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Post by Aglet on Dec 24, 2014 0:27:30 GMT
Hi guys,
Long time Play-By-Post RPer, short term Tumblr'r, and wondering what this community's views on my two most commonly played versions of gaming are. : )
So for those who are more familiar with Tabletop, Play-By-Post RPG is basically a forum like this one, with rulebooks and lore written out, and one (or multiple Game Masters/Dungeon Masters) ensuring that the rules are adhered to. Play By Post works in that a Player Character makes a post, then the GM/DM, then the player again. Every alternate post is made by the moderator so as to ensure the rules are kept, but there can be threads where PCs just roleplay with each other and the GM/DM makes one post out of every 4 that are made to update the success of actions and to add any interesting tidbits. You can level up mostly the same, and this records adventures for longer-term character development (like over the course of 5 years).
Alternately, what I've been practising with my friends is a kind of Free Range RPG (please let me know if there's another name for it), where you have characters that are made up and the GM just rolls with whatever comes their way. You can use rulebooks, or not, but the success of the event solely depends on the skill of the GM and their ability to stay consistent.
What are your thoughts and/or preferences in these two methods? Do you think Free Range RPing is just lazy, or more involved?
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Post by Dr Archeville on Dec 24, 2014 4:17:39 GMT
I've done both (online gaming has been my main form of gaming) but much prefer the structure of the rules-using type of game. I would not say "Free Range" (the term I've usually heard is "freeform") is lazy -- it takes just as much creative energy and player-wrangling, if not more! -- and for people who have trouble with numbers and/or dice, it's a way to go. But my own, personal, experiences with them have left me cold, largely due to the constant one-upmanship/power creep.
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Post by Winterbourne on Dec 24, 2014 4:33:15 GMT
The problem I've had with the freeform game I was in is that every roll was essentially at the whim of the DM. There were no tables or rules or anything to say why a particular roll was a success or a failure, it pretty much felt like we were rolling dice because we were playing an RPG and that's what you're supposed to do. Regardless of what you rolled, the DM had already decided what he wanted you to do. On the plus side, though, the actual role-playing had a much greater impact, which I really liked.
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annajiejie
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Post by annajiejie on Dec 27, 2014 1:10:00 GMT
I've never used a play-by-post system for a game with rules. It's something I'd be willing to try, but part of the reason I like tabletop games so much is the social aspect of everyone getting together in the same room (ideally physically, but a skype call works too) and hanging out with each other as the game progresses.
I have, however, played freeform games one on one with people. Though I supposed they were less "games" and more "collaborative stories," since they involved narrative craft and character development only and didn't have mechanics rules or a formal GM. We just sort of decided where we wanted to go story-wise and played off of each other from there. That's actually how I got my start to roleplaying. One of my high school friends and I used to pass a notebook back and forth during school with our replies to each other, whereas I didn't start playing games with rules until I started college.
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Moonjuice7
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Enjoying time off from school for the holidays.
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Post by Moonjuice7 on Dec 27, 2014 2:29:35 GMT
I started freeform roleplaying on a forum during High School. Once someone tried a mix of a more traditional, structured play-by-post crossed with a freeform, and i liked it. It didn't have a set of structured riles, but the DM provided narrative and made it almost into a choose your own type story. I really enjoyed that. It provided all the options of freeform, while preventing the god-modding and stagnation that can accompany true freeform.
I have yet to play a true, structured play-by-post, though I have played live sessions over skype chat. My biggest issue is that I see play-by-post being horrendously slow. Nowadays I play mostly in person or occasionally over skype. Though i wouldn't mind playing more freeform games if i could find a good community. (hint, hint)
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jfm3
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Post by jfm3 on Jan 10, 2015 6:29:38 GMT
I've mostly done freeform (or, as I call it "interactive story"). I had a long-term game that was nothing but comedy (including the local SubWay trying to invade the country and Jim Henson as a weapons merchant) that devolved quickly, but everyone had a lot of fun.
I might have to dust that game off one of these days...
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stlaughter
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Post by stlaughter on Jan 12, 2015 22:30:30 GMT
I vastly prefer Play-By-Post with a rule system set up. I've dealt with too many "you can't do that" and "no you" type arguments to particularly enjoy a game that wasn't rule-based; it doesn't help that players in my area have a tendency to do their damndest to play omnipotent characters from level one, so having a way to say, " No, Thomas Marklight the Hot and Angsty Goth Sorceror, you don't kill the troll king and marry his hot male concubine, because 1.) he doesn't have any hot male concubines, and 2.) he's a fifteenth-level encounter and you're level 2 despite your pretensions." I will say that I know that freeform games (what you've called Free Range, which amuses me because I live on a farm and "free range" has vastly different connotations for me) can be great, and many good stories come from them. But for my part? Most of my players are some bizarre mix of social pretensions and raging munchkins; rules are my only weapons against these terrors.  |
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