Just what is the Play-By-Post game?

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Vardaen
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Just what is the Play-By-Post game?

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 05, 2004 6:31 am

I have been asked this question by several people. "What is PbP?" Well, first off it means Play-by-Post. Its the type of role playing game where players and the game master interact using message forums to move the game along. There are lots of simliar media formats for this type of online gaming. Some people simply use Email, others use the message boards like we do here, yet others use chat rooms or MU* like environments to play the game in a more 'real time' manner. PbP is a special kind of game, and it takes a special kind of attention to play, as well as host. Now I'm no expert on the subject, but I have RPed for nearly 2 decades in all manner of media, with all manner of game systems. So I feel confident in my abilities to both play in a PbP game, as well as run/host/GM a PbP game. (I am hosting two games here for example!) Here are a few pointers, tips, hints, and protocalls I have run across for PbP games. These can easily apply to many of the aforementioned forms of RPGing as well. I hope that other experienced gamers can add to this thread their tidbits and knowledge.

Lets dive right into it. The format itself. It doesn't really matter what game system the GM is using, whether its Dungeons and Dragons, GURPS, Shadowrun, or a more free style game. The entire crux of the game is based on posting to the game forum. Because of this, games can take a long time to work out as players and GMs go through the process of reading all the current posts and working up a reply to them. Most of the work is heaped on the GM, since its his or her game after all. Yet the players determine the overall speed of the game. Generally the GM is ready to keep the game moving along, checking in on the progress daily (or as real life allows). That is the other beauty of the game, you can read and post as your RL (real life) allows, everyone from all over the globe can play the same game each on their own schedule.

Most games are turned based, the GM will post the setting, and any relevent information about NPCs and the like. Its up to the players to have their characters respond to this setting. In general every player should reply to every post the GM makes. While you might not always feel that your character has much to do, or much to say in the situation at hand, the GM won't know this. In my own games, I like to wait for each player to have a chance to respond, for each character to interact with the world around them, even if that means they sit tight and listen and watch what is going on. Even that type of post lets the GM know what your character is doing and that he can move the game forward. This is doubly important if combat or another such cirtical moment is at hand. (ie A ship just struck a reef at sea and characters are pitched overboard.)

So the best way to keep a game moving along smoothly and 'quickly' is to make timely replys to all of the GMs posts. Also this could mean responding to other characters in both conversation and in actions. Many GMs will not have a problem with characters conversing back and forth for a few postings inbetween the general GM posts. As for situations where you don't think you character would interact, keep in mind that unlike pen and paper games, the longer characters simply 'sit around' the longer it takes for anything to happen. In most PbP games, characters are ment to be heros and as heros they generally have to interact for anything to happen. "Fate favors the bold" they say in Rokugan (Perhaps my 3rd game setting). :)

Lets talk about posts themselves. Posts should be as colorful and as descriptive as can be. Since you aren't sitting around a table with your friends, you can't pantomime to the GM your actions of swinging your sword, nor can a GM in a PbP game see the scowl you are making for your character's face. One and two line posts, show little interest in your characters and in the hard work that the GM has put into the game. Every character, even if sitting on their butts doing nothing, can be described in detail. Is that character holding any of his weapons or gear, is he watching intently, or stareing off into space? Does the wind tug on her cloak or does the sun glint on her helmet and spear? These general enviornmental details for a character can add much wanted life to a character, even if they are passive.

Its become a convention on this website to use Italic text to show a character's internal dialog. While this information can't really be used by other characters, it great to read for flavor and character delevopment by both the GM and the players. While not always suited to the situation, its a nice touch at times.
Spoiler tags can be used to insert out of character information
or can also be used to alert players or the GM to game system specific rules being used. Such as when a character wants to make a skill check (ie a Heal Skill or a special power). Much of the time the character's use of the skill or power is worked into the pose in a IC (In character) manner. "Anhadet weaves his hands in a series of arcs and circles, chanting at the top of his lungs in an ancient language finially pointing a finger at the Hill Giant with spark of electricity on his hands.
Casting Lightning Bolt at the giant!
" This gives both the great flavor and point of role play as well as clear instruction of what he's doing -- so the GM doesn't have to guess. To use a spoiler, its just like using bold or italics in square brackets [] put the word spoiler.[ spoiler ] Add text here.[ /spoiler ] and end with a /spoiler in square brackets [] Note: just don't use any spaces. There are several options to use in place of the word 'spoiler' as well. You can use the following
,
,
,
or
. They will show up as Action, OOC, Map, Initiative and Custom Text.
See, like this.
Or like this.
Well this is getting long and I have lots more to say. I'll continue with more ideas on how to make your PbP experience a good one, as well as for those you play with. Please, add your own hints and tips here, ask questions and above all have fun out there!
Last edited by Vardaen on Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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PbP Tips

