GM's Tip of the Week

Cruvis has written a series of GM’s Tips: Ten Things Every DM Should Know About Running a Play-By-Post Adventure, and is sharing them with us as a guest blogger! Please direct questions, commentary and kudos to him.

This week’s tip is: Consistency, Pace, and the Gentle Nudge.

The ideal pace for an online adventure may vary greatly, but I have found that two posts from the DM per week is a manageable rate. This is assuming that the players are filling out your “off days” with their own in-character posts: rich dialogue, shared problem-solving, and decisive actions. These three elements will come up repeatedly in the coming weeks .

I like to shoot for at least one decisive action from the players each week. This keeps the game moving forward, preventing boredom. On the other hand, I don’t press too hard for actions if the players are engaged in rich dialogue. Keep in mind though, dialogue is only rich if nearly everyone in the party is engaged. If a conversation consists of a single player parlaying with an NPC while the others wait in silence, then there might be a problem.

Having established a pace for your story, it is important to remain consistent so that the players can depend upon your pace. They need to be able to anticipate how often and how regularly they will be hearing from you. If you know that you will be offline for some time, make sure to let your players know. Likewise, it is reasonable to expect the same courtesy from them.

At some point, your players will get bogged down trying to make a decision. This is inevitable. On other occasions, their lack of agreement may result in a lull in the usual posting pace. Sometimes, these moments can even result in character, or player, conflict. This is when I recommend summarizing. You might be tempted to help them resolve their disagreements. You might think about pushing them to take a vote. You might even feel the urge to choose for them, based on the majority or what you feel is reasonable. However, in summarizing, you will do none of these things.

Here’s what I try to do:

1. Send out an [OoC] (out of character) post in which I briefly state what each player in the group has said or suggested. This brief summary should simply restate what each character wants to do regarding the problem at hand. I always try to include a positive contribution from each member of the party.
2. Then, I suggest to them that I’d like them to be ready to move forward in the next 2-3 days.

Excerpt from “Swords of Justice,” July 9, 2017.

I have found that summarizing when things are stalled or begin to break down, gives the players an opportunity to regroup, assess their options, speak up, and act toward a resolution. This strategy has allowed me to preserve the story’s pace while still empowering the players to make their own decisions. It’s simply one way to gently nudge your players to get the ball rolling again.

Pace and consistency are crucial elements for engaging players in a predictable and dependable rate of posting. When players struggle to make decisions or to take action, a supportive DM can refocus them using a timely summary.  These skills will greatly impact the success of your play-by-post adventure!

Please feel encouraged to comment, challenge, defend, question, suggest, etc.. I am eager to hear from you!

…and mind the hippogriff!

Cruvis