PbP The Ruins of Undermountain, gauging interest.

[Jandolar]

Ok. Anyone who's ever played D&D knows that The Ruins of Undermountain is pretty much the ultimate dungeon crawl. I am in the midst of converting TRoU to fit BFRPG so I can run a Play by Post game. It'll probably be a few weeks before I can kick the game off because I'm trying to get the maps printed (I downloaded the entire box set) so I can keep track of where the party is and between now and then I need to gauge interest in it. I'd like to run it with just the core rules and core character classes unless someone can give me a good reason to allow supplements. If you plan to run a half Githyankee half Drow magic user.... this isn't the place for you (I'd welcome the character but feel that I can't properly run the game around you).

What I need to know is this.
1) What do you want to play and why.
2) How often can you post.
3) What do you expect from me as a DM.
4) How many PC's do you think will make the game fun and let it flow.

Undermountain is a monster of a game. I've never met anyone who's even made it down to the second level so this PbP could easily last a year or more. You can come and go as you like but I'd like a dedicated few to stick with it. At a minimum we'll need a fighter type, a healer type, a sneaky type and a magic user type.

[Sorin_777]

I haven't done a play by post since before the internet. Old timey BBS games took forever!

I am down. Having read through a few pages of PbP threads, I think I could be interested.

1) What do you want to play and why.
I actually would love to play a thief. Why, because I want to actually play the thief as he is intended to, and not just be a crappy fighter! I want to have fun exploring the scoundrel/playboy/technician side that could be a useful and entertaining character.

2) How often can you post.
I would guarantee once per day if not more, though I hope I know how to not post so much as to overtake the other player's input.

3) What do you expect from me as a DM.
Be on your toes, give us a good game, and facilitate creativity from the players.

4) How many PC's do you think will make the game fun and let it flow.
I am too novice at PbP to give a qualified answer, though I think there needs to be a maximum limit of some kind (six?) for sanity purposes.

[chiisu81]

I am definitely interested. We had tried to play one before using Roll20, but it was annoying to use for a PbP game. Also, several dropped out not too far into it and it killed the game, so I do think as the DM you'll need to make sure to be flexible when someone does cease to post anymore (not if, but when, because it always happens).

#1: Cleric. I always like to be a healer, but still have decent fighting capabilities.
#2: Ideal would be daily, but some days I could post 2-3x throughout the day.
#3: As mentioned above, flexibility and planning are probably the most important things I would ask and expect from a DM, especially for a PbP game. Other than that, a game that evokes all 5 senses and flows with a good solid rule-set and house rules where you think they're needed add up to a memorable game.
#4: I think at least 4, though 3 would be doable if we can have enough starting gold to hire a few NPCs as well.

[Hywaywolf]

I am in a PBP game on Roll20 and its working great. I like it much better than on a forum. The dice rollers and the maps on the screen as well as the notes section makes it all right there on my figure tips plus since PBPs don't happen in a short amount of time its nice to see the tokens on the amp and no where everyone is.

[Jandolar]

I looked at the Roll20 site and really like it but don't know if I can get the entire map of TRoU in there. I'll look again. I did enjoy the game I was in with Sean and HW but it was just too late in the evening for me during the week. I'm probably better off with a PbP here and if it gets boring or too drawn out I'll look into making it on Roll20.

[dymondy2k]

I could get into it.. just know that PbP plays SLOWW.. I haven't had alot of luck with these that have lasted for any significant amount of time..

[Jandolar]

Ok, we have some interest generated. Lets settle on 4 PC's, right now we have chiisu81, Sorin_777 and dyamondy2k as possibles. We'll look for one more before we start. A few things we need to get settled before the dice start rolling.

1) Stats. How do you want to roll? 3d6 place them where they land and figure character from that? 3d6 and put them where you want them? 4d6 drop the lowest die?
2) Die rolls. Do you want me to roll for you (attacks, saves, etc) or do you want to roll yourselves? We'll probably have to find a die roller online to do this.
3) Starting exp. TRoU is a tough nut to crack and I don't want to send 0 level folks into it. Should we start with say 8,000exp per person and go from there? More? Less? Let you all start at 3rd or 4th level of character class? I'd prefer starting you all out at a set character class level dependent on what you are playing. I'll let you know via PM what level you are since it'd be a better group if the levels are varied.
4) How to get you into a "group" of adventurers. I have an idea involving a lottery in Durnams bar that could work well but you'd be strangers to one another. We could swing it so that you'd all know each other but that will take some bio and background from each of you that explains why you are together as a group.

