Play-By-Post

[White_Drake]

Weirdly enough, I think this fits best in the general RPG forum. My question: is it considered rude to spectate a PbP game? I don't really know anything about PbP, and I was hoping to look at a few games to see what it's like. I'm DMing for my group, and would like to try out some characters, so I was thinking about checking out these forums' PbP section. Also, anything you could tell me about PbP in general would be nice. Thanks in advance.

[Strawberries]

Err... I'm not really sure about what the question is....

You mean reading IC threads? As long as you don't post IC disturbing the thread I don't see the problem (and besides, how would people know?). One of the games I'm in has at least a couple of stalkers, and they sometimes come out in the OOC to chat with us. It's fun.

As for info about pbp. have a look at the stickied guide.

[Ajadea]

Spectate as in lurking, without posting in that thread? I personally would consider it 100% OK.

In two of the games I play here (one of which is with Strawberries, actually), a couple forum members who are not players post sporadically in the OOC thread as well. As long as spectators don't post IC, I don't have a problem with it.

Tips from the DM's side of the screen:

• PbP is slow. And by slow, I mean glacial. A battle takes 2+ weeks to finish. If you don't pile on the XP, the level-up rate will be like 1 level/year.
• The game attrition rate is high. Expect your first (and second, and third) games to die slow deaths for one reason or another.
• Organize, organize, organize. Google Drive spreadsheets are wonderful maps - MapTools and Roll20 are also useful if you're willing to invest a bit more learning time.

[White_Drake]

Err... I'm not really sure about what the question is....

Ever try to write something, get to the end and think "That is horribly phrased, I sure hope somebody knows what I mean"?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is just what Play-By-Post is like, and if there are any rules of etiquette of which I should be aware before joining a game.

I did mean just lurking, and it's good to know that it would be fine. I really have virtually no knowledge of the whole thing, so I thought it would be best to ask the community before I committed some faux pas. Thanks for the answers, and I'll check out that guide. It's possible that it will render this thread obsolete.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I guess what I'm trying to ask is just what Play-By-Post is like, and if there are any rules of etiquette of which I should be aware before joining a game.

I did mean just lurking, and it's good to know that it would be fine. I really have virtually no knowledge of the whole thing, so I thought it would be best to ask the community before I committed some faux pas. Thanks for the answers, and I'll check out that guide. It's possible that it will render this thread obsolete.

Personally, I always post in the game's OOC thread (if I can find it) and ask if I can watch the game.

Granted, I haven't watched a game in a while...