Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Just relied a city campaign probably isn't the best to do via play by post because people will often want to go their own ways XD

Woe wrote:Speaking of which... what's the policy around "raise dead" spells from clerics of Aeiou? Do we ask nicely, pay 500gp, they don't know the spell...? Just in case, of course.

You suck up mightily to the lady with the dog and cat.

black1blade wrote:I am planning on prying any possible information from lainai. This why I am being quite I suppose.

Not all characters at all times will have something significant to do in terms of plot. When that happens it's a perfect opportunity to develop your character's personality. Part of what I like about PBP is that it gives people time to add little trills and frills like that so that there aren't a bunch of cookie cutter cardboard standups being pushed across a board.

I'll give you an example. Let's say that I'm playing a thief and at the moment my character, Mishala, is twiddling her thumbs because the book worms and meat shields are all in a kerfluffle in some other part of the city, dungeon, or even room. I'd post something like what Hyway does with Edward. Edward went down to the pond to commune with nature. Is it advancing the plot? Not a whole lot but what it is doing is giving you insight into Edward's character so that your character can interact with him more richly in the future. It also gives the game more depth. Walt Disney was the first to use moving backgrounds in his animation because he realized that it added a deeper sense of reality. The background didn't do anything to move the plot along but it did enhance the viewing pleasure of the audience.

As a certain someone said (and I'm paraphrasing), "It's up to the players to help the gm make the game interesting..."

Another thing that I like about Hyway's posts is that while Edward is doing something that adds to the background he also isn't running off in four directions at once and making himself unavailable to the GM if needed nor is he taking the reins from the GM's hands.

So anyway, to make a long story short, take the initiative and use your character's plot downtime to expand on your character.

black1blade wrote:Just relied a city campaign probably isn't the best to do via play by post because people will often want to go their own ways XD

Yep. As I'm discovering pbp players are like cats and need herding. How do you herd cats? By putting their favorite treat in a bowl. Or (in my case) take a shower and then leave the bathroom. My nutzoid cats seem to think that a bathtub still dripping with water is the coolest thing.

We could be herded into a dungeon

black1blade wrote:We could be herded into a dungeon

In my best imitation of Yoda's foreboding tone: "You will be..."

Plot spoiler: It's a transdimensional railroad!

As a certain someone said (and I'm paraphrasing), "It's up to the players to help the gm make the game interesting..."

Just so you know, that particular conversation was partly about my interest in No Myth role-playing, which is where the GM has no campaign back-story at all, the players make up the characters, who are the main protagonists, and the GM is really just a facilitator in what they want to do.

Better description here:

http://inky.org/rpg/no-myth.html

This is very obviously a Myth game - you have quite an elaborate back-story and we are destined to fulfil a quest within it. So far Shaha is the main protagonist, not us. That's cool too, but it's a very different thing.

My character development normally comes as a product of being a protagonist. If I'm on a quest, I'll treat it a bit more mechanically. I'm a guy with a longbow who hates sailing, likes sausages, and is a boon companion to Elizabeth, and is prepared to follow her when she says she wants to go and help Shaha. That's really all I need for a game like this. I hope you get where I'm coming from.

I like the backstory. It makes things real and not a dungeon crawl. So far we've mostly been working on the setting (backstory). No offense Mint -- it's a good backstory, but just a backstory. If this were tabletop, this would be the stage setting before the pizza arrives. I expect within the next few (real calendar) days:
- we're going to get told the rest of the information we need to know to go kill ourselves in a very heroic fashion
- there's going to be a very awkward few moments where we'll be holding a staff, maybe have a Fweth tunnel to investigate, and an evil god to defeat
- shaha is going to cease being an information vehicle (assassinated? poofs away?)

And I'll make sure William gets some sausages before we go too far in saving the world.

I remember enough of my lit classes now to make my point better. We are still in the exposition. Shaha is a plot device. Both will end soon, methinks.