Welcome lemagne

Welcome lemagne.

What do you hope to get from this game?

Have you played Play by Post (PbP) games before? Maybe they were called Play by Email back in your day? :) Not a problem if you haven't we can teach you what you need to know, though there is also a game aimed more at teaching how to use this site and PbP, if you want, take a look at Tiny Intro fantasy for new players run by Psybermagi (those colored texts are links, even if they don't look like them and trick new players:).

I assume from your list that you don't know Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) games? That is also fine, but they can be a bit of a mind-bender for players of more traditional games. Have you read any recent games? Have you read —or do you have access to any PbtA games? If you want, you can pick up the first edition of Apocalypse World (the OG apocalypse that these games are powered by:) for free from the author's website [link] and I am a fan of Impulse Drive, which has a free (pay what you want) version of the full rules on DriveThruRPG [link]. Feel free to take a look.

Neither of those games are this game, but this game, being only three pages (minus character sheets and credits), assumes preexisting knowledge of PbtA principles. We can guide you, but you will need to let us know how much you want and what and where you need guidance.

Nah - never did pbx, y or z. I used to take the bus to a shady part of long beach (ca) to a grungy little storefront/warehouse called the "war house"(?) where they ran games most nights. I played face-to-face with the normal denizens (and their assorted liter bottles of diet mountain dew) of such a place in, say, 1980. It was dnd + house rules. I have played runequest a couple times but it was, and still is, pretty crunchy to run and to play - but I love the complete mythology of it. I also played traveller quite a bit (and again loved the completeness of it.)
Over the years I have stayed interested so I have dipped my toe in to reading about newer games - like, for example a much simplified version of RQ that exists. And yes, now that I am flipping through the apocalypse world pdf it seems I have skimmed over the rules at some earlier time and I can see why it is so popular.
So in a nutshell I am completely good in a game without rolling initiative, multi-class half elves, AC 0 plate armour, psionics etc. (yes RQ is an obsession but ... baby steps.)
blah blah blah I am retired and have a chronic disease, my main social outlets IRL are a tai-qi class and a book club - this seems like something I will enjoy.

ok I have character now called Herman Niederfelt, his stats, talent, background. I wasn't sure about equipment and if I read you correctly, his stats should sum to one, so he has a one for insight and zero for the rest.

Not a problem. PbP can be a very different experience to live play, even more so than 'skype' or discord games in that its pacing can be strange. Couple that with 'playing on the internet with strangers', and difficulty reading tone, and some find PbP difficult. Many of us prefer the slower, more considered, nature of the games, but for most of us it is the only way to get our gaming time in. :)

We probably should not direct to people to other platforms, but you might also be interested in looking at something like Roll20, or one of the other virtual table tops (VTT) if you want to try find groups to play live games with. These can also scratch the RPG itch, but in a more 'normal' feeling way. You can, of course, do both. :)
Quite the opposite of what we have here. :)

We have a total of three pages of rules and setting, and I have stripped most of the 'setting' stuff out since it was a bit cartoony and limiting in scope. Almost everything we have here will be made up by us.

We will still try follow the principles of PbtA, even if they are not laid out for us in the rules [ref].
Great. I never got into Runequest —can't remember which one that was, nor why it never clicked— but the others should provide a shared language for us to base our conversation on.

I tried some Traveller again 'recently' (Mongoose 2022 Update), and still enjoy the character creation, but after that it became a bit fiddly so the game petered out. These days I find myself wanting game rules to get out of my way and let me play, rather than dictate what my character can and can't do.
I hope so. We certainly do.

More like in Traveller than in DnD, character creation is collaborative. I prefer to have everyone be part of that, though that is less easy when adding a new character mid-game.

You can Submit a Character on the Game Details page [link] and I will accept them without looking, then we can take a look and chat.

Character creation is simple in this game, and we don't need particular roles (no 'balanced parties' here :), so I am sure it will be fine.

Tell us about him in the Character and World Creation thread. We currently have an impulsive Techie scientific type, and a cautious bodyguard/Medic.
We can chat about that in the Character Creation thread. And you can wait to tell us about the non-essentials as they come up in play.
At 'level 1' yes.
That maths. You can have stats as low as -1, and you will raise them later.

First, to be clear, you are welcome in my game. I don't want you to get discouraged, or to judge PbP by how this is going.

I am thinking you have taken a BIG step, or possibly even a few big steps, all in one. Seeing as your previous experience was way back in the mists of time when games were played different, there is a lot of things that are different about this game, not all games play this way.

There are games on Gamers Plane that use maps and minis and visuals, and there are games that use rulesets you are familiar with. This game is a hard transition, seeing how it does away with many assumptions:

'Theater of the Mind' is hard for many people, and many don't want to play that way, that is fine.

'Story Games' are also very different to more traditional games, and many struggle with the change in mindset, I have heard that The Dungeon World Guide [google drive link] is helpful for people making that change from 'traditional' games to Dungeon World, and even though this game is not Dungeon World it is based on the game World of Dungeons which is 'based' on that one.

The lack of guidance from the rules and the need to rely on other, different, games for a rulebook make this task harder than it might need to be. This process is easier for people who not played RPGs before, as they have to rely on the GM for guidance anyway.

You are welcome to stay in here, but it might be helpful —before judging PbP— to also look for a game that is a better fit, maybe focus on learning PbP in a more comfortable scenario (with maps; and a system you know ... or one can read, that has actual rules).

Let us know if we are throwing too much at you at once, of you want more, or less 'guidance' and options and choices.