Back to Posting

Work and the real world blew up on me over the summer, but I'd like to make a concerted effort to get back into regular posting. I think a good place to start would be to discuss my main -- and at this point in my life, preferred -- method of gaming: play by post. While slower than face to face (or chat-based) gaming, it is more flexible and allows me to game by only spending a half hour or so per day, as opposed to several hours at a time, which is difficult for me to find time to do.

Generally speaking, play by post gaming is accomplished on a forum. There are some forums dedicated soley to play by post gaming (Unseen Servant, RPOL, Mythweavers) while other forums have subtopics devoted to pbp (rpg.net, Giant in the Playground, Dragonsfoot, etc.).

If the forum is devoted to pbp gaming, each game typically gets its own sub-forum, which can then be set up with multiple threads for the game. In these cases there are typically threads for character sheets, IC (In Character) action, OOC (Out Of Character) chatter, and other threads as needed (I'll usually set up one thread for treasure tracking, one to use as a calendar, one for house rules, and so forth).

If the pbp gaming is part of a larger, non-dedicated forum each game will typically have one or two threads: one IC and one OOC. I find that if playing on a non-dedicated forum it is helpful to use an online wiki to keep track of character sheets, maps, treasure, etc.

Regardless of where the game is taking place they will share similar features, and, in general terms, are not that different from a face to face game: there's typically a DM who runs the game, a number of players who run their own characters and go on adventures, etc. However, the slow pace of pbp gaming creates some interesting hurdles and some opportunities, which I'll go into at a later date.