These guidelines are meant to enhance roleplaying games played by email. These games were an answer for people who did not have a chance to play face to face. I believe that, at this stage, it has replaced the regular type of games for many people. Some of its advantages are that players can develop their characters a lot more and even insignificant details come to life in this format. What follows are some recommendations for those about to both play and run a PbeM game. If you are participating in this type of game already, you may still find these guidelines useful. Thus type of game may take some time to get used to but the rewards are well worth it.

First off, I would like to state that I am not a professional writer; in fact, I make a living working as a civil engineer so everything I say may be shredded to pieces by someone with more experience and/or better qualifications than me. I am, however, an avid reader and love to write. I also posses a vivid imagination and love fantasy games; especially Dark Sun. I have played in several PbeM games (and still do in some) and I have started to DM my first one this past month. My experience comes from common sense, several days of web browsing, asking a lot of questions to both fellow players and DMs and, of course, reading. I will break up my guide in five distinct parts: a) Players, b) PbeM format, c) Regular turns, d) Combat turns; and e) Never forget items.

ON PLAYERS

When you make a call for players, you have to tell them from the start that they must like to write. I am sorry, but this is vital in this sort of game. You can get rid of players that answer turns with a one line reply; that just won't cut it here. You must tell the players that you expect at least a couple of paragraphs for each response. You must be choosy from the start since it is not fun to get thrown out of the game after it has started. State clearly in your add for players that you will take time to review character submitted and that this is not a first come first serve. This stage is very important so do not rush by it; it will make all of the difference later as the game develops. You should take submissions for about a week before making your final decision.

When you do ask for characters, ask for the vital information. You don't want to look at stats at his point in time; you will have plenty of time for that later. The information you want now is a few paragraphs on a) personality, b) background, and c) description. Here you can start to tell the writers from the lazy role players (not bad, just lazy and not suited for this type of game). Ask for characters that are fun to play. Remember that you do this for entertainment (at least I don't get paid); nobody wants to DM for a group of sullen mul gladiators who never talk. If the submissions are all great (don't you wish) and you can't make up your mind, you may want to ask for a sample turn response from your potential players. You must also be lucky but don't be afraid to ask for what you want.

When players join this type of game, they want their characters to play an important role in the story. The amount of players that someone can DM well in this format varies but my experience has shown me that it is best to have between 4 and 6 players. Less than four and the group will be too weak for Dark Sun and more than that just gets too crazy and you will probably end up just mentioning some players in the different turns. It is best to pick a small numbers and give them protagonist roles in the story. Pbem games are notorious for their turnaround rates so it is a good idea to keep a few lurkers (people who follow the story by reading your turns) in case you need to replace a character. If a player leaves the game, you should write out his character from the story (not necessarily kill them) since most new players don't like to have a character forced upon them. You can then introduce the new character at your earliest convenience.

ON PbeM GAME FORMAT

The best way that I have come across play in these games is the following. The DM puts out the first turn and players answer that turn. The DM then puts out a second turn or turn-recap. A turn-recap is all of the actions the players did but you the DM will have made some decisions as to what really happened or not. For example, on combat turns (more below) perhaps a preserver wants to throw a spell (he should describe it as if it happened) but perhaps an opponent may attack him before the spell is released. On this turn-recap, the DM must conclude what happened with the players' responses (a lot of cut and paste) and, very importantly, a new situation must be presented. This new situation could be in the form of another round of combat or it could be another problem. If the players have solved the previous problem, the DM must take them along and stop at where player input is necessary.

You need to know your characters very well because you will have to make some decisions for them. In this type of game, you cannot stop the game and ask, "which passage will you take" at every intersection. You must also provide a deadline for turn responses. We are all busy (you know, real life) so I found out that the following format works best: allow for 72 hours after the turn goes out for responses, but if all of the players have answered and the DM has time, then the turn may go out sooner. Even if one player has not answered, I believe you should wait for him.

There will come times when some player or NPC will do something that not everyone is aware of. For example, in DS, psionics battles are not viewed by everyone. You will have to make a call whether these actions are told to everyone or not. Some things may be fun to know but remember to tell your players to differentiate between player knowledge and character knowledge. In some cases, a private turn may be the best answer.

I think it is best to provide the turn as an attachment (usually .RTF or .TXT) so players may save them (re read them when in doubt) if they want to. You can then throw out all of your emails. This will help you in your organization and eventually will make things very easy if you set up a web site for the game.

