| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Zealot |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 17:08:25
Ok now I see all these posts about play by mail games. Now could someone please tell me how these work, I would love to join one but I am unsure as how to go about it and how does game play progress? |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Wenin |
Posted - 29 May 2009 : 15:12:37
Here is a PbP game that a friend and I did on the WoTC boards. It died off due to real world time consumption, and we're not going to start it up again.
It was a blast though.
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=978732
You could certainly play a strong silent type. Your posts would be full of descriptive movements/behaviors of your character, with some additions of internal dialog perhaps. |
| Zealot |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 22:44:26
Guess it would suck to play the strong silent type then? Thanks for all the info, I think I am going to look for a play by post game to join in on. I saw that there was one on the forums here but my 2nd edition stuff is all in Canada at the moment. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 20:31:13
They also tend to give all the players a better chance to really get into the head of their character, and to see the inner workings of all the other characters. Good pbp posts aren't simply dialogue or "I do this," though that's sometimes fine when you're in combat or submitting a bunch of rapid-fire posts (ie: "I check for traps." "You find a dart trap." "Okay, I try to disarm it.").
More often there's at least some, and usually quite a lot, of the character's thoughts/feelings/ruminations/whatever. It's a little like writing a co-operative novel where the POV character keeps changing in each post. This is one kind of game where you can effectively play a quiet, brooding character, or a mute, for that matter, and not get everyone else angry at you, since you can easily show what's going on behind that quiet exterior.
For an example of a pbp in action, check out the Search for Randal Morn thread in the Candlekeep Inn. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 20:19:16
Generally speaking, it's a role-playing heavy game. You simply type what your character says and does whenever you feel like.
The only time you have to wait is for combat. You'd then wait your turn in the initiative order to go. |
| Hawkins |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 20:13:50
I think what Zealot is asking (and I am interested in this as well, since I have long been leery of play-by-post and play-by-email games) for is can someone give him a breakdown of the stages of this type of play. I, personally, have no idea how this works am confused to the nine hells as to how it would work. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 19:52:57
There's a lot of good sites (like Invisible Castle) that generate your dice rolls for you, and keeps you honest by tracking all the rolls you make in their database. |
| Zealot |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 19:25:31
Ok then how does a play by post go? I havent heard of these either and how the bloody hell would you roll dice? I bet I sound thick as a stone but you cant be good looking AND smart. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 18:33:48
quote:
Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe
I remember seeing play-by-mail advertisements for wargames in the classifieds of sf/fantasy magazines and in Dragon back in the early eighties. I wonder if any of those are still going on. If there are, that'd be an interesting subject for an article or documentary.
Actually, there were some play by email games listed in Dragon the year it was ended as print. There was a company, and I could dig those Dragons out to find it, that was running a play by mail game. Some of them were set in the Realms. :)
So yea, even after 20 years there were still play by mail games.
However, I didn't get involved because the cost of stamps, etc, kind of made me wonder if it was worth the price when we now have email, etc, that's "free." For that matter, I remember a thread about a year or two that was starting asking if any of us wanted to join up. There wasn't much interest though. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 17:40:27
Play by Mail actually got started a LOOOOOOONG time ago with chess enthusiasts. |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 17:21:25
I remember seeing play-by-mail advertisements for wargames in the classifieds of sf/fantasy magazines and in Dragon back in the early eighties. I wonder if any of those are still going on. If there are, that'd be an interesting subject for an article or documentary. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 17:10:24
Play by Email works pretty much the same as the Play by Posts that are going on, except it's more drawn out since everything takes place via emails. |
