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Play By Email (PBEM) in a larger perspective

For those looking for a PBEM game, it is probably no surprise that the term PBEM is used by many different types of games. Going back to the very basics of PBEM games, we take a look at the different types of games that all fall under the category PBEM.

There are basically two types of games that both deserve to be called play by email games. The first type of games is such games as war games, strategy games and board games. The other type commonly referred to as Play by Email games are role-playing games played via email.

Looking at the fist type of games, they are typically games based on turns where each player sends in their actions to the Game Master. The Game Master then processes the input from all the players and sends out the results. Depending on the type of game, players can control all sorts of things but from what I have seen, war games where they player controls an army is the most popular.

These games can range from simple games focused on the movement of a unit or a couple of units, to more complex games. Other examples are games where the player needs to care for their units by purchasing food and weapons. In the more advanced variants, the player leads an entire country, with all trade and politics that comes with it in a global perspective.

Other types of non-role-playing PBEM games are different types of board games. Dating back to way before Email and even computers, correspondence chess was popular.

The second type of Play by Email games are the ones we focus on at pbemplayers.com, role-playing games. Taking the classic role-playing games online provides some challenges and there are different ways of implementing it. Role-playing games can, strictly seen, be broken down into two categories: Free form or Game Master controlled. Of course, the boundaries between the two are not set in stone, and different game groups have their own style.

Like in a classic role-playing game, some games rely heavily on the Game Master to control and bring the story forward. All vital decisions and all events needs to be done according to the rules and often by letting the dice decide. In a free form game, the focus is less on the hard rules than on the role-playing itself. Less is decided by rolling a dice or having the GM decide and more is written as a story.

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Naming your character

The character you play in your PBEM (Play By Email) role playing game is the most basic foundation of your participation in the game. Your character sets the boundaries for what you can do and how you can act. One of the first things someone notices about a character is its name. A name can send many signals, it is therefore important to carefully consider your choice.

The name of your character should reflect its personality. In the real world, we are pretty much stuck with the name given to us by our parents. This is quite different in a PBEM game. There you not only get to shape your character, you also get to give it a suitable name.

Signals
Take, for example, a name like Mary. I am pretty sure the first image that pops into your head is not of a hard criminal or a strong action hero. Instead, it signals other values. The same goes for other names. Often, short name such as Rick, Ted or Jack is associated with tough characters while a longer and more complex name such as Malcolm or Theodore makes you think of ‘dry’ characters with higher education.

Famous names
I strongly advice against using names that has already been used in the books, TV-series of movies your PBEM game is based on. There are several reasons for this. Your character should be an individual, a unique person that you have the freedom of developing in whichever direction you want.

A character bearing the name (or part of the name) of a more well known character would create a ‘link’ between the two. When you hear the name, you would not think of your character first, but of the more well known character. There might also be a possible legal problem, but that is too complicated for the scope of this article.

Last names
The last name of your character is also something to put a lot of energy and thought into. If your PBEM game is set in a fantasy world, perhaps you can use the last name to further describe your character or its abilities.

If you are looking for modern names, or human last names for sc-fi games I suggest you look in the 1990 US census for a good list of names (http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/).

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Using NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in your PBEM

A character that is not primarily and actively played by a player is called an NPC. Even though they are not the primary character of a player, they can be quite important to the story and to the game.

In some games, the Game Master (GM) does not play a character of his own in the game. Then he can use a number of NPCs to introduce problems or to move the story in a certain direction. It can for example be the wealthy merchant that hires the players to protect a shipment of gold, or it can be the shady rogue the players hire to guide them through the forest. In any way, the Game Master can use the NPC to have the players move into the intended direction of the adventure.

Depending on the rules of the game, players may be allowed to create NPCs themselves. If for example, for some reason their regular character is not suitable for a specific idea. It may also be a good idea to create a NPC to post for to get a change from posting for your regular character, a change of scenery of sorts. The specific rules concerning NPCs varies with the game, so be sure to consult your Game Master on this.

