I thought some of you might dig this- as well as my main D&D game, myself and a few buds have been playing over Whatsapp. We are currently on our second campaign. So below is a summary of our first campaign, lessons learned, pros/cons of that system (when the DDB app is fully functional I think it will all be streamlined!).
The TL;DR? It was a blast
The first campaign was 'The Cursed Tomb', ran for 6 months, 3 players and 1 DM, and when I downloaded the message log and cleaned it up we had over 90,000 words- so about the length of an average fantasy novel! We had three players- Constance the halfling monk, Faustus the dragonborn paladin of Bahamut, and Bronan the barbarian.
The campaign itself was set in the deep desert south of Calimport, and south again, basically in the realms but so far off nowhere anyone had heard of. Since we were all familiar with the pantheon, magic rules, societal structures etc this seemed to be an easy way to save time.
pros- slow pace-we averaged 40 messages a day to the group, but sometimes a week with no messages and then an hour when we all happen to be online and free would be a flurry of activity, long term character progression and interaction in character made very easy by the format, emphasis on roleplaying
cons- sometimes long (weeks and weeks!) side treks, difficult to keep character sheet/spells/dice roller to hand on phone, and occasional very slow pace when people are travelling
Lessons- Get a dice roller app, get a copy of your character sheet, don't roll unless necessary (for initiative, whoever sends a message first goes first!). Of course you have to trust your players not to fudge rolls, but my dudes are savvy enough to know failure is often more fun than success so I think we had no issues. In the six month campaign they crossed the red desert, saved a tribe of aaracokra from a corrupt mayor, rescued a prodigal sorceror who was threatening the safety of all, and almost destroyed a city with a demon-bomb. Also, the halfling became a 2/3rdling, Bronan's pug companion sir dribbles survived, and they made a real attachmen tot a camel called Besh
We are now onto our second campaign where a yuan-ti, orc, and fallen aasimar in service to the great Lich Basteau must restore their master after he is cast down by some dastardly do gooder adventurers
So if you want to play more, try the PBP in the forums here, or get some friends onto a whatsapp group! there are minor logistical hurdles, but it is a small price to pay!
I thought some of you might dig this- as well as my main D&D game, myself and a few buds have been playing over Whatsapp. We are currently on our second campaign. So below is a summary of our first campaign, lessons learned, pros/cons of that system (when the DDB app is fully functional I think it will all be streamlined!).
The TL;DR? It was a blast
The first campaign was 'The Cursed Tomb', ran for 6 months, 3 players and 1 DM, and when I downloaded the message log and cleaned it up we had over 90,000 words- so about the length of an average fantasy novel! We had three players- Constance the halfling monk, Faustus the dragonborn paladin of Bahamut, and Bronan the barbarian.
The campaign itself was set in the deep desert south of Calimport, and south again, basically in the realms but so far off nowhere anyone had heard of. Since we were all familiar with the pantheon, magic rules, societal structures etc this seemed to be an easy way to save time.
pros- slow pace-we averaged 40 messages a day to the group, but sometimes a week with no messages and then an hour when we all happen to be online and free would be a flurry of activity, long term character progression and interaction in character made very easy by the format, emphasis on roleplaying
cons- sometimes long (weeks and weeks!) side treks, difficult to keep character sheet/spells/dice roller to hand on phone, and occasional very slow pace when people are travelling
Lessons- Get a dice roller app, get a copy of your character sheet, don't roll unless necessary (for initiative, whoever sends a message first goes first!). Of course you have to trust your players not to fudge rolls, but my dudes are savvy enough to know failure is often more fun than success so I think we had no issues. In the six month campaign they crossed the red desert, saved a tribe of aaracokra from a corrupt mayor, rescued a prodigal sorceror who was threatening the safety of all, and almost destroyed a city with a demon-bomb. Also, the halfling became a 2/3rdling, Bronan's pug companion sir dribbles survived, and they made a real attachmen tot a camel called Besh
We are now onto our second campaign where a yuan-ti, orc, and fallen aasimar in service to the great Lich Basteau must restore their master after he is cast down by some dastardly do gooder adventurers
So if you want to play more, try the PBP in the forums here, or get some friends onto a whatsapp group! there are minor logistical hurdles, but it is a small price to pay!
we ended up cleaning up the text and uploading it to a website some of us contribute to- 43 chapters of actual play text based shenanigans- check it out here if you like! https://thelostlighthouse.com/2017/04/10/the-cursed-tomb-chapter-1-long-distance-javelin-surgery/