Just what the thread title says.

 I've never played in or GM-ed a play-by-post game.

 What are they like?

Are they any fun?

 How tough is it to be the GM of one?

 Some people over the past 2 or 3 years have suggested that I run one....but I have no idea what the accepted norms are for that kind of thing.

 Anyone got advice ? Past experiences or examples that might be helpful?


- Ed C.

Play by post games can be fun. I ran one for a little over a year and had a great time with it.

Compared tabletop games or even games over IM or a VTT, they are extremely slow moving and at first it can be a bit tricky to get the pacing right. It really helps if your players are  reliable enough to post on a regular basis (the frequency varies greatly depending on the game, some have players posting multiple times daily, while others only require posts 2 or 3 times a week).

It takes a special player to make the game successful. It's not that much of a a stretch, but players need to do more narration in their posts than they might do in a face to face game. If the only thing a player posts for two days is "I swing at the orc with my sword", things are going to get dull quickly.

They are very easy to GM as you don't need to improvise on the fly, you've always got time to collect your thoughts and decide what to do next. The hardest part of GMing is to coordinate different actions and to keep things moving.

I'll PM you a link to my old campaign, which I believe still has every turn archived.

Quote from: KoltarJust what the thread title says.

 I've never played in or GM-ed a play-by-post game.

What are they like?

Sort of just like a regualr tabletop game, GM tells the players what is happening and all the players tell how they respond.  It just takes a lot longer because you have to wait for everyone to log in, check the board, and respond instead of everyone being together and being able to respond instantly.  Sometimes it may take a day or two before everyone responds with their actions.

Quote from: KoltarAre they any fun?

I think so.  While it does take a lot longer to play, and you do get a higher drop-out rate, especially when the pace slows down, I like them because I feel like you can act more in character than you can in a face to face game.  For example, I find it easier to talk in character (accents, flourished speech, etc) in a pbp.  I would feel a little dorky doing that in a face to face game.

It also cuts down on (or cuts out) OOC chatter that can interfere with immersion.  If someone wants to talk about what happened on CSI last night they can send a PM to another player or post in an off topic section of the board.

And finally, I think it's easier to explore your characters motives and feelings in written form.  Just like reading a novel, you and the other players can be privy to the thoughts and feelings of a character than in a face to face game.

Quote from: KoltarHow tough is it to be the GM of one?

I think it's a little easier to actually run.  You have more time in between posts to figure out what exactly happens next or to look up rules.  The tough part is keeping the players interested once the initial excitment starts to wane.

Quote from: KoltarSome people over the past 2 or 3 years have suggested that I run one....but I have no idea what the accepted norms are for that kind of thing.

Anyone got advice ? Past experiences or examples that might be helpful?

Many of the norms would be set down by the GM, such as posting rate (how often you expect everyone to post), any house rules, how dice will be rolled (you roll them, player rolls them, online dice tool, etc), post format (I always make my players post their character's name and class or occupation on the first line of every post so everyone else can immediately tell who is acting).

You may want to institute special rules to facilitate online play, especially when it comes to combat.  I've found combat is where most pbp ganes get bogged down.  If you try to run it round by round, you may have a player taking a swing at an enemy and having to wait two or three days to find out the result.  It can be easy to lose interest this way.  In order to speed up combat, I ask my players what their general strategy and tactics will be at the start of a fight, then I run several rounds, only stopping to ask for more actions when conditions on the battlefield change enough to warrant a change in action(enemy killed, PC down to less than half their HP, arrival/retreat of enemies or allies, evil wizard casts a big spell, they see a friend in trouble, etc).  This takes away a little of their freedom, but speeds things up.

An alternative is to schedule time to get "together" by chat or IM when it comes time for combat. That way you can nearly match the speed of tabletop combat.  When combat is over, go back to the message board.

I would also make it known that you may NPC any player's character if the player does not keep up with the posting rate you specified.

Hope that helps.  If I think of anything else I'll post more.

Quote from: KoltarI've never played in or GM-ed a play-by-post game.

 What are they like?

Are they any fun?

 How tough is it to be the GM of one?

It does take some getting use to. You have to work out things like
- posting style. Do you have different threads for in character comment, mechanical declarations, and out of character discussion? How do you refer back and forth? Is in character commentary in any particular style (first or third person, present or past tense?)
- displays of positions. Is it not needed for your particular game? Or can you do ascii maps (there are a lot of great examples of these on ENWorld or the WotC boards)? Or do you have a mapping program and can upload and link images of the map?
- posting frequency. Players often have different expectations about how frequently to post; this can be a real drag if you are waiting on one player to post.
- what does the GM handle? In addition to considerations of decisions that can be made in the character's absence, some declarations that would only take a second face to face can really cause the game to drag if it requires waiting on a player.

QuoteSome people over the past 2 or 3 years have suggested that I run one....but I have no idea what the accepted norms are for that kind of thing.

 Anyone got advice ? Past experiences or examples that might be helpful?

Well, first off, take a look at existing PbP's, like on TBP and ENWorld. Get a feel for what styles suit you.

By the time I ran my last PbP, I had two conventions that helped me a lot:
1) When you roll initiative, everyone who beats the bad guy can go IN ANY ORDER, then I do the bad guys, and then bounce back and forth between doing the team's turn (again, in any order) and the bad guy. This means that players never have to wait for other players to post.
2) I had the players list instincts and default actions that allow me to post for the player in their absence.

Oh yeah, a few more things to emphaize:

Expect players to drop out. If you recruit to replace them, your group could totally change over time.

Know when to walk away from a game. It sort of sucks if players are counting on you and life or disinterest causes the game to drift. I consider the first month of a PbP game a "trial" period.

I've always found it very difficult, as player and GM, to keep the momentum up in a PbP.  It's very easy to have things stutter to a halt.  I've found even having hard deadlines for replies doesn't always work - because if a player really becomes uninterested, all that happens is the GM is writing his posts for him all the time, which can further alienate the player.

I'd certainly suggest a posting frequency of no less than twice per week, and perhaps more, to ensure interest stays high; weekly posting schedules are perhaps easier on the players' schedules but much harder on enthusiasm for the game.

Quote from: KoltarJust what the thread title says.

 I've never played in or GM-ed a play-by-post game.

 What are they like?

Are they any fun?

 How tough is it to be the GM of one?

 Some people over the past 2 or 3 years have suggested that I run one....but I have no idea what the accepted norms are for that kind of thing.

 Anyone got advice ? Past experiences or examples that might be helpful?

I was having a blast with this one, my second attempt at a PbP.

http://www.pigames.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=597

Unfortunately, real life woes forced me to postpone the game and I haven't been able to settle down enough to get it back on track (not to mention I'm not sure if I'd have any players left. . .).

Pete

Koltar,

Are there any particular games you want?  i.e. gurps, d20, don't care as long as it star trek...?  Just curious because I am sure some of know some good places if we knew what you were looking for.