Jan 16, 2023 3:20 pm
Hi there, welcome to the Basic Game Info thread for the Apocalypse World: Burned Over play-by-post game on Gamers Plane. I'm Rich, a.k.a. orklord, the MC for this campaign. If you have concerns or suggestions, feel free to share them! It's our game, after all.
Rich's Rules, Tips, and Tricks for PBP for this game:
What is [OOC]?
To designate a forum thread for "out of character" chatter, I use the prefix of [OOC]. "Out of character" means we’re talking as regular folks. However, most of our chatter will happen on our Discordnel, so this may be our only [OOC] thread. I will list custom moves and links to our resources in this thread and "sticky" it so it will stay at the top.
What are the rules?
I've created a Google Doc to house our rules for this play of AW:BO.
How do I "play"?
I do my best to emulate a face-to-face game. We have a Discord channel (aw-game-chatter) going for schedule updates, rules questions, and the like. Let's keep the live threads here filled with the game.
Say what you do. I'll ask you questions, and frame out scenes - you answer and say what you intend to do or what is going on in your head. If I see a move, I'll ask you to roll. You should add a roll to the thread where you engaged a move. If you can't (you are helping or there is already a roll there), add a new post with a roll and some light flavor text.
Who talks for NPCs?
For most situations, I prefer to role-play or portray NPCs in our fiction. I'm okay if you describe some flavor of their reaction in a post for your PC, perhaps a look, or a gesture, something that just gives focus to your actions/intentions. However, I would rather handle the rest. I like writing characters and dialog, I like expressing my thoughts on the world and our setting through them. This is a big part of my fun. Please don't take that away from me. If you feel strongly about this, let me know privately and we can talk about it.
The exception to this is NPCs that are "bought and paid for", meaning your gang, your crew, your helpers, and NPCs that come from a Move or an Advance. I am comfier giving some leeway there. They're somewhat an extension of your PC, so some light conversation or reaction from them will be cues to me for how you see them in your "penumbra", so to speak.
Whoah, wait for a second, Rich... Apocalypse World doesn't give me this much narrative authority, does it?
Okay, sometimes I'll ask you to answer questions outside your character's skin. I love the First Session world-building aspect of Apocalypse World. I am in love with the "Mountain Witch trick". I use it often.
First or third person?
As a player, I prefer writing in first person, it’s fun to "get in the head" of my PC. For this game, unless a question is phrased in the past tense, or there’s another reason in the fiction to do so, please keep it first person and present tense. You’ll like it, I promise!
How much do I write?
Since we're posting frequently, I'd say a paragraph or so, a bit more if it's juicy content. I do NOT expect a half page. Please don't write a novel, friends.
Wait, Rich puts all his dialog in bold? WTF?
I like to bold NPC dialog because it’s easier to skim. I think I stole this from Scott (silica), but I've been doing it for ten years, so maybe I'm wrong.
Who starts scenes?
The MC (me) starts scenes. I will open new threads for scenes, usually when we move to different places. I have a Discord webhook I can use so the new posts will pop into our Discord. I like how in other games I've played that the scene thread lists the characters and what session/scene they're in. I will replicate that for this game, plus add tags for the PCs involved. Scenes will have your PC's first initial in the suffix as well as the session and scene number. I often go with memorable or silly scene titles, they're just a shorthand to help me keep them straight.
For example, if I kick off a scene in the infirmary where Navarre and Gabe are in his infirmary for the first scene (just an example, mind you), it might be titled:
Better Get That Looked At (N 1.1, G 1.1)
What if I want a specific scene?
Any player can ask for a scene at any time. This is actually a good idea for times when player activity is out of sync and you want to keep going (as long as I can keep up). Ask for it in our aw-game-chatter Discord channel or message me privately in Discord and I'll start up a scene with a new thread.
How do we help each other?
I'm going to allow players to Help AFTER the roll here. Players can ask before they hit the dice if they wish.
What if I'm not in a scene, but I have a cool idea for something to happen? Or, what if I am in a scene and I have a cool idea for something for the MC to do to another Player Character that my character wouldn't do?