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 05, 2004 4:02 pm

To continue my article I've been thinking of what else makes for a good PbP game and how players can keep the game progressing. Frankly no one likes a boring, stale game that takes weeks and week to get any place. A good way to prevent this sort of thing from happening is to make your posts productive. A productive post is one that not only gets across you character's intent, setting, and mood but one that moves the game along postively along its plotline. In pen and paper games when players are all sitting around the table together one or two players tend to hold the GMs attention while the others kindly wait their turns to speak, etc. Not true in a PbP game, here every player has the GMs attention via their posts. So you should take full advantage of this. An active character makes for a more dynamic game, one where something is always happening. People loose intrest if for 3 weeks characters simple sit around waiting for others or one character only to act and lead the group.

Every character is a potenial leader, every character can advance the plot in some way or another. Its up the players to help do this by contributing to the story. This might mean that they show interest in the strange old man watching them in the corner of the tavern, or that they investigate the rumors of a demon rampaging the countryside. Basicly players need to let let themselves get "Hooked" by the plot hooks. It will make for a more enjoyable game for everyone.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
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Post by Brennor » Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:41 pm

Very nice writeup, Vardaen.

Just wanna add a couple of things:

First and foremost, we are all here to have fun!
I think that everyone has to give everyone else a little bit of leeway concerning matters related to interaction here on the site.

Posting requirements'll be up to each individual GM. I don't care if there are limits or not, I just want to make sure that everyone is having fun here while playing.

If a GM wants to require that a player post everyday, that's okay.
If a GM wants to require that every player post before the GM posts again, that's okay.
If a GM wants to post at a certain time of day or on certain days, that's fine. A player will just have to post before that time if they want to have actions.
If a GM wants to require that a player hop around on hands and feet while posting, that's okay too... (good luck enforcing that one though! :lol: )

The 'requires' above should probably be closer to 'suggestions' since RL is going to crop up for everyone at some point in time. Like I said before, we've gotta be flexible. GMs might want to consider asking the players what guidelines they'll be comfortable with before starting the game.

I think the average for players here so far is about 2 posts per game per week, or so. So, I think requiring much more that that right now, is probably a bit much.

However, these are the GM's games. So I will leave it in their hands to dictate suggestions to players. GMs also have control over who can and cannot post to the IC threads. So, if a GM wishes to, they have the ability to remove players from a game.

If there is a real big problem between a player and a GM, I'll moderate it.
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d20 Spell Casting

Post by Vardaen » Wed Jun 23, 2004 8:28 pm

Greetings All, this is another installment of the PbP Rules of the Game thread that was started some time back. This current installment is about Spell Casting in the d20 systems. This might seem like a fairly simple idea but you might be suprized as how complicated this can be. With the flux of so many new games taking place, and so many new players I thought I would offer some Sage Advice to those spell casters in the d20 games. Some of this will apply to the other games, but keep in mind its tailored for d20. This also has some baring on Psionic powers, and Jedi powers in other venues.

First lets talk about some of the terms used in this article.

Attack of Opportunity (AoO): An attack of opportunity occurs is any time a character performs a delicate action in battle and is threatened by an enemy within melee reach. Searching in your back back, rushing past an opponent, firing a bow in melee, using a skill such as Heal or Disable Device, and Casting A Spell are examples of AoO.

Concentration Check (CC): A Concentration check is just like other skill checks. A d20 is rolled plus you total Concentration skill level verses a target DC. If the total is equal to or higher than the DC you succeed on the CC.

Arcane Spell Failure (ASF): Arcane spell failure is controlled by armor. Each set of armor (including shields) imposes a percentile chance of arcane spells failure. Such percentages stack, so a set of armor with a ASF of 5% and a shield with a ASF of %5 becomes a ASF of 10%.