ON REGULAR TURNS

As stated before, the turns must detail an event or several events. The most common type of turn is where in the first part you will wrap up your player's actions and detail any consequences that arise from them. In the second part of the turn, you will have to "set up the stage" again in order for your players to "act" with their responses.

When you do "set up the stage", try and think with all of your senses: what do the characters hear, see, smell, and feel? Describe the actions of the NPCs well, again what do they look like, what do they say, how, etc. Once you set that up, try and leave your players with a sense of those "Batman reruns" where something was about to happen and you stop the action. Mind you, this is not always possible but works really well when it is.

It is also helpful when you write a scene to think of a "feeling" that you want to convey. For example, if your players are in the Ringing Mountain forest and it is hot and humid: their clothes will be drenched in sweat, their hands will slips on weapons, the air will be hard to breath, etc. If your players are in a meditation hall and the feeling is calm and quiet: the room will be bare of furniture, a couple of hurrum beetles will play their soothing song, your NPCs will be whispering, etc.

If you should ever experience a writer's block (you will, believe me), don't panic. The way I write is that I start with the big picture; a turn may start with different sections such as: opponents win contest, players complain about elf, elf is caught, players get job, in comes pterran, job is explained, players ask questions. You then start to build up on these concepts and the turn gets written. Leave the details for the ends unless they come unbidden; don't try to force details from the start, just concentrate on the big picture. A turn then gets developed and you end with a nice 2,000 to 3,000 word short story to send out.

When you send out the turn, have a last part in Out Of Character mode. Here you will detail distances, health status in fight, and general comments. Also try and orient your players on how to respond; you may want to provide a list telling your players what they should be thinking about when answering. This could be something as simple as asking spell casters for their memorized spells or where they will go to get a certain supply. Your players are not mind readers (their characters maybe?), so you must tell them and sometimes show them what you expect from them.

Dialogs are not that easy to portray in PbeM games but can be done if you get your players to provide you with a list of questions they will ask (in character) to your NPCs. You can then weave (cut and paste) them into the story in the next turn. You may also want to encourage your players to play out their character's dialogs with "minor" NPCs.

ON COMBAT TURNS

You must find a way for combat to not last forever but still have your players feel they are in control. I believe running 2 or 3 rounds at a time works best. For this, you need to encourage your players to give you their "intended actions" for at least two rounds with a few IF THEN statements taking care of any contingencies. Ask your players to describe their actions as if they took place already but tell them to keep in mind that nothing has really happened unless it comes out in the turn recap (where did I hear that before?). Do not allow responses such as, "I strike with my sword." The players need to role play their actions and you will do the same for the NPCs. If that happens, then you are in for some memorable combat rounds.

Don't get hang up on rules, a very tricky maneuver from a player only means a "to hit roll" but use your common sense. If your player describes how he decapitates an NPC but the damage done does not kill him, then he did not really decapitate him; maybe he hit him in the shoulder instead. There is nothing wrong to let your player decapitate someone if the damage done killed the NPC; your player will be a lot happier and it is a lot more fun than "You hit for 5 hit points of damage and he dies." If you do this, your players will get caught up and you will start receiving some very good responses. Use your flare and skills and encourage your players to do the same. You should stop combat (i.e. new turn) whenever something important happens such as a PC being critically wounded, a radical turn of events, etc.

NEVER FORGET TO

Reward good role playing (I mean the kind where a character will not replace a weapon given to him by his tribal leader for a magic one).

Don't get hang up on stats or let a die roll ruin your fun; think of this as a story.

You have to show enthusiasm in your game; if you do your players will feel it and react accordingly.

Read the turn and edit the turn; read the turn and edit the turn (get the idea?).

Ask your players what they like. Ask opinion on how to improve things. Ask.

Make your game an epic adventure, players will get caught up in the grand struggle. This doesn't mean that every turn should kill a defiler but the overall goal of the game should be BIG.

And now for the advertisements (just kidding there). If you would like to see how I "try" to incorporate all of these things in a game then I encourage you to read the turns on my web page. Please get back to me with all of your comments, questions, and/or suggestions. I hope this has helped you. If you ever start a DS PebM game, then please let me know. I would love to play in it but if that were not possible then I would still like to read the turns. Enough rambling for one article. Happy gaming to all.

L8r,

Fabian

"Tyr and Beyond", a DS PbeM game