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GoblinGilmartin
2013-03-24, 02:22 AM
Lately I've been looking to play an RPG online, instantly, with other people. Something like a chat room, where I can just jump in and be in an adventure. With a real DM and everything.

Does such a thing exist?

Forrestfire
2013-03-24, 02:31 AM
... play by post?

The amount of prep time needed to play a tabletop RPG would probably preclude the sort of thing you're asking for...

GoblinGilmartin
2013-03-24, 02:45 AM
I mean something simpler and quicker. Character creation would only take about 5 minutes, more RP heavy, and the DMs can be as prepared as they wanted to be.

Forrestfire
2013-03-24, 03:10 AM
I don't think something like that exists.

Maybe World of Warcraft? :smallwink: :smalltongue: I'm kidding, really... Stop glaring...

Honestly, this seems like a neat idea. I do wonder if someone has made a site that does this.

Sorry to not be of help :smallfrown:

Totally Guy
2013-03-24, 03:14 AM
I've been following some of the Google+ communities. I've not found one for me yet but I'm hopeful that there is potential in them.

GoblinGilmartin
2013-03-24, 03:37 AM
I think it would be neat if you could just go online, type in your character's name, race, and class, and get hooked up to a GM right away. I realize logistically it doesn't make much sense.

Totally Guy
2013-03-24, 04:00 AM
Are you talking about a specific game or something?

Fighter1000
2013-03-24, 04:09 AM
That idea sounds awesome, Mastergilgamesh.
If only happy dreams like that one could come true.
I think the closest thing to that is play-by-post. I've tried that before, but it's meh to me.

The Dark Fiddler
2013-03-24, 04:42 AM
The type of preparation typically required for PnP games is going to preclude this from happening unless there's some guy who decides to try it. You're also unlikely to find somebody who'll just let anybody join in to a game at any time without at the very least looking over the character or going out to look for said player.

Xefas
2013-03-24, 05:04 AM
This thing (http://forums.white-wolf.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=74039) might be similar to what you want, if not exactly. (That link goes to a forum post explaining what it is in simple terms, which itself has a link to the actual thing.)

I haven't actually used it, but Unbound Anima sounds a bit like the online equivalent of a LARP. You submit a character sheet, and then there's a chatroom client (with a dice roller and stuff) for various parts of the city that the game is set in, each with its own GM, and you just jump in when you want, play a scene, and jump out. Services on the website allow you to record out-of-scene rolls and actions, such as crafting stuff, which can be reviewed by the GMs.

It uses the White Wolf Exalted system, which may not be your cup of tea. But, at the very least, I think it's unique, and proves that this sort of thing might be possible.

(Disclaimer: Any of the above information might be false. Please check it out for yourself. I know nothing.)

Xeratos
2013-03-24, 10:00 AM
I did something like that years and years ago using a simple AIM group chat window. I had my players email me their character's stats, and we played through typing out our actions and dialogue. It ran about six sessions, one a week, before they finished the story line, killed the BBEG, etc. etc.

Honestly, it was an ok substitute, especially since at that point, I didn't have a regular group, but not nearly as good as actually sitting down and playing face to face. I've also considered trying to run a game over a voice chat server. This kind of system takes your players at their words that they're not fudging dice rolls though.

I've never used skype, but to my understanding, that's video chatting. If it has the capabilities to connect multiple people at a time, that might also work.

Rhynn
2013-03-24, 11:24 AM
The type of preparation typically required for PnP games is going to preclude this from happening unless there's some guy who decides to try it.

Not really. The Google+ OSR D&D games work pretty much like this. A bunch of players show up, an adventure is run. Heck, it just sounds like an online version of running a module at a convention. You only need to do the prepwork once - writing or reading a module - and then you're good to go. Or if you're running it in a dungeon and surrounding setting - like a lot of the G+ OSR games - you just have your dungeon maps and a bunch of tables, and maybe come up with a specific hook for this session.

scurv
2013-03-24, 11:53 AM
There is some RP in MMO's but your mileage will vary greatly. I would suggest looking at their forums before commiting yourself

Knaight
2013-03-24, 02:13 PM
The type of preparation typically required for PnP games is going to preclude this from happening unless there's some guy who decides to try it. You're also unlikely to find somebody who'll just let anybody join in to a game at any time without at the very least looking over the character or going out to look for said player.

Some people are very heavy on the improvisation side of things, particularly those who favor rules light systems. I'm in this group, and I can personally confirm the existence of a handful of IRC rooms where it's not all that uncommon for people to try to spontaneously start games with whoever is in the room.

That said: Everyone there knows each other, with the exception of new people who join infrequently, and much of what goes on in the channels is more socialization than gaming. Still, pickup games happen, and because of the dynamic everyone knows everybody else's settings and mechanical tweaks to some extent.

Xefas
2013-03-24, 03:39 PM
I'm in this group, and I can personally confirm the existence of a handful of IRC rooms where it's not all that uncommon for people to try to spontaneously start games with whoever is in the room.


I'm imagining an IRC chat being regularly interrupted with-

"Welcome to... ACTIOOOOOOOON CAAAAASSSTLE! You are standing in a small cottage. There's a fishing pole here..."

Madeiner
2013-03-24, 05:01 PM
Well, some online games have special servers or places where you can roleplay.
The world of warcraft example isn't that bad. There are actually roleplaying servers and if you go to specific spots, you can find roleplayers.

However, there's no DM and is just improvised roleplaying your character in a city. I didn't like it :)

Hiro Protagonest
2013-03-24, 06:16 PM
Chatroom is better than forum PBP. But it doesn't work like that. You have to set it up just like a regular session, where everybody is online at a certain time. There is no "hey, can I play?" in the middle of a game.

Rakmakallan
2013-03-24, 07:39 PM
I've been meaning to run something similar for a while, as a GM-less collaborative game with many parallel storylines. It would be possible to play with anything between 3 and 6 players and anyone could leave or join in at any time, provided there is an open spot. All stories would be logged, so that newcomers would be instantly up to date.

Still haven't been able to find the proper people for such an endeavour though. :smallfrown:

GoblinGilmartin
2013-03-24, 08:08 PM
I've been meaning to run something similar for a while, as a GM-less collaborative game with many parallel storylines. It would be possible to play with anything between 3 and 6 players and anyone could leave or join in at any time, provided there is an open spot. All stories would be logged, so that newcomers would be instantly up to date.

Still haven't been able to find the proper people for such an endeavour though. :smallfrown:

I'd be all over that! PM me if you get that going?

Knaight
2013-03-24, 10:04 PM
I'm imagining an IRC chat being regularly interrupted with-

"Welcome to... ACTIOOOOOOOON CAAAAASSSTLE! You are standing in a small cottage. There's a fishing pole here..."

It's more along the lines of "hey, anyone up for a pickup game", followed by 10-15 minutes of logistics regarding who is GMing what setting with what players, followed by character creation (unless it is the exact same group as at some earlier point, where they might just resume something that was recent enough to be remembered).

Armaius
2013-03-24, 10:42 PM
I used to have something on my old forums (before they were pretty much abandoned). No GM, though. Or stats. Or rules, really.

Someone posted a background, we all made characters and posted them and jumped in.

Ah, the good old days of my adolescence...

CarpeGuitarrem
2013-03-24, 10:45 PM
I've been following some of the Google+ communities. I've not found one for me yet but I'm hopeful that there is potential in them.
Seconded. They're not at that stage yet, but Google Hangouts are starting to happen with more frequency for running games face-to-face over the internet. Mind you, you have to be cool with jumping into random different games sometimes, but it's a start.

And variety is good! The more RPGs you play, the better you get at it.