Hello!
I've been finding myself reading more and more on the pbp boards and feeling like I would enjoy it. But the recruitment board kinda look scary for a newbie. Everytime I find a game that might be fun for me, there is 50+ people applying for it also. Then I get thinking, why pick me when they have all those experienced players to pick from.
So here's the question. Is there, out there, a nice group willing to pick a newbie to show him the ropes of the pbp while playing a pathfinder game at low level? I'd rather a short game for my first one but who knows, maybe one of the pathfinder adventure could do also.
Thank you!
Thanks. I was already reading those guides. They got me even more interested in joining a game. But like I said the recruitment board isn't easy for a newbie. Just trying to figure out which games are using pathfinder and which aren't isn't always obvious. Sometimes I read a good intro to game only to realise it's using a system I don't want to learn.
I'll keep reading for now and try to find something.
@Rannik I'm new to PBP as well but signed up to play the other side of the fence as a DM. I feel your pain, brother!
@GM Rednal Is there anything that new DMs need to know? I read Painlord and Doomedhero's guides to PBP, but they mainly seem to cover it from a general or player perspective. Is there any DM specific threads on here? I came here to try and run a game because I had to leave my gaming group for work, so is there any advice you can give for looooooong campaigns on the messageboards?
My sole experience with online PBP was a strictly roleplaying, no rules group years ago on 4chan, so I don't really have much experience.
And can I ask for a possibly uncomfortable favor? Can you point out any potential players who may be problems to me through a private message? I don't want to accidentally pick someone problematic when I do start a game. I know it sounds bad, but I know that online forums are filled with the kind of people that you certainly wouldn't want in a cooperative venture like a campaign.
Also look at THIS thread for some help getting into a game. While I do not agree with everything he says, most of it is very solid advice.
As GM Rednal said, you will try and fail many times before finding a group / game that is right for you, but the only way to get the experience is to keep on applying. Also agree with trying the PFS games. They are short, usual not more than a few months, and gives you the feel of playing PbP.
As far as selecting characters, I do it a bit differently then GM Rednal, since I run long term AP type games, and not PFS or modules:
1) Divide the submission into five categories: Warrior, Skill, Arcane*, Divine*, Other.
2) Pick the best submission from each category.
-- david
Note: * - 9th level spells available.
For what it's worth, every GM is different so don't assume that your "newbiness" is a negative.
One of my favorite things about gaming is bringing in new players, especially enthusiastic players who want to learn and have fun. New players don't have preconceptions about play, they bring fresh perspective, and seeing the experience unfold for their first time reminds me of what made me interested in gaming in the first place.
GMing more than one PbP game seems like too much for me to handle (I also GM our tabletop group once a week), and since I am in the middle of a game I don't personally have a game to offer, but I have been thinking about what my next game will be after this current one ends. Keep me in mind, look for my name in the recruitment threads in a few months (I know that doesn't help you now, but just in case) and I would gladly pick up some new players.
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@Rannik: The recruitment boards can indeed be somewhat intimidating for new players, specially if you are both new to PBP and new to pathfinder (not sure if it is your case). IMO the best place for you to start is in the PFS games since they are generally first-come first-serve, meaning that it won't matter if you are new or not. Take a look HERE since I believe it is the easiest way to find such games.
IMO it is difficult for a new player to get in many games is just because there is no way for a GM to know if you are a reliable player or not and just because of this, many times they prefer to take a more experienced player (I'm saying this assuming both you and the more experienced player have PCs of similar quality), especially when the game is an AP that is supposed to run for 2+ years!
Almost a year ago I was just at the same spot as you are and I started with PFS games, which gave a lot of experience, allowing me to jump towards games with much more competition and eventually to GM a couple games.
@Alice in Blunderland: You can't go wrong by reading the guide GM Rednal linked to you but if you care for some advice, I'd say that you should start as a player first. It is far better to "learn how to PBP" from a player's seat than from a GM's. It might not look like but PBP is a rather time consuming game and demands a lot of both free time and also commitment and it is really frequent for these boards to loose a couple payers along the road... the thing is that if you find yourself unable to play as a player, the GM might easily find another one to take your spot but if you are the GM, many players will be 'homeless'.
