Rising PbP DM

[Slay33]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...n-Play-By-Post

Hello again, all. The linked post is a hastily together post that I made without much thought. I would like to revise it and get more responses. In the thread I stated I wasn't going to even attempt DMing, but i've reconsidered that, and decided that the best way for me to learn might as well be for me to start a game of my own. Some questions and information:

As far as the game info, I will be running a 5e D&D Campaign. I plan to look up on 5th edition gameplay, and mark all important pages (If anyone has links to important 5e info, Those would be greatly appreciated).

And as far as info about myself, I am new to D&D. I am no stranger to roleplay, as stated in the previous thread. I have roleplayed for about 5 years now, But I am drawn to the world of d&d now, and wish to start running and participating in campaigns on this forum.

Some questions:

-I have heard of the "Big 16". Apparently these are 16 important questions for a sign up. Is there anywhere I can find these "Big 16" and are they subject to change? Are they generally considered mandatory for DMs to place in sign-up sheets, or do they take the roll of the sign-up sheet themselves?

-How should I work with numbers in my campaign? What is a recommended party size and beginning level for my player's characters to start out as?

-Any important slang/phrases I should know? (Ex. DM Stands for Dungeon master, PbP stands for Play-By-Post, Etc.)

-Any other important advice, tips, etc. I should know?

A great deal of thanks to all in advance!

[thirdkingdom]

This thread on rpg.net contains about twelve years worth of advice about pbp gaming. You may need to be a member of the board to access the subforum the thread is in.

[Slay33]

This thread on rpg.net contains about twelve years worth of advice about pbp gaming. You may need to be a member of the board to access the subforum the thread is in.

Thank you for the link, I will read over this!

[KillingAScarab]

Some questions:

-I have heard of the "Big 16". Apparently these are 16 important questions for a sign up. Is there anywhere I can find these "Big 16" and are they subject to change? Are they generally considered mandatory for DMs to place in sign-up sheets, or do they take the roll of the sign-up sheet themselves?

You're going to want to check out the Play-By-Post forum if you're looking to run games on Giant in the Playground. It has the Guide to Play by Post Games topic, where you can also find an example of the Play-by-post Questionnaire/Big 16 and other bits of advice. Again, if you're playing on GitP, there are some examples for using the forum's dice roller, but you will probably also want to try the Dice Roller Test thread.

[PersonMan]

The role of the 'Big 16' is basically to answer most baseline questions about a game's mechanics and, to an extent, the general feel it will have. You can answer the questions in any format, but the upside of the Big 16 is that it's widely known and pretty easy to deal with for players and DMs (generally).

Party size and such depends on the game, your style, the type of game, etc. Since you're running 5e, 4-5 PCs is probably the sort of thing you'll want to go for. Starting level will depend on your personal preference, the campaign you have in mind, and other factors, but I think there are good arguments for starting above level 1-2 in a lot of cases.

[Ninja_Prawn]

As far as the game info, I will be running a 5e D&D Campaign. I plan to look up on 5th edition gameplay, and mark all important pages (If anyone has links to important 5e info, Those would be greatly appreciated).

I already linked you to the 5e SRD (System Reference Document; it contains the basic rules to get you started in the game) in the last thread.

-Any important slang/phrases I should know? (Ex. DM Stands for Dungeon master, PbP stands for Play-By-Post, Etc.)

Yes, there's probably thousands. I'll list a few off the top of my head...

The Books
PHB - Player's Handbook, the main rulebook that you'll need to buy to play the game. The SRD is a stripped-down version of this.
MM - Monster Manual. Contains stats for monsters. You'll need it if you want to DM.
DMG - Dungeon Master's Guide. A book that is very helpful but not strictly essential of you want to DM.
EE - Elemental Evil Player's Companion. An supplement that contains a lot of spells. Players will ask you if it's allowed in your game. You can download it free from WotC's website.
SCAG - Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. A major supplement. Not available for free, so it's fine to ban it in your games.
Volo's - Volo's Guide to Monsters. A recent supplement with more monsters and player races. Also not free.

Game Terms
IC - in Character.
OOC - Out of Character.
PC - Player Character. This is what your players pretend to be.
NPC - Non Player Character. What the DM controls.
FR, DL - Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance. Two fairly popular settings for games.
TWF - Two-Weapon Fighting. May refer to the fighting style or just the state of having two weapons.
Tank/DPR/Control - mean roughly the same as what they'd mean in an MMORPG.
Turn - a character's turn. They get to move, take one action and one bonus action. The basic unit of gameplay.
Round - the basic unit of game time; about six seconds. Everyone gets one turn per round (except in specific circumstances).

Slang
RAW - Rules as Written. The literal reading of the rules.
RAI - Rules as Intended. The spirit of the rules.
Cheese - powerful stuff or combinations of stuff that are legal by RAW but not in the spirit of the game.
Crunch - the game mechanics.
Fluff - not crunch.
-lock as a suffix - some kind of warlock. Could refer to the patron (e.g. fiendlock) the pact boon (bladelock) or a multiclass (sorclock).
Vuman - variant human. People like it because it gets a feat at level 1.

[Slay33]

Thank you all for the help and guidance. I have begun reading up on 5e and DMing guides, and will soon begin experimenting with the dice roller system. Check the PbP forums, A new campaign will be coming out soon!