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View Full Version : How to Play by Post- and Succeed at It!



Chrono22
2010-08-24, 02:50 PM
I've noticed a consistent and annoying trend across many different forums- play by post games go nowhere. Many problems contribute to this, but I believe just a few of these problems are responsible for the majority of the prematurely ended games.

Before I go into that, though, I'll highlight some of the differences between using a forum and a tabletop, and some of their advantages and disadvantages.

Tabletop Gaming

Advantages: Face to face communication allows for near-immediate resolution of questions and actions. The atmosphere created by your friends and fellow gamers also helps you... stay in character, and stay interested in what is happening. You care about what's happening, because your friends care about what is happening. It's a feedback cycle of enthusiasm.

Disadvantages: Face to face gaming requires a large amount of investment- especially of time. Alot of things can get in the way, real life rears its ugly head all the time.


Forums

Advantages: It's convenient. You can peruse a thread, post your interest, and make a character at your own leisure. Once you've joined, you are only required to post (maybe) once a day, even as little as once a few days. It's also easier to join another game or multiple other games.

Disadvantages: As mentioned above, play by post games for the most part have extremely short life spans. They start and they end- sometimes in reverse order! Communication of ideas is limited to what and how you write. There is no atmosphere, you can't draw on the expressions or attitudes of the other participants to enhance the play. It's only as deep as you can write.


I'm not going to go into and exhaustive explanation of every drawback play by posting has, but I'll say this: any problem you would be presented with in a standard tabletop play is multiplied by the medium of forum posting. So, I have some suggestions I think can help us all improve the overall success of our play by post endeavors.

1. Maintain Interest: Everyone needs to work together to enhance the content of play and the content of their posts. How to do this-
- Keep your text and posts tight and condensed. What I mean by this, is you need to make sure your descriptions are interesting, colorful, and relevant to what is going on. Don't post comments just to say "me too!" or "He glares angrily and shakes his fist". These kinds of posts are empty calories- they don't do anything but draw attention away from the important events that are happening. Enough of these no content posts can congest a thread and turn off players from participating. When you post, make it matter- make something happen, say something that changes the course of events. Your participation should have consequence and importance.
-For DMs (or players with a penchant for the creative) incorporate other material to enhance the atmosphere. Most people don’t have the ability to make their own maps, but I find having a detailed map of the environment helps players visualize the events. I also link to awesome music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sosxmK4JmXs). I find this greatly improves the play and invigorates player interest.

2. Keep the Rules Under Control: Some systems lend themselves well to the medium of forum posting. Unfortunately, rules-heavy systems such as 3.5 D&D or other incarnations of this famous game do not. The sheer number of rules that come into effect, coupled with the exceptions-based principles underlying the play make it a serious chore for a GM to run them online. Running smaller, more concise systems can help in the regard- but if your heart is set on D&D, here are some tips I've found help-
- Make sure everyone is playing by the same rules. Preface your OOC thread with whatever houserules, modifications or additions you'll be using.
- Consolidate your responses to multiple players in a single or double post. Have your monsters act on a group initiative in it. This way, you can address every player's questions or problems individually, without having the thread become mired in them. This keeps the thread as a whole more dense- the posts that happen, as few as they may be, are chocked full of action. Liberal use of the spoiler tag helps in this regard.
- Avoid using rules that bog down play, such as the Soulknife's bladestorm ability. Anything that brings the play and the action to a halt should be avoided.
-That said, some mechanics, such as grappling, require tweaking if you want to be able to use them on a regular basis. I suggest adopting Pathfinder’s CMD rules, they make special attacks a breeze.

3. Maintain Momentum: Keep things moving. Start off your campaigns with a kicker, otherwise the players won’t post consistently. Sandbox play is fun (in fact it’s my favorite style), but something or someone must be making the action happen.
-For players, give your characters some motivation that is easy to fit into the campaign setting. Give the DM plothooks. In the absence of other direction, pursue your goals through play. As I said, sandbox play is a great playstyle. But it isn’t a good style to use in play by post unless the players have a lot of personal drive and a commitment to seeing a resolution.
-For the DM, post and update consistently and as often as time allows, but try to address multiple questions and ideas in a single post. If you feel the direction of the campaign is slacking or losing speed, kick it up a notch.
-Also, for your own benefit, define what will end your campaign in specific terms. “When the players recover and destroy the lost tippy cup of the still-born god of desecration”. Having campaigns go on endlessly, doesn’t work. All good things must end, and in my experience campaigns that end well, with a tight and satisfying conclusion, will live on in the players’ memories.

You might be noticing at this point that the advice I’m giving isn’t convenient, leisurely, or easy. The truth is, a successful play by post game (one that reaches a resolution, or at least doesn’t die in oblivion) requires substantial effort on the DMs and players’ parts. You actually have to work against the strengths of play by post gaming, to overcome its weaknesses.