Play-by-post D&D impressions

[mostholy2]

As I am a new Dad as of last December, I have pretty much given up on spending hours in a single session together with my brother playing D&D. As I was looking around I saw something called Play-by-post D&D on dndonlinegames.com. The concept looked very interesting and something that I might still be able do to scratch my D&D itch, however, I don't quite understand the mechanics of it.

1) What's the typical amount of time to devote to posting and reading that a player needs to devote to playing D&D by post?

I can imagine maybe posting 5 messages a day over the course of 8-hours (work hours ). If that's the case, combats and adventures would take forever. A single adventure with a party of people posting at this rate would probably take over months to complete.

2) How have your experiences playing by post been like? How do they compare with playing in a standard gaming session?

3) How do you work tatical maps and battles as there is no board, just word descriptions of actions going on?

4) How to do register and activate your account? I've registered on the site with a valid email address, but I never received a reply email to activate my account, therefore, I haven't been able to post on their boards to actually try to join a session.

Thanks for your responses.

 

[Crothian]

The game does run slow. For the two games I'm in only a single post per person is really expected a day and sometimes it slows down even more. Combat and encounters can take forever, but with the dfaily updatyes it seems to work.

I've never used tactical combat for PbP, just descriptions. It seems to work for those I've done it with.

There ar egames here at EN World you can jion, just go look down in those Forums. Best of luck.

 

[Jdvn1]

Look into our own Living EN World!

1) You're typically asked to post once or twice a day, but the more everyone posts, the faster everything goes and the more fun it is. 5 a day is great, though. A single adventure does take a very, very long time, but you fill your D&D kick.

2) I'm only in my first PbP game (my second character is waiting for a game), but so far it's really fun. The having to wait for everyone sometimes is annoying, sometimes adds to suspense.

3) Go look at Armgill's Heirloom in my sig. We're not very far along, but you get a good idea. Some rooms are in-depth descriptions, characters ask for clarifications, and the GM can post a battlemat of sorts.

4) You don't have to register at LEW! Make a character (the rules are pretty straightforward) and e-mail at the address they tell you to. Simple!

 

[Jdvn1]

Oh, and having multiple characters in multiple games also helps the slowness factor.

 

[shaylon]

I am in a PbP game, although it is run through Yahoo Groups and not the site you mentioned. There are 6 PC's, and 3 or 4 of us are really good at being able to post multiple times per day. The game tends to run slow, but I think it gives a great opportunity to roleplay a character and worry less about the mechanics.

In our game, the eDM does all of the rolling, so I imagine he spends quite a bit of time working on the game, more so than any of the players, anyway. As for me, a player, I spend maybe 30 minutes to an hour a day, depending on how many posts there are to read and how much I need my character to do. This includes any time I spend reading through the SRD or a rulebook to make sure I am not cheating!

-Shay

 

[erian_7]

I'm pretty active on dndonlinegames.com (and also a new dad, Noah hits 1 year old this Saturday), so I'll give you my perspective...

1) Depends on the game and DM. I run a game there myself (Eberron - A New Beginning) and each player posts maybe 1-2 times a day or more if several people happen to be on at the same time. I'm playing in a game that has much more (maybe 5-7 posts/day) at times and in another game that sometimes goes a week with only a few posts (this one is thankfully picking up). Your assessment that combat/adventures can take a long time is correct. To alleviate this, I'm in multiple games (playing in 7, DMing 1) so I get a pretty good play experience, but have to spread it across multiple stories.

2) Very good so far. There are obvious down-sides (the aforementioned length of time that scenes take, for instance), but at the same time you can take the time to carefully craft posts so your character acts/speaks just as you want (and accents/dialects are easier to pull off without just sounding silly), your actions are as bold and cinematic as you want (sometimes a problem in real-life when everyone is trying to rush through the combat and just rolling the dice). So, the down-side is it can take some time to play, and the up-side is it can take some time to play!

3) Some DM's use mapping sites (like that at Irony Games) while others discard the whole map concept and just play fast-and-free, so to speak. I fall in between, using simple text maps (here's an example)when needed (I can't access Irony Games from work), and sometimes just going off description. It works fairly well.

4) Hmm, not sure about that one. You can email Varun or one of the other site admins for help. What's your screen name and I'll see if it's listed.

 

[mostholy2]

I've already tried to send a personal message to Varun about the activation of my account, but no reply. My screen name is mostholy2 and I didn't see it on the list of players.

The dndonlinegames.com site seems nice because of the built-in dice rolling and character records.

 

[erian_7]

I registered my wife just now to test it out...we'll see if I get a response. They've just gone through a server upgrade (2 actually, as the first one wasn't powerful enough for the load) and so I suppose that may have some effect on registration.

As for the features, I think the in-forum dice roller cinched it for me, but I also like the thread controls much better than many forums I've seen. The character sheet is nice, but I've seen better online ones at times. As a note you can link to any online character sheet for your characters--you aren't locked into using the site's.

Hmm, no email after four minutes, so I just tried logging in with the new account and it worked (even though the screen name I created for her--Ang--doesn't show as a member). Try using your screen name and the password you provided--it may just work without any email confirmation!

If nothing else, try registering again and then immediately try to sign in...

 

[IronWolf]

Play by post or Play by Email can be a lot of fun if you go into it with decent expectations. First, it does move slow. Most groups I have seen tend towards the one post per day pace with occasionaly posting frenzies when everyone happens to be around at the same time. Though they move a little slow it is a great way to get some good roleplaying in. It seems people are more willing to "become" their character in a PbP or PBeM which can lead to very interesting stories and depth.

I find combat is best handled by the DM as it allows you to focus more on your post and adding detail than the game mechanics. I am sure there are those that differ on that opinion though.

It is certainly worth trying, some people really enjoy it.

 

[Steve Jung]

I'm a player in a few PbP games. Living ENworld here tends toward the post per day. I'm in my second adventure, albeit the continuation of my first. My DM, Manzanita, uses a simple grid representation of combat with letters and number being the combatants. Crothian is my Gamemaster in a Paranoia PbP. Combat's free form. My other PbP is a D&D/Boot Hill Hybrid whose story hour link is in my sig. We're a lot more active, with a few of the players posting several times a day. We also have a game night, when we play live on the boards.