Hey folks,
I'm running Rise of the Runelords IRL, but it's not enough Pathfinder! Anyway, I have never played/run an RPG as a play-by-post but I would really like to, and I'm willing to run the CoT or SS adventure paths if people are interested.
I like putting time into a campaign, doing an Obsidian Portal, and keeping it running smoothly, and so much appreciate non-flakes when playing (which is easier, of course, to weed through in the "real world").
And - despite me seeming grouchy, I would have to ask the group to be somewhat forgiving of me getting up to speed running a pbp for the first time.
I would think the preferred speed would be if we could get what would amount to a IRL session done once/week.
One thing about me as a DM, I've been a gamer for a long time and swore by 2E until...well, until Pathfinder, and now for the first time I'm finding my love for classic D&D being replaced by this new ruleset (despite the fact that *grognard grumble*, characters are becoming superheroes...) but I am an old-school tough DM who makes players work for rewards, and cuts down on the magic equipment Just an FYI.
Let me know who's interested! I'd love to run one of the two ASAP!
If you're in, let me know and which you'd prefer.
Also - is this website the best to use for PbP or is there another one that works better?
THANKS!
Scott M. Bruner
*raises hand*
Aye, I'll put my elf forward as a contender.
How many posts a day are you looking at aiming for?
How much/many books are you wanting/allowing?
Looking forwards to your reply (^_^)
I, unfortunately, don't have many answers to your other questions.
Since I'm new to PbP, I don't know how many posts/day - like I said, I'd like to see what would be the PbP equivalent of one 4.5 hour session/week (what my IRL group does). But I'm happy to play by ear.
I'd also like to start with everyone rolling up new chars...though I suppose I'm amenable.
How much/many books wanting/allowing? Not sure what the question means, but defn all PF materials are game. Is that what you mean?
*salutes*
So, 'Core' books for Pathfinder/Paizo?
Core rule book, Advanced players guide, Bestiary yes? What about accessing material from the official and open source web sites?
What CR level? 1? 2?
If a player wishes to have a template attached?
As for the posting? From my limited experience, people have a couple of things working against them at being 'regular' posters.
1) Is simply Real Life. It can throw all sorts of curves in the way.
2) Time zones. there are lots of people on the boards from countries all over the world and what might be mid day for one person might be the middle of the night for another.
Expanding upon the questions posed. =)
So, a Fighter(Brawler)/Half-dragon is a bit much for what you have in mind? (^_~)
I would advice: Pathfinder Books only: Core, APG and etc, 20 point buy
For other stuff and templates : I would say no since never saw those :P
Of course Aasimar, Tiefling can be allowed in DM discretion
Ah - yeah. So, yes, core PF/Paizo books allowed. Including APG, of course, and supplements, but nothing beyond that.
Ugh - I *AM* a PbP newbie. CR level? Challenge rating?
Templates are fine. I like characters with intriguing backstories to work into the campaign.
As to posting, again, I don't mind when people post, as long as they post enough that it keeps the campaign going at the one session/week pace. Being new to this, again, I don't know how many daily posts that would entail 1-2?
The idea is to run the entire adventure path, and right now, I'm leaning towards Council of Thieves.
The only thing I also would need to learn is how you run combat PbP. Anyway, happy to learn as long as the group wants to learn with me.
Also - I love the Dice Pool system for rolling a char, and again, depending on who's in, would like to use that. I'm realizing I might not be able to be as much of a stickler as I am with my home games!
I've never done PbP before but I'd like to give it a go.
I may need some help from experienced players to teach me how to do this sort of thing but if you'll let me learn I'd like to get involved.
I'd also lean towards Council of Thieves.
I can probably manage 2-3 posts a day (except Tuesdays) provided there's enough activity to justify it.
Either is good for me. Never played in CoT, and the two SS games I tried to get into ended very quickly. Count me in for a character once you decide which you're interested in.
I would be interested as well, but I imagine your weekly session per week equivalency is a tad bit overzealous. From my experience you're looking at 12+ posts from each person a day in order to pull this off, more so if the AP contains social encounters. Additionally, it would require you to be able to post responses around the clock, and do so almost immediately; no waiting for another player to get off from work to see if he has anything to contribute, and combats are going to slaughter your pace; in most cases PbP allows no more than one, maybe two rounds of combat a day.
