Hello and Welcome!
Congratulations to those of you who have made it. Let's get started. As I stated in my introduction, this is my first time as a DM, and I based on the style of other DM's I have played with in the past and read, I want to run this game a certain way. Establishing a level of consistency during the campaign that I don't always see in other campaigns is paramount. That said, I need all of your help. This has to be a group effort. Past experience has shown me that I won't be able to do it on my own. So for each of you selected, I need you to be able play off each other. Introduce your own plot threads (or suggest them to me in the discussion thread, and I can introduce them). As a heads up, I don't plan to use map tools unless absolutely required. I think a pbp can work without them, and it makes the players use more imagination, *but* if I'm not clear on something, let me know. I appreciate feedback, and I want this to be enjoyable for all of us.
Some guidelines:
1. I roll Initiative for everyone to save some time. As long as you don't skip any enemies, you can take your turn anytime. (Example: Allies Bob, Henry, Fred, and Steve are at 20, 15, 10, and 5 respectively. Enemy goblins are at Initiative 13. At the beginning of the round, Bob and Henry can go. The goblins go next at 13. Following the goblins, all four of the characters can go in any order because no enemies would be skipped.)
2.I also roll passive checks. I'm not going to be asking for that Sense Motive check or that Perception check. It takes up time and an unnecessary post. You can however make the checks yourself as long as you are posting it before hand.
3. Everyone rolls their own to-hit and compares it to the AC of the target. The same goes for saves. Both will be provided for all enemies, as will hit points. This puts a lot of responsibility on you to write good combat narratives and not rely on me to do so. The description is a common-sense sort of thing; 3 hit points will not cause the enemy's head to explode - but 30 might if it puts them in the negatives. This is also very trust-based. I expect that if someone gets something they don't like on the preview, they'll have the integrity to leave it there instead of modifying it based on the roll.
3. With my in person group I play by the rule "Heroes never die." This basically means I won't be actively trying to kill you, and as a matter of fact tend to bend things helpfully. I don't like bad rolls to spoil the fun. This however does not exempt stupidity and bad tactics. Heroes are not stupid (with some exceptions but I don't think anyone here has mental dump stats) and bad tactics are just that, bad. Sometimes retreating is the best option.
4. At the beginning of any in-combat post, I expect everyone to include the round/initiative count, current hit points, current AC, current saves, and remaining spells or resources. (By current, I mean following whatever action is in the post.) After that section, I like a section breaking it down into standard/move/swift/whatever actions with appropriate rolls. This way, I don't have to go hunting for that information and check if it is right. Here's an example.
===========EXAMPLE===========
The narrative would go here. In this particular case, the bard begins playing the stringed instrument to inspire the others. (This roll is technically extraneous, but I've always done them on my bard type characters.) He then makes his Acrobatics check to move while avoiding attacks of opportunity. With a 25, he succeeds and ends where he intends to go.
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Anyone have any questions or feedback?
Also, I want your opinions on who else you want to play with. Who do you think has a great story you want to see unfold?