Best posting frequency?

[Oakie]

Thanks for everyone's advice! I've posted my game RFP. Went with 2 posts per week. I concluded from everyone's advice and my own experience that at least starting out daily is best (for those who have the time IRL), but I also realized I was overwhelmed by the prospect. Wish me luck!

[tordon]

I'm resurrecting this thread to re-ask some clarifying questions. How does 1 or 2 post/week work once you get into combat? It seems like 1-2 posts per week would work only for heavy role-play where there is not much back and forth required with the DM on a regular basis. Do the posts speed up when there is a combat to run? Or do you have players post their actions and then the DM manufactures all of that into a round of combat when they do the weekly post?

I'm new to this site but I have a longer one-shot campaign concept with a homebrew setting I have been building for a while and I think play by post would be a good vehicle for running this, with play-by-post I don't have to and shouldn't have the entire campaign mapped out.

[Gaijin]

It depends on the DM and adventure style. Posting may speed up with a few smaller updates, or the players will all post their actions and the DM will rearrange events to accommodate misalignment, such as having a player target a different monster, if too many attacks overkill a single opponent, or individual actions are given minor updates in a mechanics thread separate from the game thread to avoid clutter.

Often though, there will be a greater level of transparency to allow players to anticipate gameplay without direct input from the DM. For example, a chart of hit points, AC, and DCs in a spoiler will let players know whether they have hit and how much damage has been done. This is best with regular mobs, and the DM can be more hands on with the BBEG themself.

Edit: With a PbP format, there will always be some level of compromise to keep the flow smooth compared to the rapid back-and-forth of a live game. (If it wasn't already apparent, Initiative is typically done in blocks, so that all of the players act together.)

[tordon]

Thanks! this seems fine, 2 posts/week may not include combat which may move quicker.

[jj_wolven]

There are also various ways of speeding up combat in PbP.
I use the "Post them all and let GM sort them out"

-me

[Leviticus]

Originally Posted by jj_wolven

I use the "Post them all and let GM sort them out"

One of my favorite GM's on the site - Phettberg - used a version of that in our GURPS game. Us players included quite a bit of additional info in our attack post so that the fights could proceed much longer - multiple rounds per post - than the typical table-top back and forth for each round.

[tordon]

That makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't want to give up the "make my own roll" as a player, but speeding things up that way is also good.