Running Play by Post games - Any Tips?

Jacoby

Like many people at my age, I find the schedules for myself and my friends aren't as conducive to RPG'ing as they could be. While we still have free time, we don't have it at the same time. As such, I've been toying with the idea of running a Play by Post (PbP) RPG on a forum we all frequent. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips for me about PbP, especially things to avoid and the best ways to do die rolls.

I've got two systems I'd like to try out for it, Exalted 2nd Edition and Truth and Justice. The first is pretty well known, so I won't describe it, but the second is a rather free-form style superhero RPG. For more info, check out the developer's site here. I really think that the second system is better suited to PbP, but I would like to know what other people think.

Nocren

On the old Dumpshock boards, the guys there usaully have two threads, one IC and one OOC.

Keep with a schedule and make sure people post on time.

Personally, if everyone agrees to it, don't make it an actual game, but maybe a threaded story where everyone contributes. However the more I think about that the more I think that it would be impossible.

Talonrazor

Having two threads is crucial. If one thread stays pure IC, you can easily skim over it and see where exactly the story is. Otherwise you've got to filter die rolls, OOC comments, etc.

If you are wanting a real "novel" feeling to the RP, put a lot of effort as the GM into your work. I ran a Star Wars d20 PbP for two years and I'd usually write long posts, about a page and half, that would be full of description and detail about settings and NPC. This really helps your players get into RPing and can open up opportunity to play more like a rich novel then a tabletop game.

For die rolls, I recommend Invisible Castle. http://invisiblecastle.com/index.py

PbP also lets you easily handle maps, updating it every week or so to let everyone see where things are at.

For combat, what I did with my PbP is set it so everytime I posted during combat it was considered a new round for game purposes. I posted roughly every two or three days in combat and simply NPC'd whoever did not post that round. It helps you move faster and you can write detailed, rich posts explaining what happens to all previous actions, instead of trying to sum up every result after every post.

Mojo_Jojo

I'm an admin over at a PBP site. so here are a few thoughts off the top of my head,

-The game will move very slowly. Do everything you can to keep momentum up, but understand that you are in for the long hall (at least a couple of years). As a result it is worthwhile to keep a "Chapter Summary Thread" detailing what was happened so far, otherwise your players will get confused.

-Understand that the medium makes for a slightly less dynamic experience. Any "reaction" commands (typically things like action points) become much harder to use as the game progresses in discrete blocks rather than the continuous flow you get with a face to face game. If the system you are using requires these types of actions then you'll need some kind of "response" thread where players can post if/else actions as to when they'd like to use these commands. Or you can choose for them.

-PBP Roleplaying is much better than f2f roleplaying in general. The medium allows for people to take a little longer to think and this can really make things shine.

-Make sure that you aren't railroading your players. This is important in f2f and essential in PBP. You have to keep the players involved and strapping them in to a train to a tell a story you've written will not do that.

-Keep the IC in the IC threads and the OOC in the OOC threads. You can do one of each, or multiple IC threads if the players split up. Most DMs divide their games into Acts, scenes or chapters in order to keep the IC threads a amanageable size. With OOC threads this matters less (Although some keep one OOC per IC).

-An OOC comment should never be without an IC partner in an IC thread. Any decent site will give you moderator powers for your forum so it is up to you and your players to keep the IC thread clean.

-Try not to use things like quote tags in the IC. Anything which will disrupt the flow of text is bad, big ugly boxes disrupt the flow of text. A decent writing shouldn't need to quote another player or DM's post in order to show what he is responding to

-Pick your players carefully, this is the internet, there are lots of retards. One retard in a game can ill it and drive your players away. If you find you've let one in, cast him out quickly.

-Spellcheck and proof read your posts, encourage your players to do the same.

-Make sure that every character sheet has its own thread (a single thread of sheets tends to get cluttered).

-Find a good mapping solution. Mapping is rather trickier than it is in f2f games, you can't simply get a piece of whiteboard and some markers. You'll end up using the irony map generator (Which I think has recently died), using a paint program (like photoshop) or one of the CAD mapping programs (such as Campaig Cartographer). These range in how time consuming they are, but if you aren't an artist then be prepared for this to be suprisingly difficult.

I can't think of anything else, if you have any specific questions though I should be able to answer them.