First of all, both situations are great! I welcome input and collaboration. Please share your idea or request in our aw-game-chatter Discord channel. I may ask questions, I may throw it into an active scene thread whole cloth, I may modify it. But I love the feedback and I will do my best to foster collaboration because this is *our* game, not *my* game.
Dude, seriously, I’ve been waiting FOREVER!!!!
There could be a time or two when you’re waiting for a response from me, or from a PC, and it’s been a day with no response and the other person is supposed to be around. Go ahead and send me a private message or drop a question in the aw-game-chatter Discord channel. Be nice, we’re all adults: we have jobs and friends/families. Real life trumps game time! I won’t be offended if you politely prod me. Sometimes I might’ve just misread something and didn’t realize I was holding up a scene. Other times, I might be busy, and I’ll apologize and rectify it ASAP. Sometimes (just sometimes, mind you), the muse might not have struck me and I’ll use the chance to ask for some help or ideas. Be nice, help out an MC, and we’ll get moving again.
When does a "game session" end?
This is important because AW has mechanics for session ends. I will call the end of a session based on feel, taking into account how much real-life time has passed, how much game time has passed and how many events have occurred. If you feel a session has come to a natural end, please say so on our aw-game-chatter Discord channel, I will take it into account.
How often do we play?
The game is basically always live, which is for good or ill. I post with relative frequency but without much consistency (meaning sometimes during weekdays if work is light, sometimes at night unless I have offline fun/responsibilities happening). My weekends are primarily for live RPG play and for my family, so expect light posting then. If I am going to be offline for more than two days, I will note it in our aw-game-chatter Discord channel.
How long will this go on?
I plan on running this for six or so months. It's mid-January as we begin. We're shooting to be "done" by mid-July, and I’ll try to make that a satisfying conclusion, but if at the end of July, we (or merely some of "we") want to continue, we'll discuss it then. I find that "full" campaigns of Apocalypse Engine games on PBP run for about 7-9 game "sessions", and "sessions" often last a month, so we could be only halfway there as far as fiction. I’m sure we’ll still be going strong, but you’ll definitely have a chance to jump off the carousel in a satisfying way if you don’t want to continue.
Rich's Rules, Tips, and Tricks for PBP for this game:
What is [OOC]?
To designate a forum thread for "out of character" chatter, I use the prefix of [OOC]. "Out of character" means we’re talking as regular folks. However, most of our chatter will happen on our Discordnel, so this may be our only [OOC] thread. I will list custom moves and links to our resources in this thread and "sticky" it so it will stay at the top.
What are the rules?
I've created a Google Doc to house our rules for this play of AW:BO.
How do I "play"?
I do my best to emulate a face-to-face game. We have a Discord channel (aw-game-chatter) going for schedule updates, rules questions, and the like. Let's keep the live threads here filled with the game.
Say what you do. I'll ask you questions, and frame out scenes - you answer and say what you intend to do or what is going on in your head. If I see a move, I'll ask you to roll. You should add a roll to the thread where you engaged a move. If you can't (you are helping or there is already a roll there), add a new post with a roll and some light flavor text.
Who talks for NPCs?
For most situations, I prefer to role-play or portray NPCs in our fiction. I'm okay if you describe some flavor of their reaction in a post for your PC, perhaps a look, or a gesture, something that just gives focus to your actions/intentions. However, I would rather handle the rest. I like writing characters and dialog, I like expressing my thoughts on the world and our setting through them. This is a big part of my fun. Please don't take that away from me. If you feel strongly about this, let me know privately and we can talk about it.
The exception to this is NPCs that are "bought and paid for", meaning your gang, your crew, your helpers, and NPCs that come from a Move or an Advance. I am comfier giving some leeway there. They're somewhat an extension of your PC, so some light conversation or reaction from them will be cues to me for how you see them in your "penumbra", so to speak.
Whoah, wait for a second, Rich... Apocalypse World doesn't give me this much narrative authority, does it?
Okay, sometimes I'll ask you to answer questions outside your character's skin. I love the First Session world-building aspect of Apocalypse World. I am in love with the "Mountain Witch trick". I use it often.
