticky post General Discussion For All Pbpers, the one bit of advice I would give to a player is to always make a post when you check the thread, which is hopefully at least once a day, even if it's of the "Fantaboulus the Gnome Wizard peers around his larger friends to see what's down the hallway" variety. That is to say, think of what you can do to move things along, and do it. Maybe it's something simple, or even requires a skill check. Maybe it's something mundane. Just don't wait for someone else to make a decision, and just post something. Posts beget posts, and show interest and participation. The more the better.