Re: OOC Thread IV
In reply to Smoker Nix (msg # 552):
Let's get a STR check from Smoker!
As for combat, I'm always open to speeding it up. But that can take control out of the players' hands. And Deadlands does tend to have a very involved combat system, just in terms of initiative alone because each card is supposed to be an individual action in the turn as initiative is counted down. For 5 PCs and a bad guy group that (say) each draw 2 cards that's 12 separate actions that need to be resolved individually. Plus you can interrupt actions with sleeve cards. I think this may speed things up, maintain the mechanic of card draws for initiative and allow for a degree of player control.
It's funny... playing over the Internet has been part of RPGs for decades now, but the main expectation is that you will play it in real-time over Skype and so on, so mechanically it's identical. But little or no thought seems to be put into adapting sit-down RPGs into a play by post or PBEM format, forcing players to do the work themselves.
Thanks,
Tony