Before you become a PBEM GM, keep in mind the following rule of thumb: "Lurk before you play, and play before you GM". I know... this sounds simplistic. But its not.
Look around the internet a bit and you'll find hordes of PBEM games which failed because the GM didn't realize how difficult they could be to run. PBEM games are almost totally unlike face-to-face games. What takes 30 seconds of discussion and a couple of dice rolls to resolve in a table game can take a month and a half to resolve in a PBEM.
The first thing you should do when you decide to run a PBEM is to ask yourself this question: "Do I have enough time to do this right?" Players can get away with dedicating no more than half-an-hour per week to a PBEM and do just dandy. As a GM, it takes a bit more. First, you can expect to take care of all the paperwork. As GM, you'll be keeping track of everything. Combat dice rolls, damage totals, experience points, when the Hunteds show up, whether the DNPC is going to stick his nose into things. Everything.
Second, keep in mind the potential longevity of the game. Most PBEMs are open-ended... which means that there's no real stopping point. Its possible for a good game to run for years. If you can't see yourself still running the game in a year, then starting one up at all is probably not a good idea. On the other hand, you can run a game with a definite time limit. Just make sure your players are aware of what that limit is.
Assuming I haven't scared you off yet, there are things you can do to become good at it. Do as much planning as possible before you even think about calling for players. Start with background information. If you're running a game using a commercially available gameworld, such as the Forgotten Realms or the World of Darkness, the background development is basically done for you. If not, you will need to write a large amount of background information to give to the players. Look through the the Guardians website (www.globalguardians.com); this should give you the idea of the amount of information you may need to come up with. (Granted, the background info found on this site covers some twenty-plus campaigns, but the idea is still there.)
After background, you need to decide on game mechanics. What rules will you be using, and are there going to be any house rules on top of the standard game rules? What method of character generation should your players use? For that matter, how many players do you want to have playing? All of these questions need to be answered.
Once the game mechanics are all settled, you should start thinking about the beginning turn of your game. How did the player characters come together? Why are they associating. What adventure do you want to set them on first? Setting some initial goals is a good idea. You don't have to try and dictate their actions, but you should give your players a general direction in which to move.
Once all of these things are done, you can go ahead and publish your intent to run a game. Irony Games' website (www.pbem.com) is the usual place to do so, not to mention the "Player Finder" section of these boards.
If your using a popular game system, you should be prepared to receive a lot of inquiries from potential players. Chances are you'll receive more submissions than you have player spots. This gives you the freedom to pick and choose among the potential players. The secret to choosing your players is to not wait until the end of the submission period before judging them as "yes", "no", or "maybe". Once you've decided who's in and who's not, let everyone know one way or another. Make sure to ask if they are still interested; sometimes a single player has submitted applications to many games, and in the time it took for you to make up your mind, another one has gone active.
At that point, you're ready to start character construction and, shortly after that, the first turn. Unfortunately, you're not totally set, because it is inevitable that at least one player, right after the beginning of the game, will be unable to participate for one reason or another. It is for this reason that its a good idea to have more players than you need. The "extras" will lurk, reading along with the campaign until they get a chance to become an active player.
Always make sure that you have definable goals. Work out some sort of schedule for when you want things to happen in your game. For example, the new turn is released on Monday, player responses are due on Friday, and you write the new move over the weekend. Don't be discouraged if things don't work perfectly from the get-go... because things won't work perfectly. There are going to be problems. Some of the problems are going to be pretty huge. Holidays usually put real cramps in otherwise smooth-running games, for example.
When you're writing your turns, think up lots of plot hooks and drop them everywhere. When in the middle of one story, start dropping hints about other stories you have waiting in the wings. Doing it that way is much more realistic than just smacking them in the face with a new problem right out of the blue.
Foreshadowing is a standard tool in literature, and it makes the PBEM gaming experience a whole lot more exciting as well. Try weaving two stories together, without letting the players in on it. It makes for very interesting gaming. Encourage your players to talk amongst themselves about their characters and their character's activities. (Just make sure you get copies of everything.) This way, you can take cues from their speculations and their responses. Who knows, maybe the player's will make guesses about their character's situations which turn out better than your planned storyline.
Since you're running a PBEM, you obviously have a computer. This is very good, since you want to be organized. Keep separate files on the player characters, the NPCs, upcoming events in the storyline, which NPCs you've used in the past, a copy of every turn you've ever sent out ...
