Modules for PbP

I was browsing DMsGuild modules the other day when I realised that there weren't any designed specifically for PbP. That seems like a hole in the market for any aspiring module writer.

Are they needed? Needed? No. Most DMs twist published modules to suit PbP - so clearly it's not essential. But I think PbP is different enough to warrant its own adventures optimized for PbP.

For a start, we need more box text. Two or three long paragraphs would be boring if read aloud by a DM - but a single short sentence is too skimpy for PbP. Somehow the written word has to rely on better descriptions than the spoken word.

Also, PbP games tend to be less combat heavy - as a DM I adjust published adventures so combat is less important.

Our NPCs need quirks and character that comes across in writing - a DM can't just get away with a silly written voice (although the gods know I've tried).

It's true that the market for PbP is probably orders of magnitude smaller than for live games, but I can't help but feel that someone could write the definitive intro PbP adventure, in the way that LMoP is the classic live 5e adventure, and just own that niche.
Perhaps with instructions on how to run a PbP game in the way that LMoP has hints for new DMs - maybe with BBCode or discord friendly box text?

But I'm a 5e guy. Maybe CoC or one of the other systems have PbP optimized modules. Dunno.

I can't speak to 'modules' since I don't use them, but I am perpetually disappointed by how little thought game writers give to PbP in their rules. Even going so far as to write rules with the assumption that people are sitting at a real table, or that only work at the table ('XP for bunging pizza!?' /urgh)

Expecting module writers give advice on how to PbP their module may be unreasonable, they may not know what PbP is, same for rule book writers. But I have seen games written by people I know mostly play PbP that fall into the same style of explicitly assuming people are sitting around a table.

That's an interesting thought. I agree that PBP specific modules would contain a lot more box text than current ones do.

There are also mechanics that work better irl than in pbp and those would probably be less prominent in "PBP modules". In Tales from the Loop, that would be Extended Trouble. It's the kind of climax to a mystery/adventure there but it works better irl where players can coordinate and the GM can respond in real time to the players' plans.

It would be interesting to design adventures specifically with PBP in mind. I wonder if someone's done that...

Well... this sounds like the beginning of an entire range of GP merchandise :D

And PbP can also do things that real life games can't! Like geometrically impossible dice, or easier keeping of secret knowledge for each player via notes or messages, or no time limit for each session because entire game is usually one very long session. Imagine how all of this can be creatively utilized! :D

I don't really like modules, but it would be interesting to see one written specifically for PbP! Adapting face to face games to forum format is a very fun thing to do in general.

Isn't that a lot of what homebrews are?

I've seen a few games and modules designed specifically for PbP over the years, but they haven't done much for me. I went ages never using published adventures (decades, really), but recently I've discovered that lighter-weight adventures can run really nicely in the PbP format. One-page dungeons, Pickpocket Press's adventure frameworks, Schwalb Entertainment's short adventures and the like -- good stuff, and easy to draw from, adapt, and bulk up.

I'd like to be 'that guy' and say that any adventure that comes in a text-recognized pdf is made for PBP. You can copy and paste vast swathes from it into your game.

But some modules are a real pain. Pathfinder modules are great for flavour, but for an encounter they often just say, "Use the stats for the Dire Woodchuck from Bestiary 3" so then you gotta go online, or dig out a different PDF file, and then manage to move the information for that creature, or trap, or spell into your game.

So for me, the best modules for PBP are entirely self-contained for the content, and have internal hyperlinks to navigate to what you need -- i.e., if there is a stat block given for a NPC, you just click the name and it takes you to the appropriate page.

I use DnD Beyond. The text is cross-referenced, linked, searchable (although full text search could be a lot better). That's not my complaint.
What "vast swathes"? I don't have vast swathes. That's my point. Maybe pathfinder adventures have vast swathes - WotC adventures don't.

There's work at nearly every location to turn the text into.. well.. text. The modules are written expecting a dialogue which doesn't happen efficiently in PbP.

IRL can get away with a room with a bed and a bookcase, and rely on a back-and-forth: What's on the bookcase? What sort of books? Is it dusty? Does it look like it's been disturbed recently? Is there a rug or is it wooden floors? If it's not important then the DM will make something up.

People in IRL games would probably find paragraphs of monologue tedious for every new scene or location, but it's kinda expected in PbP. It's also expected to be, if not interesting writing, at least not boring.

