It is, of course, possible to play non-roleplaying games via forum, email list, or group. Any games that has turns and can exist primarily virtually is suited for this; chess was played by mail long before computers were even invented. One game particularly suited towards this sort of gaming is Nomic.
While using a number of auxiliary threads is helpful, sometimes we don’t have that luxury. Many fine play-by-post hosts only provide each game with one or two threads. In such a situation, it is imperative that you use a clean post convention.
It can be unwieldy to try and cram all the information you and your group need into one thread. Many play-by-post hosts offer gamers the ability to create multiple threads per game. With a little thought, you can easily gain the maximum benefit from this capability.
Once you have your players selected, it’s time to start the game. To get things moving and set a good tone for the rest of the game, this is a list of what you should provide players with in the game’s opening scene, if not the opening post.
Finally, after you’ve chosen your setting, plot, and who the characters are going to be, you can choose the system to run it in. You should always choose the system that best suits the needs of your game, rather than trying to pigeon-hole a game into a system it’s not suited for.
One issue that crops up in play-by-post gaming is the organization of campaign materials. The GM needs to record the setting and plot details he comes up with, and the players need a central place to refer to for information that their characters should know. It also helps to keep a seperate record of campaign activity that may be accessed a little easier than shuffling back through threads of text.
If all goes well with your recruitment thread you should get quite a few submissions for the game you’re looking to run. Look over them carefully, for the success or failure of your game ultimately rests in the hands of your players.
After a long hard week of planning you believe you’ve created your masterpiece. This next game - whatever its plot, whatever its scope, is going to be the pinnacle of your GMing career. Your Magnum Opus. There’s only one problem.
Maybe you’re new, a relative unknown wherever you’re going to run your pbp game. Or maybe you’re not, but you never seem to get the right kind of player. Either way, your solution is the same.
As promised, here are evaluations of a few of my running games in light of the series of plotting articles I’ve just completed. Some of them may involve currently running games of mine, so I’ll carefully avoid giving away any big secrets.
Finally, in the last installment of this series on plotting for play-by-post games, we will examine the Indefinite Scope game. Most games being run are indefinite in scope - the GM either hasn’t planned for an ending, or has no plan to get there.
