Feb 11, 2019 5:12 pm
OOC:
Someday I might organize everything we've learned about play by post into some sort of help document for people who want to play games in this format. This is just a place for me to drop blurbs every once in a while as I sort through my thoughts, and also can serve as a place to keep some updated rules/rulings for how we've adapted things for our game. This first one came to me the other day as I thought about ways to award Inspiration.Play by post is a strange beast. We're all 'new' to it, but at the same time we've been playing this campaign for months so we have some idea of what things work well and what things don't. Every dnd game needs to have a sense of momentum, but play by post games especially suffer if things aren't moving in some form. So, these ideas are to help drive this campaign through to its completion, which will hopefully be fun and satisfying for everyone.
I'm looking for quality and impact.
Making a post that doesn't engage with any plot points, that is jarring in tone, or that just sits isn't going to do much for the game. To give a very broad example, if your character is asked a question, don't just answer 'yes' or 'no'. Whatever your reply is, drive the narrative further by interacting with the world, asking a question in return, drawing in another character, or recommending a course of action. Small posts here and there as commentary or comedic relief are great for exploring different aspects of storytelling and narrative and roleplaying, but we really need them to ALSO move things in a direction.
A single post can accomplish multiple things. For example...
This post with Erevain builds on party banter, helps to balance the serious purpose of the party with some levity, but then also moves forward interacting with the world by making a roll and gaining information about what might lie ahead for the party.
Not all posts have to be large, but the key is that posts should spur some sort of action, reaction, or interaction either for the DM or for the other characters. A post that doesn't lead on to something new is just kind of stagnant, and it makes the game stagnant too. If a post can be removed from the thread without any change to the plot, that's a sign that it isn't doing much for the game and is contributing to stagnation.
So, about Inspiration itself...
When you guys do something to contribute to the plot, either by providing information or helping the group come to a decision IN CHARACTER, I might award you with Inspiration.
So for example... A decision needs to be made about what to do with Nym. There are a few people in the party who have information about Nym that the others don't. In addition, some other plot points worth interacting with are: Zen promised to leave and take the party with him. Ug needs to continue forward and find his mom. What do we do if run into Belhifet?
Coming forward with your character's knowledge about Nym and/or weighing in on what to do about him and the other decisions that need to be made could be a great way to get Inspiration.
You can only ever have 1 Inspiration at a time. However, if you already have Inspiration and do something worthy of another Inspiration, I might decide to give you a Hero Point instead - and there isn't an explicit cap on how many of those you can have.
So let's try this out! I love playing this game and I'm so glad you all are a part of it. Let's have some fun!