Post by Baron on Feb 5, 2008 10:22:42 GMT -5
I'm going to try to get this going as quickly as possible, and if more people wish to join later on that's great, talk to me about it and I'll fit you in as early as I can.
For the most part I don't think I'll have to PM or email anyone if the group separates and different things are going on for each person. I may do it if only one person notices something, but aside from that, things should be kept on the boards for both ease of play and as a record.
Most of your post should be in-game description of how you behave, what you say, etc. It should be more than "I hit the bad guy with a stick". This is a Play by Post, not an IRC or in-person game, so you have plenty of time to type up how your character thinks, how he looks during his actions, and how he says what he says. (At the same time, no need to be Shakespeare here, either. Be descriptive, but don't aim for length for the sake of it. It's boring and no one wants to read that stuff). The object of this is to keep the immersion as much as possible while still making the thing fun to play.
As for order of posts, if there is no combat or initiative going on, the rule of thumb is to let everyone post once before you do so again. Rushing play because you really want to do something is stupid and I won't reward it. A few slip ups are fine, but if it becomes a habit I will start ignoring subsequent posts until all have gone before you. I doubt this will happen, but I get pissed when people run each other over, so I felt the need to say it.
If a defined order is needed to keep play smooth later on we'll discuss it, otherwise FFA posting will be good outside of battles and other initiative-determined things. When it is initiative-based stuff, I will ask each person individually what they do and follow up their post with the results, then move on to the next person one at a time. Fair enough, really.
When you roll dice, I suggest you use the roller at invisiblecastle.com/ . Sign up is free and just needs an email address, and each roll you make gives a unique URL that anyone can look at. You can also slot the rolls under the campaign name and everyone can have a great time looking at the history of the rolls to double-check that you didn't spam the roll until you got one that worked.
Once you use this place to make the role, copy the url and make a hyperlink to it at the end of your post, with the text describing what the role is for and what the result is (for people who are lazy and don't want to check). Here's an example:
Test roll: (1d100 + 0 => 37)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1482622/
Test roll about something else: (3x(1d20+2) = 20, 9, 3)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1482664/
I will only give you a DC to make if I already describe what's causing the check and specify what a success or failure means (E.g. DC 18 to run down a slicked floor in sturdy boots, failure by less than five means you nearly fall but keep moving half speed, failure by more than five means you fall). In this case, you can describe what you do in your post when you make the roles (E.g. my daring explorer takes a magnificent nose-dive into the linoleum tile, regains his feet slowly, and decides that adventuring in the Fortress of Janitorial Hazards is far to risky for him. He returns outside and lives the rest of his life as an accountant).
I will not post DC's for super-sneaky roles, and for the most part I will not post the results of my die rolls (unless I make a character to go with the party at the same time, in which case I'll always post the character's for actions. This applies to DMPCs, not NPCs that I have join your group for plot advancement, etc.).
I will not post these DM roles for two reasons. One, the die rolls could potentially tell you more than I want you to know about things. Two, I want to be able to fudge numbers if I feel it's absolutely necessary in order to advance the plot. I will avoid this latter one like the plague, though, so unless I happen to realize in the last three rounds of a battle that it makes absolutely no sense for you to kill it (or visa versa), I will not be taking creative liberty with die rolls. I will ask that you trust me that the results are valid.
If I think of anything else people need to know about this game, I'll post it up. Also, feel free to ask any questions about the content in my posts here. I'll reply best I can.
For the most part I don't think I'll have to PM or email anyone if the group separates and different things are going on for each person. I may do it if only one person notices something, but aside from that, things should be kept on the boards for both ease of play and as a record.
Most of your post should be in-game description of how you behave, what you say, etc. It should be more than "I hit the bad guy with a stick". This is a Play by Post, not an IRC or in-person game, so you have plenty of time to type up how your character thinks, how he looks during his actions, and how he says what he says. (At the same time, no need to be Shakespeare here, either. Be descriptive, but don't aim for length for the sake of it. It's boring and no one wants to read that stuff). The object of this is to keep the immersion as much as possible while still making the thing fun to play.
As for order of posts, if there is no combat or initiative going on, the rule of thumb is to let everyone post once before you do so again. Rushing play because you really want to do something is stupid and I won't reward it. A few slip ups are fine, but if it becomes a habit I will start ignoring subsequent posts until all have gone before you. I doubt this will happen, but I get pissed when people run each other over, so I felt the need to say it.
If a defined order is needed to keep play smooth later on we'll discuss it, otherwise FFA posting will be good outside of battles and other initiative-determined things. When it is initiative-based stuff, I will ask each person individually what they do and follow up their post with the results, then move on to the next person one at a time. Fair enough, really.
When you roll dice, I suggest you use the roller at invisiblecastle.com/ . Sign up is free and just needs an email address, and each roll you make gives a unique URL that anyone can look at. You can also slot the rolls under the campaign name and everyone can have a great time looking at the history of the rolls to double-check that you didn't spam the roll until you got one that worked.
Once you use this place to make the role, copy the url and make a hyperlink to it at the end of your post, with the text describing what the role is for and what the result is (for people who are lazy and don't want to check). Here's an example:
Test roll: (1d100 + 0 => 37)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1482622/
Test roll about something else: (3x(1d20+2) = 20, 9, 3)
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1482664/
I will only give you a DC to make if I already describe what's causing the check and specify what a success or failure means (E.g. DC 18 to run down a slicked floor in sturdy boots, failure by less than five means you nearly fall but keep moving half speed, failure by more than five means you fall). In this case, you can describe what you do in your post when you make the roles (E.g. my daring explorer takes a magnificent nose-dive into the linoleum tile, regains his feet slowly, and decides that adventuring in the Fortress of Janitorial Hazards is far to risky for him. He returns outside and lives the rest of his life as an accountant).
I will not post DC's for super-sneaky roles, and for the most part I will not post the results of my die rolls (unless I make a character to go with the party at the same time, in which case I'll always post the character's for actions. This applies to DMPCs, not NPCs that I have join your group for plot advancement, etc.).
I will not post these DM roles for two reasons. One, the die rolls could potentially tell you more than I want you to know about things. Two, I want to be able to fudge numbers if I feel it's absolutely necessary in order to advance the plot. I will avoid this latter one like the plague, though, so unless I happen to realize in the last three rounds of a battle that it makes absolutely no sense for you to kill it (or visa versa), I will not be taking creative liberty with die rolls. I will ask that you trust me that the results are valid.
If I think of anything else people need to know about this game, I'll post it up. Also, feel free to ask any questions about the content in my posts here. I'll reply best I can.