Newbie Curious About PbP

[Apostrophe]

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to these forums -- hopefully I'm posting in the right place?

So here's the deal. I started playing D&D 5e with a group of friends a few months ago, and I love it! Unfortunately, we're not able to meet as often as I'd like, and I find myself wanting more. I've been looking around online for ways to find people to play with and the idea of PbP intrigued me. I enjoy writing and I feel like it might allow me more time to really think my actions through and fully absorb all elements of the game.

My question: is PbP a good way for new RPG players to learn, or is it geared more toward people who already have a super solid grasp on the game mechanics? Are there many DMs on these forums who are open to players who may need a lot of help getting the hang of it? I understand that PbP in general is much slower than playing IRL, so I would hate to commit to a game only to find that I'm hindering my fellow players with my many questions/missteps.

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated! I totally understand if PbP isn't the place for me yet -- just assessing my options at this point, no biggie. :)

[Requilac]

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to these forums -- hopefully I'm posting in the right place?

So here's the deal. I started playing D&D 5e with a group of friends a few months ago, and I love it! Unfortunately, we're not able to meet as often as I'd like, and I find myself wanting more. I've been looking around online for ways to find people to play with and the idea of PbP intrigued me. I enjoy writing and I feel like it might allow me more time to really think my actions through and fully absorb all elements of the game.

My question: is PbP a good way for new RPG players to learn, or is it geared more toward people who already have a super solid grasp on the game mechanics? Are there many DMs on these forums who are open to players who may need a lot of help getting the hang of it? I understand that PbP in general is much slower than playing IRL, so I would hate to commit to a game only to find that I'm hindering my fellow players with my many questions/missteps.

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated! I totally understand if PbP isn't the place for me yet -- just assessing my options at this point, no biggie. :)

Welcome to GitP apostrophe, I hope you have fun here in the swirling madness of the abyss known as the playground. PbP is indeed a great for new RPG players to learn. Some games are even aimed specifically for that purpose. I swear there are at least three different games of lost mines of Phendelver, each of which are populated mostly if not solely by newbies such as you. Just look around a little in the PbP sub-forum and it will not take long to find a game.There might not be a game you are looking for open today, but 5e games are popular and pop out with some great frequency, at least two every week I would say. Keep in mind though that a lot of those games have the bad habit of not lasting very long and dying off early. If you have the persistence though you will eventually stumble upon a good game. I have been able to keep a game afloat for three months now, so that is impressive to say the least by most standards. In case you did not know where the PbP recruitment sub-forum is, here is a link to it below.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forum...-(Recruitment)

I am actually recruiting for a low level game that you may like to join called The Plague of Nightmares. If you could not guess by the title then horror is going to be a heavily feature genre though, albeit phantasmagorical and strange horror that is less conventional. You can find a link to it below.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...(72-hours-left)

If that is not your thing though then here are a couple of other 5e games I noticed were recruiting.

under the shadow of war: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...ew-5e-Campaign

Venaria: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...-amp-D-5E-Game

the magic comes back (it might be full by now): http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...omes-back-(5e)

neverwinter nights: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...players-wanted)

the free: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...d-5e-campaign)

wolves of the sky (might be full by now): http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...and-Explorers)

Wow, that was more than even I expected. Bets of luck to you then Apastrophe!

[Lex-Kat]

To answer your question, PbP games are a great way to learn. You get to take your time with how your character reacts to a situation, and if you get into a good game, there is oft times more actual roleplay involved, than some table top games. Of course, either depends on the DM and the other players, but my experience has been that I now prefer PbP to table top.

I hope you find good games, and have fun. I have loved DnD since a couple years before WotC created 3.0. 1st edition is the only edition I have not played.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I agree that PbP can work for newbies. There's more time in between actions to think about what you're doing and DMs have the luxury of being able to look up rulings without slowing the game down.

You might have to apply to a few games before you find one that sticks, though. PbPs often fall apart pretty quickly.

[Apostrophe]

Welcome to GitP apostrophe, I hope you have fun here in the swirling madness of the abyss known as the playground. PbP is indeed a great for new RPG players to learn. Some games are even aimed specifically for that purpose. I swear there are at least three different games of lost mines of Phendelver, each of which are populated mostly if not solely by newbies such as you. Just look around a little in the PbP sub-forum and it will not take long to find a game.There might not be a game you are looking for open today, but 5e games are popular and pop out with some great frequency, at least two every week I would say. Keep in mind though that a lot of those games have the bad habit of not lasting very long and dying off early. If you have the persistence though you will eventually stumble upon a good game. I have been able to keep a game afloat for three months now, so that is impressive to say the least by most standards. In case you did not know where the PbP recruitment sub-forum is, here is a link to it below.

