[Information] The PBP Game Master Guide

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Volume 3: The Game Master Guide




Thematic Music

"Artists should always think of themselves as cosmic instruments for storytelling."

This series of articles is intended to help new GMs (Game Masters) learn the craft of GMing. While it is built for GMs, players will likely find most of the information in here incredibly valuable to their playing experience as well.

This guide does not specifically cater to any one particular game system, but rather covers universal concepts, development of core skills and the integration and use of resources specific to PbP gaming at rpgcrossing.com. Veteran GMs will find much of this a review, but will likely discover many tips and tricks to make their games run smoother.

Articles List:

Note: Articles are intended to be viewed in consecutive order

• Becoming a Game Master
• System Choices
• Gaming Tools and Resources
• GM Writing Exercises
• World Building (Creating a Home Brew World)
• Writing Campaigns, Adventures and Encounters
• Setting Up Your New Game Forum
• Advanced Advertisement Techniques
• Post Formatting Tips and Tricks
• Running the Game
• Game Rescue

rpgcrossing.com has a proud tradition of helping new gamers and GMs with both broad and specific topics. If you have a question or problem that relates to GMing or an issue in your own game, visit the DM Screen, where many skilled GMs will be happy to help you with your unique challenge.

If you would like to learn more than just the basic core GM skills in this guide, consider an apprenticeship in the PBP GM Academy where you will learn much more, in greater depth, and gain hands on experience in a controlled learning environment with a team of experts at your disposal.

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Becoming a Game Master


Ready to try your hand at becoming a Game Master? You're in the right place.

What is a GM?

 

In a role-playing game, the Game Master (GM) is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given campaign or adventure, while maintaining a realistic (or semi-realistic for cinematic games) continuity of events. In effect, the Game Master controls all aspects of the game except for the actions of the player characters (PCs), and describes to the other players what they see and hear. Other titles that mean the same thing include Storyteller (ST), Dungeon Master (DM), or Narrator.

Game Master Role

 

The GM assumes the role of referee and describes for other players what they see and hear in this imaginary world, and what effects their actions have. That person is responsible for preparing each game thread, and must have a thorough understanding of the game rules. Different gaming systems may have different requirements and prepared settings. Some systems will require knowledge of several books while others may require only a single book. Being a GM has a different set of rewards than being a PC, and not all Players will enjoy the associated powers and responsibilities with being a GM.

The GM is responsible for narrative flow, creating the scenario and setting in which the game takes place, maintaining the pace and providing dynamic feedback. In a storyteller role, the GM is responsible for describing the events of the game and making rulings about game situations and effects based on the decisions made by the players. The GM can develop the adventure, plot and setting in which these PCs participate or use a preexisting module. This is typically designed as a type of decision tree that is followed by the players, and a customized version can require several hours of preparation.

The GM also serves as the arbiter of the rules, both in teaching the rules to the players and enforcing them. The rules provide game mechanics for resolving the outcome of events, including how the PCs interact with the game world. Although the rules exist to provide a balanced game environment, ‘the DM is free to ignore the rules as needed'. The DM can modify, remove, or create entirely new rules in order to fit the rules to the current campaign. This includes situations where the rules do not readily apply, making it necessary to improvise.

An example: the PCs are attacked by a living statue. To destroy the enemy, one PC soaks the statue in water, while the second uses a cold attack to freeze the water. At this point, he appeals to the DM, saying the water expands as it freezes and shatters the statue. The DM might allow it, or roll dice to decide.

This example shows the point that rules do not fit all eventualities and may have unintended consequences. The DM must ultimately draw the line between creative utilization of resources (e.g. firing wooden arrows into a dragon, then using a spell that warps wood at a distance) and exploit (e.g. "horse bombing" - using a non-combat spell that creates a temporary mount, several dozen feet above an enemy). Different games will have different cinematic levels/physics/comedic allowances and the GM will have to weigh each of these circumstances individually.

It is generally considered common practice to refrain from changing game rules in the middle of a campaign unless an exploit surfaces. This is for the sake of continuity and consistency, as well as being a courtesy to the players.

Gaming Groups, Adventures, Campaigns and Game Worlds

 

Play by Post (PbP) gaming groups consist of a GM and one or more players. Most GMs find it easiest to have a group size of strongly recommended for novice GMs3-6 players, though a group can be any size.

The Game World is the setting in which the game takes place. It can be a published setting, such as the Forgotten Realms or Middle Earth, or it could be your own homebrew creation or a mixture of both. No matter the type of setting, from fantasy to sci-fi to modern or anything else, where the PCs adventure, that's the game world.

An Adventure is one story arc, generally analogous to one act of a multi-act play. It can be much smaller in scope than that, too. A typical adventure will be contained within a single game thread and have a single goal. 'Adventure' is often synonymous with 'quest'.

A Campaign is a series of adventures, usually connected by some kind of overarching plot. Completing the goal of a campaign usually means the game is over.

A Side Quest is an adventure contained within a campaign that usually isn't related to the main plot. It may be put in to introduce a new character, or as filler during a time period when only some of the players are available, or even as a temporary change of tone to relieve game burnout.

Prerequisite skill sets for PbP GM's

 

I personally strongly suggest that all PbP GMs should be well versed in (or at least familiar with) volumes 1, 2 and 3 before attempting to run a game to increase your chances for game success, though there is no requirement to do this. Different game systems will have different specific requirements, so get familiar with your game system of choice before deciding to GM it.

Introductory Advice for Gamemastering

All of these concepts are explained in later articles.

• Choose your players wisely
• Presentation counts
• Follow the rule of fun, not the rule of law
• Don’t pretend to be neutral; you're on the same team as the players, with the goal of having fun
• Spend time preparing NPCs and your setting, enough so you feel confident presenting them to players
• Abandon too much plotting, focus instead on creating conflict
• Keep the pressure and tension high; use instant obstacles as needed
• Cliffhangers are most appropriate for table top games, less so for PbP.
• Re-use existing NPCs when possible
• Up the emotional stakes
• Keep all the players equally engaged and give opportunities to use each characters’ skills
• Layer multiple adventures to create depth and choices
• Prepare to be surprised and turn the tables with minimizing, mystifying, stalling, and delaying tactics
• Make the Nemesis the center of conflict (even if you haven't revealed them yet).
• Ask Google first. In most every case if you need to learn something you can research it online by typing the question in your search bar and in most cases there is a wikipedia article as well as a blog and a dozen websites dedicated to the topic in question.

Common New GM Mistakes

This is a common list of rookie mistakes, all also explained in later articles.

• Killing active PCs. For most types of game, this isn't desirable.
• Being rude or abusive towards players - this violates the Site Rules, too.
• Letting things get boring.
• Taking actions on behalf of player characters.
• Forcing players to stick to a linear storyline or predetermined plot.
• Grossly over/under-preparing.
• Speaking excessively OOC when IC would work at least as well.
• Allowing players to get too powerful too fast, or conversely, never letting them use the powers/abilities/advantages they have.
• Failing to bring character disadvantages and backgrounds into play.
• Giving out too much loot too fast.

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System Choices


"Good advice is to seek a group that makes you feel welcome and with whom you have fun. The best system in the world is worthless without a good group of people to play with."

Most GMs are already familiar with one type of system as a player, and at first it's generally best to stick with the system you know. But if you haven't decided yet, or are looking to expand your options as a GM, listed below are the top used systems on RPGX, the more popular ones containing a brief description.

In some cases, it may be more prudent to determine the appropriate setting first and let that decide which system you will use, though any system can be adapted to fit a setting, and many systems are designed to be universal, not requiring adaptation rules.

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the following systems:

D20 System - Dungeons & Dragons, Mutants and Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, D20 Modern, Pathfinder

 

The d20 System

The d20 System was developed by Wizards of the Coast for the third edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Most of the system was subsequently released under the Open Game License, which allows third-party developers to release modifications and supplements for the system without having to pay for the use of the intellectual property associated with the system, which is still owned by Wizards of the Coast.

The release of Open Game Content led to an explosion of new gaming supplements by professional publishers as well as fans. Many existing franchises released a d20 version as an alternative to their original system. A few popular lines that now include a d20 version of their system setting include: Pathfinder, 7th Sea, Legend of the 5 Rings, Deadlands, World of Darkness, and Call of Cthulhu. The contents of any given d20 product are usually mechanically similar enough to be usable in another with only minor modifications, meaning that there is a massive amount of material available for those who choose to use this system.

Basic Mechanics

The d20 system is named after its heavy use of the 20-sided dice, which are used to resolve most of the actions in the game. However, a wide variety of other dice are used to calculate things to which a d20 would be ill-suited, such as weapon damage. The typical set of dice contains a d4, a d6, a d8, a d12, a d20, and two d10s (to allow for a percentile or "d100" roll.) Most rolls are made against a static difficulty class or the opponent's static armor class; there are only a few situations, usually involving skills, where there is any kind of opposed rolling.

The system is level-based rather than skill-based, meaning that characters advance in discrete levels where certain aspects, such as hit points and skill points, always increase. Experience is awarded mainly from combat, although most games that use the system have optional (and usually very vague) rules for awarding experience for resolving encounters through skill checks or good role-playing. The system is also class-based, meaning that many abilities can only be obtained through levels in a class and cannot be chosen freely by the player.

While not as tactically-detailed as most war games, most d20 games contain combat maneuvers that involve a substantial amount of movement, positioning, and area-of-effect spells. Therefore, it is extremely helpful, although not strictly necessary, to use grids and miniatures for combat encounters.

Character Creation

Most of a characters statistics are derived from six basic abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These are generated either by rolling or using a point-buy system. From these, along with the character's class levels, other statistics are derived: hit points, attack bonus, and saves (to combat enemy spells and special attacks). With each level, characters also gain a number of skill points to spend as they wish. Each class has a set list of class skills that are cheaper to purchase and can be raised to a higher cap than non-class skills.

Finally, there are feats. These are special perks given out every few levels, although the exact number varies between specific systems. Feats range in function and usefulness from a small bonus to a specific skill check to changing what ability a check is dependent on to unique combat maneuvers. Many feats have prerequisites, usually a level requirement or another feat.

GURPS System - Generic Universal Role-Playing System (GURPS) can be applied to any setting.

 

Intro to GURPS

The Generic Universal Role-Playing System, commonly known as GURPS, is a role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. It was created by Steve Jackson Games in 1986. GURPS won the Origins Award for Best Role-playing Rules of 1988, and in 2000 it was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame. Many of its expansions have also won awards.

Within GURPS, you can be anyone you want – an elf hero fighting for the forces of good, a shadowy femme fatale on a deep-cover mission, a futuristic swashbuckler carving up foes with a force sword in his hand and a beautiful woman by his side . . . or literally anything else! GURPS has been the premiere universal role-playing game for almost two decades.

GURPS Game Mechanics

GURPS is a point buy system that bases skills off of 4 primary or 4 secondary attributes. Skill checks are made by meeting or rolling underneath the target number on 3d6.

GURPS Lite
GURPS Lite is a 32-page distillation of the basic GURPS 4e rules. It covers the essentials of character creation, combat, success rolls, adventuring, and game mastering for GURPS Fourth Edition.

The purpose of GURPS Lite is to help GMs bring new players into the game, without frightening them with the full GURPS Basic Set and a stack of worldbooks! With GURPS Lite, you can show your players just how simple GURPS really is. While GURPS Lite is a great introductory, the Basic set of Campaigns and Characters is highly recommended for anyone attempting to run a GURPS game (though not entirely necessary).

GURPS LITE Rules available for free Download

GURPS Character Creation

GURPS is heralded for its customizing options. Character creation can be a bit cumbersome the first time through, but is thoroughly worth the initial time investment.

Character Concept.
Decide your vision of your character. Look at what the GM has provided by way of briefing for the campaign and think about what sort of person you'd like to be in that world. NOTE: How many starting character points you receive will drastically effect what kind of character options are available to you.

Attributes.
The attributes are the foundation of your character. Secondary traits and skills are derived from the attributes.

Social Attributes.
Social attributes will dictate your position in the world.

Advantages.
Advantages are special things that your character has that not many people have, if your character has Tenure or is Double Jointed those are advantages. In an over the top or supers game you might be able or expected to buy a variety of exotic abilities such as magical shields (DR) or death-ray vision (Innate Attack).

Disadvantages.
There are two methods to choosing disadvantages, one being where you look through the book and select disadvantages that sound interesting to role-play, and the other being where you have developed your background in the overview, so you already know how your character acts and more-or-less know his background. Look for things that represent him or her accurately. That speaks mostly to mental disadvantages, for the physical ones, you should take only those that are intrinsic parts of your character, being quadriplegic or having a scar that won't heal will be extremely inconvenient during play at times, and it might be frustrating if you chose that characteristic on a passing whim.

Skills.
Most PCs have quite a few skills, in over the top games characters may have more advantages then skills, but normally characters spend the majority of their time using skills, so they are fairly important.

Finishing Touches.
To flesh out your character and make it memorable, resist the urge to load up on god-like attributes, advantages, and skills and be sure to role-play those disadvantages.

Storyteller System - World of Darkness (NWoD, OWoD), Scion, Exalted

 

The Storyteller System

The Storytelling or Storyteller System is an RPG system created by White Wolf, Inc. in 1991 that premiered in Vampire: The Masquerade, a part of the (Old) World of Darkness series. While on the road to Gen Con '90, Mark Rein•Hagen came upon the idea of a new game design that would become Vampire: The Masquerade. Tom Dowd, co-designer for Shadowrun, adapted the mechanics from his previous game success to use d10 instead of d6 for calculating probability.

The Game Master in any game using this system is called the Storyteller.

Over the course of its lifetime the system has gone through a slow but steady evolution; starting with the original Storyteller System in 1991, which would later become the Revised Storyteller System in 1997, and the current adaption as the Storytelling System in 2004.

The World of Darkness setting has even gone on to spawn a LARP system, a collectible card game, a (be it short lived) television show, dozens of novels, board games, several video and computer games, including a MMORPG currently in production.

Basic Dice Mechanics

All mechanics of the Storytelling Systems utilize a number of 10-sided dice (d10s). World of Darkness games suggest players to have at least ten d10s available to roll for their character's task resolutions and attribute tests. The system of determining success or failure is very similar to the system in Shadowrun and is based on rolling a pool of dice trying to meet or exceed a set difficulty number. The more successes rolled, the better the character performed the task.

Basic Character Creation

Storytelling System characters are built with character points that represent a dot on their character sheets. Each dot represents a ten-sided die (d10). The more dots in an attribute or skill, the better the character is at those abilities. A set of dice representing the dots in an attribute or skill forms a dice pool that the character uses to see if he/she succeeds or fails at specific tasks.