First or third person?
As a player, I prefer writing in first person, it’s fun to "get in the head" of my PC. For this game, unless a question is phrased in the past tense, or there’s another reason in the fiction to do so, please keep it first person and present tense. You’ll like it, I promise!
How much do I write?
Since we're posting frequently, I'd say a paragraph or so, a bit more if it's juicy content. I do NOT expect a half page. Please don't write a novel, friends.
Wait, Rich puts all his dialog in bold? WTF?
I like to bold NPC dialog because it’s easier to skim. I think I stole this from Scott (silica), but I've been doing it for ten years, so maybe I'm wrong.
Who starts scenes?
The MC (me) starts scenes. I will open new threads for scenes, usually when we move to different places. I have a Discord webhook I can use so the new posts will pop into our Discord. I like how in other games I've played that the scene thread lists the characters and what session/scene they're in. I will replicate that for this game, plus add tags for the PCs involved. Scenes will have your PC's first initial in the suffix as well as the session and scene number. I often go with memorable or silly scene titles, they're just a shorthand to help me keep them straight.
For example, if I kick off a scene in the infirmary where Navarre and Gabe are in his infirmary for the first scene (just an example, mind you), it might be titled:
Better Get That Looked At (N 1.1, G 1.1)
What if I want a specific scene?
Any player can ask for a scene at any time. This is actually a good idea for times when player activity is out of sync and you want to keep going (as long as I can keep up). Ask for it in our aw-game-chatter Discord channel or message me privately in Discord and I'll start up a scene with a new thread.
How do we help each other?
I'm going to allow players to Help AFTER the roll here. Players can ask before they hit the dice if they wish.
What if I'm not in a scene, but I have a cool idea for something to happen? Or, what if I am in a scene and I have a cool idea for something for the MC to do to another Player Character that my character wouldn't do?
First of all, both situations are great! I welcome input and collaboration. Please share your idea or request in our aw-game-chatter Discord channel. I may ask questions, I may throw it into an active scene thread whole cloth, I may modify it. But I love the feedback and I will do my best to foster collaboration because this is *our* game, not *my* game.
Dude, seriously, I’ve been waiting FOREVER!!!!
There could be a time or two when you’re waiting for a response from me, or from a PC, and it’s been a day with no response and the other person is supposed to be around. Go ahead and send me a private message or drop a question in the aw-game-chatter Discord channel. Be nice, we’re all adults: we have jobs and friends/families. Real life trumps game time! I won’t be offended if you politely prod me. Sometimes I might’ve just misread something and didn’t realize I was holding up a scene. Other times, I might be busy, and I’ll apologize and rectify it ASAP. Sometimes (just sometimes, mind you), the muse might not have struck me and I’ll use the chance to ask for some help or ideas. Be nice, help out an MC, and we’ll get moving again.
When does a "game session" end?
This is important because AW has mechanics for session ends. I will call the end of a session based on feel, taking into account how much real-life time has passed, how much game time has passed and how many events have occurred. If you feel a session has come to a natural end, please say so on our aw-game-chatter Discord channel, I will take it into account.
How often do we play?
The game is basically always live, which is for good or ill. I post with relative frequency but without much consistency (meaning sometimes during weekdays if work is light, sometimes at night unless I have offline fun/responsibilities happening). My weekends are primarily for live RPG play and for my family, so expect light posting then. If I am going to be offline for more than two days, I will note it in our aw-game-chatter Discord channel.
How long will this go on?
I plan on running this for six or so months. It's mid-January as we begin. We're shooting to be "done" by mid-July, and I’ll try to make that a satisfying conclusion, but if at the end of July, we (or merely some of "we") want to continue, we'll discuss it then. I find that "full" campaigns of Apocalypse Engine games on PBP run for about 7-9 game "sessions", and "sessions" often last a month, so we could be only halfway there as far as fiction. I’m sure we’ll still be going strong, but you’ll definitely have a chance to jump off the carousel in a satisfying way if you don’t want to continue.
