New to Play by Post

Hey guys,

So I'm new to play by post but not to roleplaying. I also made this account a while ago, and introduced myself then, but never used it. I have some anxiety issues that prevent me from doing most types of roleplaying. Voice chat with strangers it too much, and IRL is hard, if I don't know the people. Anxiety sucks.

Anyway, I discovered this site a while back, but I figured if I finally intend to use the site, I should reintroduce myself because it's been awhile and I have some newb questions for you all.

First a little about me. I've tried various other systems but I like 5e the best. It's just very nicely stream lined, without being too simple. Besides RP I also play bass guitar for fun.

Now question time! So I think I get how play by post works. Instead of the DM asking you to roll, you just roll in you post, and the DM will correct you or ask you to roll for anything you should have rolled for. Is that right? I'm just trying to figure out how the usual DM/player back and forth would work in a forum style RP.

Also how the heck would you do combat in a play by post. Like some people only post once a week! If you only roll for attack once a week, combat is gonna take forever, so I feel like I'm missing something. Granted play by post is likely more RP oriented, but still.

I think that's it as far as questions go. Thanks for any and all responses. Based on my last experience here, people were really nice, and this is a really great community. Just wanted to give you all props for that :)

Welcome/ Welcome back.

Yes, you would do your rolls in your post. In my experience if you know you need to roll, do so, otherwise, it doesn't hurt to put it in there. There seems to not be a massive character limit on the pages for the thread vs. how many post per page so you have have a short novel as your post and as many rolls as deemed necessary.

As for combat, it can be rather tedious. there are some times when you are a post per day game or post per week or whatever it may be. I would suggest playing in a "fast game" 1-3 posts per day so you can kind of get the feel of it. regardless of if its RP oriented or combat. there will always be down time. I believe most of the players on here are in somewhere around 5+ games due to the lagg time between posts.

With all that being said always check with your gm on how things be done. There will be times when things go super fast and ther will be long stretches of waiting for someone else to post. I've had a slight hard time because i see all the posts via email to my phone so i quickly go to look and want to post but its not pertaining to me or my character.

Oh man, haha I don't think I could keep track of 5+ Characters/Stories at the same time. Maybe 2 or three of those faster games you mentioned. Thanks for the info btw, very helpful!

As far as combat goes, the experienced GMs here have found ways to speed it up.

1. Side-based initiative - There are two 'turns', one for players, and one for monsters. All of the players take their turns in whatever order they can manage to post and the GM just goes along with it, and then the monsters take their turns.
--- Makes combat less reliant on waiting for a specific person to post before you can take your turn.

2. Posting time limits - A lot of GMs give players a certain timeframe to post in, such as "You have 24 hours to take your turn or I take it for you"

3. Not being afraid to replace players that don't keep up with the game as they should.

Hello, and combat takes time.

You've got it pretty much right with the rolling in the post.

No matter how you slice it, once you need to start involving everyone with a sense simultaneity things slow down. Its just something to be aware. Naatkinson and Cavejohnson gave some good suggestions. Mine would be to minimize combat and try to find other ways to keep the game interesting/challenging for the players.

Welcome to the site. PbP is slooooowwwwww. There is no way around it. And sometimes you get lucky with a good group that posts regularly and sometimes you get a game that posts for a few weeks then dies. That is the way it goes. Perseverance and patience are key. The positives of the experience are an opportunity (again if you get the right group) to RP in a rich character motivated way that is hard to do at the table.

Welcome Sosaythedice! Even regular players go through periods where they can't post for a few days. In such cases, the GM has the option to act for the players in the interest of keeping things moving. I find that running a game like D&D 5e, I'm happy if we can get through each combat round in a day or so. That's one post per person, with the GM responding/resolving each post as they come up, or in batches.

It is always faster if the players can anticipate the rolls needed and just add them to their post. The GM can then either apply any missing modifiers to the results, or if absolutely necessary, request another roll.

The caveat to adding your own rolls before the DM asks for it is that you need to know when it is appropriate and which roll to use. That only comes from experience, so don't feel like you're obligated to do so when you're starting off.

Hello and re-welcome.

Yeah, pbp is definitely different than a face-to-face session and you have to adjust.

A good example would be my Dungeoslayer game I run (shameless plug) in which the dodge talent can be used to avoid a melee attack before damage is known, but of course, in pbp format, this is not really possible without considerably slowing down play. So to adjust, I allow the dodge talent to be used after damage is posted.

So yeah, you'll meet some small challenges like that from time to time depending on the system you use.

Welcome back! I won't bother mentioning the how-to's, as other's have covered it and know it better than me anyway. Hope you find games you like!