Key Features of the Current Storytelling System

Nearly all actions are resolved with a single roll, including combat actions (which required three or more rolls in earlier systems). For simple actions, a single success is always sufficient. Multiple successes are sometimes insignificant unless five or more are scored, which leads to an exceptional success. Difficulties are represented by subtracting dice from a pool (as opposed to the varying target numbers in the Storyteller System, and requiring additional successes in the Revised Storyteller System); bonuses are likewise represented by adding dice. The target number for all rolls is fixed at 8 (fixed target numbers were introduced in the Revised Storyteller System, but were previously fixed at 7). The "rule of ones" has been eliminated, along with the old botch system; instead new chance roll and dramatic failure rules are used when resolving actions under severe difficulty.

Attributes and Skills use the same categories (Physical, Mental, Social); each category contains a Power, Finesse and Resistance Attribute. The Attributes have been changed for the first time; Charisma has been renamed Presence, while Perception and Appearance have been replaced by Resolve and Composure (the Mental and Social Resistance Attributes). Some common actions, like perception rolls, use dice pools composed only of Attributes, rather than the usual Attribute + Skill. Supernatural powers often use three Attributes to form their dice pools, Exp: (Attribute + Skill + Discipline).

Other popular systems you may enjoy:

• Roll and Keep System - 7th Sea, Legend of the 5 Rings
• Cortex System - Serenity, Supernatural
• TRI-Stat System - Big Eyes Small Mouth(BESM)
• Unisystem - All Flesh Must Be Eaten
• Basic Role Playing System - Call of Cthulhu
• Megaversal System - RIFTS Robotech, TMNT, Ninjas and Superspies, Heroes Unlimited, Palladium
• Fantasy, Recon, Nightbane, Chaos Earth, Dead Reign, Splicers, Mechanoids
• Fate System - Dresden Files, Spirit of the Century
• FASERIP System - Marvel Superheroes
• Warhammer System - Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Deathwatch, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay(various editions)

It's my first game, which system should I use?

Without knowing anything about you as a game master, your play style or what kind of game you want to run, consider running a typical fantasy setting game with Pathfinder. All of the rules are and legallyfreely available online here in a conveniently organized wiki to you and all your potential players. Pathfinder is also quite backwards-compatible with D&D 3.5 source materials; D&D being the largest RPG system franchise, 3.5 being it's most popular edition to date. Pathfinder is also pretty easy to pick up and it's not too rules heavy or too rules light, but about somewhere in the middle of the road.

While other systems may prove to be stronger in some areas or preferred by opinion, Pathfinder is easily the best choice for a brand new GM that isn't sure where to start. It is recommended however, that you not allow any 3rd Party Products or Monster Races as Players in your first game.

If you get through the GM manual but still have trouble creating a game idea and are in fact using pathfinder, consider trying Hollows Last Hope which is a free and very well reviewed adventure for level 1 characters or join the PBP GM Academy.

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Gaming Tools and Resources


When physical, mental and digital resources are focused, one's power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously.

While there is literally too many resources to list the first and best advice is to always ask google for what you want. More often than not what you are looking for is available freely and legally for the asking.

This compilation helps highlight a few of the better reviewed resources.

Name Generators

 

• The Forge
• Fake Name Generator
• Fantasy Name Generator
• Seventh Sanctum
• Random Name Generator

Mapping Tools

 

• Dungeon Painter
• Google Docs
• Autorealm
• Hex Mapper
• PyMapper
• Ditzie
• Random Dungeon Generator
• RP Assistant

To make custom maps from scratch, try using GIMP.

Thematic Music Artists for Fantasy Settings

 

It is useful to search these artists on Youtube and then link the video you choose in your post as thematic music.

• Two Steps from Hell
• Clint Mansell
• Trevor Jones
• Arcana
• Nox Arcana
• Midnight Syndicate
• Jason Hayes
• Hans Zimmer
• Greg Edmonson
• Celestial Aeon Project

Other Useful Products for GMs

 

• Table Smith
• MasterPlan
• HeroForge
• City Generator

Quick Battle Map Tutorial

 

This article will be an expansion for the GM guide submitted for community feedback which will explain basic battle map creation procedures. Please interject opinions and suggestions. Specifically I would really like to know if there is a quick free downloadable database for typical map tokens anywhere such as for objects that might appear on maps (such as chairs, tables, chests, arcane circles, etc.). They are easy enough to find individually with a google search but it would be great to have a mass database ready for free download to recommend.

To create a customized battle map there are all kinds of methods and digital tools available to you on the internet, both paid and free. The method below allows you to quickly and easily create nice quality maps that are easily editable once uploaded, and all methods listed are completely free and easy to use with a point and click interface. Feel free to use other methods or alter these methods if you prefer.

Step 1) To construct a basic battle map in short order head to the dungeon painter.

Step 2) Simply point and click using the tools provided to construct a basic battle map. Note that you can altar Hexes and squares as needed for your grid.



Step 3) Press the export to JPG button outlined here in red. Be sure to check the add coordinates option when exporting to help your players track movement.



Step 4) Go to google docs and create a drawing by using the red create button and selecting: create>drawing on the left hand side of the page. Please note, you can use pyromancer's native mapper to upload tokens, but Google Docs is recommended due to ease of use and greater tool capacity.

Step 5) Upload your your created map by selecting Insert>picture and then upload the selected file. Feel free to drag your map to size and know that you can zoom in and out easily with the tools provided.

Step 6) Upload additional movable icons (if you have icons) or draw them in such as monsters, PCs, tables and chairs, etc.

Step 7) Link the drawing in your IC game thread at the start of combat and be sure to include a key and special notes.

Your Battle Map

Undead Skeleton: Red
Undead Ogre Skeleton: Maroon
Player 1: Yellow
Player 2: Pink
Player 3: Blue
Player 4: Green
Brown objects are table and chairs.
Floor debris is considered difficult terrain
The fountain can be used as partial or full cover (if prone) and has issues forth a myserious blue liquid.
The arcane circle resonates and glows with dark energies.

As a good and proper GM include an IC description as well.

The dank ruins permeate with the scent of taint and filth that accompanies the undead, a small trickle of water is heard in the nearby room. The structure itself is dilapidated and decayed... the sight of skeletons meandering can be seen just beyond the carpet lined foyer.

Step 8) Set permissions by pressing the blue share button in the upper right of the drawing. Assign permissions so that anyone with the link can view. You can assign that PCs can move tokens by selecting "anyone can edit" or you can maintain total total control and have players list their movements in terms of grid coordinates, such as

Pink from S,7 to O,7" "Kaiyra moved forth drawing her sword. She has dealt with the undead before, and knows that there is no reasoning to be had with the foul creatures; not that she would give them the opportunity... not after what happened in Belsgraad..."

If you choose to assign edit permissions to the players know that you can have them mark their direct movement paths with lines which can then be deleted by you once the movement is complete for the round. This is especially useful for gaming systems with attack of opportunity rules as the fastest path is not always the safest and sometimes it is better to take a longer route, which may mean taking extra rounds.

You can also use things like drawn on circles to show area of effect or cone spells/attacks, etc. if desired.

You may also drag items to scale them, so if you have a chair .png file you wish to upload, but it is too big, simply grab the corner and scale it to size.

Step 9) Enjoy your tactical combat encounter! Simply select a drawn or uploaded object to move it and add, subtract or alter additional lines or objects as necessary. For example, to indicate a defeated skeleton we may choose to select it and change the color to grey or something of that sort.

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GM Writing Exercises


An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.

Foreward

 

To assist new and old GMs in developing their creative skills, several writing exercises are listed below. Each focuses on a different yet essential part of being a game master. Thorough detail is intentionally not given to force you to utilize and develop your imagination and creativity.

These exercises are intended to goad you into writing as much as you can, not just scratch down random notes. PbP is a written medium, and you need to get used to the idea of writing for your game. Like many things, writing is a skill that needs to be practiced, so challenge yourself to do the best you can.

If you get stuck, ask yourself the What, Where, When, Why, WhoBIG FIVE QUESTIONS repeatedly. If you are having trouble with any of the exercises, the following resources may be helpful:

• Thesaurus
• Dictionary
• A handy list of adjectives by type
• Another handy list of adjectives by type
• Tropes are devices and conventions that are tricks of the trade for writing fiction. This wiki has a massive wealth of writing tools for you to use and abuse.

Add spell checker and comment/text saver extensions to your internet browser if you don't already have them. These can be found with a simple Google search. When describing things, be sure to show rather than tell.

Getting feedback or criticisms on your exercises is a great way to expand your creative skills and can help a good GM become a great GM. If you would like feedback from experienced GMs, post your exercises in a new thread in the DM Screen. Explain that you're working on developing your skills as a writer/GM and are utilizing the GM exercises from the GM GUIDE.

With all these exercises, use whichever genre you're most comfortable with the first time around. If you usually play fantasy games, write fantasy material. In addition, if you find one step to be difficult or annoying, go on to the next one and see if working that step first makes the earlier step easier for you. Everyone doesn't write exactly the same way, so don't let yourself get frustrated by one particular instruction.

A Note about Game Mechanics

Game mechanics are not the focus of these exercises, these are meant to help you hone your writing skills. However, a great GM is said to marry both mechanical knowledge and prowess with creative talent when it comes to running a game. You may find it very useful to stat out your creations before or after writing them to either inspire your writing, or challenge your knowledge and creative use of system mechanics. You will find in doing this that often times the two operations will provide complimentary inspiration for you (both mechanically and creatively).

Set the scene

 

Setting the scene is important as a GM. Without an accurate description of the location your players will have little hope of understanding their environment and may unintentionally behave inappropriately. For this exercise, choose a location you want to work with. It can be anything - a tavern or cantina, forest grove, engine room, alien creature lair, or anything else. Limit the scope to one room or similarly sized outdoor area.

• Select a mood and list out 4-6 adjectives that describe it. The mood of a location is the overall feeling you want to evoke in the PCs about the place. This is the difference between a bright, happy place and a dim, seedy place.
• Imagine your chosen locale and list out at least 5 descriptive details and 3 aspects, objects, or other features the PCs can interact with. These are points you want to remember to include when you actually start writing the scene. Decide which order you want to present the interactive features in.
• Add one to three creatures. Pick creatures the PCs can have noncombat interactions with. Decide the basic physical characteristics of these creatures, but don't worry about anything else for this exercise.

Take all of that and write an introduction to the location from the PCs' point of view. This is the description you would give them when they first encounter the location. It should be a minimum of 100 words, maximum of about 500. Less than this won't convey enough, more than this can be an intimidating wall of text.

Dialog

 

Dialog is everything said by characters. A GM has to play everyone who isn't a PC, so writing dialog is an important skill. The way people talk isn't the same as the way people write. The first step to writing good dialog is to listen to people when they talk to you and around you. Speech patterns, slang, idioms, and accents are all interesting and useful tools when writing character speech.

This exercise focuses on dialog between multiple NPCs. This can get very confusing, and players need to know who is saying which line. When there are two people talking, that's easy to determine, as you change paragraphs for each speaker. Add in a third or more and you have to identify each speaker, every time they speak.

Below are four characters. Select 3 of them.

Character A


Character B


Character C


Character D


Give each character a name and come up with a conversation they can all participate in. It helps to have a particular theme, argument, or purpose to the conversation. Common purposes for NPC conversations in a game are to discuss what to do with or about the PCs, or to deliver information about a quest/mission.

Each character should speak at least three different times, and every chunk of speech needs to have its speaker clearly identified, even if it's just a one word quote. Include body language, setting, and interesting/relevant details. For an added challenge, do not use the words "said" or "told" to identify the speaker.

If you get stuck, reread what you have already and think of a question one character can ask another, or an action one character can take that will provoke a reaction. If you're still stuck, try writing up brief character sketches for each.

Combat Writing

 

While combat in real life is an exhilarating thrill and adrenaline rush, it's quick and easy to push a boring combat description out the door and call it done. This exercise is intended to help evoke danger, excitement, and interest during fight sequences by having you write out one combat round/turn without telling anyone the mechanical explanation of what just happened. That information, when needed, can go in a spoiler tag.

Choose three characters from above, not necessarily the same three from the previous exercise, and write a single combat round set in the location from the Set the Scene exercise above. They can fight each other or face an external foe.

• Pick one side to be the 'bad guys'. In a game, this is the side you run. Include speech, body language, and other details for this side, but not for the other side. Your players will normally provide all that for their PCs, and this exercise is not about co-opting the players' right to determine their character's behavior.
• Decide what type of weapons and armor the participants use. Normally, your PCs will already have this information on their sheets.
• Determine the actual outcome of each exchange. In a game, this will be decided by dice and/or rules. For this exercise, you get to choose who hits whom and how hard. Before you can write what happens, you need to actually know what happens.
• Arrange the actions into an order. In a game, you'll resolve combat actions according to some kind of initiative order.
• Decide the level of gore you want to present. Some GMs send blood spraying everywhere and on everyone, and talk about entrails and squelchy noises. Others prefer to keep that to a minimum, and most fall in the middle someplace.

Now write the combat round/turn, describing everything as vividly as you can. If you need to, start with a simple 'X hits Y' format to declare what happens, then go back and embellish each sentence. Transform 'Bob hits the orc' into 'Bob swings his sword with every ounce of strength he can muster, slamming the blade into the orc's torso'. Once you have all the sentences transformed, go back one more time and stick extra sentences between them, this time describing reactions, changes to the environment, and anything else that seems relevant.

Example:
''The troll was discovered hunched down over the carcass of the horse, maw smeared with the poor creature's blood, bits of horseflesh dangling from between its teeth. Though the group was quiet as they crept up to their hiding place, they saw it lean back and sniff the air, look around suspiciously. Emitting a low growl as it stood to face the party, it snarled and started lumbering towards them. ''

''The plated myrmidon circled to the right, drawing the troll's beady eyes away from the others, and waited for it to close with him. It obligingly followed, gory claws rising as it approached, ready to skewer him for the crime of interrupting its meal. Taking one more step to meet it partway, Bob thrust forward with his blade, plunging it straight into the troll's gut. Marie's incantation finished before it could react to the grievous wound, causing a bright ball of fire to erupt at the troll's feet. It howled in agony and rage while Thomas let his arrow fly, scoring a hit straight to the troll's center mass.''

''All of this didn't prevent the monstrous thing from flinging a fistful of razor sharp claws at Bob. The blow slammed into his chest with the force of a speeding wagon, slicing lines of acute pain across whatever bare flesh the talons could find.''

NPC Character Sketches

 

Creating vivid and memorable NPCs is another important part to telling your story. If you toss off an NPC as unimportant, your players will, too. Lifelike NPCs also create immersion rather effectively, and can even open up unexpected opportunities and avenues for your group.

