PbP games -- how to run them

[Desdichado]

I've been tinkering with the idea of piloting a new campaign setting with some extensive rules changes (new classes and races, it's not really as radical as I make it sound) and -- I'm not recruiting just yet -- but I'm curious how people have handled PbP games in the past in terms of dice rolls. To me, it seems the fastest, simplest and most trustworthy (for me, anyway) way to handle it is that I (as GM) roll all the dice myself. Players just tell me what they want to do, and I tell them if they succeed or not.

However, this also seems to be lacking in some ways -- rolling the dice and waiting tensely to see what result you get is one of the prime "fun factors" of RPGs in my experience. So what other methods have folks out there used, and how successful has it been? And, how easy to implement has it been?

 

[buzzard]

I'm running my first PbP game, so I'm no expert, but I roll the dice for the players. I can't imagine doing it any other way due to time considerations. Also I'm a misanthrope so I trust no one.

buzzard

 

[Storminator]

I roll the dice for games I DM, and I prefer my DM to roll when I play. It's just easier.

And a PbP is so slow that the tension is pretty low anyway. I don't think you lose any drama with the DM rolling, and it moves much smoother.

PS

 

[Old Fezziwig]

When I ran a PbP, I rolled all the dice, but tried to show my math as much as possible (where it wouldn't give them information they wouldn't have had), just so the players an idea of what was going on mechanically. I had no complaints.

Best,
tKL

 

[robaustin]

I run a PBEM game and I do all the dice rolling for combat, etc...

My only exception is that I let the players use an email dice server to roll for HP when levelling up. It emails me and them and this way it keeps them from saying that I cheated them of HP.

Most of my players in the game I see regularly as part of our D&D group so instead of that - if I will see them, I will let them roll HP in front of me.

When I do combat - I use an online dice roller, and I cut and paste the results in - so that it looks more official.

My combat looks like this (this is one round):

INIT order: Tara, Questran, Lenny, G'Tok, Khon, Dolores

Tara: Shoots at Z5
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 17(+4) = 21 HIT!
Rolling Damage: You requested that 1 roll of a 4-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 3 (+3) = 6. - Still standing

Questran: Attacks Z4
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 16.(+5) = 21 HIT!
Rolling Damage
You requested that 1 roll of 2 6-sided dice be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 2, 6 = 8.+5 = 13 DEAD!

Lenny: Attacks Z5
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 2(+5)=7 MISS!

G'Tok: Attempts to Turn
Rolling turning check:
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 11.(+1) = 12 (Success!)
Rolling turning damage
You requested that 1 roll of 2 6-sided dice be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 6, 4 = 10.(+1) (+1) = 12

Zombies begin fleeing...

Khon - Walks down steps, attacks Z2
Morning star #1:
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 15(+2) = 17 HIT!
Rolling Damage:
You requested that 1 roll of a 6-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 1.(+1) = 2
Morning Star #2:
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 17.(+2) = 19 HIT!
You requested that 1 roll of a 6-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 5. (+1) = 6 Still standing!

Dolores: Attacks Z3 As it tries to flee
You requested that 1 roll of a 20-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 18. HIT!
Rolling Damage:
You requested that 1 roll of a 8-sided die be rolled.
Roll them bones ... your dice are Roll 1: 3.(+1) = 4 Still standing

I would then attach a JPG map so that positions are apparent....

--*Rob

 

[Desdichado]

So far, it looks pretty unanimous. I like the idea of cutting and pasting the rolls from an online dice roller at least, though. Makes the PCs feel a little more attached to the mechanics.

 

[Dieter]

My PbP game (kinda long)

I run a Spycraft game on a board and basically I have two (or more) threads running for the same campaign. In my current campaign I have five active threads. That is primarily to keep the bookkeeping down to a minimum and to keep track of the 4 or more players I have at any given time. I also do all the rolling to keep things legit and to have one source (me) for all disputed (which has seldom happened) events.

Here's how it breaks down (at least IMC)

Storyline Thread
-This is where all the actually in-character interaction between PCs and NPCs occur. It basically reads like an ongoing novel with 90% of the writing done by myself, since I'm the one doing all the rolls for all important events. This is also where the characters call talk to eachother (In-character of course)

Out-of-Character (OOC) Thread
This is where all of the players'/GM's questions and comments are posed and answered. Things such as "How far away from me is the tank?" and "Next round I'll be taking full cover behind the tank". This is also where I post initiative scores and give the players their options for the each combat round. Iinitiative is only rolled once per combat to keep things simple. This is the downside of PbP games. An encounter may last several days (real-time) since you are waiting for all characters to post their actions for the next round. To remedy this problem, I take some creative license in what happens in the game. I pretty much know all the player's and can judge what they are likely/unlikely to do from one round to the next. I've never had any major problems with "steering" a character to help move the plotline along. If I do, it's usually something very minor which can be easily remedied with the good ole' "edit" button.

Character Sheets
This is where the players make any necessary corrections to their characters. It is generally only used when levelling-up. I also post the players' new Vitality points and other misc. stuff here.

DOSSIERS
This is a LOCKED thread with all of my players character sheets listed for easy perusal at anytime. It's a nice way to keep everyone's stats handy in one spot without having to search through a thread with multiple pages.

Q-Branch
This is the equipment thread. Any time the players need/want new items for a mission or if they're just curious to see if they can get something down the road they can put all questions/comments here.

Overall, it took me about 6 months to streamline (if you can call it that) my PbP game. Once you get a good system down, it's not really that hard to keep a game current.

As with everything in life, your mileage may vary.

 

[Desdichado]

That's interesting -- I hadn't thought of doing a seperate OOC thread (just occasional OOC talk that was necessary for the game in italics or something). I had also thought about having a main thread for the main story, but seperate threads for each character for things they do alone during downtime, or if they split up.

 

[reapersaurus]

From a player's standpoint, the 'loss' of control or interaction due to not rolling our rolls is not a big problem - we're used to that aspect of PbP gaming, and understand that it's part of it.

What's more important to make sure, is that we do feel that our stated actions are taken into account and have an impact on the way things turn out.

Don't wave your hand and dismiss stated actions, and make sure to post the results to help us understand why our actions worked or didn't work.

The players are completely dependant on your feedback to give them ANY sense that what they do affects your gaming world.

 

[Dieter]

Ugh...the party splits up...that's the real arse-kicker of a PbP game. You have to do seperate bookkeeping for all of the parties involved.

The cool thing about Spycraft is that you have the option of giving everyone ear-mikes/phones so they call all talk to eachother at any given time.

Having a DnD party split up would be a henous amount of extra time. The easiest way to keep away from this is to remind the players that is in NEVER a good idea to split up. Make subtle hints like calling the rogue Ensign Redshirt when he wants to explore another part of a tomb by himself.

I dunno. That's a dilly of a pickle.

As far as having a place for conversation during downtime, the OOC thread is pretty good for that...at least IMC.

Oh, I forgot to give out the link to my game. It's pretty much at full capacity right now, sorry.

Shaken, Not Stirred