The Perils of Play By Post (Is it Just Me)?

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Certainly not just the OP!

I've ... "played" ... in several different PbP games, all of which ended about two or three weeks in when the DM just decided he had other things to do.

It's actually rather sad, because for one I even "commissioned"* a character portrait by a really great artist, and really liked the character I'd drawn up.

* Commissioned = "went to SW Artist's Guild, posted a description of the character and requested someone draw it." I lucked out, and Stirzy picked it up. This is the result. This character will absolutely be re-used.

 

[HealTheSquad]

I, for one, would be interested in a primer on running a successful pbp. Anyone feel up to the task?

I've been running play-by-post games on RPoL for 10 years now. The oldest has been going for around 8 years. Here are the top tips I would have given my younger self:

1) Manage Your Expectations
a) In the face-to-face world GMs are sometimes hard to find. In play-by-post there are hundreds of them, and thousands of games for players to chose from. Don't come with the expectation that players will flock to your game without some work on your part.
b) Player attrition is a given. You will have player after player drop out without reason. Almost all will not bother to even send you a line. Often the player that has been posting non-stop and taking a huge interest in the game will be the one to disappear first. Above all, don't take this personally.
c) Don't underestimate the amount of work involved in keeping a game going. Start small, don't set yourself targets you can't meet.
d) Play-by-post will never be as good as a face to face session. But sometimes it comes close.

2) Avoid Game Death Spirals
a) Set a posting speed and make sure it is clear to all the payers when recruiting. Do not speed up too much in response to quick poster, do not slow down if player posting starts to drag.
b) Don't wait too long for missing players. As soon as they haven't posted in a while assume they are gone and start recruiting replacements.
c) If you can't post, just drop a line in OOC along the lines of "sorry, been busy, in-game post this weekend".

3) Manage You Players
a) In general, avoid giving a single PC an important plot role. If they drop out, it can cripple a game.
b) Nurture your long-term players. If a game has to end, coax them into another. A player that sticks around is a great asset.
c) Get rid of disruptive players early. Even though they are often good roleplayers they tend to drive your other players away before disappearing themselves.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Thanks.

I found combat (3e) in pbp to be a pain in the arse. What moves quickly at the table (in theory at least) can drag over several days in a pbp. Any recommendations here (from anyone)?

RC

 

[Zhaleskra]

I've been working on a template for SceneGrinder off and on. Unfortunately, the support e-mail seems to have been spammed, so they're working on internal support. Live sessions are possible, and because the game is "always on", everyone can do their moves when they have time. Templates can be built to cover as many or as few of the mechanics as you want.

Right now I'm wondering why one thing that works one place in my template doesn't work in another. Similar calculation, different end result.

 

[amerigoV]

You are totaly alone in this - an utter failure!

PbP is a tough nut to crack. Pacing is hard to manage. Even with steady posting, a short adventure that might be one or two sessions f2f takes 6 months pbp.

My group is experimenting with doing pbp for everything but combat. Then fire up a VTT to play out the battle. So far, its been OK. It just shows me that pbp has more issues than just combat grinding it to a halt. I am not a novelist, I am an action guy. So standing around waiting for all the players to give their input just drains away my enthusiasm.

I also have another one that I have flipped around the other way. Every other week I run Return to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk on VTT and there is some pbp elements that go on in parallel (all the stuff that goes on in the city). I get away with this by declaring continuity does not matter. Its gone really well so far, although a bit jarring for the story-driven player.

 

[Mallus]

Any recommendations here (from anyone)?

RC

All I can think of right now is "have patience" Combat's going to be slow. My group tries to liven it up by applying a shiny fictional gloss to the raw mechanics --which of course makes posts pretty long, so some folks might consider that a cure worse than the disease.

I'll see if I can find a good example from our old 3.5e campaign board.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

[MENTION=28825]KnightErrantJR[/MENTION]
This is why I prefer IRC or SKYPE for a PbP experience. Unlike traditional forum based PbP its slower than at-table play, and yet its not glacially slow.