As an idea of a PbP game's pace, I've been playing in a Legacy of Fire PbP for over a year now. We've just begun the second installment of the AP. We only require posting once per day, and there was a couple of months were we had no GM, but we also skipped a good chunk of the first module; PbP games are slow.
If you really want to cover a week's worth of material every week, I'd recommend you abandon PbP and look at a VTT.
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I would be interested as well, but I imagine your weekly session per week equivalency is a tad bit overzealous...and combats are going to slaughter your pace; in most cases PbP allows no more than one, maybe two rounds of combat a day.
All too true, but there are certainly ways to alleviate the typical pace problems of a pbp. From my experience:
- Have a minimum post/day rule. This puts everyone on the same page. Flat reject those who can't accommodate. Trust me, you always get more players then you need.
- Instead of rolling for init, people go in order of their init mod. The more rolls people have to make, the slower the combat. This rule allows you to hit the ground running. It also encourage people to take feats such as Improve Initiative.
- Have the same monsters go at the same init. Again, this is to reduce the amount of rolls. The 2 orcs will attack, then PC1, PC2, and the 3 gnolls. Also works well in real-life gaming.
- Set up rules for player absence. Especially important during combat! I personally like to have a section under my character that specifies what he will do when I am absent. This is not long-term, of course. People drop out of pbp ALL THE TIME. Some players are very courteous and would let others know ahead of time as well as when he would be back. Other are simply jerks. After a week of unexplained absence, I recommend recruit someone new.
That's it for now. Others please feel free to chime in to make this a good pbp experience!
All the explanations and suggestions look good to me.
*salutes*
Looking forwards to whatever every one finalizes as the starting point.
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The only thing I also would need to learn is how you run combat PbP.
Another thing I forgot to mention is the map. Some people don't use one, but I think that's a really bad idea cause combat can get really chaotic. What people do is upload pics of the map onto a site like photobucket and then post the link for player to see. The map is then updated as characters are moved around. It would help if the square are somehow designated with letter and numbers (A1, A2, etc...) so that people can specify exactly where they want to be.
The idea is to run the entire adventure path...
Perhaps you should a short adventure as a test run? You can work out the kinks of ur PBP DM style this way.
Also - I love the Dice Pool system for rolling a char, and again, depending on who's in, would like to use that.
So...4d6 drop the lowest?
Also - I love the Dice Pool system for rolling a char, and again, depending on who's in, would like to use that.So...4d6 drop the lowest?
Dice pool usually means 24d6 split into 6 groups of at least three. Take the top three from each group.
I guess though that's the first thing that needs confirming before we start building characters. The second would be, do you want us to use the dice-bot on posts in this thread for stat building or will you pick players based on concepts and deal with the details in a discussion thread later?
I'd be interested in playing. I'm more interested in Serpent's Skull than CoT, but I'd do either.
I'm thinking I'd do something Bard or Ranger-is (though if we're doing rolled stats that could change things!)
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Oh, one more thing that I think is critical to PBP:
- Move the story along. Unlike in real life, where player inertia is expressed by awkward silence around the table, PBP inertia is not as obvious. As a DM, you might think everyone should have something to say, but the reality is not everyone does and it's hard to express that online (no one post, "my char stay silent until next scene"). At some point, you must move the story along. If not, you risk boring your players and have the game grind to a halt.
I hate to be a flake - but after doing a ton of research, and reading a bunch of PbP games, I'm realizing it's probably not for me.
I can't see a viable way, with my fair but limited tech skill set, to run combat, and I put a lot of effort into campaigns and defn can see that people would come and go too often to keep it running.
So - I just put up a few notices here and I'm going to start running a new IRL campaign to supplement my ROTR game.
Sorry. Check with a fellow GM who just said most usually fall apart after session 4 or 5, which was depressing.
If anyone's in the Bay Area, I've got an opening, though!
*Salutes*
Well, thanks for the look-in!
Hope your Real Life game goes smashingly.
Who know, we might see you back here one day? (^_~)
