Welcome to RPOL and the play by post system. I find that in a world where the players are geographically separated not only by distance but time zones, it is the best way to have our roleplaying fix.

How it works :

- As usual in a normal around the table or TTRPG game, the gamemaster sets the adventure, plays the npcs, describes the environment to the players, but through a post on the forum

- Also as usual, the players each play a D&D 5e char with its stats and abilities. The actions and dialog are posted in the thread the current adventure is set it. Dialog are usually designated by a different color per each character.

- For example, here is a post I wrote in Raieylan's game, where I play a cleric of Selune, that has most of the elements of a typical roleplay post. Let's decompose it.


- My cleric is named Amalia, it is a common practice, but not mandatory, to name your character in the post so the others don't need to look who has posted.

- I described an action in it, giving the comb to a fellow player and praying to her god to cast a spell that doesn't require a roll.

- I made her talk, with the color I chose for her, purple.

- I gave a small idea of her state of mind, describing her twitching as she is nervous. Sometimes we also give a window into the mind of a character, by writing down what the character thinks, but in colored italics. The other players don't know what is being thought, but it is a great way to do character development.

- I separated the In Character (IC) part from the Out Of Character (OOC) mechanics with the < hr > command, creating that line

- And finally I wrote the mechanical aspect of the post, casting the spell Guidance in whom, and coloring the text Orange, so it's easy to see for the GM


As you can see, a Roleplay post can be written in a few minutes, doesn't necessarily need to be a brick to read (although those are fun to write)  and gets the story moving.

COMBAT

Combat in DND 5e follows  a very simple system. The rounds are 6 seconds and during those 6 seconds, each character has up to 4 things to do.

- Initiative is rolled then the players have the following actions.

- 1 action : The action can be used to attack, dash, disengage from combat, cast a spell, help, etc.

- 1 move : your character can move up to its move speed, one of the stats. The battle maps will have 5'X5' squares, so if your character has a move of 30, that's the amount of feet he can move in a round, so 6 squares. you don't need to take it all at once. For example your char could move out of cover for 10 feet, take an attack action shooting his bow, than still has 20 feet of movement to get out of the line of fire.

- 1 bonus action  : some spells and abilities require a bonus action to activate, like the polearm master secondary attack with the butt of his weapon. Some GM also allow swapping of weapons with a bonus action.

- 1 free action : say a few words, drop a weapon or item held in hand, stop concentrating on a spell.

- 1 Reaction : This one is not part of the action economy but activates in certain circumstances, for example casting the shield spell or attacking an enemy getting out of your zone of melee control with an opportunity attack.

You can take those actions in any order you like, as long as the 1+1+1+1 rule is respected. It is also not mandatory to use all of those in the round. Remember that the round is only 6 seconds!

How does that translate in PBP? Let's look at another example, this time, from my gnome fighter, Frilia. She was trained in magic so has a magical creature as a companion, called a familiar, named Yukiko.



- I have her react to what happened in the previous round, with her shot missing and another enemy arriving in her field of vision.

- She uses a free action to warn her companions

- She uses a bonus action to switch from her shortbow to her sword and shield.

- She moves up to the monster but doesn't use her entire movement speed

- She attacks

- She moves out of the way of the monster without provoking an opportunity attack, due to an ability she has, with the rest of her movement.

- The telepathic conversation with Yukiko occurs at the speed of thought.

- Yukiko also has her own action and movement.

- Again, we separate the IC from the OOC with the < hr> tag

- All the dice rolls are made in the RPOL dice roller and are copied in the post for the GM convenience. The GM sees everything so no cheating!

- I detailed all my action in their respective categories, transferring  the appropriate dice rolls in the action, again for the GM convenience.


It is a little more work but not that much and it makes combat go smooth and fast (for PBP)


You do NOT need to post in order of initiative, as the GM will take the posts and sort them out himself, creating a synopsis post for each round, from there the Player Characters (PC) (you guys!) evaluate/reacts to what has happened and decides what your PC is going to do this turn.

What if the monster you are targeting dies before you act?

In that case, you can either plan a secondary action in your post (if this happens then I do this, if something else happens, this I do this instead). Or the GM will redirect your action in the most logical way.