Hi all, semi-long time DnD player and DM here. I was running two groups earlier this year, but we all decided meeting wasn't for the best once the pandemic went into full swing. We tried online play for a while, but more than a couple players didn't really like it too much. This has left a big DnD shaped hole in my heart, and I'm hoping to stuff some DnD shaped forum play right up in there.
I've read the FAQ and the Dice Roller thread, so I think I've got a nice read on the mechanics of Play-By-Post, but I'm sure there's like sub-cultural type stuff I'm not aware of. Hopefully I'll catch onto things like that quickly. I looked through the first few pages of threads, and it looks like mostly homebrew campaigns are run, with some published module stuff peppered here and there. I'm not really sure what you guys like more, so feel free to chip in your thoughts about that in this thread.
Anyway, I am looking to recruit a party, though I don't really have a solid idea for a campaign at the moment. Was kind of thinking I could decide that after getting input from the forum on a few things: (I don't expect every single person that posts here to answer all of these, just if you happen to have some thoughts or advice, that would be super cool)
How big of a party should I shoot for?
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more?
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site?
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign?
Some things about me as a DM:
I've only ever played 5e, since it was released for playtesting like 8 years ago or whatever.
Have successfully ran most published modules to completion and one homebrew campaign up to level 15(we decided to end there on a good note).
Like to try variant rules, anything to really keep the game exciting and fun.
I like to build terrain battle maps for minis, but that's kind of pointless here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Communication is K E Y.
I like player driven character stories a lot, but I also concede to the type of game the players want to play. Just gotta let me know beforehand.
Now like I said, I'm here to recruit a party, even though I don't really have a campaign idea yet. If I sound like the type of dude you'd like to play a game with though, drop a general character idea in the thread. We can always adapt it to whatever campaign we decide to end up playing. For all those that stop by to offer their advice, thanks in advance!
Hey! I'd be super interested in joining. I have about a year of experience, and I'm familiar with the rules but there's still lots of classes and mechanics I'd like to explore. I love campaigns that focus on character development and/or integrate backstory.
How big of a party should I shoot for? 4-5?
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? I personally enjoy homebrew a bit more, but I'm happy to play anything!
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? It totally depends on the party. Some people use Discord and some make a group DM on the site. (These are the common two that I'm aware of, but there could be something else I've missing)
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? The main thing I would say is prepare to go slow. Things take way longer in play-by-post by nature, with people only posting once or twice a day. Also, combat can be a bit awkward. It's worth checking out variant rules to make things go smoothly (such as group initiative) and testing them out to see which ones work well for the party.
As for my character, I'd possibly be interested in playing either a warlock or a monk, but I'd love to work out the details with you/the party and tailor it to the campaign.
How big of a party should I shoot for? Be aware, unlike a live event where everyone is at the table (or chatroom), PbP involves people posting when they have time. Now, imagine running a combat in which everyone has to base their actions in part on what happened as a result of the previous guy's actions. And he posts once per day, if you're lucky. So potentially it could really drag out if you have a lot of players. It can also cause an issue with things going so slow people lose interest. So, my take is, less is more.
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? In my experience people are fine with homebrew. Personally I prefer published modules because that's less work for you to do as DM, and it's been tested already.
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? AFAIK there's no OOC forum so people usually use DM threads for that. Or just have OOC posts within the same IC thread, just marked as OOC.
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? Most of my experience is with PbP so I can't really help.
What level have you thought of starting at (if you've thought that far)?
I’m always interested in joining a campaign, and you seem like a great dm!
How big of a party should I shoot for? 4-6 People
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? It’s 50/50 here. I personally run Homebrew, but Published modules are great.
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? Typically a large group dm would be used for ooc.
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? Well, humor will be much more subtle. I might say it’s easier though because online tools can be utilized well in PBPs
As for what type of character id play, it’s either a diplomatic Bard, a watcher Paladin, or a Battlesmith Artificer
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"Honor is a fools prize. Glory is of no use to the dead" Game/Dungeon Mastering in: Star Wars Dawn of Defiance Playing in: Three Sisters (The DM is currently MIA) "Everybody gets a nasty surprise one day. I'd rather take it standing up than when I'm laying down"
Hi there, welcome! I'm by no means experienced in PBP, also just joined last month, so still learning.
Party size for PBP I'd say it's pretty flexible, more easy to keep track of everyone's characters, having access to everyone's character sheets and spells etc, but generally around ~5?. I feel people in this forum show a lot of interests in both homebrew and published module. Discord or group PM for OOC chats. And yeah, the drawback for PBP style is always a slower pace, but one benefit is that you get to play a little bit of campaign everyday. So it's less like a weekly group where people go "wait, what did we do last week?", you are kind of always in it, you don't take big breaks from the game, and it really helps with the immersion in both character and the world. This is the one thing that got me to really love PBP.
And like people have mentioned above, try variant rules, like DM rolling initiatives/saves for players to keep combat moving.
I'd love to join your game! There's a STR based melee horizon walker ranger I had been wanting to try out but never got the chance, so if there's a spot, that'd be great!
@ArtymisMoon Yeah that makes sense. I kind of figured it would be a lot slower. Sounds like I should really stick to smaller groups then. I'm used to 7-8 people. Monks are always fun characters to have, lots of different ways to play one!
@ikarbino I guess it kind of depends. I like running long campaigns, but I wonder if I should try something shorted. For a long campaign, I like starting out at levels 3-5 if the players are experienced enough for that. 1-2 can be such a drag.
@CodesterV8 Do you have any particular online tools I should check out?
I've found 4 to be the best; though i'm only recently into 5E. So I am speaking from PbP Pathfinder/starfinder. If I personally was choosing? I'd run an AP (adventure path/ published module) because you've not done PbP before, and I'm sure a lot of applicants aren't well versed either. Its nice to have some structure in case things get out of hand or weird. You can always add your own Spice by changing small details, stats, monsters, etc~ As for OOC chat? The one PbP I had for 5e (lasted a fewmoonths) we actually made a "group message" here on DbD. That worked rather well. Though after 50pages it got kind of a pain sometimes; because it does not open to the newest page. So occasionally I'd log on to 12 messages and have to find where I last read. but not really a problem. Some folks use Discord or skype yeah.
biggest detail on PbP is its really slow, and slower still with more players and more timezones. Its also advisable to occasionally include pics--particularly on a battle field? In my 5E game we had pics and they overlayed a Grid, and we used A4 for instance to state where we moved to etc. Though a Pathfidner 2.0 game I had did simliar; with google doc program. They somehow had a background and free form tokens we'd move around between our turns. Which really helped keeping up with the visualization for battle dynamics. Also battle initiatve can be awkward at times; if a player vanishes for instance? So set ground rules. "in battle at least 1 post per day" isn't a bad rule. If they miss they get skiped, or they act as if they Held Action and rejoin inittiive later. Otherwise, currrent Starfinder pbp I have, they list out inititive; and usually let people state what they're doing in whatever player order and just has the events occur in that sequence. It creats some oddities; such as if the last player in ititive posts first, and the first inititve posts last.. and in the inbetween someonge goes down- and now the last person who would have healed them instead already attacked. But that sort of thing is a risk for the "all at once" posts. So just discuss with players or make a firm decision and tell the players up front.
