Quicker way to PBP - Would this interest you?

[vagabundo]

Or, instead of posting their tactics for a complete fight, make it on a round-per-round basis.

Is that not the same as regular pbp??

I've never DM'ed or player in one, BTW...

 

[kenmarable]

Sorry, I don't have much to add to the conversation other than "Where do I sign up?!"

I think it would certainly give a very different feel to the game, but I'm ok with that. As long as the plot and role-playing aspects are interesting enough to warrant downplaying the combat side, I would love to participate. I don't get to be a player enough and have considered PBP, but the pace has been a turn off for me (and the fact that the old PBEM games I've been in have all gone so slow they just fizzled out without any resolution as people lost interest and/or a single player dominated the action).

I agree that breaking it up into two portions can help combat from being downplayed too far, but I wouldn't break it up any more than that or else you lose most of the pacing benefit.

You could have an optional "play online" for each combat through one of the online gaming services for those who want to directly participate in the combat. For someone like me, it'd be hit and miss on whether I could participate, but I can see some people with more flexible schedules and interest in the tactics side liking that option. Once combat is over and the summary posted, it moves back to the PBP format.

 

[CubeKnight]

Is that not the same as regular pbp??

I've never DM'ed or player in one, BTW...

Well, you wouldn't have to wait for them in order, for instance. And since you'd be the one making all the rolls, I think you'd save some time.

But yeah, thinking back on it, it's pretty much the same >_>

 

[vagabundo]

Well, you wouldn't have to wait for them in order, for instance. And since you'd be the one making all the rolls, I think you'd save some time.

But yeah, thinking back on it, it's pretty much the same >_>

LoL.. I do think there might be a happy medium, maybe taking a couple of rounds (3 or so) in a go, depending on the response time of the group it might work, could tweak it.

I might work on something for my regulars and see how it works. Get them to roll up new characters in the Char Builder.

 

[Oompa]

I am interested in a gmail game already playing in a few games.. on RPOL and Myth-Weavers..

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I've experimented with that for players of characters who were not always around. That way if they did not make the daily post the game could continue uninterrupted.

 

[Oni]

Well, you wouldn't have to wait for them in order, for instance. And since you'd be the one making all the rolls, I think you'd save some time.

But yeah, thinking back on it, it's pretty much the same >_>

I've considered something like this. The initiative system being that it goes in the order you post, so no feels the need to wait on the next person. NPC's either get posted off the bat first if they get really good init, last if they get really bad init, or when I get around to it for something in between.

Another thing to consider is the system. You want to cut out all the reactive stuff you can that isn't something the GM can apply themselves without input from the players. Occasionally is ok, you can retroactively apply it, but all the time would be a drag.

 

[S'mon]

Running PBP combat I typically do several combat rounds at a time, until something important happens. Rarely takes more than a couple of days and everyone happy. The trick is to stop and wait for input only at critical point(s).

 

[Nameless1]

I've seen spreadsheet combat judges in google docs used to keep the back and forth down a bit in PbP. The spreadsheet tells you if you hit based on your attack roll, and then tells you the result of the hit based on your damage roll.

I also like the FATE 2.0 and Shadow of Yesterday mechanics of using different time resolutions for conflicts of differing importance. Make one roll equal to a whole encounter in unimportant conflicts, one roll equal to a combat exchange for medium importance combats, and one roll equal to each swing in high importance combats. Streamlines the narrative.

 

[kitsune9]

I've been toying with an idea to speed up the glacial pace of combat in PBP games. This borrows heavily from the Core Coliseum on the WotC boards, and is something of an amalgamation of the conventional PBP format and the moderated battle format used in the CoCo.

The basic idea is that the game would begin and proceed as would any conventional PBP game. However, when a combat encounter begins, the DM describes the situation, the enemies (making knowledge checks for monster lore as appropriate), the battlefield (most likely by posting a map), and any special terrain, limited visibility conditions, etc. Each player then posts 'tactics' for the battle for his character, which is a description of how the character will fight (including target priorities, powers favored, special tactics they look to use, contingencies for certain situations, teamwork opportunities they will seek to take advantage of, etc.). Once each player has posted tactics, the DM then runs the battle off-line, making a good-faith effort to follow the party's written tactics as true as possible, but also utilizing common sense as the need arises. The DM would keep a record of the battle and could then post the results in the form of prose (accompanied by a game-info rundown of damage caused, surges used, etc). He could include screenshots, etc.

The advantage to this system is that battles that might last a month or more in a conventional PBP format could be resolved in a day or two. The disadvantage would be that the players would have far less control over their actions in combat.

I've framed my post in 4E terms, but it would work just as well with 3.5 or any other RPG that includes tactical combat.

Would this kind of format interest you?

I couldn't imagine playing PBP any other way. I had thought if I had ran combat in a similar situation, that it would be fairly cinematic and glossed over in terms of resolution so that it can concluded fairly quickly. I know that some PBP games take forever just to get the players out of the tavern.