Casting on the Defensive (CotD): Casting a spell in a defensive manner in order to not draw an AoO. Casting on the Defensive requires a Concentration Check of a DC 15.

Saving Throw (ST): The saving throw is the ability of one person to resist the effects of a spell. Many spells allow the target to roll a saving throw against the spell to prevent effects.

Meta Magic (MM): Meta magic are feats that allow spells effects, such as casting time, and duration to be altered.

Domain Spell: A bonus spell granted to divine casters of a certain domain (chosen at character creation).

Spontaneous Casting: Divine spell casters can spontaneously change a normal, non-domain spell into a healing (or harm for evil characters) spell of the proper level.

Alright, those are the major terms used for casting spells in most d20 games. On to how to cast them, and how to pose casting them. These are of course only guidelines and are intended to aid new players to the PbP forums and also new spell casters to d20 games.

Casting a spell in combat is very much like swinging our sword or shooting your bow. Players pose the intent of their characters. In this case the intent is to cast a spell while in combat. There are plenty of situations that could arise, I will demonstrate the most common.

1. The Easy Cast - This is when a spell caster is casting a spell in combat, but is not within melee range of any attackers. Generally this means the spellcaster is at least five feet away from the action and is focusing on casting his spell. There is no need for a CC in this case, and the spell caster simply poses the beginnings of casting the spell, the general effects (pretty lights, loud noises, any verbal shoutings, etc). The DM will then resolve the effects of the spell by rolling the saving throw for the target. If the target fails the saving throw they are effected by the spell in full, if they make their roll they resist the effect to some degree (based on the spell itself). The DM will pose for the target's response, and finish off the effects of the spell. The DM also rolls any other dice, such as damage from a fireball, or variable durations, amount healed, etc...

2. The Defensive Cast - This is one of two situations where the spell caster is engaged in battle, and is unable to back away from the attacker before hand. CotD now comes into play. The spellcaster declairs their intention to cast on the defensive, and then continues as above, describing the starting effects of the spell. The DM will make a CC with a DC of 15 for the player, and if the spell succeeds they continue on as normal as above. If the spell fails, the DM will have to pose the spell fizzlings and failing. A spell that fizzles is still used up and marked off the characters sheet for the day.

3. The Hard Cast - This is the other time when someone casts a spell in melee battle and neither moves away or casts on the defensive. The spell caster starts their spell casting, and poses all the starting effects of the spell like above, but instead of the DM rolling a CC they get to make AoO from ALL enemies in range. This can be deadly for low level arcane spell casters who have low armor and low hit points. After all the AoO are made, and any damage is resolved the spellcaster then still has to make a CC verses a DC of 10+All the Damage Taken during the attacks of opportunity. Clearly this isn't the best way to go about it. The spell then either continues normally, or fizzles if the CC fails.

Lastly - On top of all of this is one last thing, Arcane Spell Failure. As noted above ASF is based on armor and only comes into effect for arcane spell casters (wizards, sorcerer, wu jen, etc) and not divine spell casters (clerics, druids, rangers, shamans, etc). Totalling the ASF of all armor the DM then rolls d% dice (1-100) if the roll is equal to or lower than the ASF the spell fizzles because of restriction of the armor, preventing the caster from working the gestures needed to cast the spell. As noted any spell that fizzles for any reason is counted against the caster for the spells they can cast that day. The DM will include this in the pose just as if the spell fizzled for other reasons.

With that said, there is still a few things the player can do to make all this go smoothly. At the end of the pose, in some form of OOC tag, generally in a...
Spoiler Like This!
...the player should include the following information: Name of the spell being cast, any Meta Magic Feats that are altering the spell, if its a Spontaneous healing/harm spell, which spell is being replaced by it, what type of casting you are doing, either the Easy,Defensive or Hard way, this means if you are casting on the defensive, or if you going to suffer the AoO. Make sure to include the target or area of effect of the spell (who are you shooting that lightning bolt at), and any other information not made clear in your pose. This could possibly include multiple effects for spells, or multiple targets. If it was a summoning spell, what you are summoning and what the summoned creature is doing, etc.

