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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Achille Autran)
Subject: Tabletop / PBEM mix
Date: Wed Apr 4 08:50:01 2001
OK, let me explain the situation. A friend of mine is leaving to St
Petersbourg for a few months, and she will miss her healthy weekly dose of
RPG. A game a day keeps the doctor away, as they say. Until now, she was
our GM (Warhammer FRPG), and I am starting a new SR campaign to fill in.
So, I proposed to include her in the campaign, playing by e-mail while the
rest of the group is around the table.

There are a few pitfalls that I am aware of, and need advice about:
-The speed differential between PBEM and tabletop. I'm trying to solve this
by giving her a "strategical NPC", that won't be managed on a day-to-day
basis. Since it will be an Ancients gang campaign, she will probably play
Green Lucifer or someone like that, while the "standard" PCs will be
first-class grunts. Does it seem to be an adequate setup ?
-It's the first PBEM I'm managing, albeit a one-on-one so it won't be as
difficult as a complete team, but I don't feel that much self-confident.
What should I know/avoid/seek ?
-Well, anything else ? I don't want to botch it, and there is a large
number of PBEMers on this list, so...

Achille, aka Molloy <- I'm using this handle since I'm part of the EuroSB
project under it. Otherwise, I don't care much about handles, I feel more
confortable using my real name, in fact.
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Strago)
Subject: Tabletop / PBEM mix
Date: Wed Apr 4 10:35:01 2001
Achille Autran wrote:

> <SNIP>
> There are a few pitfalls that I am aware of, and need advice about:
> -The speed differential between PBEM and tabletop. I'm trying to solve this
> by giving her a "strategical NPC", that won't be managed on a day-to-day
> basis. Since it will be an Ancients gang campaign, she will probably play
> Green Lucifer or someone like that, while the "standard" PCs will be
> first-class grunts. Does it seem to be an adequate setup ?
> -It's the first PBEM I'm managing, albeit a one-on-one so it won't be as
> difficult as a complete team, but I don't feel that much self-confident.
> What should I know/avoid/seek ?
> -Well, anything else ? I don't want to botch it, and there is a large
> number of PBEMers on this list, so...
>

Deckers are PERFECT for PBEM. The decker in one of my games last year and I did
all the runs by email two days before we got together to play so in game it
went like this:
Decker: I jack in.
Me: (consulting notes) Ok, here's what you learn...
And then I check how many successes he had, any trouble he ran into, so on and
so forth and give him the same amount of info he'd normally get but without the
long in-game process. It worked out well.

>
> Achille, aka Molloy <- I'm using this handle since I'm part of the EuroSB
> project under it. Otherwise, I don't care much about handles, I feel more
> confortable using my real name, in fact.

--
--Strago

All Hail Apathy! Or don't. Whatever. -abortion_engine

Down with the Moral Majority
-Green Day
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (BD)
Subject: Tabletop / PBEM mix
Date: Wed Apr 4 11:50:01 2001
--- Achille Autran <aautran@****.fr> wrote:
> OK, let me explain the situation. A friend of mine is leaving to St
> Petersbourg for a few months, and she will miss her healthy weekly dose
> of
> RPG. A game a day keeps the doctor away, as they say. Until now, she was
> our GM (Warhammer FRPG), and I am starting a new SR campaign to fill in.
> So, I proposed to include her in the campaign, playing by e-mail while
> the
> rest of the group is around the table.
>
> There are a few pitfalls that I am aware of, and need advice about:
> -The speed differential between PBEM and tabletop.

The speed difference between tabletop games and PBEMs. Hmmmm.

Roleplaying situation, Tabletop: 20-120 minutes
Roleplaying situation, PBEM: 1.5 months

GM description, tabletop: 30 seconds
GM description, PBEM: 4 days for everyone to get the e-mail.

Full combat round, Tabletop: 5 minutes
Full combat round, PBEM: 1 month

PBEMs, much as I love them to death, are slower than a call to the
Rubik's Cube helpdesk. They take forever, often to the point of collapsing
under their own ponderous pace. If you limit your pace to what the friend
can do, she'll be back before you're finished the game.

For something where it's only one player, you may want to try scheduled
IRC or ICQ.

====-Boondocker

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Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Tabletop / PBEM mix
Date: Wed Apr 4 13:25:02 2001
According to Achille Autran, on Wed, 04 Apr 2001 the word on the street
was...

> OK, let me explain the situation. A friend of mine is leaving to St
> Petersbourg for a few months, and she will miss her healthy weekly dose of
> RPG. A game a day keeps the doctor away, as they say. Until now, she was
> our GM (Warhammer FRPG), and I am starting a new SR campaign to fill in.
> So, I proposed to include her in the campaign, playing by e-mail while the
> rest of the group is around the table.

You could try something which has been suggested in my group: use webcams.
One of our regular players moved away to Switzerland, then to the UK, and
then back to Switzerland again in the space of the past 12 months or so, and
this idea has been kicked around a few times to still let him play.

The practical side of things is, of course, that you need a computer with
webcam, the necessary software, a good internet connection (preferably
without a phone bill attached :) and perhaps optionally a microphone on
both sides.

Everything put together, I can't say it seems such a brilliant idea to me,
but it could be worth a try...

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
If there are vegetarian hamburgers, why isn't there beef lettuce?
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

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