I am actually recruiting for a low level game that you may like to join called The Plague of Nightmares. If you could not guess by the title then horror is going to be a heavily feature genre though, albeit phantasmagorical and strange horror that is less conventional. You can find a link to it below.

If that is not your thing though then here are a couple of other 5e games I noticed were recruiting.

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to link those! All of those games look great! Your horror fantasy setting is especially intriguing. I'm super interested, but would need to get a character made -- hoping to have some time later today.

It's great to hear that PbP is a good option for newbies. Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I'm excited to get playing!

[2D8HP]

.A copy of people have told me they found this helpful:

Spoiler: Old post giving advice on joining PbP games

Show

Because I just can't commit to enough of a block of time for face to face gaming (or even Skype and the like) PbP is the only gaming I still do, and I've only ever done PbP at this Forum (mostly 5e D&D, never 3.5), and I've never used "Roll 20" (I actually quit one game because the DM instead of just telling me the distances insisted that I log into a Roll 20, and view a map. I created an account, only to discover that to view in "mobile" I had to subscribe. Since 99.9% of my computer time is via "smartphone" that was a deal breaker)

I'm going to assume that what works for 5e will work for 3.5:

1) Be persistent.
I had to try many times before I lucked into games that lasted.
And it was luck. I can't descern any clues as to which games would last. "Past history (or lack of same) is not a predictor of future results".

2) Subscribe via e-mail to both the "Finding Players (Recruitment)" and the "Currently Recruiting Players" threads, and be ready to jump.

3) Have multiple character "sheets" ready to go at Myth-Weavers.com

4) PM yourself lots of "back-stories" ready to copy and paste for when the DM asks you to submit one.
Length is more important than quality, I write junk but most DM's seem to decide by word count.
Pile on lots of dead relatives in the back story, DM's eat that "Edgelord" junk up, I'm serious don't have shame steal be inspired by Batman and Mad Max's, yes those are trite cliches but they work.

5) Don't actually role-play out a character implied by the back-story, the "back-story" seldom fits the campaign, and it's usually disruptive if you try.

Why do DM's demand them?

Who the Abyss knows, but if you want to play you must pay some dues, and that includes writing some tragedy filled junk.

6) Forget about whatever "character concept" you had before play starts, make your PC fit the game, including how your PC's interact with other PC's, which you can't really guess at first. I've seen DM's flee in terror when a game starts off with "competitive soliloquies" by the players narrating their back-stories, which soon devolved into character driven bickering.
Nobody really cares about that mess!

7) Steal an image for PC off the "Dreamboats" thread, or some other source and include it with the "back-story" submission. Worth at least two dead relatives in your PC's history as far as getting accepted to pkay.

8) Don't flake and be Civil. You encounter the same people again and again, and you will be remembered.

9) Always be applying!
You can't guess which games will last, and if you don't have "many irons in the fire", you will be without a game.
Yes that does mean that sometimes you will be playing more games than you want, no you don't get to flake.

10) Did I say that you can't predict which games will last?
Well here's an exception: Players recruiting DM games don't last.
All games lose players, but when you lose the DM the game ends, and if it's someone else's idea for a game the DM is more likely to quit.

11) Subscribe to the game thread via e-mail, and post fast.
Speed is more important than quality.
A long, well written post encourages others to do the same, it also intimidates others into not posting.
A short and to the point post inspires others to post as well, keeping the game going, think the opposite of the back-story you wrote.

12) Post off topic nonsense in the OOC. "Boy do I roll bad", jokes, the weather where you live, whatever. It makes it so that people recognize you.

13) Put your characters name (and maybe even a small image) into every post, as it's easy to get confused.

Here's an example:

Riardon: Wood-Elf Fighter/Rogue AC:17 (Leather & Shield) HP:26/11 Initiative:+3 Speed:35ft. Passive Perception:17

"Liberates" one of the Goblin's shields, and continues searching the cave, stealthily when he enters a new area. I'm going to see what's further in

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Perception:[roll0]
Stealth:[roll1]

14) If you need to take a break, post it!
If you had to to take a break, and you didn't warn the other players apologize and continue. They have lives as well, and will likely understand.

15) Be flexible, odd house rules and trying out unorthodox settings may be why the DM is running the game.