You can totally still create battle maps, and share them (maybe add the Grid I mentioned) via Imgur, or post on here (I think it allows images?). I had one game with a simliar set up (they owned some map program). Every "round" they would reupload the map, with the new movements, and also state the inittive order again. Which created clear "new round" posts. Which helped since occasionally it gets really messy figuring out what round it is, and who hasn't gone yet. So clear 'new round, here's the current status" posts are good.
Ah. I'd also have a separate post for every enemy; even if they all go at the same time. Just makes it easier to track on a read.
I'd start with an Ap as they're established firm storyline and level growth. because it takes a long while to get through story etc in pbp. Since you ran some of them before, it would also mean you can use it to help you understand pbp timing and flow. I totally agree with starting at 3+ though. 1-3 really is a drag of "samness" Even if doing an Ap, if you're experienced could bump things up slightly. Or just start at 3, but no level up until the ap's standard 4th level timing. Does create a lon while with low level. but generally there isn't a massive power spike between them. Outside of some level 2 spells of course. but if the players are appraised up front its fine. It also might be a method to 'speed along' the early storyline
but yeah. pbp is pretty neat overall. Just a different flow.
Most of the questions have been answered sufficiently in a way that I'd probably answer as well, but I see no problem with echoing other people's thoughts if it'll show that a few of these things do go as a good general statement for PbP rather than something only a few have experienced.
How big a party should I shoot for? The biggest party I played in had 7, it was enough to make things a bit messy. I find the sweet spot is probably 5, but one more or one less is still perfectly fine. Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? Go for what you prefer, of my games right now, none are homebrew, but I've played plenty of good to great homebrew PbP games. Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? I'm sure some people use Discord, although I've never been in a game with it. I know it'd probably turn me away a little bit since I don't use Discord often. Group PMs here in D&D Beyond are convenient and easy to use. Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? I never played a D&D game IRL, but I've played live games in Roll20 that were text-based. Using that comparison, they're strangely very similar and very different at the same time. Mainly what I feel like is good to know is that rushing a PbP game too much will turn people away if they're expected to be online 100% of the time, but if you let people get away with going days without posting without warning first, that's also, kind of a problem. So, don't rush too much, but don't rush too little either. Oh, also, if we're in combat, make it abundantly clear who's turn it is, bold it out, so nobody will miss it. If you're gonna do group initiative rules, I guess that's less relevant, but still, confusion with initiative is something I had to pass through quite a few times and mostly in PbP.
Anyways, if you'll have me, I'm looking to fill a few empty character slots and play in more games. I always wait until the last second to plan my characters because I actively enjoy playing the class that'll round out the party distribution.
EDIT:Timezone: GMT -3:00 (Just following the DM's last message.)
I probably don't need to answer the questions because everyone here looks like they did a pretty good job of that...
But I concur with most of what everyone else has said so I won't be repetitive... I am mostly just posting here to throw my hat in the ring. You seem like a pretty good DM and I'm always looking for a fun game to play in (too many of my games end up dropping because players can't make it/post)...
I have a character idea for a Drakewarden Dragonborn Ranger (I know the dragon theme is a bit cliché... but I've never played it and I thought the subclass seemed pretty cool so I went all-in)... but I am super flexible based on what the party needs!
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“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
@CodesterV8 Do you have any particular online tools I should check out?
I suggest using roll 20 or some form of spreadsheet to map, and you can use most of the tools here to great effect (encounter maker, character creator, campaigns..)
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"Honor is a fools prize. Glory is of no use to the dead" Game/Dungeon Mastering in: Star Wars Dawn of Defiance Playing in: Three Sisters (The DM is currently MIA) "Everybody gets a nasty surprise one day. I'd rather take it standing up than when I'm laying down"
@CodesterV8 Do you have any particular online tools I should check out?
I suggest using roll 20 or some form of spreadsheet to map, and you can use most of the tools here to great effect (encounter maker, character creator, campaigns..)
Google sheets work brilliantly for this and I have a template that I can send you if you would like (whether I am actually playing or not it might help you out)...
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“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Other people have provided good answers to most of your questions. I would suggest starting with 1 more person than you think you'll need. I'm yet to be involved (or see) a thread that doesn't lose at least one person within two weeks of a thread starting up. Hopefully, it won't be someone critical to the party's success (e.g., their only healer).
For map making, I've been using Inkarnate . It is relatively easy to use, although the free version is fairly limited. In theory, you should be able to post your maps in the threads, but, I've had no luck doing that, and I've tried posting the image on other services. I publish the map on my inkarnate home page and link to it in the post.
As far as module or homebrew, that is entirely up to you.
I would be interested in playing either a monk or a druid.
I'm really not an expert, and have never DM'd here, so take this with a grain or two of salt, but: What other people said, plus...
Departures
I'd suggest a well-laid plan for when people leave, or become slow to respond. This happens A LOT, and sometime drags the game to a near-standstill (or death). Just make some up-front rules, eg. "I will assume you hide/attack-nearest/dodge/run-away etc if you do not respond in 24 hours, and you will be permanently puppeted after 3 days AWOL". Or something like that. I've only been here a year, but have seen perhaps 6 games die due to players departing (sometimes without notice, sometimes the DM disappears, but that won't be a problem for you!). Note: this is different to people saying "Away for a week, please have me do what seems sensible"...knowing someone will be away makes a huge difference, and knowing they will be back is also important.
One game I tried to join had extra NPCs that players played (not sure it's a good idea, but it is a solution). Other games end up advertising for players to replace departing ones; that's hard, IMO, and takes a bit of time.
Speed
Others have already said "go slow/expect slowness". This has a positive side: one move every day (or so) means that people can actually think about their character, so RP is sometimes very good, more so than in tabletop, IMO. OFC, that really depends on the person, the DM and the group, but the RP elements in PBP are potentially very strong.