From my experience, NPCs can be categorized in two ways: by their importance and by who ‘owns’ it. An important NPC is often given a proper name, a personality and a more detailed description while an NPC that the players will not meet again does not receive the same attention.

Named NPCs – An NPC that is important to the story, a key character, will appear in several posts and perhaps over a longer period of time – maybe even spanning over several adventures. Such an NPC is most often given a name (but not always) or at least a title to identify that it indeed is the same character.

Unnamed NPCs – A character that will most likely never appear again, or does not play important enough role to warrant a name, is preferably left unnamed. While naming an NPC adds to the ‘feeling’ of the person and story, it can be problematic in the long run. Usually it is enough to refer to them for example by characteristics (“the brown-haired guy”) or by its function or title (“The barkeeper”). Giving them names can ‘tag’ them as NPCs that can (and perhaps will) return. Having too many named characters “on standby” can be confusing and hard to keep track of.

The second way to categorize NPCs is by who owns and/or created it. The rules for this are usually different from game to game, but in general an NPC can either be either restricted (“owned”) or free-for-all.

An NPC that is considered restricted is usually owned by someone, either a player or the Game Master. They decide what happens to it. Depending on the game rules, these characters can almost be seen as a player’s secondary characters. NPCs controlled by the Game Master can usually be considered ‘untouchable’.

An NPC character that is “free-for-all” can be used by all players in their posts. They are usually NPCs that are very general and plays only a supporting role in the game. It does not matter to the story in general if something would happen to the character.

Unless a character is specifically said to be free-for-all, it may be a good idea to ask the Game Master for permission to use a specific NPC if what you intend to post can have any long term effect on it. It is often safe to apply the same rules as you would to using another player’s character. Take care when considering what to write and as for permission if you are unsure.

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Managing mistakes

Mistakes happen! Sooner or later in the game, there are going to be posts that contains errors or creates other problems. As a player (and, for that matter, as a GM) it is important to stay on top of things and manage these problems instead of letting them ruin the game.

There are several things that has gone wrong on games and probably at least as many that will go wrong in the future. In this article, I am going to deal with three types of problems to give you examples of how they can be handled and what to think about. This article is both for players and for GMs, since it is a collaboration between us all to avoid or deal with these types of problems.

The first problem is when two players posts at the same time, or without reading the latest posts first. The story described in the posts can be conflicting, causing uncertainty about which one is correct.

This is a situation that is best fixed by the GM. He or she can fix this in a couple of ways. Either by canceling on of the posts, either keeping the first on or keeping the one that fits the Game Master’s idea of where the story should be heading best. This is really up to the GM to decide. The Game Master should quickly send out a message informing all the players of the decision so they can continue the story. If the GM is actively participating in the game, he can send a post of his own to clear things out.

As a player, you should probably first try to inform the GM of what has happened and let him take action. If, for some reason, the GM is not available there is a possibility – depending on the rules of the game – that the player who posted the last post can retract his post. However, this is something that can be a bit tricky. It is important in this case that it is the player himself that retracts the post and not another player. This to avoid confusion.

Another problem that is bound to happen sooner or later is that a player screws up some important part of the story, background, or any other type of fact that needs to be correct further on in the game. This can happen by mistake, the player was not aware of how it was supposed to work. This is especially common in games set in in context of a TV series or other types of well-known fiction.

Again, it is important to act quickly. If an error is allowed to be carried on in more posts, it becomes an established fact that is very hard to change later on. The GM, or the player, should send out a correction. It is important however, not to put blame on a specific player. Keep it in general term and be professional about it.

A third problem that can happen in PBEM (Play By Email) games that allow players to include other player’s characters in their own posts is that a character is used in the wrong way. This problem can easily be avoided by checking in advance with the player who’s character you want to use. If you, however, have found someone else to be using your character in a way you do not approve of, you should act on it.

The most polite way is to contact the player who write the offending post and discuss the problem. Note that I said discuss, do not accuse them of anything or blame them for the problem. Keep it on a friendly basis. If the two of you can’t work it out, contact the GM and ask for advice. One way of fixing the problem is for you to write a post about the same situation and change a bit in what your character says or does. Be sure to make it clear to the other players though what the purpose of the post is, just to avoid further confusion.

