The ways in which we can experience an immersive fantasy RPG world have truly become outstanding. We have virtual reality and life-like graphically impressive video games. With all of this at our fingertips is playing an RPG on a forum… in text… a dead art form?
TLDR; Play by Post is awesome, alive, and kicking and we think you just might love being a part of it. The “secret sauce” here is that it’s a style that lets you scratch the D&D itch when you can get a post or two in on your own time. In this article we’ll tell you everything you need to know about why you might consider playing a Play by Post game, and how you could go about doing so.
What is a Play by Post (PbP) RPG?
Back in the beginnings of the internet when one person was online in your house and the other picked up the phone and they heard a cacophony of dial-up modem noises, gamers wanted to play RPGs with other players but slow bandwidth, and lack of developed games was the story of the day. In this setting Play by Post RPGs were born. Geeks like us would take to the internet forums to play D&D and other narrative RPG games in chat form, played asynchronously with other players who updated as they had time throughout the week. All of a sudden now you could narrate collaborative adventures with other players all over the world. This was high a technological marvel!
Most of what a play by post RPG is, is exactly what it sounds like. This form of RPG still involves a game master, players, dice rolling, character sheets, encounters, NPCs, XP, etc. The main difference is that the game is practically played over forum post.
How Much Time Does a Play by Post Game Take?
It really does depend on the
Play by Post vs. Live Play – Pros and Cons
We’ve interviewed Cloud 9 Tabletop’s Play by Post Game Master Michael B. to learn about his experiences running PBP games to date.
Play by Post – Pros
Play on Your Time and Schedule.
The “drip” of
This is really the only system like it that allows you to get in truly collaborative, immersive story based role playing on when it happens to work for your schedule. Check in and write a post when you’ve gotten home from work, on your lunch break at work. Reply to an in character conversation when you are in the grocery line or waiting for your name to be called at the doctors office. It really is tremendously flexible in that sense.
Cadence is also worth mentioning here. The game can really support very frequent updates from players as well as players not being available some time. Most groups just generally ask that if you’re going to be gone for an extended period and they will just adjust to accommodate.
The Game “Feels” Like it Plays at a Much More Relaxed Pace.
When you play in person, there tends to be a little bit of anxiety around making sure you get in some really cool nuggets into each session. Play by post, by comparison, tends to just be a story that unfolds as it does, over time. There is no pressure to “make sure you get in a good combat each session” or anything of the like.
The Role Playing Tends to be a Lot More In- Depth .
Given the time to contemplate their responses and no pressure of replying in the moment, play by post interactions tend to have more immersive roleplay… with players thinking through and writing out what their characters would say in person. This is true both for party dialogue, and also 1:1 side dialogue between players in character.
Notes? What Notes?
Bad at taking notes about what has happened in the campaign thus far? Forget to write down an NPC’s name? With a play by post game there is an automatic log of all events so scrolling back for understanding what that darn password was to open that secret cavern door, or recalling what the Matron’s favorite wine was is now a matter of just scrolling up.
Lone-Wolf Play Can Actually be OK.
I almost put this one in the cons section, but this is actually a good thing. Players that have always wanted to experience a more solo play style with the flexibility of a system like D&D can do so in this kind of campaign. They would need to just work with the DM to talk about how it would work out, but this lone wolf character could still play out their story without the downside it would have in a live game… mostly that it just makes the experience boring for those not involved.
Play by Post – Cons
Combat is a Bit Rough.
While moving to a play by post format may enhance role play and inter-party dialogue, it does the opposite for combat. Combat rounds tend to be the type of play that you cannot really perform asynchronously. It may take days of real time to resolve a combat that may have taken 20 minutes in a live game.
Combat With a Battle Mat & Minis is Even Rougher.
Considering that combats can be where interactions can become a little more tedious, trying to work in a battle mat is even more challenging. Trying to work out getting pawns or minis moved, and updated… working out AOE spells etc. can really gum up the works. Michael recommends keeping it with a theater of the mind combat system and keeping things more narrative. If the tactical / skirmish battle mat side of D&D really lights you up, you may find yourself not getting that itch scratched very well in a play by post.
The Practical Side: How does this PbP thing actually work?
If playing in a play by post adventure has piqued your interest, here’s a breakdown of how aspects of the game have shown themselves to work best. We’ll go over how Michael does things. There may be other methods out there but we like these.
Chat Channels
Each player maintains a direct channel with the DM. In Michael’s game he starts every player on their own prologue plot. The player gets to flesh out their back story / hooks into the current world, and take on an encounter or two. After this based on what the character is doing in the world, he may meet some or all of the other players and be brought into a channel with them.
Potential for Lots of players
Because there is not the same problem with spotlight management that you have at a live game, this kind of campaign can support lots of players. 12-20 players in a campaign would not be unusual. The main difference is that at any given time, the players may be working with some others in the campaign but maybe not even aware of others.
Organic Party Forming
Players often find themselves forming up with other players in the campaign more organically than at a physical table. Characters with like goals and motivations find each other in game and work towards common goals. However there is not a sense that you need to be playing with everyone else in the campaign at all times.
Dice Rolls
The forums will often have dice rolling mechanisms built in. Our Discord Server has a bot that allows dice rolls with a simple chat command. For example, typing “!roll d20” into the channel will result in a random d20 dice result reply from the bot. This in app rolling allows for clear rolls for everyone to see, and no suspect of number fudging.
Rules System
Play by post is system agnostic. Ours runs D&D 5e.
Great, I’m in for PbP. Where do I get started?
There are a few solid places where you could get started playing a play by post game. Spoiler: We have a great campaign that we’re running on our discord, but the internet is a great bit place with lots of options and we want you to be aware of your options and pick the PBP home that really resonates with you the most
Reddit Play by Post is a forum for RPG’ers who want to connect with others to play play by post games. Great place to browse and just get a sense for what’s out there.
GamersPlane and OngoingWorlds are examples of dedicated play by post sites that specialize in hosting PbP games.
This D&D Beyond Play By Post Forum is a grouping of games forming and playing centered on the official wizards of the coast digital toolset.
We’re launching our current PbP campaign on our Discord. If you’d like to join the adventure with Cloud 9 Tabletop, check out our new Play by Post page.
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