Every DM working from a module needs to write this stuff for PbP. It's not trivial, and it's extra pressure for DMs working from a module. Whereas if there were a "PbP optimised" module then I'd know that there would be the text ready (already checked for spelling and grammar).

You're a published writer. Writing is second nature to you. But I'm not a writer (most of us aren't), and I sigh when I get this sort of box text:



If I posted just that then the players would assume I was sulking about something, or had been kidnapped and had time only for one short and desperate message before my captors discovered my phone.

Sure, there's more text for that location. But it's written in the form "if the players..." and can't be used directly. Is that an extreme example? I don't think so.



I think if PbP optimized modules existed, then it'd help DMs and PbP generally.

We really do appreciate that, when kidnapped, your first priority is keeping the game moving, even above calling the police. :)

I think this is 100% viable and has potential. The fact that the community is underserved and organizes itself in predictable online locations offsets the audience's small size. You can go to r/pbp, various PbP platforms, etc. and reach your target audience directly. That makes this so much more likely that somebody will check out your adventure than just being another random adventure on the DMs Guild.

D&D is probably the best fit for this. D&D is the biggest pond to swim in, and the game is complicated enough that people running it in PbP might actually need help. Like you say, some design considerations for typical D&D adventures (and probably many systems) actually hurt their playability in PbP.

I think an adventure written for PbP from the ground up would be fun to see and interesting to create. 10/10 idea.

True or false:

Anyone who runs an adventure (whether published material or homebrew) here on GP will by necessity write all that missing text and make any adjustments make things flow more smoothly in PbP. By the end of the adventure, that GM has then created a PbP-optimized adventure, if not completely, then partly.

Mostly true. My inspiration for offering to run Pathfinder 1e's The Mummy's Mask this summer was that I'd already run it, and still have access to the posts and maps I made for it. As such, a bunch of material I could just copy and paste. Now, much of the description of the module I can just copy and paste anyway, so other than the big descriptive pieces, using the PDF has become the norm.

Dunno, mate... I'm talking about modules that DMs buy and run. Not everyone likes or runs modules - sure, but that's not the discussion. I don't know what the thing is at the end of the game. A PbP optimised story?

When I buy a module (or "published adventure" as I think WotC would say) then it has descriptions and structure and a plot that's often not terribly friendly for PbP.

They deliberately try to keep box text short but give notes that can be used in a back-and-forth with the player. They don't care if a mechanic uses lots of Harrigan Transactions (that's now the official term).

Of course, whether it be a module or PbP optimized module then the DM is still going to have to extemporise a lot of stuff - 'cos that's the game and (for me) that's the fun. That's not the problem that box text or the module is trying to solve. It's there to introduce a location, NPC or scene - and currently, that doesn't always serve our medium very well.

My musing is whether the PbP niche, whilst small, is big enough for someone to capture a high percentage by serving it well.

---

Imagine you're a module publisher on DMs' Guild.

If you published a module today, you'd be competing with hundreds? thousands? of other writers. I wonder whether a writer who wrote a PbP optimised adventure would stand out in the marketplace for those of us who PbP.

I understand what you're saying. My assertion is that (good news) running the game gets you a bit of progress towards that which you're envisioning. Still a lot of work to be done, to be sure, but hey progress.

As for the feasibility of selling such a product, well I know nothing about such things. I for one think it's a great idea. Would I want to throw money at it? Hell, yes! But I'm banned from throwing any money at this hobby.

Oh, I see. Yeah, maybe that's the process?

Run an original adventure on GP
Harvest, refine, and distil
Test, and debug
Package

I have a job and zero desire to become a module writer, so it isn't going to be me doing it! But, yeah, if someone wrote a 5e adventure designed for PbP and sold it on DMs' Guild, I'd be...



...but I'm only one customer.

But if they did a good job and it sold, then I think they'd have a real first-mover advantage through some significant brand awareness in the PbP space*.

* "first-mover advantage"? "significant brand awareness"? "PbP space"?
Jeez! I sound like a marketeer.

So... we're thinking just adapted 5e or is this a bit more general?

"Thinking"? Moi?

I said 5e because I play 5e and only 5e.

But yeah, I guess it applies generally too (although as LP said, 5e is the five hundred pound gorilla of the RPG world)

I think PBP is already a niche (though appealing to an underserved niche can work out well) and moving away from 5e while trying to sell to that niche, even if I personally would prefer another system probably, would further limit the potential market

ah right, I thought any high fantasy setting would do (I mean, simplifying d&d combat could be a plus for PbP, not just more/better text)