Initiative
Having 6 players, say, sounds good until you realize that's 6 people all needing to respond in their initiative order. One round *could* take 6 days...so, at the very least I'd suggest either (a) all players share one initiative roll, and respond in any order or (b) group the players with consecutive initiative together so, say, 2 or 3 can respond at once, or (c) get everyone to write what they will do , then you orchestrate it around the initiative order. (c) is pretty good, but a lot of work for the DM, and (b) is easy for everyone and quickly identifies the laggards, and (a) is (b) on steroids, but is very unrealistic (and unfair if one player has +9 initiative and another is +1).
Who to pick?
Me, of course. I have yet to play an artificer, and have a soft spot for warforged. Every game I played a Warlock in has died quickly, so that's probably out, but would be nice.
More seriously: I have no idea how to pick people -- I have seen really solid players just disappear overnight, and boring players who just roll dice and write one sentence be totally reliable (which is really valuable), and everything between. Nothing in the application process seems to cover that, though I guess looking at their profile might help (though that makes it hard for new players, which is bad as well).
One game I played (which actually ran to completion!) had an interesting system where the DM posted an initial scene and, as part of the application process, asked how the character would respond. It made for a much more interesting sense of the character than the usual stuff people write.
Personally, I like 4-person groups. It's good balance and composition and, most importantly in these forums, reduces the chances of having to wait for one player for long. It'll still happen, but lesd.
I think the forums enjoy both equally. However, experienced players who had played the modules will (I assume) prefer Homebrew because there's no chance they'd actually know what will happen.
Some use dicord, some use a separate thread in this forum and some use group-private-messages
Any advice? Idk. It's different, surely, and it has its ups and downs. I guess something important, sometimes - if the campaign doesn't emphasize on it - just speed certain things up. Like travel or downtime or various other things. People don't always know how to handle that part and then each person "begins to walk towards X" for multiple messages. Sometimes suggesting a 'fast travel', when it fits, really keeps stuff moving.
Edit: Realised this is actually the reruitment thread as well. I'd like to play, but would like to have some more specific info about the game before I give a character concept, as I have more than just one I'd like to play. I'm quite flexible though, and can play many roles.
Really solid advice in this thread! I'll just add a perspective of someone who does PbP mostly on Discord (DMing or playing in 6 PbP games on Discord atm; just involved in 1 DDB game):
I've found Discord is useful in partly mitigating (but certainly not eliminating!) the speed problem for PbP. One point is about notification; my phone gets pinged when Discord channels I follow are updated. Whereas DDB notifications are slow, unless you're periodically refreshing the website you'll have to wait for the maybe once-day e-mail update. The flip-side of this is that Discord games can get an 'always on' feeling, which may be overwhelming! As mentioned above, you could also have combat in Discord and rp on the forums.
Discord also has some very useful game management tools. Can have multiple channels for ooc/ic/handout/quest listing etc. You also have the Avrae bot on Discord, which is a quite advanced toolset (leaps and bounds above the Forum's capabilities) and before long I expect will reach the level of a virtual tabletop.
Combat more than anything slows things down in PbP. So an advantage of homebrew is that you can design things to work around this - i.e., have the 'adventuring day' include fewer but higher-risk encounters, go for compact rather than sprawling dungeons, etc. Alternatively, modify modules to make more encounters optional, and/or have non-combat solutions (published modules over-emphasise combat IMHO anyway).
For recruiting, you may want to try and find folks who are able to be 'active' when you are most active. Doesn't necessarily mean people in your own timezone. You'll get boatloads of applicants (just witness the interested parties in this advice thread!), so can afford to be picky.
How big of a party should I shoot for? 4 to 6 seems to be the best range. With that, you don't have too much people that you have to wait forever to rp a scene that should just take a few days if you know what I mean. PBP is slow, but you don't want it to go too slow.
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? It seems like homebrew is played more on here, but it depends on the homebrew and how well the DM sets up the plot hook. I've seen some cool ideas for campaigns, but the DM didn't put in a good hook, so not many people were interested. You should do what ever you feel most comfortable with, but people get more satisfaction from homebrew.
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? For the games I'm DMing, I use a group message on DnDbeyond for OOC chat and use Discord for pictures and maps. Discord is better in general for OOC. I think it's easier to use for OOC purposes.
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? It's been said a lot, but PbP are very slow. A two hour session irl takes about a week to complete, but that depends on how active your players are. Second, depending on what device you use, autocorrect could be a nightmare. The device I am using has an autocorrect that is way too aggressive. For example, in a campaign I can a while ago, I wrote, "You can keep any items you found in the jungle," but my autocorrect changed it into, "You can keep any women you find in the jungle." Third, let your players know what you expect. I aim for 1 to 2 posts a day and I try to keep it family friendly. You can push it into a more adult-themed campaign, but DnDBeyond shuts you down. You would have to do it on Discord or something. Fourth, for inactive players, if one of my players is inactive for a week or more without letting me know beforehand, I kick them and find a replacement. That sounds harsh, but it helps the other players keep interest instead of waiting for them to post again. Sixth, RP tends to be really cool on here. People have hours to think how they respond instead of seconds, but that also depends on the players.
For my character, I have a Changeling Bard, College of Whispers that I have really wanted to play for nearly a year now. He's all ready to go. The backstory is modified to fit a homebrew I tried to join, but the DM didn't pick it.
Name: It's complicated, but his current name when the party meets him will be Natton Bventun ( his true name is Zed Yvintri) Race | Class: Changeling, Bard: College of Whispers (I don't have this unlocked, so I would use a paper version of a character sheet. There is a chance I might unlock it in the next few days however.) Background: Criminal Alignment: It's also a bit complicated, but it is currently CG (true is NG) Backstory: Zed was born as a human in the desert country of (Insert appropriate name). When he was three, a famine struck the land that lasted for nearly 5 years. When he was four, both of his parents died of starvation. They would feed Zed rather than eat themselves. A local gang of street kids took him in when they found him wandering around. They taught him how to steal to survive. He picked it up rather quickly and was soon helping them conduct their grand "heists" that often involved stealing food from vendors when their backs were turned. Zed had a talent for being sneaky and a knack for evading capture. During one of their heists, a member of a crime guild was how talented he was. Impressed by now much potential he had, he kidnapped Zed in the night and spirited him away to the crime guild's headquarters. There, he learned the more refined ways of stealing. He was taught how to target higher marks than food. The crime guild quickly became his new "family."
Years later when he was 18, the guild assigned him to be part of a mission to steal a large, pure diamond. He succeeded with great success. The guild leader was impressed. As Zed's reward, the leader gave him to the guild wizards for a set of magical 'enhancements.' Not knowing what was going on, Zed stayed confident that he would be fine and even better than before when the wizards were done with him. The wizards gently put him to sleep and then began their grisly work.
