Da RuleSAfter you send me your initial character, I will make my comments/revisions and send the revised copy back to you. At any point during this creation process you may change/add/delete anything you want. Once the game begins it will be harder (but not impossible) to change characteristics of your character. Once all the characters have been chosen and contacted I will send out the first turn. See the Character Page for help on creating a character.
I ran this game for a couple years already and have tried using stats and skills. These rules were more a hindrance then anything else and I ended up using them for only the first couple months. By the end of the sixth month or so I just got sick of them. I rarely followed them anyway because they didn't fit with what the characters actually wanted to do and what they trying to do. I continued to use the rules off and on as a reference to what they were trying to accomplish, but it soon became more bothersome then it was helpful. It is just not fun for me to do it that way, and that is, after all, the entire reason I am doing this. I also felt that stats and skills handicapped the character too much. It is hard enough to keep a PBEM going without having to keep all the stats up to date. So I have adopted a totally freeform roleplaying style that I thoroughly enjoy and I am sure you will too.
Just write your turns as you wish your character to accomplish them (using the third person) and I will write back with the outcome of the move. It is the quality of your turn that dictates the outcome. Instead of dice roles, per se, I use your writing as an outcome roll. The better thought out and/or explained your turn is the more likely the odds are that it will come to pass.
As you will see after the first couple of turns I usually post the entire rewritten first turn with the second turn. The reason will become obvious (I hope) when we start playing. Lots of time things change or people add things with their seperate post and this rewrite brings all of that together. I also compile it into a more story format taking out all the extra things you may have added to make your turn complete. This will become clearer once we begin the game. In MOST instances this second posting is the final form of the turn as it stands with all outcomes and moves rectified. Hardly ever will there be opportunity to change what has happened in these second posts because we have already moved on using those events to dictate the current turn.
As I add the old turns to my posts, so should you to yours when necessary. Whenever you feel it is relevant go ahead and clip parts of the turn and then add to it. Butcher it anywhere you like and do with it as you will. Just use this sort of format to show me where the turn ends and your post begins:
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Your comments here.
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That makes it so easy for me to find your stuff, BUT do not think you can't just change some text that is in the turn. Once the turn leaves my computer it is yours, if I do something with your character that you don't like or it wouldn't do, change it. Change anything, which leads me to my next point.
I even allow you to [gasp] improvise on my stuff. Take creative control of some things if you want. It doesn't bother me at all, as a matter of fact I enjoy it. Obviously you can't mess with plot items and such but common everyday things go ahead and add/change. It is slightly hard to explain but I will try because I truly enjoy it (the characters in my last game got the hang of it and we had a blast). It is not the big things but the small things that you tailor that makes the game more fun. The small items I refer to are: Say you are walking through town. Go ahead and go shopping on your own without asking me what shops there are. Pilfer some fruit from the fruit stand you just made up was there. Describe to me somebody walking down the street and you want to pick their pocket. Describe yourself noticing somebody looking at you and you give him a dirty look. Use your characters attitude and bring it out and make up stuff that he may notice or want to do. This is another thing you will have to feel you way around and find my limits of your control. It may even bring up other plot threads that I had no idea were there...[insert evil grin here]...and know that I WILL use it. Remember, we are writing an interactive story.
When writing turns use the third person at all times.
When you write a private turn and your character is Simon then for instance write:
--Simon picks Larry's pocket.
Don't say:
--I picked Larry's pocket.
Not using the third person forces me to rewrite your turn to fit the format I am trying to keep and slows turn around time. Use third person even when it is a group message:
--Simon asks Larry "Are you missing something?"
It makes it much easier to compile an end
of month update of your turns and saves me a lot of retyping.
Another thing to think about while writing your turn is that this is an e-mail game. If the action that is occuring has a couple ways it could turn out it speeds up play if you write on both. For instance, you are in a town searching for somebody. You should think about what may happen. Don't just say "I search town for him." On top of it being incorrect format it doesn't help the turn progress. Think about what happens when you find him. If you find the guy what do you do. Do you fight him, talk to him, follow him. Or if you don't find him where do you go, how long do you search. It is a waste of valuable turns when I have to send a seperate turn saying you found him, now what...
