I'm new and need some help

I'm new on this site. How does one get started playing and running games?

I want to run some story telling Cthulhu horror and Sherlock Holmes games. They run a little differently because the players are not tied to a single character but basically they are very similar.

I don't want to step on any toes. What are the social rules here? I've looked at the site rules so no need to mention them.

I appreciate any feedback you can give. I believe in the wisdom of crowds.

Thanks!

Chris Engle

I do not know how to start games, as I haven't started one yet, but to join a game, check for a games which have still a spot open in them, make a character for that game using the character tab, and then submit it to the game's GM. Once the GM approves your character, you're good to go. :D

Hi Chris,

Thanks for joining up, and glad you got a chance to! I look forward to seeing more Cthulhu on here; I had mentioned to you that my friend Joe loved the game, and I'm sure he'll be excited to hear you're looking at starting up a game (he's active on this site as well).

If you're interested in running a game, its fairly straight forward. Click on the Games link in the top menu, which will bring you to a page listing all the games you're currently in/are running. You'll see a section labeled Games I'm Running with a link above it labeled "Create a New Game". Clicking that link will take you to the game creation page.

Gamers' Plane is different from most other play-by-post sites in that players first apply to your game, and then submit characters. During game creation, you can choose how many characters the players can submit (you can also edit this after the game is created). As you're interested in Cthulhu Storytelling or Sherlock Holmes, you can either start the games now using the "Custom" system, using the Custom character sheets (which are just blank sheets), or you can send me the character sheets for the games, and I can add the systems on (usually takes a few weeks). You can also start a Custom game now, send me the sheets, and we can switch the game's system when its ready.

As for social rules, the site's still building, so there's nothing hard set yet, so you can be part of its generation! Based on how people have been so far its mostly: be nice, be friendly if you can, be helpful if you want, don't be a jerk. Everyone has been super friendly so far, and I'm honored that the site is developing that way. I wouldn't worry about stepping on toes; just be social and polite! It's the internet, so arguments will happen; just be civil about it! Of course, in a game, you're welcome to set the social rules as you see fit, as long as they fit the site rules you've already read.

Cool! I'll look at the rules this week.