Interesting possible development

[barnest2]

Hi
I'm starting a play-by-post game pretty soon... well, hopefully tomorrow, and i have a couple of questions.
The first is, have people done this before, and if so, how have they done combat?
Also, the party is an odd mix. Two of the characters are an ex-copper, and an assassin who is running away from his past. Now I'm thinking of offering the ex-copper rewards depending on if she reports on the assassin, just keeping track, MTU's version of special intelligence wanting to know what the assassin is doing most of the time. How do people think this would go?
I think thats it for now
Thanks in advance

 

[Vile]

There are a few play-by-post Traveller games around the net. There is a dedicated board on the SFRPG Forums - you might want to have a look there and ask around.

 

[barnest2]

Thanks for the link
but what about the second part? do you think it could work, or is it a bad idea

 

[rust]

Now I'm thinking of offering the ex-copper rewards depending on if she reports on the assassin, just keeping track, MTU's version of special intelligence wanting to know what the assassin is doing most of the time. How do people think this would go?

Difficult to say, because a lot depends on the players.

As long as the ex-cop only has to observe the assassin and to report on
him, it should go well. However, if the ex-cop should actively work against
the assassin, this kind of player-versus-player game could well damage
the campaign, because many players serious dislike this approach.

So, unless you know the players and what they expect of the game, I
would probably stay on the safe side and avoid any player-versus-player
situation.

 

[barnest2]

I wasn't hoping for the cop to work against the assassin... for now.
I thought it would be interesting to have the player write in character reports for me.
Also the setup is gonna be amusing. Im gonna have the players trader stopped by orbital security, and told to dock. Once there, Military police (its a militarily controlled world) are gonna tell them they have a warrant for the arrest of a wanted criminal who is on board. Now, since two of the players are wanted criminals, they should start sweating.
Then they're gonna take the ex-cop who has never done anything wrong and special intelligence is gonna offer her the job....

 

[The Chef]

i often have players having secret submissions in game, whereby they report to a third authority on the conduct of one or several other characters.

agree with Rust, it should be a matter of observe and report, deep cover infiltration. if it comes down to more provocative action i would have one or both players roll new characters andhave the old ones become NPCs.

this may work better in a play by post as player/gm interactions can be kept more of a secret.

 

[CosmicGamer]

Hi I'm starting a play-by-post game pretty soon... well, hopefully tomorrow, and i have a couple of questions.
The first is, have people done this before,

Yes. While I do play in a once every other week in person game (which I need to leave for in 30 minutes) and a once a week internet text chat game, I've played in more PbP games and I've been GM'ing one on and off (alternating GMs) for over a year.

and if so, how have they done combat?

Do you have any specific questions?

If you have the time, go to the different PbP web sites (I use CotI, and RPOL) and check out different games to see how it's been done. My experience is that PbP works best when there is more role playing and less rolling. There are less delays when the GM makes the rolls for the players instead of asking for a roll, waiting for a response and then posting results.

While some people enjoy a nice strategic combat simulation, PbP may not be a good medium for it. Most of the combat I've been involved with was quick, with people, especially NPC's, surrendering or running off once they are wounded instead of a multi round fight to the death.

There is no reason you can't have a more drawn out round by round combat that takes several weeks to play out (time depends on peoples post frequency). As long as people have the patience for it.

Combat shouldn't be any more problematic than anything else in PbP. If all the players have characters that are participating in a situation, don't worry about how long it takes.

 

[barnest2]

Thanks you very much CosmicGamer thats almost exactly what i needed
So if i make it small scale, or at least, make it more than just a pitched battle to the death, then it can work well in Pbp?
Thats about all i wanted to ask, ive got it so i'm doing any dice rolls that need doing, and its all about the roleplaying instead

 

[BP]

Sound like you got some great advice there...

On the ex-cops versus assassin subplot - that sounds a lot like Burn Notice, in which a burned spy/assassin, Michael Westen, is being spied on by his good buddy, Sam Axe. Like that show, you might want to have the assassin know that his partners are spying on him and them knowning that he knows. (At the very least the Players involved should know the score - regardless of their PCs knowledge)

 

[barnest2]

Oh the players will find out pretty rapidly.
We all live near each other, I just don't have the time to run face to face.
but in character id prefer the assassin didnt know