Looking for a Few Good Gnomes!

Who’s interested in playing the role of a Gnome paratrooper who is part of an elite Special Forces team whose mission is to parachute behind enemy lines; ambush the Queen’s guard; kidnap their Princess escort; and spirit her through the wilderness back to the Gnomeland to be held as a political hostage?

This will be a one-shot, high-action, high-combat, all-Gnome adventure set in a somewhat modified version of the Greyhawk world.

I have a year’s experience with the Gurps system and online text RPG.  My goal is to have the Players generate their characters and then, going forward, I as DM will handle all game mechanics and dice rolls behind the scenes.

My current adventure I’m running is almost concluded,so I’m just checking to see if this game idea (not my own original idea -- it was suggested to me and inspired by another player acquaintance) is something people would enjoy playing enough to warrant me starting up a new game. I’d also like some suggestions on how to keep the second-by-second combat sequence move more fluidly and speedily, without losing the granular, detailed tactics Gurps offers that we all know and love.

There’s more secret stuff brewing with this game, but you Gnomes will not be privy to it...

Hidden dice rolls and mechanics?  Hard pass.


Post once per day, minimum.  Make a firm and hard "I will post everyday at [TIME}, have your proposed turns posted by then or you forfeit your combat turn and either Do Nothing, Aim, Evaluate, or All-Out Defend, whichever I feel is most necessary".  Provide maps and detailed explanations of the situation.

You'll find that a 5-10 second combat will flyby in five to fifteen* days instead of bogging down and taking a month.


* Sometimes even with the best descriptions and maps, a Player will ask a question that requires an answer before combat can proceed.

Yeah, I figured the 5 seconds of combat will be a hard sell.  But its hard keeping such an aggressive posting requirement on the Players and if they keep missing their deadline and having to repeatedly take the "Do Nothing" action, they're liable to get testy and leave the game.

And are you the exception or the rule insofar as abhorring DM's rolling the dice for expedience sake?  I play in some games where the DM does a lot of the rolls and it moves things along briskly, plus you're not bogged down by all the rules minutiae getting in the way of the all important narrative?

In reply to Girl Interrupted (msg # 3):

I don't know, I'd probably play something where the GM did the rolls for expediency's sake (because I'm not always online when they call for the roll) but I'd want to see the dice rolls in the tracker so I have a sense of whether I'm unlucky or outmatched.

Interesting concept, sounds like a fun one-shot.

Well, after three people in a row weren't crazy about behind the scenes GM dice rolling, I'm going to shelve that particular requirement and let the players make the rolls.

If you are up front about your standards, and set standards you maintain, you'll find the ones who can't post daily won't sign up, and any who have occasional problems will likely be okay with you NPCing them for a few days, or a week here and there.

It's the nature of PbP that the people most drawn here are the ones who have problems making time IRL at a set schedule, but who can carve 5-10 minutes a day or every other day to post.


The exception?  Probably.  It's like a pathology for me.  All I get to control in this game is my Character's action, I want to be able to trust the "results of those actions".


I don't understand this thought pattern.  "Bogged down by rules minutiae"?  Then play* a rules light game, why chose to add salt to the wound when you don't like dealing with rules?

I enjoy interfacing with rules and subsystems, as much as I do playing the role and adding to/experiencing the narrative.


* And I don't mean you, you're looking to run GURPS for whatever reason, my guess?  It does what you want it to do.  But from a Player stand point, if you don't like rules in your game...  systems are like ice cream, find the flavor that matches your taste.


Now for you, I see you're more interested in avoiding rules arguments, obscure bonus hunting, and discussions of "how do we do this within the rules".  Just put that in your openign "Rules For This Game" post in your game.  You'll weed out a lot of potential problems there.

Also, protip:  Recruit 50%-100% more players than you think you'll need, because you'll lose probably half your Players in the first few weeks/months of the game.

I am not so interested in this setting, since I am more into the Banestorm scene.

However, I am definitely much more of a roleplayer than a rollplayer.  To paraphrase Winnie the Pooh, I am a player of very little brain, and game mechanics bother me.

An advertised game where such game mechanics are dealt with behind the screen is very attractive to me.

I just wanted to offer a word of encouragement to you that there are indeed folks on RPoL who appreciate that concept, even if they aren't currently swarming this thread.  :)

Thanks for the feedback, folks. I think I'll shelve this one for now.

Moderators may close the thread if they so desire.

Thanks again,

Sara