To sum things up, you can deal with pretty much any problem by
– Contact the GM
– Act fast
– Be polite.

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Making yourself understood

As most Internet users are aware, it is harder to convey what you mean in written text such in a PBEM game than when using live, spoken words. Since Play By Email is a form of text based communication, there is a chance the other players will misunderstand your intentions if you are not careful. Keep this in mind when writing your posts.
In a face-to-face situation, you immediately get feedback from the person you are talking to. You see if that person understands what you are trying to say, you get feedback on how much you need to describe and when it is enough. When role-playing your character in a live game, you use your entire body to describe your characters feelings, actions and reactions. You use your voice to do the same when your character is talking “through” you.

Imagine your character saying “Yeah, right” in response to a question or comment from another character. How can you be sure the other players understand that your character just gave an affirmative answer, and was not being sarcastic? “Yeah, right” can mean different things depending on the tone of your voice. This is not a problem in a regular role-playing situation, but in a written context it is harder to make this point. Again, the problem is that written words can not express feelings the same way as spoken words can.

There are a couple of ways you can make sure your readers understand what you mean. The first way I am going to tell you about is the most simple of them. Just tell them what you mean! Why make it harder than it is? “‘Yeah, right”, she said sarcastically.” Explains exactly what you want to express. No more guessing!

Another way is to “write around the problem”. By using other words that better describes what you mean, you get rid of the problem. The downside is that it can be hard to find words that fit the characters.

A third way is to explain the situation in more detail to make it obvious what the character means.

It does not really matter which one you use, or if you perhaps combine them all, the important thing is that you are understood.

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Setting up a game for success

By Cixtian S. Trybe
It is important, in the whole scheme of things, to set up a game properly –before- play begins, so that success (A long enjoyable game life) is possible, and players understand what is to come and what is expected of them during play.

The first thing I advise all Game Masters to do is develop a set of house rules. These are rules of play that the Players should read, and agree upon before the game ever begins. This keeps everyone on the same page, as far as how and when the game is run, as well as what is expected, and what is appropriate for your game.

In some games the House Rules, are called the ‘Play Contract’, and represent a document comprised by both the players, and game master to erect an agreed upon set of objectives and rules. These documents tend to sew a bit of solidarity with the group, and the GM because they are both putting forth effort toward the success of the Game.

Other games have Rules listed by the game master, and are immutable laws that can and should not be broken.

Air, and attitude
The air and attitude that is used to comprise your list of rules is a very important aspect. It is the language, and manner used in writing these rules, and it’s important because it tends to convey the very nature, and attitude of the people who are running or moderating the game.

In general we advise that a list of rules be written in a friendly, non-imposing manner. Stating the list of rules in an empirical, or unbending manner gives the player the sense the GM is himself, empirical, and unbending… a trait that is quite undesirable in a game master.

Conversely, an attitude of silliness, and joking apathy, tends to cause people to wonder at the seriousness of the game master, and thus the game.

To strike a good prose, it’s important that the GM write things as if he understands that this thing he is doing, this master piece of writing, is just a game in most of his players eyes. Make your points, and be direct about them, but don’t be tyrannical, or iron fisted. It’s understandable to want things your way, but flexibility, and openness goes a –loooong- way in a game.

Listing Rules
It’s important to format the rules so that the players understand what each rule is. Write down each bullet point as a single, clear, concise sentence, and then elaborate on them in sub paragraphs. I know this sounds ‘anal’, but a player wants to get into the meat of the game as quickly as possible, so by bullet pointing the main rules, he can, if he wishes breeze through them to get the general ideas… AND when something catches his eye, that he doesn’t quite understand… he can delve further into the ruling.

Adapting Rules to the play group
While it is in no way a mandatory thing, I suggest that a GM grant all players the option of adding rules of their own to the list, or even suggesting changes to the established rules. This serves three purposes:

FIRST… it gets the players involved in the heart of the game. (In another article I talk all about getting good players, and keeping your players in the game, mind body and soul. Read it!) They start to feel like more than just players, because they see that ideas and decisions they have are changing the face of the game.