Create an NPC Sketch


Design an NPC using the picture above. Choose one of the following story purposes for him:

• Offer a quest.
• Deliver information about an already active quest.
• Act as a world and/or local history delivery mechanism.
• Be a noncombat obstacle to something the PCs want or need to do.
• Help the PCs overcome an obstacle they ordinarily couldn't on their own.

--As a note, these are not the only purposes NPCs serve, they just happen to be very common ones.

• Write a brief description of the quest, information, or obstacle. You don't need to design a whole quest or write a story for him to deliver, just have an idea of what it might be.
• Give him an occupation of some sort (even if it's just 'vagrant'), at least one event in his background which explains why he has that job, and decide what family he has currently living and if he lives with or near any of them.
• Discuss his religious beliefs. This includes which god(s) or tradition paths he favors, how important that is to him, and whether he's inclined towards proselytizing.
• Come up with the reason why he has the purpose he has. For example, if he's a quest giver, he should have some stake in the quest.
• Write a complete description of him as you'd give to the PCs upon meeting him for the first time. In addition to a physical description, include what he's doing and whether he notices the party immediately or not. If he does notice them, also include how he reacts.
• Write a paragraph of him speaking to determine his speech patterns. The subject should be something important to him, like his faith, a relative, an object of special value, etc.
• When you've done all that, reread it and put down any other notes that come to you about the character.

Create Your Own NPCs

Create an NPC from a picture ''you'' select. Follow the above steps to do this as many times as you want.

Some common archetypes for games:

• Villain
• Ally
• Commoner
• Patron
• Quirky/Comic-Relief

There are many more, of course.

Creating Believable Settings

 

Setting is just as important to your game as NPCs and creating a town is more than just drawing a map. Each location the players visit should be somewhat unique and interesting, as well as purposeful and logical. For example... did you ever stop and ask yourself where all those orcs living in the fourteenth level of your dungeon get their drinking water? If you didn't install a well or other water source and they don't have a magic portal, then you probably didn't think out your setting very well.

For this exercise we will use a town, but consider that the same principles can be applied to any location. Use the following map for reference.

• What is this town generally like? Discuss the architecture, the government, the people and their culture, current events, and anything else you wish to include.
• What has happened here in the past to shape the present? Outline the history of the town, including when and why it was founded, at least two recent events that affected half or more of the population, and one major world event that affected the town or surrounding region. Discuss how these events changed the town.
• What's notable about this town? Choose at least 2 named and numbered locations and write a paragraph about each of them and their significance. These are locations of significance, either because you expect the PCs to visit, or because the townspeople talk about them.
• Who's in charge? It says there are a 'Lord' and a 'Sheriff'. Who are these people, and how are they perceived by the populace?
• Who is ''really'' in charge, or who else has power? Create at least 1 faction in the town, giving it a leader, function, motivation, and resources. Describe a generic member of the faction and explain under what circumstances they are normally encountered.
• What does this place look like? Based upon the above, introduce the town to the players. Start with a description from afar, the first time they're able to really see it. From there, take them through the farmland and over the bridge, then into the city center.

Plot Devices

 

There are literally infinite types of plot devices, but the majority of single use plot devices for a PBP game will fall under one of three categories: Monsters, Artifacts or Traps/Puzzles. Using the ones already presented in books is easy, but sometimes just doesn't suit your needs or satisfy as well as something you designed yourself. These exercises are about creating and presenting your unique creations.

Monsters

What on Earth is that thing? It's your job to answer this question. Using the image here as a starting point, design a monster that the PCs will have to defeat. Keep in mind that 'defeat' doesn't necessarily mean 'kill'. You can make this thing intelligent enough that the PCs could bargain with it under the right circumstances.



You'll need to know enough about this creature type to fill in PCs who have enough creature knowledge to be aware of it, and enough to make it behave appropriately.

• Start with the creature's intelligence level. Low intelligence creatures are different in motivation and tactics than high intelligence ones.
• Explain where it originally came from - both what location and what method brought it into existence. What is its preferred climate/terrain?
• Is it a singular creature, or one member of a race? If it's a member of a race, come up with the social structure of the race and how they reproduce. Either way, you need to know what its basic bodily functions are and how they're tended to. Knowing what it prefers to eat and what it's willing to eat are important (assuming it eats). How does it move, and how fast can it go?
• Does it have any special abilities intended specifically to combat its preferred prey? How about to defend against and defeat other predators? Include humans and other sentient races as 'predators'. Does it have special tactics for either purpose?
• How powerful do you want this creature to be?

From here, start working on the mechanics of the creature. A quick and dirty way to get into this is to take the statistics of an existing creature and tweak them. Whether you do that or start from scratch, refer to the books for your system of choice for instructions on how to design the mechanics. This step can be skipped, but if you plan to create your own monsters often, it's better to get the practice than not.

Artifacts

Unique objects of special significance, high technology, and magical power are frequent plot devices. Create a unique item that is not a standard weapon type (though it might potentially be used as one).

• Either find a picture or describe the object's appearance (or both).
• Is this object specifically significant or very powerful, or both? If it has some special significance, explain it.
• How was it created originally? Is there any way to destroy it? What happens when you destroy it? Can it be broken without being destroyed? If so, can it be repaired to full functionality? How?
• What does it do? Assign powers and/or special abilities to the item. Using a theme is usually best with multiple powers, but not required.
• What does everyone think its powers are? Maybe this question has the same answer as the previous one, but maybe it's more mysterious, or lore is misleading or wrong.
• Are there any drawbacks to possessing or using it?
• Write a short story about this item being used in the past, the type of story a bard or other storyteller would pass on.

Traps and Puzzles

Traps and puzzles are noncombat obstacles that tend to be mechanical or magical devices designed to cause damage, restrict passage, or otherwise hamper access to some area or object. Traps typically can be avoided or dismantled by observant and skilled PCs, while puzzles generally have to be solved to get past. The greatest challenge with a trap is to make it interesting. The greatest challenge with a puzzle is to make it solvable without making it too easy.

Presenting a Trap

Most traps are nothing more than a skill challenge. The challenges are to notice it and to prevent it from doing what it's supposed to. There is usually very little cleverness involved on the part of the players, and it often isn't even necessary to explain what the trap was. The trap finder just checks for traps, finds one, and dismantles it.

Describe some space that has a trap in such a way that there are hints a trap is present, but no glaringly obvious signs of one. For this exercise, you will need to design a trap, but it doesn't have to be created mechanically or perfect in every detail. What’s most important is what the PCs will see when they encounter the area.

• Describe the space without considering the trap in it. What sort of place is it? Are we looking at a dungeon corridor, a paranoid thief's bedroom, a bank vault, a spaceship's engine room, or something else? Establish the normal for the space by being descriptive about it.
• Decide what parts of the trap would be visible to a careful observer. If it has a pressure plate that's been camouflaged as just another block in the floor, a sharp eye might notice something off about the plate. If there's a tripwire, a keen observer might catch a glint of light off the wire. And so on. The answer here can be 'nothing'.
• Place at least one hint to the existence of the trap. Using hints is not necessary. It's most appropriate when the party doesn't routinely check for traps, or has no reason to in this particular location. For this exercise, though, include one or more of them. The hint can be noticeable on first glance or require careful searching of the space. Common hints are scorch marks or a little soot for fire based traps, tracks in the dust, and dried blood on the wall.

Present a Puzzle

Most puzzles are more for the players than the PCs. They involve thinking and (hopefully) cleverness. If all the players have to do to get past it is roll some dice, it's not really a puzzle. Because designing a good puzzle is best done with setting elements and plot needs to inform it, this exercise is more about presentation than actual puzzle design.

• Choose a theme to work with. Some suggestions: Vikings, Elves, Spaceships, Sith/Jedi, any specific D&D deity.
• Come up with five different objects that suit your chosen theme. You can use actual examples of the objects themselves, such a real sword or a lock of wookiee fur, or you can use representations of the objects, such as a bracelet charm in the shape of a sword or a plaque showing an engine. Describe each object.
• Choose the goal of the puzzle. Most puzzles either open a door or portal, or they reveal a prize. If you created the artifact in the previous exercise, you can place it here. Otherwise, just use some random artifact-sounding name, or make it open a door or portal of some kind.
• Construct a room where the rules and goal of the puzzle are explained somehow. Stick to your theme. The explanation can be delivered in any way you wish. It can be cryptic, incomplete, damaged, in an unknown language, or otherwise unhelpful. You do not need to come up with the actual rules for this, though you certainly can. Some random, generic rules are good enough, like 'no cheating' and 'follow the blue arrows'. Provide a full description of this room, as it would appear when the PCs first find it. Include an extra exit that leads to the actual puzzle.
• Construct a single Puzzle Room. Although puzzles can be any number of rooms, for this exercise, use one extra room. In this room, there must be some way for the five objects to be used somehow to open a door/portal or reveal a prize. Describe this room. The tricky part is to give the PCs all the information they need without telling them exactly what to do. Logic puzzles tend to work well for this, as do card game based puzzles. Describe this room as it will be first discovered.
• Design a penalty for guessing wrong. Sometimes, players will just try to guess instead of figuring your puzzle out. Create some kind of penalty that will discourage them from taking the easy way out and describe it occurring to one of the NPCs from the character sketch exercise above.
• Explain what happens when the first piece is put in correctly. Write out the finale, too, when the puzzle is properly solved.

[WoLT]

World Building


Eternity is in love with the productions of time.

Introduction

 

Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. The process usually involves the creation of maps, listing the back-story of the world and the people of the world, and designing points of interest. The imaginary world need not be an entire planet. It might only be a single city or dungeon, or it might encompass several planes of existence, or anything in between.

Creating your own world offers the unique opportunity to run games in a setting built entirely to your specifications, ensuring that you are fond of every aspect of the in-game world. Further, by having a setting that you enjoy, you may find writing and running your adventures and campaigns is much easier and more rewarding than it might otherwise be.

Creating your own setting can be exciting and fun and is one of the crowning achievements of becoming a great GM. The process can be long and arduous and at times difficult, but also very fun and worth the effort in the end. This guide will help prepare you for the challenges ahead by offering suggestions found to be useful by many veteran GMs on rpgcrossing.com. Keep in mind, there is no exact one single way to do things when world building. This is your project and you are free to do it however you like. If you find one step to be particularly arduous or annoying, move on to something else you like better, knowing you can always come back.

General Advice

Crawl, Walk, Run
If you have never played in a PbP RPG as a player, or GM'd a game with an existing setting, consider doing these things before trying to develop your own world. The experience you gain will be priceless. Attempting to do this without said experience will vastly increase your workload.

Utilize (Free) Technology
Use a computer and appropriate software for everything when building your world. Software choice is key, and you have a lot of options available to you that are free. Things jotted down on paper are less easily changed and, unlike a digital document, not searchable. Besides, if you're using a PbP format, paper is a wasted step.

Be Up-to-Date
Make sure you are using up to date versions and the best software available to you. This will vary dramatically from person to person and job to job, but when in doubt, ask Google.

Digital Resources for GMs
Before you even begin, be sure to review every resource available here. There are literally tons to sift through that you can find on the internet for free, but those are some highly recommended ones.

Organize
Keep all of your information clearly labeled and organized. Again, technology makes things much more efficient, and using digital files is generally more organized than pen and paper.

Save Often
Say "I will save my content often" three times out loud to help yourself remember to do so. If you have access to autosaving technology, utilize it.

An ounce of planning is worth a pound of cure
Plan ahead at every stage. Nothing is more embarrassing as a GM than to be caught by your players unprepared and unable to respond. Granted, no one can be entirely prepared for every situation, but by having a large amount of preparation done in advance, usually you'll have enough to go on so that you can reasonably improvise whatever the challenge is and then write in what you need later. Also, as the GM, it is explicitly your responsibility to be prepared, so let’s embrace that notion.

Brainstorm

 

What does your world require? Do you have ideas for certain things? How big does your world need to be? Put these ideas in your notes as you are inspired to add new content. Don't bother trying to fully develop your ideas yet as they will be affected by their surroundings. For now, just jot down the things you already know you want. Remember, an ounce of planning is worth a pound of cure.

The Big Topics
Some things to think about early on are:

• Magic/Supernatural
• Technology Level(s)
• Religions/Gods
• Aliens/Other Planets/Other Planes of existence
• Time Travelers
• The Origin of the Universe/Tale of Creation
• What Happens When You Die?
• What is the Meaning of Life?
• Themes you want to portray
• ...etc

Have some potential answers to these things, or at least ideas about them and it will very much help direct the flow of your writing process. Simply ruling against a topic's inclusion is also a valid response.

It's also good to be aware of various sliding scale tropes when considering the tone of your game. Certain starters include:

• Idealism VS Cynicism
• Realistic VS Fantastic
• Silliness VS Seriousness
• Fourth Wall Hardness
• Anti-heroes
• Gender Inequality
• Social Satisfaction

Draw a Map

 

Though it is not mandatory to draw a map, or to even draw one at this stage, it is highly recommended to at least have a scratched out sketch once you have completed your brainstorming. You may go through several edits before you have a nice draft, this is normal.

Plan Big

• Specifically, plan bigger than you think you need.
• Make sure you have prepared sufficient wiggle room.
• Consider the longevity of the campaign: a world, a continent, a city, a cave, or several terrestrial planes?

It's better to err on the side of "too much" than "not enough". Make sure you have three times as much mapped as you intend to use. We do this because the PCs may decide to take unexpected turns and journeys we did not foresee when planning the game initially. If the players ever get to the edge of the planned world, you probably did something wrong as a GM.

Where to begin?
Start with land masses and major geographic features.

Check wikipedia for a comprehensive list of geographic features, but don't forget to drop some unique things in, such as a flying city or ocean of blood, or whatever else you may fancy for your world. Use your imagination. If you're having trouble making your map, head over to the Cartographer's Guild. The site has 100's of map making tutorials, sample maps, and you can even hire a pro map maker if you want.

Two tutorials from that site stand out as very useful for the beginning mapmaker. Even though they're focused on fantasy mapping, the techniques can apply to any genre:

• World Map Tutorial
• Local Map Tutorial

Once you've added in land masses and geographic features, place things on the map where they make sense. Haunted mines don't belong in swamps, population centers need access to resources, and rivers flow from mountains to oceans. Include not only locations of civilization centers and adventuring locales, but also points of interest and historical significance.

Unless you plan to show the full map to your players, make them a separate copy. On this map, put everything they should know about, and leave off anything they shouldn't.

Regional Planning

• Split up your map into regional zones.
• Write at least three sentences about each zone and jot down notes of ideas (''i.e. this region has a dark portal like in Warcraft 2'') worry about putting polish on your ideas later.
• Plan zones based upon party strength. You'll want a starter zone, middle zones, and power zones. The starter zone is where you plan to start low powered PCs, middle zones are for them to gradually increase in power, and power zones are for the end of their career, when they have plenty of tricks up their sleeves and can handle the tough stuff.
• By the time you're done with this stage, you should have clear objectives for each region of your map.