When he awoke, all he knew was pain. Endless torment greeted him as soon as he awoke. He was no longer human. He was a transparent mass of ooze and muscle. The pain shattered his psyche leaving him insane. One day, the wizards brought in a man who double-crossed the guild. The mages killed the man in front of what once was Zed. Zed felt the other man's spirit drift away, and he seized it. As soon as he did, the ooze transformed into a replica of that man. The pain disappeared when he assumed the dead man's form. He was a perfect replica, and fragments of that soul became locked away in Zed. He could draw upon memories of those he absorbed, making him able to become the perfect spy. The mages were pleased that their experiments worked. They brought in hundreds of others and killed them near him. Every time, he would absorb portions of those souls as they passed on and gained the ability to become them. The mages put mental shackles on Zed so he would do their bidding.
He soon was sent out on special missions as part of a team. His team would capture an important target, kill them near Zed, and Zed would become them. He would then infiltrate and complete the mission appointed to him. He couldn't resist due to magical compulsions. He became the guild's secret weapon.
Having hundreds upon hundreds of souls in one body was bound to have consequences. When he would absorb a soul, he would absorb their personality, their wants, their desires. Whenever he would shift into one of them, he would literally become them for a while, but he was trained to control their psyche. Having just a handful of souls was difficult, but thousands was too much. He would lose his true identity piece by piece when someone else was absorbed by him.
One on of his missions, he finally cracked under the pressure. All of those souls bottles inside of him shattered the magical bonds binding him. They all sought to control his body, their body, all at once. This happened while at a Noble's party at a mansion overlooking the ocean. He had taken the form of a noblewomen just hours before. His goal was to assassinate one of the nobles at the party. When he broke down, he went into a murderous frenzy and slayed several guards and nobles before finally throwing himself out a window and into the ocean hundreds of feet below. As he struck the ocean, Zed was lost in a whirlwind of tattered souls. Zed's persona was ripped into thousands of pieces and was lost. A new creature was born.
He awoke on a passenger boat setting sail towards the new land. A fisherman had dragged him out of the water late last night. What once was Zed was confused with a sense of being lost. Who was he? He was thousands of people all at once, yet he was no one. Which persona should be become? Who was the true him?
He arrive at the continent of Tharivanne. Not knowing what to do, he shifted into a child beggar and lived in the streets. A few weeks later, a wandering bard of the name Natton Bventun passed through the area and took pity on him. The bard took the child in and taught him the ways of the bard. The child and his other fragments of people fell in love with music. Music soothed them and made them feel better.
In a different city on a cold night, Natton Bventum was slain by a member of the crime guild in front of the child. The guild was seeking what was Zed to take him back. They saw the child with the bard, and recognized the child. They kill Natton in front of him to test to see if the child was what once was called Zed. It absorbed and transformed into Natton. It fled from the guild member and disappeared in the night.
He tries to keep his abilities secret to avoid being noticed by agents of the guild. He has a feeling he wasn't always like this. While he now doesn't personally know the guild, he knows people are after him.What is now called Natton but once was Zed seeks companions to help protect him. But above all, he wants true friends. He wants to do find out what he is and why he is the way he is. Who is he?
((That's probably a bit confusing, but it's pretty much a magical and severe case of multiple personality disorder.))
There's a ton of answers already, but I'll just toss in my two cents as well. I've only just started PBP but having been playing 5e for almost two years now. I have roleplaying experience dating back to over a decade and only stopped some years ago to focus on writing and then, eventually, D&D instead. Have DM'd one PBP game of my own last year on Discord that ended not too well (my own fault) and am currently involved in three games right now (one as a player, one as a DM, and one PBP). Trying out PBP here was a large venture for me since I normally tend to play with friends and am not comfortable with strangers, per se, but realizing that there was a much larger PBP community on the forums here was very helpful and made the idea of going out on a limb to find people to play with a lot less daunting. (At one point, I had no D&D and was convinced that I'd have to just randomly apply to Roll20 games, so... thankfully I didn't do that because I would've hated jumping into voice chat with people I didn't know.)
How big of a party should I shoot for? 4-6 sounds about right. I do agree with Siyaj_Kak's comment of beginning with one more person than you expect to need. PBP, to me, feels like it has a faster burnout rate than sessions. I don't know how to explain it besides "burnout rate". People dropping off, becoming busier, getting bored, simply not replying, etc. Whatever you would like to call it vs. a group agreeing to get together once a week.
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? I see a 50/50 split when I'm browsing around here, although I personally would say that I'm more hesitant to want to join a homebrew game simply due to the fact that I'm new to PBP so I want something I can structurally rely on. Although, there are exceptions such as if the homebrew concept interests me enough for me to not care about my stipulations. I'm really itching for a sci-fi homebrew right now... (and am unfortunately not enough of a fan of Star Trek to apply to the one that's in the first five pages).
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? I've seen group chats through the forum's messaging system (although the fact that it doesn't open to the latest page is pretty annoying), but I also have seen Discord be used for both OOC and the actual PBP itself. I personally prefer Discord since I've been using that for the past few years, but I'm fine with either. As for maps, I've seen people use the, uh, ASCII style (I find that incredibly difficult to read because of sensory processing), or just descriptions ("the goblins are 30 feet away") or an open Roll20 map that the DM posts and reposts every round (which is great).
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? Response times for sure. Ideally, things, when they actually go, might flow better since people have more than ample time to be up-to-date on their character sheets, what they want to do on their turn, etc. But that also means scenes could take days, so as long as you go in aware of and expecting that, you can adjust your perspective accordingly. There's pros and cons, and I definitely prefer the setup I have now where I am in typical sessions that meet weekly, but between those, PBP scratches my daily fix for when everyone else I know isn't free but I, the D&D gremlin, am and can just open up my phone and type a response.
As for characters... it would depend on the campaign idea being put forth, but I'll list a couple under the cut as well as things about me as a player.
Would personally prefer starting at level 3 (okay) or 5 (more preferred)... just because quarantine has put me through starting at level 1 so many times already that I'm ready to rage.
I have about, like, half a dozen-ish characters I often rotate through, tweaking them through different settings as needed. I totally play favorites and usually won't make a completely new character for a game unless the game's concept has something that I can't just recycle another beloved character to fit. I'm either unoriginal or treasure my darlings a lot, depending on your perspective. My favorite classes to play are Artificer, Bard, and Rogue, but I'll play anything that seems to be missing from a party composition.