16) Try other games.
Non 3.5 and 5e D&D games have much better GM to player ratios.
I'm playing a game of Pendragon, which is awesome, and I didn't have to stress about will my "back-story" be accepted among the many submissions, I'm also playing a "freeform" game where I didn't have to stress about submitting a "sheet", and I'm playing a 5e game (maybe two depending if anyone posts again) where I had a sheet and a back-story pre-made, plus a "homebrew" system (pending another posts).

17) If you have a "snowflake" non-core class you want to play, submit all the rules.

18) Be the DM/GM!
Way better ratio that way.
Too much work?
How about a simplified system. Here's one:

1) GM describes a scene.
2) Player says an action that their PC attempts.
3) GM decides if the PC has no chance of success, no chance of failure, or a partial chance of success.
4) If a partial chance of success, GM makes up on the spot a percentage chance of success.
5) Player rolls D100 (two 0-9 twenty-siders once upon a time).
6) If the player rolls under the made up number their PC succeeds in attempting the task, if over the PC fails.
7) GM narrates the immediate consequences until it's time to again ask, "what do you do".
8) Repeat.

---

I'm playing in three in-progress games (people have posted today), two maybe games (people have posted this month), and I've played many used-to-be games this year.


Two games have lasted more than four months, one of which just had a post today, and I really couldn't have predicted which games would last.

By patient and persistent.

Good luck.

Since then I've been told that my "Quantity not quality" philosophy is wrong, but those saying it bailed on the game, so I'll repeat:

A long, well written post encourages others to do the same, it also intimidates others into not posting.

A short and to the point post inspires others to post as well, keeping the game going, think the opposite of back-storys often written.

Players, and especially the GM's should pace themselves more, typically the games start with lots of posts per day, and then they taper off, I'd prefer a slower initial pace, and games that last.

[Lex-Kat]

A differing perspective:

I've gotten compliments for my backstories. I don't think to myself "Hey, let's see how pitiful I can make this character, and how close to a bad Mad Max rip-off I can come without someone noticing." (And I've known more than a few DMs that do notice, btw.) I try to write a backstory that is as unique as I can make them, and tells about who my character is, and where they came from. I try to tie it to the game they're creating, as they usually do tell you a little about the world you are playing in. If the DM doesn't take the time to look over someone's application and just select people based on length, not quality, of their backstory, then those DMs are not good to begin with, and likely won't give you a very good story for you to enjoy.

And I suggest that when you write a post for your character, write from the perspective of them. Try to think of what they would do, not what you would do. You, in most cases, are a common human that has never lifted a sword in battle, in your life. You likely have never had to pick a lock, intending to steal some precious necklace from a wealthy aristocrat, either. And unless I am completely wrong about magic, you have never successfully cast a magic spell.

So imagine yourself as your character, be that character, and write what that character would do. I'm not saying write long posts that are boring to read. Short and to the point can be just fine. But your character should be more than statistics on a piece of paper. Bring them to life. Make the other players care if Bor the Barbarian lives or dies.

[Apostrophe]

I really appreciate the advice, 2D8HP -- a lot of it was very helpful.

But I have to agree with Lex-Kat. I don't find "edge lord" type characters interesting and I don't think I would enjoy playing one. I understand why some DMs might like it, but I would rather try to come up with an original, believable, and relatable character.

When I've played D&D in person, my favorite part of it is thinking about my character and doing the thing that they would do, not necessarily what I would do -- or even the SMARTEST thing to do!

[Greenflame133]

Welcome ^^

I would say that generally DMs are willing to answer questions and you can always post in section of the forums dedicated to your system for more help.

It is a good habit to tell your GM if you aren't comfortable with the system. They will tell you weather or not they are willing to accept a still learning players into the games.

Just be wormed. D&D is the moust popular on the form and many games generate enough interest to fill the party few times over so it's best to not get a hight hopes. Lucky there are many games so apply until you get in is possible.

Also pbp dosn't tent to last with first fight often being the tipping point. Again presidents seems to be the key.

[Ulysses]

Personally I find the play-by-post format to be sub-optimal for learning because lots of stress and second guessing can be generated by the wait-and-see format. I prefer to seek out something where I can at least chat real-time with fellow players\the DM when learning a new system.

Glad you've joined the hobby! Also maybe consider 5e Adventurers' League?

[mtatosky]

PBP supplimented with some discord chat or in between actions conversation is usually the best. Find a DM who responds to your private messages about the game quickly and you'll know you've found the right one!

Good luck and if you find something really fun, let me know, I love gaming in all it's formats!