Content Creation

 

Content Creation is both the fun and hard part of world building. You will spend most of your time in this phase to prepare your world to be game ready.

Top Down Method
The top down method, as the name suggests, involves starting from the top and working your way down to smaller elements. When drawing your map, this allows you to have the room to develop the big things first (oceans, continents, mountain chains) and then work towards smaller things (cities, forests, points of interest/significance).

Advantages to the top down method:

• This method is self organizing: you will put things where they go, in folders you've already built.
• Everything has a logical placement within the world: You can plan where to put the big things and ask why they go the places they do as you place them, rather than trying to squish stuff together, scrapping it and redrafting everything with a better plan.
• Encourages you as GM to think big and avoid later continuity issues from forgetting large things: It's easier to add small changes later than big ones. An NPC later added might go unnoticed, if a kingdom pops up out of the blue, people are going to wonder why they never heard of it before, why there wasn't any previous trade with that country, why they just never had an effect on the world previous to their new arrival.
• This method gives you plenty of detail and firmly presents the tone of your world. If you forget to make certain pieces of the backdrop, your world will not be as understandable to your gamers.
• This method allows you to spend less time during game play focusing on developing your world, and more time on your players and the plot, making for a far more immersive world than it might otherwise be.

The Method

Pick one zone to start with for your campaign. Populate in descending order from large to small. For example: A kingdom, a city, a hamlet, a goblin cave, a specific NPC, etc. If you find you have an idea for an NPC or smaller item than the group you are currently working with, jot it down for now but start with the big things and work towards the small. This method will help answer the bigger questions first, and as you work towards making your NPCs, you can define their role within the world.

History the Top Down Way

• Do not start with history. Do this last.
• Create a world you like. Creating a world you like is primary, and if you like the world you built, the history will write itself by asking the Five Magic Questions (see below). If instead you write the history first, you may end up logically somewhere that you didn't want to be with your setting.
• The Big Topics. Revisit your notes from your planning stage. Remember those big topics we talked about? Start developing them more now. Just like everything else, work from the top down. When organizing your sections, consider organizing them by "Ages" such as "The Bronze Age" or "The Dragon Age". Make sure each age has something significant to talk about, otherwise it's not really an age.
• Start Vague. Once you rough out how the the place came to be, add in lots of vague sections early on and get more specific as time passes and things like writing are invented. Just writing your history also will give you plenty of ideas and fuel to go back and repeat previous steps and revisit other areas in development at various levels. Leaving wide open chunks in the history of your world early on also gives you lots of freedom to add in some long forgotten ancient mysteries as your campaign progresses.
• Consider creating two time lines: one for GM use with and one for player use. The first should have everything, as it actually happened. The second should have common knowledge, which may or may not be completely accurate, and may or may not have detail.

Bottom Up Method
The bottom-up method takes the details of your plot and from there, extrapolates the entire world. Instead of worrying about having the entire picture, you worry about what you really need to get a game going.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Bottom Up Method

• You have a general outline you want the plot to follow. This method allows you to tailor the world so that the PCs and their story are really the most important thing in the universe, saving you the trouble of working it into some other setting.
• Your entire campaign, is set in only one or two cities or regions. If the players will only see one small portion of the world, then your efforts should be focused on that area.
• You are intimidated by the prospect of creating an entire world, several realistic cultures, and an entire cosmology. Bottom-up lets you start small.
• You are pressed for time. It's quicker to get a game rolling with this method than some others, because it allows you to start with the details you'll immediately need and to ignore ones the players are unlikely to see.
• You want to give yourself the freedom to change large aspects of the world later. As long as your changes are still consistent with what you've already shown the players, they'll be none the wiser.

However, it may not be the best choice if:

• You don't have a specific plot in mind. If you want to create a plot around your setting, then you should use the top down method described elsewhere in this article.
• You are running a sandbox game. You'll have very little plot to build from, and players will have a lot of room to surprise you, which may leave you scrambling to come up with details on the fly.
• You plan on running multiple campaigns in the setting. You can always flesh things out if you go along, but one of the main advantages of bottom-up is that it allows you to save time by ignoring the details you won't need for a game. Other campaigns are likely to need those details, however, so it may be more efficient to create the entire world at once.
• You're more comfortable with having a lot of details set in stone. Maybe you'd rather focus on things like encounter design or helping new players with the mechanics.
• Your gut instinct tells you that something else will work better for you. Everyone's creative process is different, and you're more likely to put your best efforts into something that goes along with your instincts rather than a process that works against them. Just be aware of the pitfalls of whatever method you choose. In reality, most World Builders drift between methods at least a little bit and that it perfectly natural.

The Method

First, you need a starting point. For many people, this will be the place the campaign starts in and the scenario that gets the adventure rolling. However, sometimes it makes more sense to begin elsewhere. If the characters are beginning in a small town but almost immediately move to the big city where most of the action takes place, you may want to start off with the city. If the campaign is about a quest for a mysterious temple, it may make more sense to begin with the location of the temple and the temple's place in history.

Flesh out that starting point. You'll probably want a map of the place, although whether you want to begin with it for inspiration or wait until you have most of the details decided on is up to you. You'll need to know its political structure (Is it run by a mayor, a king, a high priest, or something else?) and probably flesh out a few influential NPCs. Since PCs, no matter the system or genre, have a tendency to do things of questionable legality, you'll need to have some idea of the legal code and how it's enforced. You'll also want a general idea of the location's culture and way of life. How are people expected to treat each other? How do they make a living? If the location's history is important to the plot, you'll want to keep that in mind as you determine the answers to the previous questions.

Tie all of this in with the plot you had in mind. If you get carried away creating things without a thought toward what you're going to use them for, you might end up with a wonderfully-detailed locale that doesn't really make sense for the story you want to tell. A good question to ask yourself is, “What kind of place would this plot have to happen in?” That question should always be at the forefront of your mind. Of course, if in building you come up with intrigues that complement your plot rather than overshadow it, so much the better.

Another good practice is to take lots and lots of notes. In order for the world to make sense, everything you build has to be consistent with what you built before. If you have everything you've made recorded in an orderly manner, consistency shouldn't be an issue.

Once you've gotten your starting point, it's time to expand out from there. What kind of national political structure would a location with your starting point's leadership exist under? What kind of climate and geography would lead to your starting point's citizens living and working the way they do? How are your starting point's problems related to ones in the world at large? How did world history shape you staring location, and vice-versa? Is your starting point more or less technologically advanced than the surrounding lands, and why? Again, it's all just a variation of “What would allow this to happen?”

Keep expanding outward, always remaining consistent with what you have previously. Make sure everything your PCs need to know about your world at character creation is covered. You don't necessarily need to fill out the details of distant lands the players are unlikely to ever see, but you should hammer out places they have a chance of visiting in the near future, so you'll be prepared. If you want to have PCs from all over the world (or continent, or galaxy) then be sure to give them a basic idea of all the regions (or nations, or planets), although for faraway lands irrelevant to the plot, it's okay — perhaps even best — to leave a lot of the details up to the players.

The Five Magic Questions
If you run out of ideas and have too much space to be comfortable with when developing something, ask the following '''THE BIG FIVE QUESTIONS:'''

Who? What? Where? When? and Why? (and sometimes How?).

Answering those questions will allow you to ask them more and continue the trend of developing and fleshing out your world. Why are those two kingdoms fighting? Who are the kings? When and why did the feud begin? Where is the lost Sword of the Avatar? Etc.

There are actually a lot more than FIVE MAGIC QUESTIONS. Find a comprehensive list here to help get you started. An entire website devoted to various world building tactics and techniques can be found here.

Finding Inspiration/Tropes
If you ask the questions but can't think of a good answer, you may be running low on writing inspiration. Try going to TVtropes.org and hit the random button, or browse them. Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. Surfing through TV Tropes will likely end up with lots of hours gone missing if you are new to the site, but it's is filled with lots of great writing ideas that are easily cataloged and generally presented in a fun fashion. As a writers tool for PbP this one of the best around. It will allow you to be knowledgeable of many writing techniques and storytelling types as well as familiarize you with clichés and how to subvert them.

Note: Clichés are not a bad thing necessarily, but using them as a blunt tool in your writing powered by ignorance of their proper use usually is.

Creating Factions
Land mass based factions (Countries, Kingdoms, etc) aren't the only way to organize people. Factions range from being as large as interstellar federations to being as small as a handful of underground cultists. Factions are great for creating various political tensions within your campaign. When creating factions consider asking the five magic questions to answer the following:

• Motive: What is the goal of the faction?
• Organization: How is the faction run? Is it a cartel, a coalition, an institution, a religion, a political party, something else? Where does the funding come from?
• Size: Who and how many people are involved?
• Location: Not all factions are kingdoms that are based on borders of land masses. Some things like religions and trade cartels cross political borders. Discuss the main hub of the faction as well as its influence abroad.
• History: Why was the faction created, and what facilitated its creation? How long has it been around? What relevant things have been done in its name?

Creating NPCs
It is not enough to merely have a physical description and list of statistics and equipment for an NPC. This tells us nothing of who they are and how they behave. Breathe life into your NPCs by giving them specific quirks, motivations, advantages and disadvantages. Use this list for some starting ideas for quirks.

Generators can be found online for just about anything with a quick search, from simple names to fully statted out creatures.

Use Pictures
Content creation can often be facilitated by having pictures. Google can be used for a handy image search to help give you some inspiration. Need an evil castle? Type it in, see what comes up, pick something you think works. The picture will often tell a lot of the story to you and your players. Using pictures can also help define culture. Dark, gritty cathedrals say something very different than a bright, anime style town.

Example

For this example, we'll focus on working up a mage. The decision is made to search for a 'blood mage'. In this case, Google was the image search engine of choice, and one particular image seemed right.



Since the image selected actually has two people in it, the story needs two people in it. Twins would be interesting. Our mage has now become twin elven blood mages who use swords. From here, work out the rest of their details: names, motivations, dastardly plans, history, and so on.

By working from the image, instead of the other way around, you save time trying to find a picture that fits what's in your head, and can get ideas about the character you may not have considered before.

Wiki Organization

 

Organize your world into...a free wiki! Just create a free account and begin editing your wiki with an easy to use interface. Although you can add things to your world indefinitely and infinitely, remember that someone else reading all of it will have to start at the beginning and work their way through it. Start your World Wiki with an overview of important information, presented as concisely as possible.

From there, use subpages to organize information into related subgroups. If you have a lot about a particular city, put it on a separate page. If a particular organization has a detailed write-up, put that on a separate subpage. Use subheadings so readers can find exactly what they're looking for. Tag your pages for easier searching.

Information to consider putting into your wiki, beyond the obvious:

• Alphabetical list of major NPCs
• Alphabetical or regionally organized listing of major cities and towns
• Listing of locations of special interest, such as magic item sellers, black market vendors, frequent quest givers, and special geographical features (like a healing fountain, etc.).

Game Preparation
After a lot of work, you finally have a homebrew game world. The next step is to work on the basic outline of the your campaign and populate it with adventures.

[WoLT]

Writing Campaigns, Adventures and Encounters


Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.

Introduction

 

Creating adventures is the core responsibility of being a GM. Specific ''System Mechanics'' are not discussed here. This is guide on how to plan an encounter, adventure, and campaign for any system in any setting and focuses more on story structure and its components. Many of the principles of World Building can also be applied to adventure writing.

General Gaming Advice

 

General
Adventures work if they are fun and easy to play, and give every kind of hero a chance to shine in different encounter styles. The most important part of design isn't the details of a stat block, but the type and variety of opponents and encounters.

Have a Polder
Have a resting/restocking spot for the PC's. Don't hand them one every time they run low on resources, but remember that PCs die when they can't rest and recharge. Notable exceptions to this rule are duration survival games, which have a goal of lasting the longest before being killed, or making it from dusk to dawn. A polder can be anything, but common types include: The house of a noble patron, an inn, or a safe place to camp for the night.

Start the action quickly, no slow starts
The opening of a game needs to grab the players and get them invested as quickly as possible. Give them a chance to introduce their characters before a combat starts, but don't set them up to sit around discussing a plan for a while before anything happens. If your game begins with someone hiring them, start with them already hired and on the way to the first interesting part of the adventure.

Trim excess and mundane encounters and details.
Unless there is something specific/interesting/important happening when a PC mails a letter to his friend, don't RP it. Narrate the mundane details once in a while, but leave most of it "off camera". No one ever goes to the bathroom on Star Trek because nobody wants to watch that. The same principle applies here. Unless something really interesting is going to happen while Bob is looking for a tree to go behind, it's best left unsaid and understood.

Random encounters in PbP are considered an excess because of the pace. If an encounter isn't meaningful, it shouldn't happen. If you feel you need more encounters, then find a way to make them meaningful.

Excess back story will also slow down your game. This doesn't mean not to write back story, but if it doesn't have a good chance of coming up in game, you don't need to waste time preparing it. Alternately, if you prepare it, you should probably use it and in the case something does come up you didn't anticipate (and it will), be prepared to improvise.

Don't trim away too much, though. Sometimes, adding detail to something mundane or irrelevant inspires the PCs to interact with it and takes the group in a direction you didn't anticipate. This can be good! The key is to keep it interesting. If you re-read what you just wrote and find yourself replacing the words with "blahblahblah" in your head, it's probably going to inspire the same reaction from your players.

Appropriate Encounter Levels
Do not put obstacles in the path of your PCs that they are completely incapable of overcoming. If the challenge is possible but particularly hard, consider making it optional but offering a great reward if accomplished. Conversely, if all challenges are too easy, the players will eventually get bored.

Mooks: A mook is an NPC type that is designed to be beaten easily by the party. Generally these encounters are good for boosting PC morale after being wailed on for too long. Include mooks, but do so sparingly. Alternately, in a high powered campaign (such as a super hero campaign), the heroes will likely frequently take on groups of mooks.

Bigger Fish: At least once per adventure the PCs should face a foe that is vastly superior and can potentially kill the party members. Without any real threat, the PCs will quickly start to feel and act as if they are invincible. If you have too many bigger fish the PCs will start to be afraid of everything they encounter or feel insignificant.

Design different kinds of encounters
There is much more to RPG's than simple kill-n-loot runs, and even if that's what your players enjoy, giving something different to handle on occasion is a great way to break things up. Try the following types:

• Skills: This type of challenge requires the PCs to utilize non-combat skills.
• Magic/Technology/Divine: These types of traps and puzzles will give your players a chance to utilize their problem solving skills.
• Role-Playing Encounters: How much of this your players indulge in and how much they replace with use of skills is largely up to what the play group considers fun. There are many different opinions about how to handle such interactions as it relates to social skill mechanics. Because PbP tends to attract writers, the most common method of handling RP situations is to have players write out what their characters do and say and use social skill checks to fill in the blanks.