As for general character concepts, I usually play characters in the teenage to young adult range, and they almost always have familial issues (who doesn't in D&D). I have a half-orc pirate (or spaceship... if there's space involved) captain with a terribly grumpy demeanor but a hidden moral compass; a half-elf tinkerer/blacksmith who is either just fine and socially awkward or sold her soul to help her family survive poverty and is now very irritable, depressed, and aimless, depending on what the story calls for; a kalashtar orphan searching for her purpose in life and could either be a really good person... or turn out to be an absolutely horrible manipulator, depending on how external circumstances go.
I love flavor a lot. Like a lot. It's because I'm a real life bard.
Also love multiclassing. I usually only do it if it makes sense for a character (it usually does like 60% of the time), but if that's a problem or if you don't like multiclassing, I'll definitely make a character with the sole purpose of just staying in one class.
What I look for in a game is just... I do love character-driven stories as well. I mean, combat is super fun. Don't get me wrong. I'm way too competitive to hate combat. However, being a cool adventurer is just as awesome. Building relationships and working a character out of whatever comfort zone they've shoved themself into is one of my favorite things to unravel as a writer.
Settings/themes I really love: science fiction.... one day we'll get a 5E Spelljammer book... one day... city intrigue is great, too. I'm down for anything. Well. Almost anything. I love worlds outside of FR, too, like Exandria and Eberron.
Settings/themes I dislike: Horror (does Curse of Strahd count?), any creepy stuff like... the whole Aztec-y stuff in Tomb of Annihilation and Shrine of Tamochan from TftYP.... miss me with that.
Something I guess would be the most important note to mention — as a player, I do really enjoy, personally, exploring themes that aren't... "not natural" isn't the right phrase, but, like... don't have set concepts for them in the medieval fantasy world of D&D. Things such as mental health, gender, and sexuality are ideas important to me and my identity that I, you know, enjoy having the freedom to express and explore within a group. Boundaries would be important to discuss beforehand with something like that, but I thought I ought to bring it up first and foremost, just in case.
Hey, I can´t really answer the questions since I´m a noob but I´d like to join in. I read the basics but I may still need a little hint here and there. Not sure about the character, I usually gravitate towards mage-types but I also wouldn´t mind any other class.
How big of a party should I shoot for? It depends on how you've structured things, I think. I've tried to run a few different games both here and in other forums. I've usually shot for around 4-5 people because that's what I prefer in real life, but I've always had a few fall off. That's sometimes killed games, because I tend to be very story driven, but I learned my lesson and so I have a current game that's able to continue with just 2-3 people, and another game that's 5+ people, but the latter game works because it's more like a West Marches game, where not everyone has to be present for each individual quest. It can be hard to find players that are consistent and don't disappear.
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? My experience is that that the forums like both, so it's whatever's easier for you to write. I'll say homebrew feels a lot easier in play-by-post than in person, so if there's a homebrew you want to run, I'd recommend that.
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? People use both. I like to have everything on d&d beyond, so I use messages for OOC stuff, which seems to work pretty well.
I just like to play, and one of the games I was in seems like it's kind of died before it really got going. So the two characters I'd like to play is a kobold artificer support character, who's just interested in building things and exploring. And a shadar-kai monk/kensei, who has been exiled from the Shadowfell and has been making his way as a mercenary but looking for a quest to give his life meaning.
Holy cow. Thanks everyone for the advice! I got more replies than I thought I would. I'm gonna stew on this for the night, and then come back tomorrow and edit the first post of the thread into a proper campaign recruitment post.
So the big takeaways I think are: Party Size: 4-5 people. Maybe an extra to account for players disappearing. Also it's helpful if everyone can be active during the same time slots(so include that on the application maybe?) Differences: Forum is slow, combat is wonky, but RP has big potential. I actually kind of like this, because yes combat is cool, but the potential for more in depth character-driven stories is an amazing prospect. Don't be afraid to experiment with different systems to make certain things run faster or more smoothly.
Seems like there's a pretty even split between homebrew and published adventure, so that's one of the things I'll mull over. I'm gonna go troll through some recruitment threads in the forum's history for a general idea of what to include. See you tomorrow folks!
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Hi all, semi-long time DnD player and DM here. I was running two groups earlier this year, but we all decided meeting wasn't for the best once the pandemic went into full swing. We tried online play for a while, but more than a couple players didn't really like it too much. This has left a big DnD shaped hole in my heart, and I'm hoping to stuff some DnD shaped forum play right up in there.
I've read the FAQ and the Dice Roller thread, so I think I've got a nice read on the mechanics of Play-By-Post, but I'm sure there's like sub-cultural type stuff I'm not aware of. Hopefully I'll catch onto things like that quickly. I looked through the first few pages of threads, and it looks like mostly homebrew campaigns are run, with some published module stuff peppered here and there. I'm not really sure what you guys like more, so feel free to chip in your thoughts about that in this thread.
Anyway, I am looking to recruit a party, though I don't really have a solid idea for a campaign at the moment. Was kind of thinking I could decide that after getting input from the forum on a few things: (I don't expect every single person that posts here to answer all of these, just if you happen to have some thoughts or advice, that would be super cool)
Some things about me as a DM:
Now like I said, I'm here to recruit a party, even though I don't really have a campaign idea yet. If I sound like the type of dude you'd like to play a game with though, drop a general character idea in the thread. We can always adapt it to whatever campaign we decide to end up playing. For all those that stop by to offer their advice, thanks in advance!
Hey! I'd be super interested in joining. I have about a year of experience, and I'm familiar with the rules but there's still lots of classes and mechanics I'd like to explore. I love campaigns that focus on character development and/or integrate backstory.
As for my character, I'd possibly be interested in playing either a warlock or a monk, but I'd love to work out the details with you/the party and tailor it to the campaign.
Iris - Tiefling Cleric | Cassandra - Elf Warlock | Solace - Tiefling Monk | Tempest - Hexblood Monk | Lex - Fire Genasi Barbarian
Lilyn - Triton Ranger | Candor - Changeling Bard | Echo - Changeling Warlock/Bard | Rowan - Fairy Wizard
What level have you thought of starting at (if you've thought that far)?
I’m always interested in joining a campaign, and you seem like a great dm!
As for what type of character id play, it’s either a diplomatic Bard, a watcher Paladin, or a Battlesmith Artificer
"Honor is a fools prize. Glory is of no use to the dead"
Game/Dungeon Mastering in:
Star Wars Dawn of Defiance
Playing in:
Three Sisters (The DM is currently MIA)
"Everybody gets a nasty surprise one day. I'd rather take it standing up than when I'm laying down"
Hi there, welcome! I'm by no means experienced in PBP, also just joined last month, so still learning.
