I got an email a little while back from Mark Katakowski, in which he asked me to discuss roleplaying blogs (or “RPBs”). Another TT reader, Kreik, made a similar request in a comment here, and I’ve decided to combine the two in this post.
I’ve never run a RPB, but blog games have a lot in common with play-by-post games (PbPs), and based on my PbP experience I’d like to offer 5 tips for making your online game a success.
In case you’re completely unfamiliar with play-by-post and play-by-blog games (as I was when I set out to run mine), here’s a quick primer.
The main difference between these two types of online game and a traditional tabletop game is that all of the action gets described in posts (including die rolls). This tends to lead to a very different pace — which can sometimes be pretty glacial! — but it opens up some neat roleplaying opportunities, since you can think everything through before you post.
A couple of examples might also be useful. Mark’s blog, Descent into Depths!, is a good example of a RPB, and on the PbP side of things you can find a host of games in progress on EN World’s Playing the Game forum.
There are some differences between PbP and RPB games, as well — but not that many. Since they’re functionally the same, these tips apply to both types of game. (I’ll look at some of the advantages of RPBs at the end of this post.)
Here are the tips:
- Require daily posts from your players.
- Provide some sample posts.
- Consider having fewer combats.
- Set up an out of character (OOC) area.
- Let everyone make their own rolls.
Require daily posts from your players
The fact that my group didn’t do this was the single largest factor that contributed to the downfall of my PbP game. Because of their schedules, some of my players couldn’t commit to daily posts, so we made our minimum every other day. Bad idea.
Without daily posts, at least on weekdays, it’s very difficult to maintain the flow of the game — and to keep energy levels high. In a tabletop game, it’s easy for the GM to see when everyone is into the game, and when they’re not, and adjust accordingly. That’s not the case in online games, and requiring daily posts is a good way to address that issue.
Provide some sample posts
If your group has lots of RPB or PbP experience, you can skip this one — but if not, it can be very handy to give your players a couple of sample posts so they have an idea of how this style of game can work.
At a minimum, I’d provide one combat post and one non-combat post, so everyone has an idea of what to do when you start playing.
Consider having fewer combats
My PbP game was a D&D campaign, and we had one combat that took three weeks to play out — not the ideal situation! This was due in part to our schedule, as we used a 48 hour “timer” for all combat posts: After I posted for the party’s foes, the players got 48 hours to respond; if they didn’t post, they took the full defense action (essentially, did nothing).
Even with daily posts, though, combat will tend to take longer than you might expect — sometimes a lot longer. I think our three week combat killed a lot of the momentum in my PbP game, so it’s something I would avoid in the future.
Set up an out of character (OOC) area
PbP and RPB games will include two types of “speech” (text): in character (IC) and out of character (OOC). I found that keeping OOC chatter in the main thread — the game itself — to a minimum was very useful, since it let everyone stay focused on the action.
But you don’t want to give up the social aspect of gaming, even though you’re playing online — and that’s where the OOC area comes in. In a messageboard game (most PbPs), you can usually start a separate thread just for chitchat, questions about the game, awarding XP, etc. In a blog game, I’d suggest making an OOC page and using the comments for OOC posts (or going Mark’s route, and setting up a separate blog just for OOC posts).
Let everyone make their own rolls
Unless you want to create a lot of headaches for yourself as the GM, everyone should be trusted to make their own rolls. One good online option for doing this is Kevin Savage’s online dice roller. (If you’d prefer to be able to make sure no one is cheating, try the Vacuum Elemental dice roller instead, as it allows you to record rolls in their database.)
Other Info
If I was going to run an online game again, I would run a RPB instead of a PbP.
The only real downside to RPBs is that the barrier to entry is slightly higher than it is for PbP games: For a PbP, you just start a couple of threads on someone else’s messageboard; for a RPB, you need to start your own blog. That said, starting a blog is pretty simple — check out Blogging Your Game Sessions for some useful tips.
The main reason that I would go with a RPB is the level of control this would give me over the gaming environment. I’d be able to upload maps, PC portraits and anything else that might be useful for the group, and I could fine-tune everything from the color scheme to the font to evoke the mood of the game.
I wrote a lengthy intro to PbP gaming for my Selgaunt group, and there’s some useful info in there (with the notable exception of the “Checking In” section, which should read “Everyone must post daily”).
Have you run a blog game or PbP? What was your experience like? What other tips would you give someone who’s thinking about starting up one of these types of game?
Out of curiosity, did you post combat maps in your PbP game? I’m currently playing on dndonlinegames, and not knowing where people are is looking to be a big difference between PnP and PbP.
I made maps using a free program called Dungeon Crafter — the link is on my 3d6.org site, in the intro to PbP that I linked to at the end of this article.