Example: If Bob needs to convince the Warden that he should be able to take his pack into the prison when he visits a prisoner, Bob's player writes out his argument/plea, then rolls the appropriate skill check to fill in tone, expression, gestures, and similar things that are harder to explain in writing. There is, however, nothing wrong with just using skill checks if that's what your group prefers. Not using the checks at all isn't recommended (unless you're playing freeform, of course), because it negates the mechanics of the character in favor of the player's writing skill.

Play to the Audience

 

When writing your adventures, there are two main two choices: either leave lots of blanks, or make decisions about what kinds of characters you want to recruit.

In the first case, the players are expected to provide enough information in their backgrounds to inform the blanks you leave. Maybe one player will choose for their PC to have an intense hate for a particular type of creature. Maybe another will decide to specialize in one kind of attack. You'll want to be able to plug those into your adventures and use them to make the players feel invested and immersed.

In the second case, it's up to you to tell the players what to expect. If the game will be all about smashing orcs, say so and you'll get characters dedicated to orc extermination.

Don't plan too much before the game starts. The meat of the first adventure and an outline of the rest of the campaign is a good goal. Try to have enough information to run the game for at least a month or two, and to foreshadow the future of the campaign, but not so much that unexpected player behavior will ruin everything. Players will always do something unexpected.

Dramatic Structure

 

Adventures, classically, are a dramatic story in which the PCs are the protagonists. Regardless of whether or not the story is a Comedy or Tragedy, the dramatic structure remains the same.

According to Freytag's Pyramid, a drama is divided into five parts or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement. Although Freytag's analysis of dramatic structure is based on five act plays, it can be applied (sometimes in a modified manner) to encounters, adventures, and campaigns as well.



Introduction/Exposition
The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, and the setting. It ends with the inciting moment, which is the incident without which there would be no story. The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in motion beginning with the second act, the rising action.

Rising Action
During rising action, the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves or actions unknown.

Climax
The climax or turning point marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist.

Falling Action
During the falling action, or resolution, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.

Resolution/Dénouement/Catastrophe
The story resolution comprises events between the falling action and the actual end of the drama or narrative and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader.

More modern works may have no dénouement, because of a quick or surprise ending or instantaneous segway to a sequel story.

Common Conflict Types

 

Conflicts are the heart and soul of any RPG encounter. Not all conflicts in your RPG need be orcs and dungeon traps. Explore different kinds of conflict with your players to encourage character development. Feel free to mix and match rather than limit yourself to only one conflict type per encounter. Often compelling, non-violent encounters are the most memorable.

Man vs. Self
Man vs. Self is when the main character in the story has a problem with him or herself. Examples might include making a tough moral choice or fending off bouts of insanity.

Man vs. Man
"Conflict arising between two or more characters of the same kind" Example : Sword fight between two people. This need not be a physical fight, however. Role-playing verbal conflicts can lead to interesting plot directions, divulge certain bits of information to the protagonist and antagonist, and be used to bargain between the groups peaceably.

Man vs. Society
Man vs. Society is a theme in fiction in which a main character's (or group of main characters') main source of conflict is social traditions or concepts. In this sense, the two parties are: a) the protagonist(s) and b) the society in which the protagonist(s) is included. Society itself is often looked at as single character, just as an opposing party would be looked at in a Man vs. Character conflict. Man vs. Society conflict gives the storyteller an opportunity to comment on positive/negative aspects of a whole.

Man vs. Nature/Environment
Man vs. Nature/Environment is the theme in literature that places a character against forces of nature. Many disaster films focus on this theme, which is predominant within many survival stories. It is also strong in stories about struggling for survival in remote locales.

Terrain is also more than a nuisance encounter; it can add variety, drama and spice to your games. Don't forget to add richness to combat encounters and movement parts of the game by the careful use of terrain and hazards to give each adventure area its own sense of place, danger, and mystery.

Introducing things like storms at sea, tornadoes and even living plants can be a great way to give even the most hardened characters pause. Variations in exotic settings can include mana storms, living forests, possessed/haunted old churches.

Man vs. Machine/Technology
Man vs. Machine/Technology places a character against man-made entities which may possess intelligence. It also includes basic dungeon traps.

Man vs. Destiny
Man vs. Destiny (or Fate) is a theme in which one attempts to break free of a predetermined path before him, chosen without his knowledge. It can also be referred to as a conflict between determinism and freewill. This theme is common in stories in which time travel is used to alter events to escape unpleasant ends.

Popular Narative Devices

 

Narrative Devices move the story forward or organize a scene or sequence. They are also the chief components of any encounter you happen to prepare. Having a wide range of narrative devices at your disposal will make you a more effective GM.

Applied Phlebotinum
Phlebotinum is the magical substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot. Some examples: nanotechnology, magic crystal emanations, pixie dust, a sonic screwdriver, spirits from the beyond, or even just some green rocks. A classic example of this is when the writers of Star Trek created the pseudoscience of "warp core technology" to allow the members of the crew to zip around outer space (as the plot required) at unnatural speeds.

Characters as a Device
In service to the plot, characters are given specified roles, sometimes making them just plot devices with lines. These "devices" can also be viewed as "component parts" from which more complex, realistic characters can be built. A classic example of this is Q from the James Bond series, a super scientist that exists (plot wise) solely to provide James Bond with amazing spy technologies for his missions.

MacGuffin
MacGuffin is a term for a motivating element in a story that is used to drive the plot. To determine if a thing is a MacGuffin, check to see if it is interchangeable. "Quickly! We must find X before they do!". Some typical Macguffins are a case full of money, the missing princess or a large diamond.

Other Devices
There are thousands of other kinds of narrative devices but starting with those three is generally more than enough to get any plot moving. Wade through the massive index of narrative devices any time you are running low on adventure writing inspiration.

Rules of Writing

 

Clarke's Three Laws - ''Clarke's Laws discuss the barriers between magic and science and are thus very important for writing fantasy or sci-fi campaigns.''

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; when he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Chekhov's Gun - ”If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.”

Chekhov's Gun is a literary technique whereby an element introduced early in the story becomes significant later on. For example, a character may find a mysterious necklace that turns out to be the power source to the Doomsday Device, but at the time of finding the object it does not seem important. Chekhov's Gun is usually not a literal gun — it can be anything. Further, if something isn't important, don't include it. This is not to take away from the function of red herrings.

Sturgeon's Law - "Nothing is always absolutely so."

Avoid absolutes in your writing. Absolutes even in the best of circumstances provoke fridge logic, Kayfabe, and generally breaks the willful suspension of disbelief.

Chandler's Law - "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand."

Chandler's Law is a concise but evocative piece of advice for writers who have somehow painted themselves into a corner, plotwise. The addition of a new opponent or complication, usually amidst a burst of violence, can free a protagonist from where he has become mired in the current plot.

Poe's Law – "It is impossible to tell for certain the difference between genuine stupidity and a parody of stupidity."

The core idea of Poe's law is that a parody of something extreme can be mistaken for the real thing, and if a real thing sounds extreme enough, it can be mistaken for a parody. This law is important to be aware of otherwise certain extremes in your writing may be confused for humor and vice versa.

Other Laws

There are more writing laws to cover, but THIS is a good starter compendium.

It's also good to be aware of various sliding scale tropes when considering the tone of your game. Certain starters include:

• Idealism VS Cynicism
• Realistic VS Fantastic
• Silliness VS Seriousness
• Fourth Wall Hardness
• Anti-heroes
• Gender Inequality
• Social Satisfaction

Some other general writing advice tidbits for PBP RPGs:

• Use the time of your reader in such a way that he or she will not feel it is wasted.
• Every sentence must do one of two things: reveal character or advance the plot.
• Every NPC should have a motivationwant something, even if it is only a glass of water.
• Use active voice over passive voice whenever possible.

HLS Format

 

''Hook Line and Sinker'' format is a surefire way to plan out an adventure for PCs by preparing the different elements discussed above into an adventure format that closely follows Freytag's Pyramid. Where Freytag's Pyramid is closely related to campaign structure, HLS is closer to adventure formatting.

The Hook – ”Have a goal. Once the Hook is set there are now conditions for victory and failure that should be at least in part understood by the PCs.”

Create a hook by understanding the basic motivations of PC's: Greed, Revenge, Glory, Heroism, and Knowledge. For further development of motivations, look at the backgrounds of your PCs. If your players did a good job developing backgrounds, they will have several premade motivations built into their story, ready for you to pluck and exploit as part of the adventure. In short, make the hook personally applicable to the PCs when possible.

A good hook is tough for the party to refuse, while a poor hook is easily ignored. You can stack hooks. The first hook may be nothing but a way to get the action started. If your hook doesn't work, don't force it, just let it go and find another way to get the party involved in the adventure. If you don't, the players will begin to feel railroaded into the plot and become disaffected; which is the exact opposite of plot immersion - the goal of any advanced GM.

For some ideas about hooks (many of which can be adapted to various settings) see steal this hook.

The Line – ”Tie the encounters together and progress the plot with each meaningful encounter. Encounters need not be only monsters or traps. They can be literally anything that has a meaningful effect on the plot.”

What is the motivating hook the players are after that should be the focus point of the end game? Now consider what the players need to be able obtain the goal. The “line” is a direct reference to fishing, reeling in the PCs in towards the goal/climax like one might reel in a fish.

Some encounters will be very straightforward, such as a rogue attempting to disarm a trap in a dungeon. Others may be more complex, such as role-playing out key events filled with lies, misdirection, and intrigue. You should plan several encounters of various types as discussed in the general advice section above.

The Sinker – ”Capstone with a great encounter or interesting twist that will serve as your exit strategy and also lead into your next adventure hook.”

You set the hook by appealing to what drives the characters. You kept them on the line by putting that hook at the end of a series of smaller, more focused challenges. You designed those challenges with a series of smaller hooks and choices. Now, at the end of the game, you need the climactic final confrontation. You need to sink it and bring them back for your next adventure or campaign.

When it comes to design, every adventure and campaign needs its own climactic encounter and beyond that, it needs a handful of things to improve its chances of success.

• Stakes - The climactic encounter should have the highest stakes of the entire adventure or campaign. One set of stakes perfect for the climax is the life, or at least story importance, of the PCs. Lethality of some sort should always be in the game, but during the climax, life and death become a genuinely interesting set of stakes due to the fact that failure by being removed from the campaign can have far reaching effects on the shared narrative. Another perfect stake in the climax is the hook itself: the ownership of the McGuffin, the secret, the revenge, or the glory. Finally, bring in the fates of NPCs - allies and enemies known and unknown.
• Tension - Tension is a difficult thing to generate, but by raising the stakes, you’re halfway there. The next step is to make losing a real possibility, or even a probable outcome. Some of this is making it challenging via the statistics built into the game; the enemies in the climax should be the most powerful of the adventure. Other methods include using your full arsenal as a GM. Don’t pull blows! Fight dirty! Make the players feel like they have to work for it and make sure they've seen defeat at least once from the enemy. That said, don’t make it impossible. If the heroes can’t win, it kills tension just as much as if they’re sure to win.
• Setting - If the climax is a combat encounter, it should have the most interesting terrain features. If it’s a social encounter, public locations are best, especially if they have a lot of people involved. These types of locations make it interesting on a fundamental level. A combat with a dragon is interesting; a combat with a dragon on a stone bridge over a lake of lava with minions flowing from both sides with the McGuffin resting on a pedestal on the far side is climactic.
• The Unexpected - The last thing a climax need is a shift. The climax is where hidden allies throw their hand in with the heroes, where traitors turn on their ‘friends’, where hidden plots come out, and nothing ever seems to go right. Besides the story implications that are usable in any type of conflict, combat encounters should have some major turning points, more so than a standard encounter. Take a page out of a video game’s book, make the ‘boss’ monster go through changes in tactics, or changes in forms. Have minions appear halfway through. Change the battlefield mid combat. Do something unexpected.

Example of HLS
Hook: While the players are in ______________________ for one reason or another they are offered a job by a member of the government.

Line: The job is to take a small box to ___________ in _______________________. The nature of the cargo is too sensitive to send through normal channels. The box will be heavily warded to prevent the players from snooping. The players could face problems delivering the box from bandits who assume it must be worth a fortune. Also, any of the other agents against its delivery may get word of it through their spies and try to intercept it for their own purposes.

Sinker: The secret contents of the box are papers outlining the first steps in a formal alliance between _______________ and __________________. If the alliance is confirmed, a war will break out with a neighboring third faction. If it is not, the war will still break out but one of the kingdoms seeking the alliance will fall beneath the tyrannical third faction, making the coming war much more difficult for the PCs to help win.

Starting the Game

You have your plot and starting adventure, now what? Find out more HERE.

[WoLT]

Setting up your new game forum


In successful organization, no detail is too small to escape close attention.

Being organized as a GM is key to saving time and being productive. Though each GM and game will have different needs, setting up your forum efficiently will help keep navigation clicks to a minimum for players and GM's. If you are unsure how to create your game, please see HERE.

What Kinds of threads should I have?

• OOC Thread - This thread is for players and readers to interact OOC (Out of Character). It might have to do with a specific game question, it might have to do with someone telling the group they need a leave of absence, or it might just have to do with some personal news like someone telling about how they got a new video game or otherwise. The point of this thread is to keep your adventure threads free of a lot of unnecessary tangents and chatter.
• House Rules - House rules are any modifications to the game system standard rule set that you are using. This list will likely grow alongside the game to accommodate new circumstances that crop up. List all house rules in this thread if you have them. If you don't have any yet, you will likely adopt some over the span of a long game.
• GM Notes (GM only private thread) - Keep all of your notes handy in the main thread group. This can be plans or ideas or just things you want to remember. Although you can always go back and check the records of the game, as your game grows, having your own thread to edit becomes an increasingly more attractive option than tracking down which thread and which page a particular series of posts is on.
• IC Adventure Thread - Keep the current active IC (In Character, or adventure) thread in the main thread group. It is recommended you number your adventure threads for the purpose of archive keeping or use some other system (Book 1: Act 1: Scene 1) so that readers and potential new players can easily navigate through the old story.
• Locations and NPCs - Keeping public notes of major NPCs and locations in your world - as one or many threads - will help both you and the players remember who is who and what is what. This is especially important when the world is homebrew. Once such threads become long enough that they're just as difficult to wade through as the game threads, consider moving your game information to a wiki if you have not already. Use spoiler tags if you have large chunks of information and images for multiple entries.
• Characters - To minimize PM communication between players and GMs, it's helpful to give each player a private thread. Such threads are used for character specific mechanical issues, the digital version of passing notes to the GM, awarding experience or other rewards, and other concerns the player or GM might not want to discuss publicly with the entire group.