Party size for PBP I'd say it's pretty flexible, more easy to keep track of everyone's characters, having access to everyone's character sheets and spells etc, but generally around ~5?. I feel people in this forum show a lot of interests in both homebrew and published module. Discord or group PM for OOC chats. And yeah, the drawback for PBP style is always a slower pace, but one benefit is that you get to play a little bit of campaign everyday. So it's less like a weekly group where people go "wait, what did we do last week?", you are kind of always in it, you don't take big breaks from the game, and it really helps with the immersion in both character and the world. This is the one thing that got me to really love PBP.
And like people have mentioned above, try variant rules, like DM rolling initiatives/saves for players to keep combat moving.
I'd love to join your game! There's a STR based melee horizon walker ranger I had been wanting to try out but never got the chance, so if there's a spot, that'd be great!
@ArtymisMoon
Yeah that makes sense. I kind of figured it would be a lot slower. Sounds like I should really stick to smaller groups then. I'm used to 7-8 people. Monks are always fun characters to have, lots of different ways to play one!
@ikarbino
I guess it kind of depends. I like running long campaigns, but I wonder if I should try something shorted. For a long campaign, I like starting out at levels 3-5 if the players are experienced enough for that. 1-2 can be such a drag.
@CodesterV8
Do you have any particular online tools I should check out?
I've found 4 to be the best; though i'm only recently into 5E. So I am speaking from PbP Pathfinder/starfinder. If I personally was choosing? I'd run an AP (adventure path/ published module) because you've not done PbP before, and I'm sure a lot of applicants aren't well versed either. Its nice to have some structure in case things get out of hand or weird. You can always add your own Spice by changing small details, stats, monsters, etc~ As for OOC chat? The one PbP I had for 5e (lasted a fewmoonths) we actually made a "group message" here on DbD. That worked rather well. Though after 50pages it got kind of a pain sometimes; because it does not open to the newest page. So occasionally I'd log on to 12 messages and have to find where I last read. but not really a problem. Some folks use Discord or skype yeah.
biggest detail on PbP is its really slow, and slower still with more players and more timezones. Its also advisable to occasionally include pics--particularly on a battle field? In my 5E game we had pics and they overlayed a Grid, and we used A4 for instance to state where we moved to etc. Though a Pathfidner 2.0 game I had did simliar; with google doc program. They somehow had a background and free form tokens we'd move around between our turns. Which really helped keeping up with the visualization for battle dynamics.
Also battle initiatve can be awkward at times; if a player vanishes for instance? So set ground rules. "in battle at least 1 post per day" isn't a bad rule. If they miss they get skiped, or they act as if they Held Action and rejoin inittiive later. Otherwise, currrent Starfinder pbp I have, they list out inititive; and usually let people state what they're doing in whatever player order and just has the events occur in that sequence. It creats some oddities; such as if the last player in ititive posts first, and the first inititve posts last.. and in the inbetween someonge goes down- and now the last person who would have healed them instead already attacked. But that sort of thing is a risk for the "all at once" posts. So just discuss with players or make a firm decision and tell the players up front.
You can totally still create battle maps, and share them (maybe add the Grid I mentioned) via Imgur, or post on here (I think it allows images?). I had one game with a simliar set up (they owned some map program). Every "round" they would reupload the map, with the new movements, and also state the inittive order again. Which created clear "new round" posts. Which helped since occasionally it gets really messy figuring out what round it is, and who hasn't gone yet. So clear 'new round, here's the current status" posts are good.
Ah. I'd also have a separate post for every enemy; even if they all go at the same time. Just makes it easier to track on a read.
I'd start with an Ap as they're established firm storyline and level growth. because it takes a long while to get through story etc in pbp. Since you ran some of them before, it would also mean you can use it to help you understand pbp timing and flow.
I totally agree with starting at 3+ though. 1-3 really is a drag of "samness" Even if doing an Ap, if you're experienced could bump things up slightly. Or just start at 3, but no level up until the ap's standard 4th level timing. Does create a lon while with low level. but generally there isn't a massive power spike between them. Outside of some level 2 spells of course. but if the players are appraised up front its fine. It also might be a method to 'speed along' the early storyline
but yeah. pbp is pretty neat overall. Just a different flow.
Most of the questions have been answered sufficiently in a way that I'd probably answer as well, but I see no problem with echoing other people's thoughts if it'll show that a few of these things do go as a good general statement for PbP rather than something only a few have experienced.
How big a party should I shoot for? The biggest party I played in had 7, it was enough to make things a bit messy. I find the sweet spot is probably 5, but one more or one less is still perfectly fine.
Do I try a published module, or does the forum enjoy homebrew campaigns more? Go for what you prefer, of my games right now, none are homebrew, but I've played plenty of good to great homebrew PbP games.
Do people just use Discord for OOC stuff, or is there a dedicated forum for that somewhere on the site? I'm sure some people use Discord, although I've never been in a game with it. I know it'd probably turn me away a little bit since I don't use Discord often. Group PMs here in D&D Beyond are convenient and easy to use.
Any general advice on the differences between Play-by-Post and a typical campaign? I never played a D&D game IRL, but I've played live games in Roll20 that were text-based. Using that comparison, they're strangely very similar and very different at the same time.
Mainly what I feel like is good to know is that rushing a PbP game too much will turn people away if they're expected to be online 100% of the time, but if you let people get away with going days without posting without warning first, that's also, kind of a problem. So, don't rush too much, but don't rush too little either.
Oh, also, if we're in combat, make it abundantly clear who's turn it is, bold it out, so nobody will miss it. If you're gonna do group initiative rules, I guess that's less relevant, but still, confusion with initiative is something I had to pass through quite a few times and mostly in PbP.
Anyways, if you'll have me, I'm looking to fill a few empty character slots and play in more games. I always wait until the last second to plan my characters because I actively enjoy playing the class that'll round out the party distribution.
EDIT: Timezone: GMT -3:00 (Just following the DM's last message.)
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
I probably don't need to answer the questions because everyone here looks like they did a pretty good job of that...
But I concur with most of what everyone else has said so I won't be repetitive... I am mostly just posting here to throw my hat in the ring. You seem like a pretty good DM and I'm always looking for a fun game to play in (too many of my games end up dropping because players can't make it/post)...
I have a character idea for a Drakewarden Dragonborn Ranger (I know the dragon theme is a bit cliché... but I've never played it and I thought the subclass seemed pretty cool so I went all-in)... but I am super flexible based on what the party needs!
