| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Zealot
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
 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?
|
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. |
|
|
Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3252 Posts |
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. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
 |
|
|
Christopher_Rowe
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
879 Posts |
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. |
My Realms novel, Sandstorm, is now available for ordering. |
|
|
|
Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3252 Posts |
|
|
Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
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. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
Edited by - Kuje on 28 May 2009 18:35:20 |
|
|
|
Zealot
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
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. |
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. |
|
|
|
Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3252 Posts |
|
|
Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
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. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
|
|
|
|
Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3252 Posts |
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. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
|
|
|
Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2450 Posts |
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. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
Edited by - Hoondatha on 28 May 2009 20:32:07 |
|
|
|
Zealot
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
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. |
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. |
|
|
|
Wenin
Senior Scribe
585 Posts |
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. |
Session Reports posted at RPG Geek.
Stem the Tide Takes place in Mistledale.
Dark Curtains - Takes place in the Savage North, starting in Nesmé. I wrapped my campaign into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but it takes place in 1372 DR. |
Edited by - Wenin on 29 May 2009 15:14:10 |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
How to Advice....