IMO this is especially important if you are so concerned about good/bad players. Many experienced players have quite a bit of games that ended abruptly from a GM vanishing and now are much more careful about which games they decide to apply. Unfortunately, most of those 'missing GMs' were new to these boards, just like you, and this will probably work against you in the beginning. I'm saying this because this happened to me more than I'd like to admit and thus I completely avoid GMs completely new to these boards. I'm not saying that you'd only get bad players, nothing like this, but the chances are higher and this could give you the wrong impression about this awesome hobby.
For all new players my advice is the same, start small (PFS games) before trying something more challenging (GMing)... this generally is a good idea for everything in our life lol.
@GM Rednal Many thanks for the link! I just don't want to be one of those people that either have terrible expectations or are complete noobsauces.
@DM Papa.DRB I think a module would be a good start, though not until I scrub all the noob off by being a player first. Seems a good way to help me get into a player's perspective, something useful maybe.
@Sir Longears I do plan on being a player first to help manage expectations and help give me more perspective from the other side of the fence. Do you think I should make the starting group bigger to account for the player drops? If so, how much bigger? 1-2?
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It is a bit difficult to answer this since I do not know what you consider to be a 'normal number' of players. I consider a normal size a 4 player (actually I'm tending more to 5 lately) but many games start with 6...
I believe 6 players are more then enough, since it even allows 1-2 dropouts before you need to open recruitment once more. I must be honest that I really dislike games with more than 6 players since combats drags too much and it is hard to properly interact with all the other players, so I might not be really impartial here. One important thing is that if you have too many drops that you need to make another recruitment, do not halt your game... keep DMPCing and keep the game going. As you might find, the primarily killer in PBP is inactivity.
Before starting a game, remember that PBP is a really slow format (like REALLY slow). For an example, I've started a WotR game in February and we are still 3/4 of the first book and I'm proud to say that we have a 'fast game'! I'm saying this because if you plan to run a homebrew, it is easy to lose interest in the long run... I've seen many homebrews with promising start that just hit a wall (this is why I've removed homebrew from my list).
@Sir Longears In that case, I suppose 6 players will work swimmingly! I usually do campaigns designed around 4-5 people.
Well, I used to do fantasy roleplaying on 4chan without a system, so I have an idea of about how PBP is paced... I think. No, no... it wasn't THAT kind of fantasy roleplay! I know 4chan is infamous for that sort of thing, but it was actually the "Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game".
Wow, didn't expect to start such a conversation. I'm happy to see that I wasn't the only one that find the recruitment board intimidating.
To give a bit more detail about my game experience. I've never played the pbp before, but I have been player Pathfinder since it came out. I'm currently playing a in person game with the same group since 3.0 came out. Since we rotate for the GM position it allow us to not fall into a long run fatigue. Out of the 5 players, 3 take the position of GM. One does his homebrew campaign, one goes for the pathfinder modules and I run the adventure path. So far I have GM the Rise of the Runelords and Council of Thieves. Lot's of fun there.
The main reason I want to try pbp is to experience other people ways of playing. (and have fun of course!!) I've started to read some of the on going ones and I was having a blast just from that. My favorite one so far is "GM Advocate's Hell's Vengeance". It's now part of my morning routine!
As for the PFS, I'll have to look more into it. I've never played in one of those and I know there is some more restrction on the rules there. Like some feats and spells not allowed amount other things.
I'll keep reading the guides and more about the PFS and try my luck if I find one game starting that seem to be for me.
(please forgive the many typos and grammar error, I've just did a long shift at work and repaint half of my living room. Other half tomorrow! I'm not really awake right now but wanted to reply before going to bed)
...The main reason I want to try pbp is to experience other people ways of playing. (and have fun of course!!) I've started to read some of the on going ones and I was having a blast just from that.
I made my first PbP characters about 2 1/2 years ago, here on Paizo.com. I am now GMing a game that has been going on for 2 years, pushing 4200 in-game posts. I've been tabletop gaming since the early 90s and I still regularly play tabletop with my wife and friends. Take it from me, PbP is a very rewarding and unique experience when compared to typical tabletop gaming. Both are loads of fun, but different animals.
I adore the narrative nature of PbP. As a player or GM you can take lots of time to write out, then rewrite, then rewrite again your thoughts/actions/roleplaying in each and every post.
I also really enjoy reaching out and playing with friends that I've made right here on the boards that I otherwise would never have met. My game currently has two players from Brazil - both awesome people who live thousands of miles away from me.
I'm glad you're joining the community here. Maybe we'll game together some day soon.