Let me repeat that last one and digress for a moment... keep a copy of every turn you've ever released. You never know when you might have to refer back to them. You might have introduced some minor NPC intended to walk on stage, wave to the audience, then disappear into the fog, but rest assured that the moment you forget what that guy's name is, one of the character's will want to talk to him.
Now... where were we... oh yeah. Organization.
There is another reason to be organized. Consistency. Once the game is running, there are three things to keep in mind at all times: First, be consistent. Second, be consistent. And third, be consistent. Always reread the last turn you sent out before writing the next one. Keep the details in mind. If you mentioned in the last turn that Villain Man was standing with his hands on his hips, and he hasn't changed positions, keep his hands on his hips for the new turn. If the superteam's loyal butler is named Harold when they left their mansion to fight the villains, it should be Harold when they return... unless of course Harold died suddenly and his twin brother Gerald has taken over the job of butler. Even then, make sure to have the grieving Gerald inform the players of Harold's untimely death.
Be familiar with the background details of the gameworld. This is really important if you are going to be consistent. If the background information says that the supervillain team Jihad never attacks hospitals, don't write a story in which they rampage through the Mayo Clinic without a really good background reason. Likewise, if magic doesn't work in the gameworld, don't have your players fighting a band of evil sorcerors.
Keep in contact. I cannot stress this enough. Made a point of checking your email at least once per day. Multiple times a day is even better. The GM has to be available to answer player questions and provide any needed additional information through NPC characters. Even in between the big turns which you write a certain number of times each week, you'll need to interact with them more often (and sometimes privately, if they're doing something the other players aren't a part of). If you take several days to get back to your players, they will likely stop asking questions or doing anything else other than offering minimal participation.
Try to plot out your stories in advance. By "plot out", I mean come up with a grand scheme for the direction in which you want to move your game. Don't try to plot out the precise details of the story, because players have a way of mutilating the most carefully laid plan when it comes to the details. I'd go so far as to say that a GM is never in charge of the details, but is always in charge of the plot direction.
You'll find that having a grand scheme in mind helps with the development of long-term, multi-turn storylines as well. If you know that Villain Man is plotting, in the end, to take over the world's cheese production, you can feature him in several preliminary stories in which he is doing things that seem unconnected, but that really are in support of his ambition for dairy domination.
Try to come up with ideas for stories from the backgrounds of the characters. Its much more personal if the player sees something he thought up for his character being brought to the fore in the move. It's neat to contribute to the greater story. With this in mind, remember to focus a little more on the mundane aspects of life. For example, while you're concentrating on Captain Hero's oath to avenge the death of his policeman father, don't forget that he has an estranged wife and child out there too. The "minor issues" (meaning the ones that don't deal with fighting the bad guys) lend a whole big bunch of realism to the game.
While you're at it, always read your players posts with an eye toward picking up ideas for future stories. It works the same way as getting them from the backgrounds.
Always remember that the pacing of a PBEM is very different from a face to face game. There is almost never any real-time interaction between characters or between players. As a result, PBEM turns should quite paradoxically be both very specific (to give the characters the maximum of information) and very general (to allow the players the maximum freedom when choosing actions).
Always make sure that your players give you contingency actions when they post. For example, if a character is trying to use a power on a bad guy, make sure the player lets you know both what he will do if he succeeds and what he will do if he fails. Without contingencies, everyone involved must wait for the player to produce more information before the game can proceed. Waiting kills the majority of unsuccessful PBEM games. The problem isn't so much one of the game taking a lot of time, but rather of taking more time than the player expects.
Something that is usually a good thing to do, but isn't always necessary, is to establish early on a policy that all mistakes are final. Its usually easier to accept making a mistake if you've already agreed on the consequences of that mistake. This policy applies to both the players and the GM. By doing things this way, you set the expectations and procedure for handing missed clues and mistaken posts before the actual events occur, which helps reduce the frustration. Also, you make it fair for everyone because the bad guys are also affected. Lastly, it encourages everybody to pay attention to what they are doing, to be alert, and to be aware of their own capabilities.
One big word of advice: its a good idea to check up on how your players think the game is going, particularly if they suddenly post less than they did at the start of the game. Make sure everyone has something to do at all times. When things go wrong, explain the situation to your players, deal with the problem, and move on.
Its your game. If you need to take a short break, then let everyone know and take it. If you're at a loss for ideas, ask the players. They will probably be glad to help.
-- Jack Butler
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Worldmaker
Bookmarks