Lastly, I don't care who you send your turns to. It usually depends on the circumstance but feel free to send e-mail back and forth to all the characters that play in the game. I just ask that you send me a copy also. This comes in handy when you are trying to decide on a way to progress. Go ahead and have a conversation per e-mail with each other but keep me in the loop. Then when you decide on your action send me the formatted turn.
When sending turns I would ask that you use the following formats:
1) If it is a private turn, when you are alone or when you do something you want nobody else in the group to know about then you send me a private message that nobody else will be able to see put it in this format:
SIMON(characters name):P(private)(1/29)(date)
So if my character's name was Simon and the message you were responding to was dated 1/29 the Subject for your e-mail would look like this:
SIMON:P (1/29)
2)If you are in a group have all the people in the group in the Subject line. If the people in the group were Dick, Sally, and Jane and you were Simon then you would put:
Simon Dick Sally Jane: 1/29
Most of the time (actually pretty much all the time) you will simply be responding to my posts so the above is slightly unnecessary, except for the private turn which you will initiate. Make sure you have the date of the turn you are responding to for these posts. The Group turn format is added just in case you wanted to try and change something with a past post.
Spells are up for grabs. If your character can cast with the sands then you may cast whatever you wish. You may use any source for a spell idea but do not add it's stats, for instance: I am casting a fireball--range of 90ft causing 1d6 dam per lvl. I really don't care what the stats are. Because it is freeform I will go by your experience with the spell. If you have only cast it once then chances are it will not go 90ft or whatever and may cause no damage, or maybe you could get lucky and hit for some major damage. It is all up to how your character uses it and how you present it. But don't just use spells in the books you have, although you could. I would actually prefer you to make them up as the situation deems it. Make spells up for your situation. Experiment, experiment, experiment...you never know what may happen.
Well, to be honest with you the answer is: "Whenever I send you one to play." I have a fairly weird schedule so some weeks I may send out turns up to 5 times in a week while others it may be just one. It WILL be at least one a week but hopefully an average of 2 per week will rise from the shuffle. It also depends on how quickly I get responses. The quicker I get all the responses the more chance I have to send out more turns. Keep in mind it may not be always me that you are waiting for, it may be me waiting for somebody else to respond to the turn before I can send the next.
One last thought about the game. Experience is sort of a moot point. Like I said it is up to your writing...BUT (there are a lot of "buts" aren't there) you will not start out at superman level nor probably ever reach it. You will gain experience as the game progresses although it is not actually measurable. The more you do things the better you will get at them. If you do a cartwheel, you may be able to do it but it won't be pretty. But if you do it numerous times you will eventually get better. It is like that for all the skills you will perform. The more you do it the better you get at it. I want to keep it fairly realistic, as far as realistic goes when you are playing in a fantasy world
I leave myself the last say in all circumstances because there is a need for some continuity and solid decision making. If something happens that does not sound reasonable to you, then tell me. I am willing to listen and if you pose an undeniable argument then, hey, things can magically change. I am more than willing to listen to the players. But if I disagree with your argument then my word is final, no crying (although I will feel more sorry for you).
I do have no set rules that I go by and if you are that curious on the inner workings e-mail me and I will go as in depth as you wish. (Let me save you some time though. Freeform. Logical. That's it.) I plan on spending a lot of time working with this PBeM and I hope you put in the time to make this an exciting game. I would appreciate descriptions of your actions as detailed as possible to not only personalize your character but to save me from having to flower it up to be interesting to the other players. If your turns are continuously boring and uninformative I will drop you from the game. (Yes, I am a hard-ass but I will give you ample opportunity.) I do not foresee any problems. Enjoy...
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Any questions? E-mail me at strolen(at)bigfoot(dot)com