These are my general guidelines for play-by-post, swiped from Raellus, who in turn swiped them from Chalkline. The street finds its own uses for things and so do I.
Post Rate
Because I'm in 1d3 other PbPs, I can't guarantee that I'll be the world's most hair-trigger GM. I'd like to shoot for two turns a week, possibly three if everyone is engaged and doing things that amuse me. Proactive play is good. Adding details to the world is good, too.
Missed Posts
Missing a turn or two here or there isn't a big deal. I'll NPC your character based on stats and established tactics (though you may want to drop me a PM early on so I have tactics on file). If you know you're going to be out for a while, please let me know. If you're silent for more than a couple of weeks, your character may become "lost at sea in a training accident." This game system can be sufficiently deadly that I probably won't even have to fiddle the dice to do it.
Posting Style
I prefer third person and present tense posts, but I won't whack you for using a different format, so long as you're consistent and your grammar doesn't make my eyes bleed.
Whenever possible, please provide more than the bare minimum of dialogue or action description. Detailed writing entertains me (see below). It also provides more opportunities for other players to engage with your actions.
Please use
blue or
dark blue for all PC dialogue and
purple or
dark green for all NPC dialogue. For OOC content in an IC post (e.g., combat tags, action declarations, brief questions or comments), use
orange. Otherwise, leave all text the default color. Experience has shown that these conventions make an amazing difference in readability.
Likewise, use
monotype for radio communications. This makes it easier to see what your character is transmitting as opposed to what he's saying off the air.
Please trim your quotes to include only the relevant material. We already read the previous post once.
If you post a long and descriptive turn, you may want to follow it with an explicit OOC action declaration. Don't skimp on your descriptions - they're the meat of the game - but you may want to clarify what you're doing. At minimum, close each combat turn post with an OOC combat tag that indicates (1) character name, (2) location, (3) action or intent, (4) readied weapon, ammo, and selector state, and (5) any other special equipment that may affect your action. For example:
quote:
Jason Bishop
Taking cover behind the overturned Suburban and putting suppressive fire on Sectoid #2
AKM - [27/30] + 1 spare magazine - on AUTO
AN/PVS-14 NVGs
On the Internet, we judge you on your spelling and grammar. Drive your keyboard accordingly.
IC Posting Etiquette
Always answer other players, even if it's to only post, "I ignore John." This keeps the game from bogging down while everyone waits for a response or consensus.
Don't "thought attack" other PCs (e.g. "Felipe thinks John is a waste of oxygen."). It deprives the other character of a chance to respond unless he's playing a telepath. If your character has IC differences with another PC, do the other player the courtesy of posting appropriate actions/emotes/sotto vocce remarks so he can respond in kind. It also wouldn't hurt to throw out an aside in the OOC thread or a PM so he knows you're not taking a swipe at him as a player.
Avoid metagaming! It's likely that we'll have multiple simultaneous threads or scenes going in this game. Try hard to separate player/reader knowledge from character knowledge.
GMing Philosophy
I run games to be entertained by my players.
Here are some things that entertain me:
- Extrapolations on the world that add depth and detail
- Clever dialogue and intra-team banter
- Multi-dimensional yet consistent characterization
- PC rivalries that don't extend to OOC drama
- Creative solutions
- PCs with weaknesses, even if we see those only through internal dialogue
- PC backgrounds that give me hooks
Here are some things that do not entertain me:
- OOC drama
- Passivity
- Invulnerable black-clad moody lone wolves in black trench coats wielding twin titanium monokatanas and smartlinked Desert Eagles firing incendiary moonsilver depleted uranium cold iron explosive tracer bullets while a bloodthirsty yet mournful heavy metal soundtrack wails distantly over the incessant rain that falls like the tears of a thousand fallen angels crying over the heart's mournful lament for a lost paradise *
* Been there, done that, got the wall of World of Darkness books to prove it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:19, Fri 10 Apr 2015.