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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vigwyn the Unruly" data-source="post: 2021803" data-attributes="member: 20345">I have both played and GMed PbP games. I think as a GM you have to realize that the game is more important to you than it is to the players. Therefore, it's up to you really to keep it fun and interesting. Here are some pointers, for what they're worth.1. Keep it short. PbP is excruciatingly slow. Even short adventures can take months to play out. By the time July rolls around, players don't remember or even care about the obscure NPC they met in January. So, instead of running campaigns, I would stick to short adventures. Five or six encounters is really plenty for a PbP game.2. Keep it moving. PbP is better when it's about roll-playing, rather than role-playing. The latter is very rewarding in real life, but not so much by post. Players are more motivated to do or say something interesting in their post when something interesting is happening in the game. Action counts in PbP. If the players have to gather info in a tavern, a couple of rounds of posts should do it. After that, just give them the info if the posts were good, or roll a Gather Information check to see if they get it.3. Keep it simple. Face to face, communication is easy. Questions can be asked and answered very quickly, and you can build an intricate, fantastic world for your characters. In PbP, that kind of communication just takes too much time, and isn't really that fun. Communication should focus on the action. The only way for that to happen is if you follow most or all fantasy conventions. Orcs should come from mountains, goblins should be cannon fodder, and necromancers should be evil geniuses. That way everyone starts with the same assumptions, and there is little room for player confusion/frustration. Player confusion and frustration kill a PbP game. And remember, the players just don't have the same level of commitment to the game as you do. The more complex it is, the more difficult it is, and the more likely they will be to bail on you or start posting simple posts.</blockquote>

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