Remember, just like swinging that sword, you pose your intent with the spell, and the DM works out the numbers and gives you your results. With some good training (High Concentration) and an understanding of your spells, you should do just fine. Remember, have fun, and that in any game different DMs or GMs might have differing rules.
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How to win netfriends and influence games

Post by Bitom » Sat Mar 25, 2006 2:45 am

Time to add my bit to this discussion. I have a few things that Vardaen and Brennor missed (One of which didn't exist when they were writing this), and I'd like to reiterate a few that they didn't miss.

So: Bitoms tips for better RP:

1) Name your spoilers. At my request, a while ago, Bren added a great feature to the spoiler tag. You can replace the word spoiler with whatever you want in the spoiler tag by typing [spoiler="YourTextHere"] This is hugely useful. You can add a whisper to only a few players of the game or a message to the GM (Trusting the others not to look at it, because we're all adults here.... mostly) And this is a big suggestion for GM's, too... that way, it's easy to tell which spoilers are for maps, and which for rolls, etc.

2) Don't get TOO far ahead. This is the opposite sied of "V's "Be Active" reccomendation. It's good to do things, but don't get too exited. It's OK to walk out of the room and check the next one for enemies and traps. But retreating out of the cave complex, going back to town, and ordering a burrito at taco bell should probably not all happen in the same post.

3) Post Often. OK... I know that not everyone can be as active as Tet, V and I are. But if your posting activity is going to drop below your normal levels for more than a couple of days, you should AT LEAST warn your GM's, and should consider having your characters NPC'd until you're back. Nothing kills a game like having one player that never speaks.

4) Post boring. V says that it's good to make your posts colorful and descriptive. That is very true. But there is also a place for the one-liner. Going through your games and don't think your charcter would do anything at this point? Post it! "Jack sits there waiting." is a MUCH better addition to the game than not posting, and "Jack sits there waiting for Diana to finish talking to the Dragon." is fantastic. You don't need to describe the way jack fidgets, or the fact that his left butcheek itches. You can, but posting one of the above lets the GM know that he doesn't have to wait for you to post, and the second one lets Diana's player know that she should get it in gear. Pretty much all of us are guilty of not doing this... and it hurts games.

5) Use If/Then/Else posts. Don't wait for the GM to tell you something... he might be on when you're not. Post something. "If Diana looks like she can take the dragon alone, Jack just sits there. Otherwise, Jack pulls out his BFG-9000s"

6) No spoiler-only posts. If it's only a spoiler, it belongs in the OOC forum for the game. 'nuff said.

7) Don't edit. Sure, knowing what you now know, you would have acted differantly, but the 4 people who posted after you did so based on what you posted, so it's too late to change it. Suck it up. Exceptions to this are when nobody's posted or when the GM asks you to edit. But in general, it's just bad form.

That's it... that's 3 more than I thought I's be posting already.

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win netfriends and influence games, revisited

Post by Bitom » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:29 pm

NEW STUFF I have added new items to this list and reposted, flagging my additions with a NEW STUFF marker.

Time to add my bit to this discussion. I have a few things that Vardaen and Brennor missed (One of which didn't exist when they were writing this), and I'd like to reiterate a few that they didn't miss.

So: Bitoms tips for better RP:

1) Name your spoilers. At my request, a while ago, Bren added a great feature to the spoiler tag. You can replace the word spoiler with whatever you want in the spoiler tag by typing [ spoiler="YourTextHere"] This is hugely useful. You can add a whisper to only a few players of the game or a message to the GM (Trusting the others not to look at it, because we're all adults here.... mostly) And this is a big suggestion for GM's, too... that way, it's easy to tell which spoilers are for maps, and which for rolls, etc.
NEW STUFF: Bren has added new game spoiler tags, such as Roll, Map, Init, Act. These are great. Love them, use them.

2) Don't get TOO far ahead. This is the opposite side of "V's "Be Active" reccomendation. It's good to do things, but don't get too exited. It's OK to walk out of the room and check the next one for enemies and traps. But retreating out of the cave complex, going back to town, and ordering a burrito at taco bell should probably not all happen in the same post.

3) Post Often. OK... I know that not everyone can be as active as Tet, V and I are. But if your posting activity is going to drop below your normal levels for more than a couple of days, you should AT LEAST warn your GM's, and should consider having your characters NPC'd until you're back. Nothing kills a game like having one player that never speaks.

