PbP games -- how to run them

[Balgus]

you really dont have to post the roll results. In the games i run, I roll and then justpost what i see happening. Since you have their char sheets already, you should be able to make the rolls and tell them what happens without relying on the player to post "I rolled a 13 with a +4 modifier"

EX-
Rogue: I run forward and draw my rapier and in one motion attempt to run him through.
DM: (secret roll) you charge at him, but he is able to dodge in time, and draws his sword as he counters your thrust with a slash
rogue: I dodge him.
DM: he does a flurry of slashes which misses all but one, which takes you down 4 HP.

 

[Dieter]

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.

Absolutely. I ALWAYS follow the players' instructions to the letter. I don't ever use creative license if it is contrary to the player's wishes.

I usually explain BIG upsets/successes with alot more flare than my usual exposition. A good/bad critical usually takes up at least 3 times as much space as a typical hit/failure. The impact of the PC/NPC's actions is greatly enhanced by larger descriptions.

Feedback is also a big deal. Without giving/receiving it, no problem will be solved. For a PbP to work, you have to keep your audience/readers interested.

 

[robaustin]

I think the dice rolls are important for the players to see- it's sort of that "oh sh*t" feeling when you roll low...

Since we play on Yahoo Groups we don't have the luxury of multiple threads, but we use OOC as a convention in posts.

Character sheets are kept in text files, as basic as they come.

The most time consuming stuff is doing the maps.

--*Rob

 

[Desdichado]

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. [...] 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.

Eh, to me the ability to split up is where PbP's excel over home games. In home games, you have to take the guy out of the room and work with him while everyone else sits back and cools their heels. Either that, or let everyone hear what he's doing. I agree, it could get nasty in relatively large games, but for a group of 3-5 or so players, who don't necessarily split up very often, it's not that big a deal to me.

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

Shaken, Not Stirred

Thanks for the link, I'll look at it. Of course, I'm interesting in running a game not playing, but I'm glad to hear you're running at full, at least!

Edit: I noticed you added color to your link, but in order to show on links, the color tag needs to be inside the URL tag, as I did above. Also, blue's not really a good color, as it's too dark to show up well against this background. I used royalblue instead.

 

[Dieter]

Thanks for the info.

In regards to the party splitting up. I actually don't have any problems with it. It was just a caviat for any newbies out there. To their credit, the players in my game do an excellent job of helping me keep things running smoothly.

We're in Season 2 right now and everything is going full steam ahead. I'm glad to see that we haven't yet hit the "Sophmore Slump".

 

[Old Fezziwig]

To be honest, it was the idea that the PbP game could adequately handle splitting the party up that killed it for me. Of course, I was dealing with 5-6 players operating in 4 timelines that were collapsing into each other, but even when 2 players were in one timeline and split up, it was a bear to do housekeeping for it and it took a lot of time. That said, it seemed to be working for the most part, and my players really bought into it, so...(or at least they seemed to buy into it; no one told me otherwise). YMMV. Here's a link to my old game, if you want to look at it: Dead of Winter. I really enjoyed running it, however — it just became too much work to do in addition to graduate school.

Best,
tKL

 

[novyet]

To be honest, it was the idea that the PbP game could adequately handle splitting the party up that killed it for me. Of course, I was dealing with 5-6 players operating in 4 timelines that were collapsing into each other, but even when 2 players were in one timeline and split up, it was a bear to do housekeeping for it and it took a lot of time. That said, it seemed to be working for the most part, and my players really bought into it, so...(or at least they seemed to buy into it; no one told me otherwise). YMMV. Here's a link to my old game, if you want to look at it: Dead of Winter. I really enjoyed running it, however — it just became too much work to do in addition to graduate school.

Best,
tKL

And it was fun to play in as well.

If you ever need players, just look up me and garyh and the other pbp addicts. We're always up for a game.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Hey, thanks, novyet. I'm hesitant to start something that I can't finish, but I'm contemplating trying again in the spring in a homebrew world that I'm toying aroud with now. Really depends on what my coursework looks like — don't want to back out of a game again and don't want to do it if I can't do it up to snuff.

best,
tKL

 

[Dieter]

To be honest, it was the idea that the PbP game could adequately handle splitting the party up that killed it for me. Of course, I was dealing with 5-6 players operating in 4 timelines that were collapsing into each other, but even when 2 players were in one timeline and split up, it was a bear to do housekeeping for it and it took a lot of time. That said, it seemed to be working for the most part, and my players really bought into it, so...(or at least they seemed to buy into it; no one told me otherwise). YMMV. Here's a link to my old game, if you want to look at it: Dead of Winter. I really enjoyed running it, however — it just became too much work to do in addition to graduate school.

Best,
tKL

As it has been noted, keeping everyone on the same page is tough. The only way I've managed to keep my sanity is to slow one party the down at the sake of letting the lagging part catch up.

 

[Aeolius]

If you ever need players, just look up me and garyh and the other pbp addicts. We're always up for a game.

How about a 3e D&D World of Greyhawk message-based game (PbP) set beneath the surface of the Dramidj Ocean?