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
I suggest using roll 20 or some form of spreadsheet to map, and you can use most of the tools here to great effect (encounter maker, character creator, campaigns..)
"Honor is a fools prize. Glory is of no use to the dead"
Game/Dungeon Mastering in:
Star Wars Dawn of Defiance
Playing in:
Three Sisters (The DM is currently MIA)
"Everybody gets a nasty surprise one day. I'd rather take it standing up than when I'm laying down"
Google sheets work brilliantly for this and I have a template that I can send you if you would like (whether I am actually playing or not it might help you out)...
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Other people have provided good answers to most of your questions. I would suggest starting with 1 more person than you think you'll need. I'm yet to be involved (or see) a thread that doesn't lose at least one person within two weeks of a thread starting up. Hopefully, it won't be someone critical to the party's success (e.g., their only healer).
For map making, I've been using Inkarnate . It is relatively easy to use, although the free version is fairly limited. In theory, you should be able to post your maps in the threads, but, I've had no luck doing that, and I've tried posting the image on other services. I publish the map on my inkarnate home page and link to it in the post.
As far as module or homebrew, that is entirely up to you.
I would be interested in playing either a monk or a druid.
I'm really not an expert, and have never DM'd here, so take this with a grain or two of salt, but: What other people said, plus...
Departures
I'd suggest a well-laid plan for when people leave, or become slow to respond. This happens A LOT, and sometime drags the game to a near-standstill (or death). Just make some up-front rules, eg. "I will assume you hide/attack-nearest/dodge/run-away etc if you do not respond in 24 hours, and you will be permanently puppeted after 3 days AWOL". Or something like that. I've only been here a year, but have seen perhaps 6 games die due to players departing (sometimes without notice, sometimes the DM disappears, but that won't be a problem for you!). Note: this is different to people saying "Away for a week, please have me do what seems sensible"...knowing someone will be away makes a huge difference, and knowing they will be back is also important.
One game I tried to join had extra NPCs that players played (not sure it's a good idea, but it is a solution). Other games end up advertising for players to replace departing ones; that's hard, IMO, and takes a bit of time.
Speed
Others have already said "go slow/expect slowness". This has a positive side: one move every day (or so) means that people can actually think about their character, so RP is sometimes very good, more so than in tabletop, IMO. OFC, that really depends on the person, the DM and the group, but the RP elements in PBP are potentially very strong.
Initiative
Having 6 players, say, sounds good until you realize that's 6 people all needing to respond in their initiative order. One round *could* take 6 days...so, at the very least I'd suggest either (a) all players share one initiative roll, and respond in any order or (b) group the players with consecutive initiative together so, say, 2 or 3 can respond at once, or (c) get everyone to write what they will do , then you orchestrate it around the initiative order. (c) is pretty good, but a lot of work for the DM, and (b) is easy for everyone and quickly identifies the laggards, and (a) is (b) on steroids, but is very unrealistic (and unfair if one player has +9 initiative and another is +1).
Who to pick?
Me, of course. I have yet to play an artificer, and have a soft spot for warforged. Every game I played a Warlock in has died quickly, so that's probably out, but would be nice.
More seriously: I have no idea how to pick people -- I have seen really solid players just disappear overnight, and boring players who just roll dice and write one sentence be totally reliable (which is really valuable), and everything between. Nothing in the application process seems to cover that, though I guess looking at their profile might help (though that makes it hard for new players, which is bad as well).
One game I played (which actually ran to completion!) had an interesting system where the DM posted an initial scene and, as part of the application process, asked how the character would respond. It made for a much more interesting sense of the character than the usual stuff people write.
Personally, I like 4-person groups. It's good balance and composition and, most importantly in these forums, reduces the chances of having to wait for one player for long. It'll still happen, but lesd.
I think the forums enjoy both equally. However, experienced players who had played the modules will (I assume) prefer Homebrew because there's no chance they'd actually know what will happen.
Some use dicord, some use a separate thread in this forum and some use group-private-messages
Any advice? Idk. It's different, surely, and it has its ups and downs. I guess something important, sometimes - if the campaign doesn't emphasize on it - just speed certain things up. Like travel or downtime or various other things. People don't always know how to handle that part and then each person "begins to walk towards X" for multiple messages. Sometimes suggesting a 'fast travel', when it fits, really keeps stuff moving.
Edit: Realised this is actually the reruitment thread as well. I'd like to play, but would like to have some more specific info about the game before I give a character concept, as I have more than just one I'd like to play. I'm quite flexible though, and can play many roles.
Varielky
Really solid advice in this thread! I'll just add a perspective of someone who does PbP mostly on Discord (DMing or playing in 6 PbP games on Discord atm; just involved in 1 DDB game):
I've found Discord is useful in partly mitigating (but certainly not eliminating!) the speed problem for PbP. One point is about notification; my phone gets pinged when Discord channels I follow are updated. Whereas DDB notifications are slow, unless you're periodically refreshing the website you'll have to wait for the maybe once-day e-mail update. The flip-side of this is that Discord games can get an 'always on' feeling, which may be overwhelming! As mentioned above, you could also have combat in Discord and rp on the forums.
Discord also has some very useful game management tools. Can have multiple channels for ooc/ic/handout/quest listing etc. You also have the Avrae bot on Discord, which is a quite advanced toolset (leaps and bounds above the Forum's capabilities) and before long I expect will reach the level of a virtual tabletop.
Combat more than anything slows things down in PbP. So an advantage of homebrew is that you can design things to work around this - i.e., have the 'adventuring day' include fewer but higher-risk encounters, go for compact rather than sprawling dungeons, etc. Alternatively, modify modules to make more encounters optional, and/or have non-combat solutions (published modules over-emphasise combat IMHO anyway).
For recruiting, you may want to try and find folks who are able to be 'active' when you are most active. Doesn't necessarily mean people in your own timezone. You'll get boatloads of applicants (just witness the interested parties in this advice thread!), so can afford to be picky.
Name: It's complicated, but his current name when the party meets him will be Natton Bventun ( his true name is Zed Yvintri)
Race | Class: Changeling, Bard: College of Whispers (I don't have this unlocked, so I would use a paper version of a character sheet. There is a chance I might unlock it in the next few days however.)