 

[Odhanan]

To those who can't keep up with PbP games, you definitely are not alone. This is a usual problem with PbP. There are two related problems with PbP: the pacing, and the overall flow of time in the game. Since it takes a lot more time to go around the table in a PbP game, with a few hours delays between posts, some player might be MIA for a day or two, etc, the pacing may vary greatly - sometimes it'll move very fast, sometimes it'll move at a crawl over days or even weeks of real-time game play.

First, as a DM, you need to make sure you are super motivated and can commit to months of regular postings before throwing your hat in the ring. Then, it is critical to start the game with something that really catches the players' interest, like starting in media res or something that is really intriguing, so that they are drawn into the game and take things in charge themselves pretty fast. Then, not getting bogged down with details and moving things along (by having procedures to give control of characters to others when their players are MIA for a while, having a Caller, etc) becomes really important.

Combat deserves particular attention. The procedure should be very well organized, the players should keep up, and you should be ready to delay actions of players that take too long, even skipping them altogether if they're taking forever to answer.

Also have a strong, engaging Out-Of-Character thread that players treat as the place where they discuss and joke as if they were OOC around the gaming table for real. This participates to a group dynamic that creates the impetus to keep on playing, because you start liking people, you're all on the same page, you share the socialization (if virtual) as well as the game itself, just like you would at a real table.

Just a few pointers coming to my mind. I'm running my own play-by-posts AD&D Ptolus game right now, I know how much passion, time and dedication this requires, so I sympathize for those who struggle with this sort of thing.

 

[amerigoV]

One media format that you (as GM especially) can look to is the old-time radio classics. On type of show would be a 1/2 hour or hour radio version of a popular movie. In a way, that is what we are doing here—trying to condense one format into another.

So, what do these condensed radio shows of movies teach us?

1. Scenes get to the point quickly. They are set up for a specific reason, and they work to resolution quickly.

2. Scenes do not linger. There is enough rich interaction to move the plot, then the plot moves. For example, if the Private Investigator finds out the Tom-Two-Fingers hangs out in the Lows, the story immediately shifts to the Lows and the PI intrinscially knows who to talk to get get the plot moving. There is no angst over how do you get to the Lows, do you know someone there, what time of day is it, yada yada yada. Logical mundane things are assumpted (narrated) and the character’s skill immediately comes into play (ie, you do not wait for the player to say “I roll streetwise”, you can at least get the ball moving by assuming the skill is used if it is on the sheet).

These shows are available for sale or you can listen to them if you have Sirius/XM radio. I think pbp players and DMs could learn a ton from this old entertainment format.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I found combat (3e) in pbp to be a pain in the arse. What moves quickly at the table (in theory at least) can drag over several days in a pbp. Any recommendations here (from anyone)?

Not speaking from a wealth of experience, but the ones I've seen which have worked the best have not even bothered with round-by-round, player-by-player combat.

Instead, "general combat approaches" are agreed upon between the players and the GMs, and the GM pauses combat at dramatically appropriate moments to ask the players for updates [EDIT: which can be every round, if required, but this slows things down and should be avoided if you're trying to speed things up! ].

For instance, in a (Pathfinder) battle with kobolds, the players decide:

Barbarian: Charge in, making maximum use of my Cleave feat
Wizard: Hang out in the back, alternatively tossing Acid Orbs and Dazing the most dangerous-looking melee attacker
Ranger: Try to keep up with the barbarian, giving him flanking opportunities as often as possible.
Paladin: Hang out between the monsters and the wizard, and make sure nothing eats his face.

The GM would then play out the battle according to the "script" the players provided, and would pause to get updates when a lucky critical hit wounds the Ranger, or when the horde of gibberlings move into the room, or whatever.

Combat, then, is handled in a more text-intensive, and less grid-intensive, manner. This keeps it moving along pretty quickly.