Converting a real-life game to a PBP?

[veven]

I started running a game for my group a while back and have played about five sessions. We were only able to play about once a month but it was enough for us. Recently however, two members of the group got new jobs with vastly different schedules and there is no longer any time of the week when all five of us our available. I don't want to just keep playing always missing one person so we've been tossing around the idea of converting the game to a Play-By-Post until our schedules line up again.

Has anyone had any experience with something like this? Even if you haven't what would your suggestions be for making this work? I want the transition to not be jarring (we are in a good spot to make the change so it shouldn't be too bad). Our game already focuses on PC/NPC interaction and story progression more than combat (we have about 1 combat per session. 2 once, and 0 another time) so that should make things a bit smoother.

I just don't want our game to die and this is the one way we can keep the blood flowing. Any advice is welcome, I've never actually run a PBP before but I have played in a couple so general advice is cool too.

[Righteous Doggy]

I did this once, dm got everything set up and got everyone signed up and ready to get stuff done. But... not enough of us had dedication to keep it up, and it fell to pieces. It depends on the groups dedication alot I think. We still met in real life on rare occasions and caught that up on the web post, it worked for a little bit but we all got caught up in our own things and life ensued. Good luck to you of course, it depends on so much between people. Don't let one person not posting destroy the group if you can help it.

[Serpentine]

If you manage to get it to work, please tell me how :smallsigh:

[veven]

Hmm this does not bode well haha. Well I'll keep my fingers crossed and letcha know how it goes.

1d20+3

[Crow]

Best of luck, I am in the same boat right now, and haven't gotten our group together in weeks.

[Silva Stormrage]

I am doing one now. Trying to get it working irl as well though so we can have real life sessions and the PBP. The hardest thing is reminding people to post when they need to. Maps are also somewhat difficult. Don't give up though it is still doable.

[Another_Poet]

I've played in PbP groups that ran for years and I've ran some for years myself.

Tips that help:


Give up initiative in combat. GM rolls init for everybody when combat begins; players post in ANY order (post as SOON as you can) and GM will sort it out as to making it sequential in the end-of-round writeup.
Set a realistic but aggressive posting schedule (e.g., everyone should post at least once a day) that everyone agrees to
Set a rule like, "If I don't see a post from your for 2 days, I auto-pilot your character. If I don't hear from you within a week I retire your character (possibly killing him/her)." Absences don't trigger this if they take the time to message you and tell you they'll be away (vacation, get sick, busy time at work, etc.) but you will still need to auto-pilot them.
Encourage people to post conditionals in combat. For example, "If I can get into flank I will attack that goblin, otherwise, I hide behind the rocks, here's my attack and hide rolls." This is way better than, "Can I get into flank?" ( =wait for the DM to see it, wait for the player to see the DM's response, now the whole group waited a day for this).
Be vocal and confident in checking in with players who aren't posting, whether by email or a private message here on the boards. Anytime someone is gone for a few days without telling you why, message them and ask if they're still involved or what's going on. Be polite but forward.


These are just a few things that have worked well for our groups. The real guiding rule in all cases is, what's best for ping rate? Ping rate is the amount of time it takes for a post to get a response that moves things along. "4 goblins jump out firing bows." PING! How long does it take for every player to have done something so you can say, "2 goblins are bleeding out, 1 is fleeing but the other one seems to be transforming..." etc.

The higher the ping rate, the more likely the PbP is to survive.

The more assertive-yet-friendly the GM is about player involvement, the more likely the PbP is to survive.

To see a master GM use these principles smoothly, check out either of the games in the spoiler in my signature - our GM rocks at this.

Good luck, keeping the group together is definitely doable but, like any group, it takes a determined leader at times. You are that leader. Enjoy :smallwink: