What's your experience with PBP?

[Chainsaw Mage]

Like many of you, I struggle to get enough of an RPG fix. My current group (D&D 3.5) meets once every two weeks...and infrequently at that. I'm getting very interested in PBP because it strikes me as a rich forum for characterization and dialogue (not to mention description) and I like the idea of being able to essentially play every day, albeit in a different medium.

I would appreciate hearing peoples' experiences with PBP in general...

Thanks in advance!

 

[diaglo]

can be a time consuming endeavor.

way too much time...sometimes.

and connectability can kill it too.

 

[Crothian]

Sometimes they just end as people stop posting or even the person running it. It can be odd as some people can post lots and others only so much.

 

[francisca]

ask me this time next month. I'll have a couple of weeks DMing a PBP under my belt by then.

 

[Aeolius]

While my PBP is currently experiencing a bit of a lull, due to my inability to find the proper time after the arrival of my newest child, I intend to rectify that stall this evening.

Ideally, in my PbP campaign, I would post a new "Chapter" once a week. During the week, the players respond to events in the Chapter, to NPCs, and to one another. I would add updates as time permits. The next week, I post a new Chapter. While this method of game play requires a degree of patience and the occasional spell-checker, I have found it one of the best options for those with hectic schedules.

My game, "Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq" (BPAA), is a 3e D&D World of Greyhawk adventure set beneath the surface of the Dramidj Ocean. The campaign, which uses the “core rules of 3e, select supplements from 2e, and the heart of 1e”, is designed for those interested in participating in a work of coauthored interactive fiction.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Like many of you, I struggle to get enough of an RPG fix. My current group (D&D 3.5) meets once every two weeks...and infrequently at that. I'm getting very interested in PBP because it strikes me as a rich forum for characterization and dialogue (not to mention description) and I like the idea of being able to essentially play every day, albeit in a different medium.

I would appreciate hearing peoples' experiences with PBP in general...

Thanks in advance!

It can be a real mixed bag. But if you get a good group together, it's a lot of fun.

The posting frequency is a big deal. Especially when you run combat. If you post only twice a week, imagine how long a 6-round combat would last....

But it's a medium that's really conducive to role-playing, and can be a lot of fun. I've been in ones that just stopped (other players stopped posting), and I've been in ones I grew bored with (very long--2+ years & I'm trudging along as a 5th level fighter), and I've been in ones I didn't understand at all (Legend of the 5 Rings). And, I shamefully admit, I've also been the player who goes AWOL and never reports back.

Right now I play in two (3.5e and d20 Modern) and I run one (a d20 post-biblical apocalypse game). So far, these three are a lot of fun for me. In the game I run, some of the players really surprise me and take the game in directions I never expect. Someone who's more of a control freak might hate that. I'm kind of a control freak, but I'm running my game with the thought that the PCs are on a journey, and I'm there to guide the story. So the surprises are welcome. If there's something I really don't want them to do, I just don't let it happen. But that's rare (so far).

 

[Tonguez]

Like many of you, I struggle to get enough of an RPG fix. My current group (D&D 3.5) meets once every two weeks...and infrequently at that. I'm getting very interested in PBP because it strikes me as a rich forum for characterization and dialogue (not to mention description) and I like the idea of being able to essentially play every day, albeit in a different medium.

I would appreciate hearing peoples' experiences with PBP in general...

Thanks in advance!

Peersonally I love PbP especially since it has been my main form of play for the past 3 years! (and previously also) though I have to admit that I'm yet to be in a campaign thats actually 'finished'

Like Aeolius said its largely a work of co-authored fiction, so do not expect the spontaneity of face to face games. Instead revel in your ability to develop complex charecterisation and description at a leisurely pace were a single ic minute can be spread over a week ooc, and major combat can take months!
Also take the initiative and develop things that 'make sense' but may not have been explicitly described by the DM - it makes the game move more quickly if the PCs are moving without the DM having to tell them how many fallen branches are available to pick up in the forest....