Then I remembered Bornac's thread and that a few members (namely Brett and Ted - and don't worry, PMs are inc!) expressed interest, but couldn't commit to sitting down at a table consistently to play. Well, guess what, guys... I can't either! Get home from work at 6, put son to bed at 7, play with daughter 'til 9, feed son (whom is STILL waking up at 8 months - that bastard) at 11. No DnD time for me, but that is exactly why forum games are the best. It only takes 5-10 minutes to log in and post a move - then check in after a few more hours and repeat. And if you don't have computer access during the day, you can even do it by phone!
At any rate, with the sales pitch over, I'll get to the bare bones. I really want to get a game going as DM. I have tons of story written and battles planned, but need a party to share them with. I'm looking for at least 3 players, but the more the merrier if we get a ton of interest. Who wants to nerd up and join me?!
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Edit for info dump on PbP games...
So the way games on the forum work is much like how (I assume - having none done one) they go at the table - just that it stretches over a longer period of time rather than requiring a concentration of hours. In combat, I will roll init for enemies and PCs and then provide the init order and a rough battlefield sketch. An example of this can be seen below:
Then you act in order. In the above example, right off the bat both Fangir and Clarissa can go whenever they want since they both act before enemies. Tarrik; however, must wait until after his 2 allies + the 2 enemies that separate him from them in init go. To keep the pace of the game going better, Tarrik can "cue" an action (ie. tell the DM what he'll probably want to do when his turn comes up - even including multiple options based on situation) or if he thinks he'll be around later he can simply wait until it is his turn. So on and so forth through the rest of the battle.agrudez wrote: the init order is...
Fangir (12)
Clarissa (15)
dual dagger goblin 1 (0)
dual dagger goblin 2 (0)
Tarrik (5/9, 1 spell slot used)
one handed sword goblin 1 (0)
one handed sword goblin 2 (0)
one handed sword goblin 3 (0)
one handed sword goblin 4 (0 - STUNNED)
woman in tower (1)
Cruben (15)
The battlefield:
Take note of the squares separating you and the goblins. I don't believe anyone has the speed to actually get into meele at the current distance (each square is 5 ft). The 4 black pawns in a row are the sword goblins at the door, the two behind are the dagger goblins looking on. Cruden is the closest to the enemies.
Players roll attacks, damage and skills (when they choose to use them). DM rolls inits, saves and skills (when the situation calls for passive ability checks) - plus, of course, all enemy actions.
Out of combat, the maybe biggest change from the table version, is that at times a lot of the conversation and party leadership will be occurring without the full party present. The game doesn't move all that fast, though, so generally if you can check in every handful of hours or so then you can still contribute to ongoing interactions. And, on days where you can't be as engaged, you can simply read up when you can and catch up with the story before contributing. Sometimes that means the party might make a decision you would not have, but sometimes that is exactly what was needed to put the party into an interesting situation!
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Edit 2 for info dump on the version of the game will use - DnD 5e.
You can find various materials here for free download - including the ever important player's handbook (PHB).
You can find a free online source to create character sheets here. Unfortunately this doesn't calculate things like HP, AC, etc. for you; however, the PHB is pretty clear how to calculate those things and I can help you get it right - so don't let it stress you out. If you're new to the game and trying to get your footing, I would be happy to make a character sheet for you based on some verbal cues from you ("I want to be a fighter with defensive spells, I want to be an elf that attacks long range, etc."), too. Classes aren't *that* much different than one another at lvl 1 so the start of a sheet is mostly tedium. You can grow your character as you will moving on from there.
You can find a collection of additional sub-class options here which augment player choices over what the PHB has.
We will be using a point-buy system for attributes - a calculator for which can be found here. HP will just be max+mod at 1st lvl and avg+mod after as dictated by the PHB for your given class.