Tuesday, October 2, 2018

PBP -- Open to the World

Another benefit to play by post gaming is that, in a manner similar to live streaming a gaming session, it is most often open and available to others interested in following along. I got interested in the medium simply by starting to read through some old IC (in character) threads that had been run on a forum I frequent, and was quickly hooked. It helped that at the time I didn't have a face to face group, nor the time to join one, and was looking for some way to game. Play by post gaming was perfect for my needs; I was unable to commit to a four-hour chunk of time on a regular basis, but was able to find thirty minutes a day to participate in a game or two.

Assuming that a game is being played on an open forum it is open to anyone who browses the forum. Because of the archival nature of the internet, you're just as likely to stumble across an old game as one that is currently being run.  And, unlike streaming, pbp offers certain benefits for people like me who are not comfortable being filmed. I also learned years ago that I am not a particulary effective DM in real life: I don't do accents, I'm not very spontaneous, and, because I'm somewhat lazy, I don't do a very good job of prepping for games, which leaves me often unprepared. Play by post allows me to ignore all of those defects; for those playing in my games or following along at home, it's impossible to tell if I've been winging something or have an elaborate plan that I've spent years crafting (hint: it's mostly the former).

Because both current and former games can be found throughout the internet, it's easy to stumble across and become engaged in the medium. I would recommend logging into your forum of choice (most gaming forums are going to have a play by post sub-forum) and taking a gander at the gams currently being run. If you're interested in finding more about it, look for a game that both seems interesting to you (based on system, genre, etc.) and has a high post count (this indicates engagement). If there's a recruitment thread you might want to check that out first, since it will introduce you to the type of game being run, the theme (dungeon crawl? Sandbox?), the players and characters, and the DM. Start at the beginning, at the first post of the IC thread, and start reading.

This, for example, is the first post of a game I am currently running:

Thirdmonth, Firstday, Firstyear of the Fifteenth Cycle*
Junction


The final snows of winter have melted, leaving the ground wet and soft with the approach of spring. The sages all say that the Fourteenth Cycle is officially over, the Fifteenth Cyle has just begun, and with the coming of spring the forces of civilization are once more looking outwards. The world is new and ready for a new generation of adventurers.

The village of Junction -- little more than a hamlet, really, with a population of nearly 400 souls -- is notable chiefly for providing the ferry across the River Sarn from those traveling from the eastern Variegated Kingdoms to the vast and sprawling Basilisk Kingdom to the west. Or, more accurately, the decaying remnants of the Basilisk Kingdom. Ever since the last true king, Zaphisdreal the Magnificent, died at the beginning of the Fourteenth Cycle the Kingdom has crumbled as his many children scrabbled and fought for control, until at last it was no more than a half dozen or so petty Baronies. Up until fifty or sixty years previous Junction had still paid tribute to the nearest Baron, one Naldruth the Mad, but eventually his tax collectors stopped visiting. Junction is now an independent village, subsiding on the little traffic that passed from east to west, a small amount of ore mined to the north, and what the inhabitants can take from the river and surrounding forests.

The River Sarn, shallow and slow, flows to the south and the city of Zizdul, the once great port on the banks of the Silver Sea, but the bulk of the river traffic south goes through Rhea's Ford, a small city at the very western edge of the Scarlet Principality, a day's hard ride to the east of Junction. The adventurers have come to Junction from all over; some were perhaps even born in this small settlement at the edge of the civilized world. 

Now, with the ending of winter, and the beginning of a new Cycle, the adventurers begin plotting their next course of action. The following options have come to their attention as being potentially lucrative:

*The Fane of of Vidmar is rumored to hold the burial treasures of a long-forgotten bandit chieftain, to the north of Junction in hex 43.23.
*The Shrine of Sabeth has been abandoned since the middle of the last Cycle, on the road east to Rhea's Ford, and held several holy relics before all contact with it was lost. It lies in hex 39.25.
*To the south of Junction, on the banks of the River Sarn, a group of fishermen spied a curious round door set into the western bank, exposed from erosion caused by snowmelt. It is found in hex 42.28
*The few travelers who've made their way west from Rhea's Ford have reported attacks by a band of goblins, preying on those foolhardy individuals who make the trip through the thick woods. From the tales, it sounds like most of the attacks have occured in hexes 46.27 and 47.27.
*A small village to the west, Cyndun, is reported to have been taken over by bandits. If true, surely it is but a matter of time before the bandits venture east to raid the larger and wealthier village of Junction. Cyndun is a day's walk west, across the Sarn.

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