DC produces pretty basic maps, but they’re more than adequate for combat. I used PhotoShop to tweak them a bit and include character names and other info, but I think you could get by without it. 🙂
I just made a basic grid in fireworks (paint would work too) and added row/column demarctions and then circles for the characters with their names on it. (and arrows for facing) It was fairly easy to edit (using layers) and was a real good way for everyone to declare where they wanted to go in combat, (i move to the the left of the elemental [i6]) and they knew their relation to everyone else. Worked pretty well for us
I’m curious about ways to keep RPB combat from overwhelming the experience. What methods have people used to get even a large-ish combat over with quickly? Say 2-3 days, at most?
-David
A really low-tech solution to the die rolls (if trust isn’t an option), is to use the “double-blind” system that a lot of PBEM games once uses. For d20, I’d probably only do this for the d20 roll itself, then trust the players to roll damage themselves.
All you need is a grid with a number of cells that is a multiple of 20. 20×20 would work best, if you want to allow people to pick their results. Populate the cells equally for each possible result. Label the rows with numbers and the columns with letters (or same numbers, if this will not confuse everyone).
When a player makes an attack (or skill roll or whatever), roll for a column or just pick one. Then roll damage as if you had hit. Maybe follow up with the confirmation roll (or pick) and critical damage in case that happens. The DM has already picked the letter(s) for your attack. He cross indexes your submitted number with his letter, and that’s what you rolled.
Of course, to be a true “double-blind”, you need a third party that receives both the number and the letter from the grid, or at least handles the timing. That kind of thing gets used in PBEM wargaming, where both sides send the appropriate lists on set dates–the post office stamp thus fulfilling the third party role.
The above system works fine for RPGs, since the DM is already being trusted with a lot more. He can even generated a list of his results well in advance, then apply them to the player submissons as they happen. You could do the same thing for each dice, though that would seem gross overkill.
Drat, forgot to enter the main point. With a game involving posting, it may make sense to develop alternate rules for rounds resolution.
For example, GMing D&D 3E, I’d probably make everyone state their actions for the round, then I’d post what I’d already written up for the foes to do. Then roll for initiative (the only situation where I’d roll every round).
Double-blind on all die rolls would be worth the trouble here. Effectively, everyone has committed to a course and a resolution for the round, but no one knows what the outcome will be until the DM resolves all the roll codes. You resolve a whole round of combat in one posting cycle. Maybe it takes two for special situation resolution.
You’d need some adjustments for niche cases–such as whether two opponents that moved past each other enroute to someone else got AoO on each other. And I guess you’d just have to deal if your arrow shot takes someone already taken down.
But the bigger point is that it doesn’t necessarily make sense to use mechanics specifically designed for table-top, without some adjustment to take advantage of the posting environment. Simultaneous action actually works better there. Or maybe that’s an argument to not use d20, but a different system that already uses simultaneous action (probably poorly) in the tabletop game.
Thanks for covering the topic.
I’d say that the key to a successful RPB is to keep if loose and adaptable.
Trust die rolls, and allow for the DM to storyline liberally. A RPB is not, and cannot be, the same game as tabletop.
Keep the story moving forward. Don’t sweat the details.
Zan: That’s pretty much how I ran my hybrid Dungeon Crafter/PhotoShop maps, too, and it works well.
David: I can see how even d20 combat could be kept manageable if everyone posted at least once a day — if not more often.
It might even be worth trying scheduling an IM or IRC session just for combat, to resolve it in real time.
CJ: That double blind system for rolls is neat — I’ve never heard of that.
As far as turn order, I actually went the opposite route that you suggested for my PbP: I stated all of the monsters’ actions up front, and let the PCs react accordingly. That worked pretty well, at least for my group.
Mark: You’re welcome. It was a fun post to write — thank you (and Kreik) for suggesting the topic. 🙂
Good points, Cayzle — especially regarding community and player turnover. Sites that host messageboard games also tend to be great places to recruit players, whether you’re running your PbP on a blog or a messageboard.
Thanks for the links. 🙂
I have no experience with playing on a message board, but I have played in PBeMs and am currently in one too.
I’d like to modify the “daily posts” a bit. It’s important that everybody posts at roughly the same frequency, but that doesn’t have to be daily. Weekly posts could work just as well (and is easier to keep up with for people with jobs and busy schedules), but you’ve got a serious problem if two people post daily and two post weekly.
mcv: I agree that posts on a frequency less than daily can work — I’ve seen games on EN World longer delays — but as a general rule, it’s not a good baseline for most groups.
With daily posts, the gaps between times that you need to stay motivated are shorter, which makes staying motivated easier. But everyone is different, and you’re right that same frequency = more important than the specific frequency.
Daily certainly has the advantage of keeping the flow going, but some people may have busy schedules, and with daily updates, not posting for a few days will set you back quite a lot. With weekly posts, it’s not so bad.
It’s a trade-off, and depends a lot on the players involved. If everybody can afford it, daily is great, ofcourse.
mcv: I think we’re on the same page with this one. You’re point about frequency needing to mesh well with schedules is well taken. 🙂