4) Post boring. V says that it's good to make your posts colorful and descriptive. That is very true. But there is also a place for the one-liner. Going through your games and don't think your charcter would do anything at this point? Post it! "Jack sits there waiting." is a MUCH better addition to the game than not posting, and "Jack sits there waiting for Diana to finish talking to the Dragon." is fantastic. You don't need to describe the way jack fidgets, or the fact that his left butcheek itches. You can, but posting one of the above lets the GM know that he doesn't have to wait for you to post, and the second one lets Diana's player know that she should get it in gear. Pretty much all of us are guilty of not doing this... and it hurts games.

5) Use If/Then/Else posts. Don't wait for the GM to tell you something... he might be on when you're not. Post something. "If Diana looks like she can take the dragon alone, Jack just sits there. Otherwise, Jack pulls out his BFG-9000s"

6) No spoiler-only posts. If it's only a spoiler, it belongs in the OOC forum for the game. 'nuff said.

7) Don't edit. Sure, knowing what you now know, you would have acted differantly, but the 4 people who posted after you did so based on what you posted, so it's too late to change it. Suck it up. Exceptions to this are when nobody's posted or when the GM asks you to edit. But in general, it's just bad form.

New Stuff

8) Pay attention to tense. This wasn't an issue before, but has become one. We have games running on the site in both past and present tense:
  • Joe went and beat mary with a stick
  • Joe goes and beats mary with a stick
There's nothing wrong with either of these... but pay attention to which method is being used in the game you're playing and try to match it. Changing tense mid-story is jarring and uncomfortable.

9) Give me something to respond to. When you're reading a novel, it's okay to go on for three pages about what the character is thinking, but in a game, you really need to add some action in there, too. The other characters can't read your thoughts. There's nothing wrong with posting internal monologue, but if you post nothing but internal monologue, you have not advanced the story any. The other characters don't know about your internal struggle, and we are left to wonder if time has passed or not. Were you just standing there thinking? If you were, the other PC's are going to look at you sortof funny.

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Re: win netfriends and influence games, revisited

Post by Vardaen » Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:20 pm

The spoiler tag is something that will hide text from sight, until the viewer specifically clicks on a link to show the hidden text. In this way, it is possible to hide some information from the general flow of the text. This feature is very useful in the case of a game post.

Click on the plus sign (or the arrow if in the Dragonfly theme) or the name of the spoiler to expand its contents.

To put something in a spoiler tag, write the following in a post:

Code: Select all

[spoiler]This is in a spoiler tag![/spoiler]
which outputs:
This is in a spoiler tag!
Spoiler tags also have the ability to be named. Naming the spoiler removes the Spoiler text from the tag. To do this, just add the name of the spoiler in the opening tag in double quotes, like this:

Code: Select all

[spoiler="A Test"]This is in a spoiler tag![/spoiler]
which outputs:
This is in a spoiler tag!
There are also some spoiler tag shortcuts. These allow you to create specific spoiler tags with less typing. They are: act, gm, and ooc.
  • The act tag is used to specifically call out what actions are meant by the flavor text in your posts. To do this, write:

Code: Select all

[act]Describe action.[/act]
Describe action.
  • The GM tag is used to direct questions to the GM of a game, within your posts. To do this, write:

Code: Select all

[gm]Your question to the GM.[/gm]
Your question to the GM.
  • The OOC tag is used separate OOC (Out of Character) discussion from the rest of a post. To do this, write:

Code: Select all

[ooc]OOC discussion.[/ooc]
OOC discussion.
There are also several tags that a player is likely to see in the course of a game, but is unlikely going to need how to do. These are:
  • The buffs tag is used to specifically call out temporary effects that are in place. A sample is below:
[buffs]Brennor has Fox's Cunning for 4 rounds.[/buffs]
  • The hp tag is used to display a health update. A sample is below:
Brennor: 42/9999
  • The init tag is used to display a list of initiatives. A sample is below:
Brennor 7, Bad Guy A 2, Bad Guy B 0
  • The map tag is used to display a map. A sample is below:
Image
  • The roll tag is used to display die rolls and the results of those rolls within your posts. A sample is below:
Brennor rolls 15
For the full information on spoiler tags, please see the help page: http://brennor.dyndns.org/rpg/modules.p ... e=bbcode#4
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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