Keep these in mind and you'll do fine:

1. When in doubt ask.
   If you're stuck in-game or out-of-game, not sure how to react or feel like there is anything preventing you from posting, either drop a line in any OOC chat or send me a PM. If you don't get an answer within 24 hours, poke me via PM. While I may not update every day, I do keep an eye out for PMs and questions.
   
   
   
2. It's your character.
   I spend my day trying to figure out plot lines and run encounters. I do not memorize character sheets. If there is important information pertaining to your character (like how you have dark vision so you don't get the dark penalties I posted) it is your responsibility to bring that up, not mine to remember it. You are the advocate for your character, it is your job to give them every advantage they can have. If you have questions, see Rule #1.
   
   
   
3. If you have to leave, drop me a line.
   If you're going to be absent for longer then a week, or your RL schedule means you're going to be busier then normal, or school is starting and RL has to be adjusted...whatever the case, drop me a PM before you disappear for longer then a week. If you haven't posted in a week I will view you as an AFK player. I will then begin to NPC your character if they are vital to the plot, finding a replacement player, or working them out of the story. If you disappear for two weeks without prior warning, don't be surprised to find that you no longer have a character. This doesn't mean I can't work you back in, but it would ALL be resolved much better with a bit of forewarning. Even if you don't KNOW but just THINK you might have difficulty posting, see Rule #1: When in doubt, send a PM.
   
   
   
4. If you take too long, I will advance the story.
   PbP can be slow enough without spending weeks/months trying to create a plan. I've seen this happen game after game after game where when the party has to make a decision nothing gets done and the game grinds to a halt while people just mill around without anything to do. When you are ready for the scene to advance you can notify that clearly by writing in an OOC line at the bottom:
   
   OOC: READY!
   
   This will signify to both me and the rest of the group that you're ready to move on. When the majority is ready (or I get bored :P) the game will advance. I will post a default plan and if the plan hasn't changed before then, then that is what you're going to be doing. If you don't like it you'd better speak up and get a new plan in the works before I get bored and hit the fast forward button.

General Posting

For posting I will be doing the following:

• "Speech is bolded" to help make it pop. I know some people interpret that as always shouting but that isn't the case. The purpose is that if you're skimming the thread you can quickly pick out what is being said versus is thoughts or other descriptions.
  
• "Speech is colored by the target's opinion of you.". If someone is speaking to you as a friend or ally they will talk in blue. If they are hostile it will be in Red and neutral is just black.
  
• Out of Character is Orange Orange is a reserved color for OOC comments and mechanics. Battle damage, reminders about this or that, asking you or letting me know that you are ready to move on with the game etc.

For players I highly encourage taking up a color for speech so again when scrolling it is easy to pick up on but you can post however you would prefer. I will ask that you post in 3rd person format as that tends to be the norm and I find 1st person posts from different people to be difficult to read.

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Combat Posts

So I'd like you to use the following format for combat posts:

Underneath your descriptive post I would like you to clearly spell out each action you are taking and what you're doing with it. If you take a Move and a Standard action it should go like:




If you do make an attack please append the AC that you hit and the amount of damage (as well as the damage type if it's doing something unusual like fire or cold etc.) Then append your dice rolls below it. For example:



All in all it should look something like this:

DO NOT WAIT TO POST IN INITIATIVE ORDER

Instead post whenever you are free to.

For purposes of streamlining combat, I am implementing group based initiatives so rolls for initiative tend not to be necessary. I will instead dictate which group goes first.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:57, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

In another game of mine I ended up having to retcon two turns of combat because of miscommunications between what the players thought they were doing and what I thought they were doing. Everything was described in fluff and IC posts and there wasn't any clarifying OOC statements.

Therefore I would HIGHLY encourage players to get in the habit of adding a foot note that clearly describes how they are using their three actions:



This greatly helps me up and speeds up my updates as well as helps ensure that no actions get left behind.

Unless otherwise specified you get one reaction a turn. Because I do not want to have to constantly retcon turns here is how Reactions will be handled:

1. By default I will use whichever reaction is first triggered in the round. I feel this is safest as it is better to use a reaction then to potentially waste it. The first attack that hits you, you will shield block for. The first monster that leaves your threatened range gets AoO'd etc.
   
   
2. If you would like to prioritize a certain reaction or target it is up to you to specify that during your round's post. For example if you have an AoO and a Shield Block but want to focus on defense then add something like:
   
   
   quote:

   Reaction: Shield Block priority
   
   
   As I progress through the turn as long as you might potentially need to shield block I will save your one reaction per turn for that. If circumstances change so it is unlikely it will be triggered I will then activate any other reactions that might get triggered.
   
   
3. You might also want to be very specific. For example focusing your Retributive Strike to protect a specific ally or saving your Shield Block specifically against the giant ogre attacking you. Again adding something like this to your combat post:
   
   
   quote:

   Reaction: Shield Block against Ogre
   
   or
   
   quote:

   Reaction: Retributive Strike to protect Gnomey, the wounded example gnome
   
   
   And again as long as that could potentially be triggered I will save your reaction. As the turn progresses and the ogre misses you and is no longer a viable threat then I will go back to #1 above and use whichever reaction triggers next.

I want to encourage people to be creative in their combat posts. Feel free to narrate different scenes with the NPCs you're fighting to help flex those creative muscles.

One thing to consider is that an attack roll does not always mean you took a swing and a miss doesn't always mean you didn't hit.

For example any of the following could represent a "failed attack"





Huge epic combat posts aren't a requirement. I understand that between referencing character sheets and maps and rolling dice it can really suck your time away but if you find yourself feeling like combat is dragging on or you're tired of writing "I swing and I miss" over and over again consider the above as a way to help make combat a bit spicier not just for you but for your fellow players as well.

I do not like just telling you what knowledge check to roll because that spoils things. Therefore in combat when you take the Recall Knowledge action you must specify what skill you are using.

That being said here are some considerations:

1) You are safe to assume that if your character is trained in a skill they know what it encompasses. Dragons would be Arcane, Undead would be Religion etc.

2) If it is magical in nature you can "cross examine" so to speak. So you could attempt an Arcane check to identify an Undead but it would have an increased difficulty based on my ruling of how much overlap there is.

For example a regular undead that can be summoned by Animate Dead would be easy to use Arcane or Occult skills because they created through spells on those lists but Primal would have an issue.

A lich would be easier to identify with Arcane due to the overlap.

A bone or flesh golem, which is normally identified through Arcane or Crafting would be easier to use with Religion because of its closer proximity to undead magic and thus would have the lowest penalty while Primal would have the greatest penalty as it is so far removed from that magic.

In short, it costs an action, make your best guess and let the dice roll as they will.

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Outside of combat as there is no real penalty for failure I will tell you what skill to roll or just roll it for you.