[WoLT]

Writing a Game Ad


Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.

Forward

 

The game ad is the first presentation of your game to prospective players. It's how you attract players. If it's sloppy, disorganized, and disjointed, that what kind of players you'll attract, if you get any interest at all. The game ad is not something to just crank out in five minutes. It's something to take time with, proofread, spellcheck, rewrite, and proofread again.

The goal of any game ad is to attract players who will enjoy the game, and that you will enjoy gaming with. To do that, you need to display your writing style, offer information about your play style, and clearly explain the parameters of the game. If a player is looking for one thing and you're offering another, neither of you will be happy in the same game together. Conversely, when everyone is looking for the same thing, you're all much more likely to enjoy it. The way to make this happen is through communication.

Although a game ad often needs to contain a large amount of information, break it into small pieces where you can, using fieldset and spoiler tags, as well as bold text for section headings. Large walls of unrelieved text are generally intimidating, especially to newer players.

Game Advertisement Format

 

This section assumes you're writing an ad for a new game. If you need to recruit new players into an existing game, you may need some additional information, noted below. Also, this format is only a guideline. Your particular ad might benefit from a different arrangement of some of the elements, or for some of them to be combined, split into parts, or even excluded. Elements should be considered entirely optional for inclusion, and feel free to rename them. For example, instead of putting in 'Game system used: GURPS 4e', you could just declare 'GURPS 4e'.

• Title: Name your ad something memorable that conveys the type of campaign or adventure you wish to run. This is only the title of the game ad, and will not affect your game forum name or any thread in your game. Indicating some of the mechanical information, like level/points, tone, or genre isn't required, but can draw in people who might ignore a purely fluff thread title. Be sure to indicate the gaming system you intend to use in the title, generally putting it in parenthesis at the beginning or end is good practice.
• Estimated members requested: How many players do you want? Most games run with 3-6 players. Larger and smaller games both exist, but are less common for a variety of reasons. For new GMs, a party size of 4-5 typically works the best.
• Body: Begin the actual text of the ad with some kind of attention-getter. Use an excerpt from a fictitious book from the game world, a scene from the backstory of your campaign, quotes from major or historical NPCs, or anything else that offers some insight into the tone and subject of the campaign, as well as showing your writing style. Put such text in italics, as is often done with quotes or book excerpts. This is also a good place for one or two images, such as a picture of the starting location or an NPC that will be a major part of the game.
  
  Offer a little bit about yourself as a GM. Spend a paragraph discussing your GMing style, the tone you want for the game, how long you've been GMing, and anything else you think it's important for players to know, besides the mechanics of the game. Does something in particular irritate you? Say so. Tell the players about pet peeves that will automatically disqualify them.
  
  Explain your expectations for the game, in terms of amount of role playing (RP) vs. roll playing and general type. If you want heavy RP in a court intrigue game, that's a much different game than a low RP dungeon crawl, a 50/50 puzzle and skill challenge, or any other type. Also note whether PvP will be allowed/encouraged or not. If it isn't already clear from the system and setting choice, characterize the overall feel of the game, such as 'Depression era Lovecraftian horror', 'traditional high magic fantasy', or 'four color superheroes'.
  
• Background requirements: If the PCs need to have some particular element in their background, such as having been hired by a particular NPC for some particular purpose or being from a particular town, explain that and provide information about it. Also discuss the general theme of the game so people can make characters that suit it. When a game is supposed to be about hunting undead and associated cults, or spying for the CIA, or destroying a plague of dragons, say so and you'll get characters that fit the theme. Likewise, if you're looking for any particular character archetypes, players need to know that.
• Posting Requirement: How many times a day, week, or month are your players expected to post? This is the MINIMUM requirement to post without some sort of prior notification. As a general rule, requiring more than one post per day or less than two per week causes problems of one kind or another. Very fast games may be difficult to keep up with or cause a lot of simultaneous posting issues. Very slow games may never gain any momentum and fade away. In some cases, you may wish to also add a maximum posting rate such as "no more than three posts from a player before the DM and/or all respond at least once" to make sure that everyone has a chance to respond appropriately.
• Sources allowed: List out the books and online sources players may draw from to create their characters, noting any parts you wish to exclude.
• Setting: Whatever the setting may be, note it. Published settings require nothing more than an indication of which part you intend to use. For a homebrew setting, offer a brief description of it with a link to your world's information. If you have an image or music to help convey the feel of the setting, include them here.
• Character Creation Rules: This will vary drastically from system to system, but explain the parameters that the players are expected to operate within while generating their characters, including level/points, score generation methods, and anything else your system requires. List out which source materials are allowed. If you are disallowing anything in those sources, be explicit about what cannot be used.
• House Rules: List out any House Rules in effect for your game. If you have a lot of house rules, or your house rules are extensive, a link to a "house rules" thread in your game forum or page in your world wiki is sufficient.
• Miscellaneous: Anything else that doesn't fit into the other categories and only needs a sentence or two to explain, drop into a section for miscellaneous information. This is a good place for relevant links that don't fit the other categories.
• Submissions: Explain exactly how a player should submit an application for the game. If you want a particular format to the submission, indicate it. Indicate whether a completed character sheet is required as part of a submission, and if you have any kind of character and/or player questionnaire, include it here, spoilered.

Re-recruiting

If you're recruiting people for an already running game to join existing players, include two more things: a summary of the game so far, and a general explanation of the existing characters. Additionally, if you are going to let your existing players have a say over who gets in and who doesn't, let everyone know about it.

The 'game so far' should be a basic explanation of what's happened in the game already - the Cliff's Notes version. The purpose of this is to reduce the time investment for new people by making it unnecessary for them to read the game prior to writing up an application. You can still require them to read the game before joining, especially if it's not very long, but expecting people to read even five pages of posting just to decide whether they want to write up an application or not is unrealistic. Give them enough of a taste to determine if they really want to spend the time to read it before they click the link to do so.

The existing characters are the people the new characters have to play with. New players need enough information to create characters that don't step all over the already occupied niches in the game, and to avoid basic, fundamental personality clashes. Provide a paragraph or two about each character, discussing mechanical niche, general personality, and role in the party. To save yourself some work, you can ask your existing players to provide these themselves.

Live Example

 

FOR EXAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY, THIS IS NOT A REAL GAME ADVERTISEMENT



The Capital City of Tormauz in the Kingdom of Tormauz

Setting Music

Posting Requirement: Players will be required to post at least once every other day. Periods of extended absence should be announced ahead of time in the OOC thread. If an emergency causes a player to go missing they will be put into "passive mode" by the GM, offering minimal interaction and inferior combat tactics. Consistent extended unannounced absences may lead to removal from the game.

Setting: The setting is a home brew campaign that has been extensively developed for nearly two decades by many GM's and Players and is known as the World of L'Tiene. Note: It is not recomended you attempt to read through the entire wiki at this time as you may spoil many plot elements. Based on your character concept the GM will recommend certain pages to you.

The world of L'Tiene is a unique fantasy game rich in setting and history. The setting has been in development with several GM's since 1994 (estimated) and is run by an experienced GM with role-playing experience going back to 1992 and has been involved in PBP since 2007. This game has been in regular session since 2008 and our group is committed to telling an excellent story.

Estimated Group size: Currently we have 4 players and are seeking one more excellent player for a well rounded five man troop.

Requested Character Type: After consulting the players they have decided we are in need of a strong warrior "meat shield" type that should also be sociable, yet also knowledgeable about the underground criminal elements in the city.

 

Characters will be made with 135 points and be given a maximum of 45 points of disadvantages. You may have all five points for quirks even if you do not fill them in yet, but you are expected to figure them out for your character during the course of play. I find this to be a good strategy if you're not already sure about quirks as it allows you to discover the character during play.

Discussing character concept and design with the game master is essential in incorporating your character into the plot, even if you are taking on an existing NPC role.

Concepts that will be refused:
-Deific/cinematic characters *(though the campaign will reach this level eventually, it will not start out as such)
-min/max characters that are game breaking (munchkins/hackmaster 5000's)
-Anything that serves as a direct contradiction to the established setting.
-Anything that can't reasonably be worked into the plot.
-Villainous and obvious antagonist characters characters have been kicked out for continual senseless villainous distrupions in the past.

Characters should mesh with the party to some degree making lone wolf and comic relief character concepts not recommended.

Characters must post in the correct formatting by including their thumb graphic in the post and using correct coloring for dialog (Navy for common tongue)

Players are recommended to play humans but have access to play Elves and Dwarves at this time.

NOTE: The seasoned players tend to post several times a day, storyline permitting. Characters who post more than the required amount and do their part to advance the story line may occasionally be uniquely rewarded in game. Some characters have earned sizable bonuses by doing exactly that, frequently in the forms of roll modifiers or bonus XP.

Other unique opportunities as a writer await you as well. Every so often a special promotion is offered where contributing to world development and the wiki articles you will earn extra experience points for your character simply by writing creatively. Not only does this give you XP, but it gives you the opportunity to help shape the world with more than just your character's choices. It's your opportunity to co-author similar to that of a co-GM position, just outside the game.

As always the golden rule of RPG's applies.

House Rules: Please see the HOUSE RULES thread. Please note this game is story heavy and mechanics light. Mechanics are used during encounters of import, but less important activities are generally given free reign by the PC's with only occasional corrections from the GM if continuity or plot issues arise.

 

 

"All things are already at one, looking out from their own eye away from the center so that they might understand what it is to see with those eyes. It is then our duty to realize that we look out to understand what it is we see, not for the purpose of rationalizing what is before us but deciphering the importance of what is before us for what we look out from." -Jhya Mayven, Gnostic Order

Jhya is a human of about five foot six, one hundred and 150 lbs of pretty clear cut muscles. He has fair tan skin and long black hair commonly wrapped up in a bun or pulled back in a braid. His eyes are a bit of a point of interest; one is an olive green perhaps closer to a golden hazel, the other lacks any pigment or pupil and is simply stark white. He wears loose fitting grey or blue Tai Chi robes and occasionally a blue, light cotton cloak. Though he does not commonly use it for combat, Jhya commonly carries a walking stick. His other apparel; are either tucked away in his bead roll slung over his back or in the leather shoulder bag that hangs at his side. Jhya is 21 now.

Jhya has a slow and natural way about him as though nothing seems foreign or unusual no matter how alien to him. He is clam and soft spoken even wandering as though he has no particular place to go. Jhya will commonly stop to appreciate a flower, sunset or cool breeze and respects the finer thing that he believes so many people foolishly pass by. He smells of a warm bed of moss on a spring day though during the winter he seems to carry the cold airs sting of fallen leaves and camp fires with him even indoors. For those who are not outright offended by Jhya’s principals and attitude, he has a calming effect as though they feel safe or are around an old and long missed friend. For those that might be bothered by his general principals and attitude, he is extremely frustrating to the point of pulling hairs.



META KNOWLEDGE: Jhya is a Gnostic Monk.

Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the NPC and Locations threads as well.

Home Brew Outline:

 

L'Tiene is a fantasy world roughly equivalent to the Lord of the Rings movies in technology available, though the magic of this world is often of a higher caliber (depending on the region). As such guns and even crossbows do not exist in L'Tiene, nor do steam engines or the like.

This does not mean that many conveniences aren't achieved through magic, but this is only when such magic is available and practical. Even a great wizard would be hard pressed to finance a giant magic powered self-cleaning hot tub. Could it be done? Sure it could, but the likelihood of anyone having that degree of prosperity when dragons, gods and demons are allowed to roam unchecked is an unlikely scenario. It is far more likely that they would use their resources for more practical outlets.

Please note the highest magical achievement to date is the magically powered water systems of Tseria which happens to be parked in the most heavily saturated magical area on the planet.

Even with high magic available and ley lines and nexus points being present on the planet, magic is still scarce due to the threat level of the planet. One does not simply go down to the local shop and pick up healing potions. Such things are precious treasures often greedily hoarded by those few who can manufacture them. Magical weaponry itself is still quite the stuff of legends and in most major mortal societies only 1% of the population will be sorcerously inclined at all, with even fewer that can wield their sorceries to any considerable effect.

Though the planet indeed has a magnificent history, much of the time mortals have spent on it was in slave service to immortal beings, at war, or on the brink of extinction. As such high levels prosperity are uncommon.

Technology Available

Starting area information is located HERE.

Recommended character race info is HERE.

Optional character races are limited to goblin, orcs and hobgoblins which are located HERE.

Character concepts for sorcerous activities have specific worldly limitations due to in game reasons (which you can read about on the wiki)

Conversion to GURPS is as follows:
These schools have immediate access from character concepts (factions of study and magic) that follow. Alternative Casting Limitation: Thaumatology is limited to only spell schools specifically named in the faction of study.

Ley-lines and nexus points can affect all magi school like Sanctity; but not specifically Psionic or Chi Powers (Gnosticism).

Characters interested in sorcerous concepts may wish to familiarize themselves with THIS.

Mage: wild talent limitations for improvised magic, all schools except: Enchantment, Gate. Can’t use alternative magic systems.

Shaman: Healing Spells, Necromancy (limited spell list), Communication and Empathy, Body Control, Knowledge/Divination Spells, Mind Control, Weather Spells (Special Ritual Magic: Voodoo doll) Meditative magic rules apply.

Wizard: All Schools, Standard casting only (cannot use any Alternative Casting). Modlular magic is an option for the wizard.

Church of XYZ: Healing, Darkness and light, Knowledge Divination, Communication and Empathy, Protection and Warning, (Alternative Casting: Clerical, Holy – Required Advantage: Clerical Investment as per Magery lvl 0) Meditative magic rules apply as do theurgy.

Circle of Gaia/Druids: Animal Spells, Body Control, Communication and Empathy Spells, Food Spells, Healing Spells, Knowledge and Divination, Light and Darkness Spells, Plant Spells, Protection and Warning, Sound, Weather Spells (Optional Alternative Casting: Ritual, Holy, can be influenced by ‘Sanctity’) Meditative magic rules apply, sacrificial magic is an option for druids.

Elementalist Brotherhood: Limitation: One Elemental School only - Casting Alternative: Casting limitation ‘Special’ (Spell is cast by bonding with an inhabiting Elemental Spirit. Sprite casts spells and gets Fatigue equal to the Caster’s Fatigue due to symbiosis and will expel their Fatigue first before using the casters fatigue effectively doubling the Spirits FT pool. Casting as per fantasy fixed magic rules. An Elementalist can technically still learn other spells though these spells are of their own spirit using solely their own FT and such things are culturally taboo earning them negative reputation of ‘Outcast’ amongst other Elementalists. Elementalists themselves are not well received in other cultures but their own and automatically receive a -2 social modifier for all other cultures. Meditative magic rules apply

Gnostics: Psionics and Chi Powers where the limitations are as per category of general use per category. Psionics can be enhanced but must be taking at character creation as they cannot be developed spontaneously. Meditative magic rules apply

Illuminatti: Meta Magic, Body control Spells, Communication and Empathy Spells, Making and Breaking, Light and Darkness, Mind Control, Sound Spells, Protection and Warning,

These concepts by no means limit what kind of character you can play, you may opt to have no sorcerous inclination at all.