Post up and let me know.

[Sorin_777]

I like the idea of starting experience. Let me introduce an idea from the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG. Not a rule per se, but a character creation and GM tool.

New characters in that game always start off with XP to spend on abilities. They also are required to start out with a back story. That back story is then useful to the GM for plot hooks. The game takes it one step further, which I am not suggesting, by adding a property called "obligation". This is another narrative tool that is used to account for the starting experience. Let me explain why I think this will be useful for any case of starting off a character above level one.

If a new character starts off with experience, gold, skills, or tools that are above normal, they must have achieved that somehow. That could mean in my thief's case that I went on previous adventures, did some assassin and/or spy work for hire, went through some apprenticeship training, etc. This ties directly into the back story.

The GM then uses this additional "obligation" as a story hook later in the adventure. For example, maybe a bounty hunter comes collecting on a debt. Or a family member or fellow thief guilder that I owe a favor to appears in the story.

The obligation system I think is a neat idea but a little ambiguous. What I am saying though is that yes we should start off with the XP in order to keep us alive, but I think that if we all write 2-3 paragraphs of back story, you could use these stories in a creative way to do something cool later. Alternately, you as the GM could create back story stuff that is a complete surprise to us. For example, that assassination job I pulled off a year ago may have some unforeseen consequences, maybe a vengeful brother has followed clues long enough to track me down.

Comments?

[Jandolar]

Hmm. I'm not sure I follow the idea of spending XP on abilities, is that a purely Star Wars thing? Either way I think a back story is a good idea and we can work out some character hooks in the plot line later on. Since this is my first attempt at DMing a PbP I'll have to focus on good descriptive story telling and keeping the characters engaged in the present situation, and get pretty darn good at it, before I start dredging up any nasty little skeletons from their closets.

I'll wait for the others to chime in before I make any solid decisions but right now I'm leaning towards starting out with an arbitrary amount of XP and then setting the characters starting levels from that. I'll look at each class and start that little bit of math this week. So far we have a thief and a cleric signed up. Depending on the third members choice of PC we can probably run with just three. I looked about you all using NPC's and think some sort of loyal followers (page 39 of the core rules under "Retainers, Specialists and Mercenaries") would be better than hired NPC's. That brings up the question of how you are going to go about getting them. I'll also have to generate a character sheet for each one and you as PC's will have to keep track of them. I.E. Hit points, Saves, AB, AC, etc. We might end up out in the weeds on some things if you each have a couple of folks with your character.

After having read what I just typed I'm inclined to not let you guys have retainers unless absolutely necessary. I can much more easily set you up a little higher on the XP to ensure that you don't need retainers. We will have to make sure that you aren't just wading through any monsters I throw at you though, we'll need a balance.

In looking at the XP tables if we started you all out with 4K XP we'd have a 3rd level Cleric, 3rd level Fighter (if we have one), a 2nd level Magic User (if we have one) and a 3rd level Thief. I think you all could do well in the first few encounters at those levels with some thought, preparation and a retainer or two.

Or we could start out with 8K XP and the party would be a 4th level Cleric, 4th level Fighter, 3rd level Magic User and 4th level Thief and some of you (Magic User and Thief) would be within striking distance of the next level starting out. In this situation you might not need any retainers and could better focus on your characters.

The above two scenarios are dependent on what other characters we have. If by chance we don't get a fighter and instead start out with a party consisting of a Thief, a Cleric and a Magic User then I'll lean more towards the 8K (11 total levels of PCs). If we have a party of four with each class represented then the 4K (11 total levels of PCs) might make more sense.

Heck we could even do something as crazy as an XP pool, the party has 30K to distribute between them. Pick your levels as a consensus and go from there.

What I want to avoid is making you all so powerful that you don't have to work to survive.

[dymondy2k]

What do you think of using the 'Quick Character Generation" in the downloads section. Its easier than making all the rolls. You can either make us roll for those stats or have us pick one.. Also if we use RPOL.net they already have all the dice rollers and everything built in.. If not RPOL there are some other sites made just for online PbP online gaming.