D&D 5E PbP games: what works and what doesn't?

[jmucchiello]

All the games that I've had fail, failed because the DM just disappeared. Poof. They just never post on ENWorld ever again. Superhero games are the worst for this.

 

[Kaodi]

I have certainly been in a number of game where the DM disappeared. Life happens, so I do not think you can say for sure what happened to any particular DM. But it means that I do kind of watch for how many posts a person has and how long they have been an EN World member for a sense of how likely they are to pick to disappear. If it just comes down to not wanting to DM anymore you can always just say, "This is not working for me. Sorry."

 

[EarlyBird]

The fact that you have completed 2 games and running so many more indicates that you know what you are doing... any games that didn't work out?

Thanks, and none so far. *knock on wood* There was almost a TPK in the Curse of Strahd game. 4PCs, 1 NPC, 1 non-combatant vs 12 wolves. That pack tactics is rough.

 

[Ancalagon]

Thanks, and none so far. *knock on wood* There was almost a TPK in the Curse of Strahd game. 4PCs, 1 NPC, 1 non-combatant vs 12 wolves. That pack tactics is rough.

I'm not sure I would call a tpk a failure in this context. Games fizzling out seems to be the real issue

 

[Ancalagon]

All the games that I've had fail, failed because the DM just disappeared. Poof. They just never post on ENWorld ever again. Superhero games are the worst for this.

In my experience it's almost always the GM who announced that the game was over... but usually the game isn't going well by the time this happens.

 

[Ancalagon]

I mean, a GM giving up on a great game because of life changes? That sucks, but it happens, it's life... but it should be rare. You can't avoid life. But maybe avoiding fizzles might be achievable?

 

[jmucchiello]

Totally opposite experiences then. Rarely have I been told "I'm stopping this game" by a GM. The GM just disappears.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

But one of them has since stopped, one has slowed down significantly, and one is just about to be completed (congrats [MENTION=59816]FitzTheRuke[/MENTION] !).

Thanks! It's not easy. This was the first PBP game I ever played. Like you, I tried to get involved in a few, and they didn't pan out, so I just decided to run one. I've learned a lot along the way, too!

How much time do you think this would take to finish in person?

(For those reading this that aren't involved, we're talking about Vault of the Dracolich)

Well... the answer to that question might scare people. It's a Game Day adventure, so the first time I ran it... it took FOUR HOURS. (We've just taken OVER A YEAR!). To be fair, you're supposed to B-Line it to the end. Each group only needs to get ONE Idol and then run for the end. Frankly, you'll die otherwise. You need to avoid as many fights as possible, just DO THE JOB, and go.

I ran it for a single group as a campaign, and I fleshed it out a bit (which I used here, adding EVEN MORE). The original has no level ups at all, so I bumped the challenge with the level ups to keep it interesting. There's no beginning in the adventure (you just teleport into the dungeon) and the ending we're on now is something I've made up. (You just disable the wards, grab the staff, and win.)

I ran it with many of the extras you've seen in six sessions of two to three hours (so about 14 hours). I would estimate that I added about 30% more.

... So what I'm saying is I think if we'd run what you saw here IRL, we could do it in under 20 hours.


I've got some thoughts on your other points as well, but I'm going to have to get to them later.

 

[Ancalagon]

[MENTION=59816]FitzTheRuke[/MENTION] : so in other words, it's approximately 1 month to do 1 hour of gaming material? damn.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

That seems about right. I mean, it often takes a week to do a round.

A little math that might cause dismay:

I have run most of the 5e Adventures IRL. (I own a game store, we run D&D, plus my private group, so I've run some of them twice.) Anyway, it is my experience that it takes 9 months to a YEAR to run any of those hardcover adventures. Assuming you play weekly sessions of about 3 hours, with a moderately focused group. It can probably be done faster, if your group is REALLY focused and good at getting things done, or if you skip a lot of stuff, which is possible. But still... we're talking about around 100-150 hours.

It means that to run something like, say, Out of the Abyss in-full could take 10 years in PBP. I don't think I'm exaggerating by much.