Plot/Campaign Outline:

 

The central focus at the current moment (though it may change at any time) is the capital city of Tormauz. When the king was assassinated a few years back the capital city went into decline. Nearly bankrupt, they received aid from the church of the national religion, the church of XYZ (the all god). A little known fact is that the church is operating as a front for the opportunistic expansionists known as the Pristine Empire. Now politics are heating up, sides are being taken, bodies are starting to turn up, riots have broken out and the nation is on the brink of bloody religious civil war if something drastic doesn't occur and soon... or perhaps that's just what they want you to think...

Intrigue and mystery as well as a colorful cast of PC's and NPC's is sure to make this one of your favored games online, further, players can expect the unexpected; to watch the game take strange directions that neither the players nor the GM had ever intended. The sandbox to this world is very large and contains a very intricate plot that is not recommended for beginning role-players.

Currently the game is set in early Winter for a temperate climate (similar to New England, USA)

Background Requirements: Characters must not be from Khenzil Keep and must post 500-5000 words of background as well as a character portrait.

Additional PC Requirements: First time GURPS players are welcome to apply, but system experience is preferred.
At least one year of experience on PBP is also preferred. Must have access to GURPS: Characters in 4e version. GURPS "Magic" and "Fantasy" supplements are also highly recommended. Additional book access is allowed but not required. You must have your character sheet set to editable for the GM.

How to apply for this game: Post interest here, and then follow up with a personal message to me with a character concept pitch and any other details you wish to include. I will then take any potential candidates to the players who will each have a vote in which player will join us as well as my vote that will count as a tie breaker if needed.

LINKS: Remember, you can always get a free copy of the GURPS LITE rules HERE

[RETURN TO THE GM GUIDES]

Interview Questions

 

Most GMs with good ads are faced with having a large pool of players to select from. These "interview questions" (which you may wish to include in your ad or discuss privately) are designed to help you find the right players for your game.

Game-Related Questions

• What makes you want to play in this game?
• How much time and energy will you put in this game?
• How many posts can you make per week/day?
• What will this game's priority be to you?
• What do you expect from this game?
• Why should I accept you in this game?

Free-form Gaming Questions (specific to free form systems)

• Define what "free-form" is to you, please.
• Have you played free-form before?
• If yes, how was that experience? If no, how do you think this one will go?
• What do you expect from a free-form game?
• Do you feel comfortable role-playing most possible situations that may come up in a game, or do you have any topic restrictions?
• How do you interact with opposing characters?
• How do you deal with opposing players?
• In your opinion, can you separate what is in-character and what is out-of-character well?
• Do you have any writing samples or other RP games (free-form or any system) here on RPGX or another site so I can check your posting style?

Personal Questions - You can decide not to answer any of the following

• How old are you? (Age is not an arbitrary gauge on maturity, but it helps.)
• Where do you live? (It's important to know in which time zones everyone is located in.)
• Is English your first language? (You can be proficient with English even it not being your first language, but it helps knowing.)
• Tell me something about your life. If we are to game together for the following months, we will inevitably create bonds and get to know each other a bit better, so why not start now? By knowing a bit about your life, I'll know about your possible schedules and what makes a game interesting for you, making the experience better for everyone. Discuss whatever you like about you, though it is good to know what you do for work/study.

Character Questions
You may also wish to ask specifics about the character concept, build, primary motivation or otherwise, but which information you request will vary drastically from system to system.

Selecting Your Players

 

Selecting players for your game is a complex process and will vary drastically with every game. It's also a skill that takes time and experience to really hone. Don't be discouraged if it seems impossible to choose or your choices turn out poorly. Make the best choices you can and re-recruit later if you need to. Most games get many more applications than needed to fill out the game. Those applying know this, and there won't be any hard feelings from those you don't accept.

• Know what you need. If you need a party with a particular composition, then make sure that's what you pick. Don't be afraid to sacrifice your desired composition or take on an extra player because of a really excellent application, but generally, you should stick to your plan.
• Do not accept players who don't read your game ad. These are the people who ask questions that have clearly already been answered, request things that violate the terms you already set out, or ignore your submission format. If they can't pay attention to the ad, they likely won't pay close attention to your game.
• Do not accept players that seem disruptive or "irk" you. If they annoy you from the start, it will only go downhill from there.
• Watch out for red flags. Character builds that you aren't willing to deal with shouldn't be accepted, but don't reject it out of hand. Explain your objection to the player. Often, you'll find they're completely willing to change it.
• Know what you're getting into with newbie players. New players have to start someplace, but it doesn't necessarily have to be your game. Consider whether you have the time or patience to help them through the mechanics or through the basics of PbP gaming before taking on new people. Generally speaking, new players will do just fine with a small amount of help.
• Check posting histories. This isn't helpful for new players, but anyone who's been around the site for a little while has a history. Read posts from their existing games, look for consistency of posting from timestamps, and pay attention to where they post. The posts per day statistic isn't terribly helpful, as it just divides total number of posts by total number of days since joining, so don't accept or reject someone based solely on that number. RPXP can also be helpful, but again, isn't a be all end all statistic as it is awarded subjectively.
• Trust your gut. When you get a bad feeling about a particular player, don't accept them. Better to part ways now than invest tons of time and effort in the player and enable them to single-handedly destroy your game. Conversely, if you have a good feeling about a player, give them a shot. Largely this is a trial and error endeavor and it may take a while to get a solid group together.
• If your ad doesn't attract enough players to fill out your game, that doesn't mean you have to take everyone who applied and run the game anyway, especially if you're not happy with the interest you got. You can shut down the ad to rework the game idea, rewrite the ad, and/or change your policies. Offer to inform the interested players when you reopen applications for it. Try reposting the ad in the DM Screen, asking for help fixing it up.

Inviting Your Players

 

Remind all of your players to add the forum to their favorites so it appears in their subscription lists. Adding your players as contacts and friends can also be especially useful for maintaining communications with them.

[WoLT]

Post Formating Tips and Tricks


Our presentation is the measure of our capabilities.

This Article is written for the purpose of providing precise examples of how the formatting will look and be coded. You may of course experiment with your own methods of coding, but this provides a handy guide for learning some basic tricks Players and GMs can use to dress up their posts. These are only suggestions and many GMs will differ in precise format for any number of reasons, ask your GM.

As always, presentation counts as a Player and a GM. Taking the time to write out a beautiful segment of flavor text will fall short of its potential if it doesn't look good as well.

White Space

 

Use lots of "white space"- put breaks between every paragraph. This will ease the eyes of your readers and make your large block of text less overwhelming.

 

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Nunc libero diam, egestas vitae malesuada a, volutpat nec dui. Phasellus non libero pretium eros facilisis fringilla vel ut risus. Nunc iaculis sodales est auctor ultrices. Praesent risus urna, adipiscing ut dignissim ac, hendrerit eget erat. Fusce tincidunt ligula eget turpis congue eget bibendum tortor feugiat. Nullam blandit iaculis tellus, eget tempor urna scelerisque ac. Quisque tristique posuere pulvinar. Quisque elementum aliquam luctus. Vivamus tincidunt viverra leo, sed tristique velit adipiscing quis.

Duis euismod dignissim nisl, a aliquet lectus placerat lobortis. Nam ligula nunc, imperdiet non molestie id, mollis fringilla turpis. Ut elit risus, ultricies id condimentum et, aliquet a diam. Nam vitae dui justo, id eleifend turpis. Quisque cursus eros adipiscing ipsum luctus faucibus. Sed convallis lacus sit amet enim pulvinar vel tempor eros pellentesque. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Fusce sit amet nisl risus, sed sagittis sapien. Donec cursus dapibus malesuada. Donec mollis pellentesque lorem vitae vulputate. Vivamus tincidunt nisl nec arcu lacinia congue.

Mauris vehicula commodo eros, congue egestas sem dapibus ut. Pellentesque auctor mattis metus in viverra. Integer accumsan, eros in imperdiet hendrerit, tortor dolor interdum ipsum, auctor varius turpis metus vel sem. Donec eleifend metus vel est aliquet rhoncus. Praesent eu sem at turpis rhoncus luctus. Cras at dui non metus aliquam sollicitudin. Morbi convallis, odio aliquam mollis volutpat, neque magna consectetur mauris, et blandit turpis velit nec velit. Curabitur vitae felis et odio posuere porttitor.

Nulla pulvinar malesuada dui, vitae viverra sapien molestie et. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed euismod euismod quam ut dapibus. Nulla ut metus nulla. Mauris quam leo, tincidunt a cursus id, sodales vel nibh. Fusce cursus ultrices nibh quis accumsan. Ut posuere rutrum rutrum. Curabitur gravida varius pretium. Nam sed turpis ante, a pulvinar dolor. Quisque elit nulla, ultricies id tempus sit amet, aliquam sollicitudin nibh. Mauris est mi, molestie at laoreet eget, varius sed eros. Aliquam erat volutpat. Donec elementum imperdiet placerat. Duis nec suscipit ligula. Etiam vitae pellentesque ipsum. Aenean ut quam mi, ac varius lectus.

 

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec vitae dictum libero. Vivamus tellus augue, dapibus sit amet auctor sit amet, vulputate non tortor. *** sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Aliquam in rutrum ligula. Sed lacus sem, tincidunt sit amet porttitor ut, cursus gravida risus. In sodales fringilla venenatis. Morbi eget risus ut arcu vestibulum gravida. In nec dictum est. Fusce at dui felis. Nunc libero diam, egestas vitae malesuada a, volutpat nec dui. Phasellus non libero pretium eros facilisis fringilla vel ut risus. Nunc iaculis sodales est auctor ultrices. Praesent risus urna, adipiscing ut dignissim ac, hendrerit eget erat. Fusce tincidunt ligula eget turpis congue eget bibendum tortor feugiat. Nullam blandit iaculis tellus, eget tempor urna scelerisque ac. Quisque tristique posuere pulvinar. Quisque elementum aliquam luctus. Vivamus tincidunt viverra leo, sed tristique velit adipiscing quis. Duis euismod dignissim nisl, a aliquet lectus placerat lobortis. Nam ligula nunc, imperdiet non molestie id, mollis fringilla turpis. Ut elit risus, ultricies id condimentum et, aliquet a diam. Nam vitae dui justo, id eleifend turpis. Quisque cursus eros adipiscing ipsum luctus faucibus. Sed convallis lacus sit amet enim pulvinar vel tempor eros pellentesque. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Fusce sit amet nisl risus, sed sagittis sapien. Donec cursus dapibus malesuada. Donec mollis pellentesque lorem vitae vulputate. Vivamus tincidunt nisl nec arcu lacinia congue. Mauris vehicula commodo eros, congue egestas sem dapibus ut. Pellentesque auctor mattis metus in viverra. Integer accumsan, eros in imperdiet hendrerit, tortor dolor interdum ipsum, auctor varius turpis metus vel sem. Donec eleifend metus vel est aliquet rhoncus. Praesent eu sem at turpis rhoncus luctus. Cras at dui non metus aliquam sollicitudin. Morbi convallis, odio aliquam mollis volutpat, neque magna consectetur mauris, et blandit turpis velit nec velit. Curabitur vitae felis et odio posuere porttitor. Nulla pulvinar malesuada dui, vitae viverra sapien molestie et. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed euismod euismod quam ut dapibus. Nulla ut metus nulla. Mauris quam leo, tincidunt a cursus id, sodales vel nibh. Fusce cursus ultrices nibh quis accumsan. Ut posuere rutrum rutrum. Curabitur gravida varius pretium. Nam sed turpis ante, a pulvinar dolor. Quisque elit nulla, ultricies id tempus sit amet, aliquam sollicitudin nibh. Mauris est mi, molestie at laoreet eget, varius sed eros. Aliquam erat volutpat. Donec elementum imperdiet placerat. Duis nec suscipit ligula. Etiam vitae pellentesque ipsum. Aenean ut quam mi, ac varius lectus.

Pictures

 

Use pictures, but do not substitute them for good writing. Do not to post images larger than about 600x600. GIMP is a good free tool for resizing images. If you need someplace to host images, try Photobucket.com, also free and easy to use.

 

 

Mood Music

 

Including a link to mood music in opening scenes can do wonders for your players' state of mind while they read the post. Put such a link at or near the top of the post like this: Mood Music

Mood/Foreshadowing Text

 

When opening a scene, ending/beginning with a notable quote in italics (possibly from an in-game NPC) is a great way to foreshadow.
"Deep in the mortal unconsciousness is a pervasive need for a logical world that makes sense, but the real world is always one step beyond reason."
-Lord Arid Von Audrite, Legendary Tormauz Wizard

Choosing text color

 

Choosing bright colors for text can prove difficult on the eyes, especially for large blocks of text, and is not recomended.

Consider using a subdued color for text if you need one at all.

Some GMs may mandate certain colors indicate certain spoken languages or may or request each PC use a different color for speech.

Private Tags

 

Private tags are a handy way to leave notes to yourself, or pass information to one or more players without revealing it to all. In contrast to using a separate private thread for such purposes, a private tag keeps the information within the relevant post. It's useful for things like a creature's current damage and conditions, and the results of some types of checks that not everyone succeeded at.

Inflection:

 

These are by no means mandatory but are fun and offer another tool to help others understand your character or NPC.

• Size 1 font: Indicates whispering
• Size 5 font: INDICATES PRIMAL SCREAMING (this can be done with any emotion but is typical with anger and hysteria)
• Bold: Indicates a stress in volume. Ex. "What the HECK!?!"
• Italicize: indicates unnatural tonal change, used to express additional sophisticated character animations. Ex. "That's what she said."; "It's a Loooooooooong way down." NOTE: Singing is done in all italics, yeah! Italics also double as Telepathic Communications!. The difference should be denoted within the text narratives.
  
  

  Example: Telepathic Communications Laryiem stood in awe for a moment and it was then that the goddess spoke within her mind, but now her voice echoed with a mad cackling in the distance, clearly supernatural in origin. You've defeated the Baali, Blessed Laryiem, and taken up the sacred mantle of the Keepers. You will stand as a beacon of faith, champion in the face of those that would stand against your princess. Those that would stand against you will suffer the wrath of sickness and decay, they will fear you as they fear their own mortality. As she spoke, the tendrils of the plague angels grew closer to her, now occasionally making contact with her hair and lightly brushing her extremities, though being careful to watch the reactions of the princess, making sure they did not overstep their bounds...