Background: Criminal
Alignment: It's also a bit complicated, but it is currently CG (true is NG)
Backstory: Zed was born as a human in the desert country of (Insert appropriate name). When he was three, a famine struck the land that lasted for nearly 5 years. When he was four, both of his parents died of starvation. They would feed Zed rather than eat themselves. A local gang of street kids took him in when they found him wandering around. They taught him how to steal to survive. He picked it up rather quickly and was soon helping them conduct their grand "heists" that often involved stealing food from vendors when their backs were turned. Zed had a talent for being sneaky and a knack for evading capture. During one of their heists, a member of a crime guild was how talented he was. Impressed by now much potential he had, he kidnapped Zed in the night and spirited him away to the crime guild's headquarters. There, he learned the more refined ways of stealing. He was taught how to target higher marks than food. The crime guild quickly became his new "family."
Years later when he was 18, the guild assigned him to be part of a mission to steal a large, pure diamond. He succeeded with great success. The guild leader was impressed. As Zed's reward, the leader gave him to the guild wizards for a set of magical 'enhancements.' Not knowing what was going on, Zed stayed confident that he would be fine and even better than before when the wizards were done with him. The wizards gently put him to sleep and then began their grisly work.
When he awoke, all he knew was pain. Endless torment greeted him as soon as he awoke. He was no longer human. He was a transparent mass of ooze and muscle. The pain shattered his psyche leaving him insane. One day, the wizards brought in a man who double-crossed the guild. The mages killed the man in front of what once was Zed. Zed felt the other man's spirit drift away, and he seized it. As soon as he did, the ooze transformed into a replica of that man. The pain disappeared when he assumed the dead man's form. He was a perfect replica, and fragments of that soul became locked away in Zed. He could draw upon memories of those he absorbed, making him able to become the perfect spy. The mages were pleased that their experiments worked. They brought in hundreds of others and killed them near him. Every time, he would absorb portions of those souls as they passed on and gained the ability to become them. The mages put mental shackles on Zed so he would do their bidding.
He soon was sent out on special missions as part of a team. His team would capture an important target, kill them near Zed, and Zed would become them. He would then infiltrate and complete the mission appointed to him. He couldn't resist due to magical compulsions. He became the guild's secret weapon.
Having hundreds upon hundreds of souls in one body was bound to have consequences. When he would absorb a soul, he would absorb their personality, their wants, their desires. Whenever he would shift into one of them, he would literally become them for a while, but he was trained to control their psyche. Having just a handful of souls was difficult, but thousands was too much. He would lose his true identity piece by piece when someone else was absorbed by him.
One on of his missions, he finally cracked under the pressure. All of those souls bottles inside of him shattered the magical bonds binding him. They all sought to control his body, their body, all at once. This happened while at a Noble's party at a mansion overlooking the ocean. He had taken the form of a noblewomen just hours before. His goal was to assassinate one of the nobles at the party. When he broke down, he went into a murderous frenzy and slayed several guards and nobles before finally throwing himself out a window and into the ocean hundreds of feet below. As he struck the ocean, Zed was lost in a whirlwind of tattered souls. Zed's persona was ripped into thousands of pieces and was lost. A new creature was born.
He awoke on a passenger boat setting sail towards the new land. A fisherman had dragged him out of the water late last night. What once was Zed was confused with a sense of being lost. Who was he? He was thousands of people all at once, yet he was no one. Which persona should be become? Who was the true him?
He arrive at the continent of Tharivanne. Not knowing what to do, he shifted into a child beggar and lived in the streets. A few weeks later, a wandering bard of the name Natton Bventun passed through the area and took pity on him. The bard took the child in and taught him the ways of the bard. The child and his other fragments of people fell in love with music. Music soothed them and made them feel better.
In a different city on a cold night, Natton Bventum was slain by a member of the crime guild in front of the child. The guild was seeking what was Zed to take him back. They saw the child with the bard, and recognized the child. They kill Natton in front of him to test to see if the child was what once was called Zed. It absorbed and transformed into Natton. It fled from the guild member and disappeared in the night.
He tries to keep his abilities secret to avoid being noticed by agents of the guild. He has a feeling he wasn't always like this. While he now doesn't personally know the guild, he knows people are after him.What is now called Natton but once was Zed seeks companions to help protect him. But above all, he wants true friends. He wants to do find out what he is and why he is the way he is. Who is he?
((That's probably a bit confusing, but it's pretty much a magical and severe case of multiple personality disorder.))
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
There's a ton of answers already, but I'll just toss in my two cents as well. I've only just started PBP but having been playing 5e for almost two years now. I have roleplaying experience dating back to over a decade and only stopped some years ago to focus on writing and then, eventually, D&D instead. Have DM'd one PBP game of my own last year on Discord that ended not too well (my own fault) and am currently involved in three games right now (one as a player, one as a DM, and one PBP). Trying out PBP here was a large venture for me since I normally tend to play with friends and am not comfortable with strangers, per se, but realizing that there was a much larger PBP community on the forums here was very helpful and made the idea of going out on a limb to find people to play with a lot less daunting. (At one point, I had no D&D and was convinced that I'd have to just randomly apply to Roll20 games, so... thankfully I didn't do that because I would've hated jumping into voice chat with people I didn't know.)
As for characters... it would depend on the campaign idea being put forth, but I'll list a couple under the cut as well as things about me as a player.
Ryan (he/him/his)
Extended Signature
Hey, I can´t really answer the questions since I´m a noob but I´d like to join in. I read the basics but I may still need a little hint here and there. Not sure about the character, I usually gravitate towards mage-types but I also wouldn´t mind any other class.
My two cents worth:
I just like to play, and one of the games I was in seems like it's kind of died before it really got going. So the two characters I'd like to play is a kobold artificer support character, who's just interested in building things and exploring. And a shadar-kai monk/kensei, who has been exiled from the Shadowfell and has been making his way as a mercenary but looking for a quest to give his life meaning.
**By the Light of the Sun, you will burn!**
Previously BENEFICENCE
DM: Storm Lord's Wrath || Syr Valor Dayne: Sleeping Gods || tooltips | guides | dice |
Holy cow. Thanks everyone for the advice! I got more replies than I thought I would. I'm gonna stew on this for the night, and then come back tomorrow and edit the first post of the thread into a proper campaign recruitment post.
So the big takeaways I think are:
Party Size: 4-5 people. Maybe an extra to account for players disappearing. Also it's helpful if everyone can be active during the same time slots(so include that on the application maybe?)
Differences: Forum is slow, combat is wonky, but RP has big potential. I actually kind of like this, because yes combat is cool, but the potential for more in depth character-driven stories is an amazing prospect. Don't be afraid to experiment with different systems to make certain things run faster or more smoothly.
Seems like there's a pretty even split between homebrew and published adventure, so that's one of the things I'll mull over. I'm gonna go troll through some recruitment threads in the forum's history for a general idea of what to include. See you tomorrow folks!