Seeking advice from EnWorld's PBP DM's

[Herobizkit]

I am planning on starting up a D&D 3.5 PBP for some of my friends with the intent of using a pre-published setting and/or series of modules. What I'm looking for is some general impressions of running pre-gen'd adventures, your experiences, and any tips you might have, especially regarding 3.x's "tactical" combats and alternate rulesets (such as those found in Unearthed Arcana).

I realize the request is vague, so if you need to ask me some probing questions, please do.

 

[cmanos]

so is your concern about how to run combat in a PBP Game or more running published mods?

 

[Hand of Evil]

See the DM Advice thread link in my sig.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In pbp, remember that combat goes much slower and many published modules are full of combat. PBP shines in roleplay, so make sure to pick a module that has lots of chances for interaction between PCs and with NPCs.

I would also recommend either coming up with a good online solution to use as a battlegrid or dumping the notion of tactical combat from pbp. (I did the latter, going with a more narrative style.)

 

[Herobizkit]

so is your concern about how to run combat in a PBP Game or more running published mods?

In all honesty, these are my two biggest concerns. Since traditional D&D modules have combat a-plenty, it could make for a boring PBP.

 

[Herobizkit]

I would also recommend either coming up with a good online solution to use as a battlegrid or dumping the notion of tactical combat from pbp. (I did the latter, going with a more narrative style.)

How did you accomplish your narrative style?

 

[Nonlethal Force]

You might give my Mightier than the Sword PbP a glance - specifically the last 10 posts or so. This link will take you to a few posts prior to the latest combat so you can get a flavor of what is happening in game. We've just begun the combat, actually. I'll admit that this combat is unusual because it is a large combat in which all of the PCs are a minimum of 30 feet from each other and thus can't necessarily see exactly what is happening in the others' areas. [I should add that I normally don't give each player a seperate Sblock - just happens that in this battle that is the easiest way to seperate what each character is aware of since they are so far apart.] But, it might make for an interesting example on how I use a battlegrid/narrative style combination. If you want an example of a more typical combat, look in the beginning, you should be able to find a round by round battle involving only the players and a single foe, for example.

What I do: If you use the code function in conjunction with the sblock function you can put up some basic battlemaps.

I also play in a game under FreeXenon called Aundair's Sorrow. He takes a different approach. He uploads small jpeg pictures of the battlegrid for us to see. I prefer a simpler battlegrid simply because uploading a picture no doubt takes up more memory on the server and it means I have to flip between screens to see it. However, I'll freely admit that FreeXenon's battlemaps are much easier to follow than my own!

Anyway, if you are curious go ahead and look at the Mightier than the Sword game. If you want to ask my players about their impressions of the style, feel free to do so in the OOC thread - just please don't post in the IC thread! My players are Bront, Keia, and Fenris ... pretty top notch players in my book.

I'd explain more here, but I think you'd really be better off just seeing what I do rather than reading my description of it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

How did you accomplish your narrative style?

I flung initiative out of the window and took posting order as initiative instead. It had a beneficial effect on posting rates.

I also have abstracted away a lot of the battlemat stuff.

 

[Pinotage]

I'm playing in Shackled City, Age of Worms and Savage Tide through PbP. For the latter two, the DM runs its by the book - very combat heavy and can take long. For the former, the DM removes a lot of the encounter and balances that by awarding generous roleplaying XP awards. That works very well, IMO. For example, we've played through the first Shackled City adventure so far, and I think we had about 5 or 6 combats in total and we've all reached 3rd level. I think the original adventures had a lot more combat. My suggestion if you run published adventures is to reduce the combat in a like manner.

Pinotage