• Underline: Indicates the word is not stressed with tonal inflection or volume, but rather with body language such as hand signals, facial expressions, arm waving, etc. "Every single time, she always does this." Bill's fist pounded on his desk with each invocation.

Nice and Tidy

 

Make use of the various tags you have in your panel.

Wynn Wynn knew he had made a mistake by staying any longer outside after he learned about martial law being imposed. When he caught the two templars out of the corner of his eye, he realized that they were too close to make a run for it. He made up a quick story. Please forgive me. I am trying to find my friend. Wynn's lying through his teeth.We got split up last night when the fighting erupted. We were supposed to meet back here if anything happened. Maybe you've seen her around here? Not able to think of anyone else on the spot, he proceeded to give them a rough description of Feindra. Dice * Acting skill 11: 3d6 5, 3, 2 Total = 10

Note in the example, the fieldset blocks this speaker off from another, which is especially helpful when switching between NPC's talking to each other without confusing who is speaking (which can get confusing for just plain text unless you end every sentence with "X or Y said"). The portrait helps identify the character with a visual, the name links to the character sheet (for easy reference) and the speaking text is offset by a non-offensive color, while effective use of OOC mouseover is used to point to why the acting skill was rolled and italics are used to indicate dramatic pronunciation.

CODING EXAMPLE OF ABOVE POST [fieldset="[IMG]YOUR IMAGE.jpg (try tinypic for file hosting)[/IMG]"] [URL="A LINK TO YOUR CHARACTER SHEET"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"]YOUR CHARACTER NAME[/COLOR][/SIZE][/Url] YOUR NARRATIVE TEXT [COLOR="Blue"]YOUR IN CHARACTER SPEECH[/COLOR] [DICE="YOUR ROLL DESCRIPTION"]YOUR DICE[/DICE] [/fieldset]

For more information about VBcode, please go HERE.

[WoLT]

Running the Game


"A GM can run any game as long as he knows where to find the rules for what his players want to do."
--Ancient GM Proverb

Introduction

 

Now that you've chosen your setting and players, written your adventure, set up your game board and begun the game, you're doing just great and everything is wonderful!

...If only it were that simple...

Being a GM means dealing with unexpected issues all of the time. At the end of the day the GM is a professional, a friend, a teacher, a scholar, a writer, and an interpreter. He’s a character, the pace car, an artist, a debater, and ultimately he’s the guy who has to deal with the craziness, unreasonableness, hilarity, and intelligence of the players.

Do I need a (Co-GM) Mentor?

 

Being a GM is a whole lot of work. It's not something that can be learned in a single sitting, and as you can tell from the size of the GM GUIDE in comparison to the other volumes, it is the biggest step forward one can take in their PBP gaming career.

A Co-GM is someone who helps you with the game, and is in a great place to act as a mentor, so the short answer is: if it's your first time running a game, YES, you need a mentor. It is far better to have a Co-GM Mentor and not need them than need one and not have them, and if it's your first time, you aren't in a position to judge if you will need one or not. You may also want a mentor if it's your first time running a PbP game (even with years of table top experience) or if it's your first time running a new system.

Co-GMs don't necessarily serve as mentors. Some Co-GMs are used for inspiration, direct help with running the game, operating NPCs, or any other type of assistance with GM duties and responsibilities. Having someone else there to answer questions and read over your shoulder until you feel confident, even if they never put a single post in your game forum, is a great boon that shouldn't be dismissed.

To find a Co-GM mentor, first decide what system you are using and review all of the core material (rules books) you intend to use. If you don't at least look at the core material first, you're going to have too many questions for a mentor to realistically train you. If you already have someone in mind, great! If you don't, that's no cause to panic or give up on the idea.

Once you review your core materials (as well as these guides) in full, head over the DM Mentor forum and create a thread to seek a Co-GM. indicate that you're looking for a Co-GM and what game system you want to use in the thread title. Describe your gaming experience and your goals, as well as any ideas you have for your game. Explain the kinds of things you're having trouble with, and what duties you'd like the Co-GM to handle for you, at least to start. If you aren't sure about that, say so.

Expect a Co-GM to be critical but also fair. Part of the point of having a Co-GM is to learn what you're doing wrong, so there will be criticism. Don't take it personally, and if they're abusive, report them. While it's a lot of work to be a GM, it should still be fun, even while you're learning.

It is important to remember that while each mentor will vary in style and approach, they are there to guide and help you, not do all the grunt work and run the game for you. It's your responsibility to ensure that your game is successful. A game is generally considered successful if it is either run to completion (for a one shot) or continues for over 3 months of game time (most games that expire early do so by 2.5 months).

Once you get through your first successful game as a GM on rpgcrossing.com, you may feel comfortable running by yourself. You may also request your Co-GM to stay on with you for a myriad of reasons, but that's between you and them.

Posting Procedures and Dealing with Absence

 

One of the most important things you can do to ensure game success is have a policy in place regarding posting procedure and player absence to begin with from the start. Without this in place you will find that your game's chances of success are drastically diminished. In your advert is is customary to post your expected posting procedure and it is recommended that you advertise a willingness to alter this based on the play-group needs.

First, decide the posting rate with the group, both minimum and maximum, taking into account what happens if someone has a planned absence (getting married, moving, etc.).

Here is a sample procedure; take what you like and modify all values to suit your group. Discuss this policy with the group when creating it as well and do your best to create a system that works for everyone, or at least, something everyone is willing to deal with.

House rules for posting and player absence If the GM asks you to wait to post, you must do so. The GM will not request players to roll forced checks such as "perception rolls" but will instead roll them for them in a clearly labelled fashion and produce the results of the roll. This will increase the speed of the game in a fair manner as digital dice are not biased. Put EDITING in bold on the top of your post if you are constructing a post as you go and when possible use private tags and be sure to remove both when finished. To be extra helpful to others, add in a comment in the OOC thread to notify that you have completed your post. This is especially helpful if you have several players in the game thread at once. Players must post once every 48 hours or lose their turn. In the event of a lost turn, the GM will passively move their character forward in a way that does not seem to disrupt the game and seems congruent with what the character should and would actually do to the best of the GM's knowledge. If you are in a scene with many players and NPC's, do not post more than three times per 48 hour period since the all PCs in the scene last posted to allow that other players will have a chance to participate before too much significant time passes and they miss an opportunity that they should have been afforded. This rule does not apply IF all parties in the scene (including the GM) have responded, meaning the spirit of the rule is not to outpost others in a scene by more than 3 posts within 48 hours from the last post of all players involved in the seen. *(The GM may see fit to alter this at times) If you are in a scene with you and only NPC's or just one other player, you may post as often as appropriate; be warned though, some of your actions may be retroactively altered by the GM due to being too far ahead in the time line and causing paradox. This also applies if you jump 6 hours ahead for travel, etc. This is done so that we may maintain timeline congruency. If a retroactive change occurs you are not given any consolation, sorry. Whatever you thought just happened, didn't, and the details will be explained to you by the GM. This rule is designed to do as little retro-changing as possible, while still advancing the game at a nice pace and keeping minimum wait time for the players that are proactive and post regularly. Again, if you post less than once in 2 days the GM will move you forward, most often this will be done passively when possible. You can tell who is in your scene by reading who is listed at the top of the GM's scene intro post in bold, barring if a player leaves or enters the scene during it's unfolding. Announce all planned absences as soon as possible and if possible in the OOC thread and communicate with the GM about your character's immediate intentions and motivations privately. Players who quit or are unreachable for two weeks are subject to any whim of the game master up to and including character death or other permanent removal. The method chosen will be what the GM decides is best for the story while being mindful to be fair to the other party members. To determine the nature of an unplanned absence of a player, the GM will first look at the user profile if they have been active recently. The GM will then contact them immediately, by email if possible. This is because they may be too busy to check the site but may make time for email. Get active email addresses from all players at the start of the game in case they have not permitted that you can email them through their profile. In the event the player doesn't respond the GM will make a polite IC announcement that unless the player returns in 48 hours their character is forfeit. The GM will also send the player a similar PM through the site. If they are missing entirely, the GM will then consider slowly removing them from the campaign in a way that won't hamper the party (as it is not the fault of the other players that someone has dropped the game) and then begin recruiting for a replacement player. It is wise to start by asking your best players for player referrals.

Remember, this is just a sample, you and your group may need to alter this agreement significantly to balance and accommodate the group play-style and real world commitments.

Be Prepared

 

Remember, an ounce preparation is worth a pound of cure. By being prepared you can focus more on the plot and characters for a more immersive story telling experience for the players.

If you run into a problem you work at and just can't solve, don't be afraid to ask for help from the DM SCREEN. Remember, you can make threads there that exclude your players from viewing and get help from other GMs that will be glad to give you a hand because they know ''exactly'' what you're going through.

For more on ''Being Prepared'' see:

• World Building
• Writing Campaigns, Adventures and Encounters

And of course, The GM Guide as a whole.

A Cave, A Con, A Troll

 

''What do you do if the players don't do what you wanted?''

The question underlines a classic GM problem. As the GM you are expected to be a storyteller for your players, but at the same time you're supposed to tell this story in which the main characters of the story - the protagonists - have their own free will to wander hither and thither as they want to. What's an honest GM to do?

Basically, as awful as it sounds, you need to lie and cheat in order to make your gaming material fit what the players want to do. Then, later, after they leave, you re-write like crazy everything you prepared for the next game to make it fit what they did.

Lying and cheating to your players may seem like a bad thing, but it all comes out right. Because, actually, you can give them a lot more freedom in the long run if you use this strategy. Don't tell them you're doing it, either. It's best if you feign ignorance to the entire concept of "A Cave, A Con, A Troll". If they do know about the article, never admit to using these tactics, and if you do it right, they won't ever accuse you of retconning something.

The tale of "A Cave, A Con, A Troll" is an historical account one GMs plight at an RPG convention where the players decided very much against going into the prepared troll cave and the GM used his tactics to ensure that one way or another they found the troll cave. Admittedly, the GM in the example was very heavy handed and very clearly did not prepare his world effectively, but the fact remains that no matter how much you prepare or how savvy you are at responding to your players, sooner or later you will get caught unprepared, and the techniques discussed will help you get back on track.

The example in the article can easily be defined as railroading: ''a very bad GM practice where the GM forces the prescribed plot upon the players regardless of what they do, effectively undermining any in-character decisions as the outcome is predetermined''. If you can manage, though, to occasionally steer the players in the direction you intended without them even suspecting such, then you are using the advice of "A Cave, A Con, A Troll" to maximum effect.

You can view the full article HERE.

[WoLT]

Game Rescue


Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer; into a selflessness which links us with others.

Introduction

 

Game Rescue is when a GM takes on the "Head GM Position" of a game that they were not previously running. This can happen for several reasons, including disappearance or declared burnout. Regardless of the why, some or all of the players have decided they are interested in continuing the game but are seeking a new GM to replace the old one.

Generally, this is done by players requesting a GM on the Players Seeking Games forum.

Game Rescue is not recommended for new GMs. Players are likely to have certain expectations that a first-time/new PbP GM may have difficulty with. As such, having at least one successful PbP game under your belt is highly recommended before attempting a game rescue. It is also highly recommended you review the GM Guide in full.

Requesting a Game Rescue

 

If you are a player interested in requesting a GM Game Rescue, post a new thread in the Players Seeking Games of the advertisement board.

Include the following information:

• Gaming System in Use
• Gaming Setting in Use - if homebrew, mention this as well
• A listing of all the books/sources in use
• A brief description of the game (keep between 3-8 sentences)
• A Link to the Game Profile
• How long the game has been running
• Group size and posting habits

It's also a good idea to post a link to this new thread in your orphaned game's OOC thread, so all the players can monitor it easily.

Offering a Game Rescue

 

If you are interested in GMing a game that is requesting a rescue, find them in the Players Seeking Games forum. Post your interest including the following:

• Links to at least one of your previous or existing games as a sample of your GMing style. The players will want to know what sort of GM you are, and the best way is for them to read for themselves.
• As much of an explanation of your GMing preferences as you can give without writing a novel for them. Keep it to a paragraph or two about how you operate, noting such things as how you like to handle lapses in posting, how much of a stickler you are for mechanical details and similar subjects.
• Any concerns or questions you may have about the game. If you have some ideas about the direction the game could go in that are radically different from the original premise, talk about them and find out if the players want that.

Performing a Game Rescue

 

Taking over an existing game has the distinct advantage of already having players who you know are dedicated to the game. It may seem daunting to take over someone else's work at first, but so long as they kept good notes, it's not as hard as it looks. When setting information hasn't been kept well, you can always impose your own information over it and just carry on, rather than worrying about adhering to everything that was laid down before.

I'm a Rescue GM, Now What?

If you are accepted by the players of the game, you will need the current GM to transfer the head GM position to you. If this is not possible you will need to contact an administrator.

Read everything

Once you have been accepted by the players, read every single thread in the game and review all character sheets. If you can, also read through the original ad for the game. Get through this as quickly as possible to get the game going as quickly as possible. If you're crunched for time and the game has been going for a while, start with the current game thread and leave archived threads for later reading. Don't be afraid to ask the players for an outline of events so far.

Take notes

Take notes as you read the game, of anything that seems important to you. Maybe there are plot hooks the PCs ignored previously that you can reuse or extrapolate the effect of. Named NPCs deserve notation, as do places the PCs have been. Major events should also be noted so you don't contradict the. And so on. If it seems like it should affect the future of the game, make a note of it.

Player Communications

 

Talk extensively with the players, see what they liked and didn't like about the game so far and want to see and don't want to see in the future. Encourage them to be candid in this regard. Opening a thread to discuss this in the game board is recommended, as well as communicating to each player privately about their character.

Planning and Consistency

Plan the future of the campaign, at least in broad strokes. Be consistent with the game world thus far and include as many previously generated plot hooks and threads as you can. For more information, see Writing Campaigns, Adventures and Encounters.

The unique challenge here is to successfully incorporate the existing plot into the continuation of the game while honoring existing campaign arcs. It may be simplest to throw the PCs into a short side adventure while you get up to speed and solidify your plans, or it may be easier to continue whatever they were in the middle of. Don't discount rewinding or skipping ahead a little - with the players' permission - if that makes the most sense.

Game Start-Up

Once you have prepared sufficiently and completed the prior steps, be sure to alert all players that the game will be starting up again shortly. Include a PM to each player as well as an in-game announcement.

[WoLT]

Congratulations on completing the GM Guide!

If you are interested in becoming a GM for Eternity's End, please continue HERE or consider starting your own game.