How We Play

[Steven Trustrum]

This is my first time running a PbP game, so be patient and if anyone has any suggestions, by all means speak up. This also means experience and feedback may change how we run things as time goes on. That being said, let me explain how the game will go.

1) Game Sessions: Based on private feedback, setting an actual game time each week may be problematic so I want to try a variation of freeform posting.

Freeform Posting
This means everyone will respond when they can and just post as the mood and desire to interact strikes you. If you're not posting during this time, either because what's going on doesn't strike you as requiring your involvement or because you're simply not around, your character will be considered to just be going along with what's said. If what's going on requires everyone's interaction, things will change and I'll announce that posts are "on hold."

On Hold Posting
At the end of GM posts requiring everyone's interaction, I'll end the posts with an "On Hold For:" comment in meta-red (see following) with a list of everyone's names. As the players respond I'll edit the post to remove their names so everyone can know who still has to respond until the game can go on. This "on hold" period will go for a specific amount of time (to be voted on) and if the remaining players haven't posted their actions by the end of this period, they will be NPC'd so that the game won't be held up.

If you know you are going to be unable to game for an extended period, please let me know so I can NPC your character right away or PM both myself and another player if you want them to NPC you for the duration.

Note: Weekend play will be slow as I'll have limited access to a computer from Friday evening until Sunday.

2) In Game Forum: This forum is where all in-character, in-game posts are made. In such posts you will speak in character. If you need to make a brief comment or query out of character, either towards myself, another player, or about the rules, post in meta-speak red or game mechanics blue, as appropriate (see following.)

If you want to reference a meta-game post, use meta-speak red and post either the thread title and post # in the Meta-Game forum or post a direct link in meta-speak red. For example, [META Skills #6] would reference the meta-game forum, post #6 of a thread entitled "Skills."

3) Meta-Game Forum: This is where almost all out-of character comments should be made, including discussion with the GM and other players, be it for questions about the game, the rules, or formulating plans. For the most part, feel free to speak openly although I may make comments about some things not being open to discussion during times when your characters are unable to communicate with each other.

Obviously there are ways to abuse this trust and talk amongst yourselves outside of the forum, so we're on the honor system to keep things to yourselves when asked.

4) Meta-Speak In Game (red): Sometimes you may want to say something out of character within an in-game post. When doing so, use red so it will stand out from the rest of your post and tag who you are talking to. For example, [STEVE]: if talking to me or [MATT]: if talking to Matt. Please keep these comments brief and to the point so that they're breaking of character is minimized.

5) Game Mechanics Posts (blue): When posting in either the in-game or meta-game forums, any comments involving game mechanics should be made in blue so that they'll stand out and won't be missed. This could be a question about what rules apply before taking an action, indicating that you'll be using a skill, spell, etc. and any relevant commentary, such as how much Essence will be spent on the spell, etc. For example, following up your in-game post describing what your character is doing with [STEVE]: I'm casting Crumble Earth with 20 Essence here and aiming it at the hillside above the AoR soldiers would tie the game mechanics of the spell to what you described in character, above the comment.

6) Secret Notes: You may utilize the private message capability of the board to send secret notes to the Gamemaster or other players, but please keep in mind we're on the honor system here. If your character can't talk to a given player, please don't send them secret messages. Restrict any PMs to people your character can talk to. You may send a PM to me, the GM, at any time.

7) Dice Rolls: To save time and keep things honest, all dice rolls will be made by the GM and the results announced. Normally I'll just reference your character sheets for the relevant information, but if you feel the need to remind me or want to point out any game mechanics (such as situational modifiers) that would apply, by all means use the game mechanics blue comments after your in-character commentary as a reminder to me.

That's it for now. If anyone has any questions, comments, or needs further clarification, please post them.

[Steven Trustrum]

Please see the "on-hold period" poll in this forum and vote.