SECOND… it covers bases you might not initially think of in your own writing. These players are often coming from all over the place… all walks of life, and they are joining the game and dragging their likes and dislikes of other games with them. You want the best game you can have, this is your source of material. Use it.

THIRD… it let’s you know what the players want, and weather or not you are truly up to the task at hand. If your players all think that one of your rules is wrong… LISTEN TO EM… you’ll find it easier to keep good players if you aren’t holding stringently to that ‘You must post in the nude’ rule.

In essence, keep your group in mind through out the development stage of your game, and especially when devising house rules. It’ll save you time, heartache, and possibly save your game.

Content
Content is an important aspect to the House rules list. It’s useful to know that the players understand what you expect as well as –why- you expect it, and it’s also important to get this understanding across in as clear and concise a way as possible.

On a house rules document I tend to place ## Areas of content:

Posting Conventions – This lets players know what I expect to see in a post as I get it. This tells them what to put in the subject line, how much writing they should do, how they should close, and how they should edit the ‘saved content’ in replies.

Characterization – This is the area where I talk about the appropriate ways of interacting in the game. It deals with arguments, player properties (Such as characters, props and NPC’s), and consequences of in game conflicts. One of the first things I push in this section is –I AM THE GM SO WHAT I SAY GOES-. Of course I don’t phrase it so empirically but the point is gotten across.

Taboos – These are topics, and behaviors that are big –no no’s- in the game. It’s important because one players action can completely alienate an entire player base in a game. In Taboos I tend to post
Advancement – Advancement is important, because it let’s players know that they aren’t don’t this stuff for nothing. Put advancement rates, and the likes here.

Making the darned thing available
The main point of this thrust is “MAKE SURE YOUR PLAYERS HAVE READ THE RULES!!!” Some people add the house rules to a packet of info that is sent to every potential player of the game. This is a good idea because it gives the players a chance to read them early, and decide if they can live with these rules.

Below I present a sample of house rules I’ve used for a game I was planning to run. The game calls the Game Master the ‘Holly Hock God’, and there are other conventions that may not make sense, but the general gist is there.

Sample House Rules
Keep in mind that there are several key points to any game that I run. These are things that hold my concern above anything else.

The first thing would be ‘Player enjoyment’. If, at any time, you’re not having a good time, email me privately, and let me know what’s missing. I’ll do my damnedest to supply it for you.

The second thing would be ‘the story’. The game is being run for the sake of the story, so keep that in mind as we play. I want an interesting story to be the result of this game.

To support these ideas I present the following house rules.

Posting

* 1 – Post only once per every 2 or 3 posts, or once every 4 hours.
The point here is to be sure that no one is able to highjack, or impede game play, and plots. By only posting every 2 or 3 player posts we insure that everyone gets a chance to post, and respond to your posts. By opening it up every 4 hours, we grant players the ability to move forward even in a player isn’t available to post.

* 2 – Post at least 2 days in the 5 day week.
This rule goes along with rule one, but we should keep in mind that not everyone can post every day, and constantly through out the day. We should also keep in mind that other players may be counting on us, so don’t skip out on us in mid scene, please. If someone –doesn’t- post in a week period, their character will be slept (Moved from the scene, and put off somewhere until you return). I don’t like kicking people out of the game, but don’t be surprised if other players don’t respond so well to you or your posts.

* 3 – Posting is not mandatory on weekends.
Everyone needs rest sometimes. Weekends are best rest times for most of us. This doesn’t mean you –can’t- post on the weekends, but don’t –expect- responses.

* 4 – Please keep post between 2 and 5 paragraphs
This is to aid the Hollyhock god in workload, and posting and keeping from going insane. There’s nothing more deterring than to jump on and find one player who’s posted a 30 page post, and expects some response… imagine that 3 or more players did that… regularly? Who has time to read all that, let alone, reply? The flip side is getting a single sentence post. It’s frustrating, cause it shows a lack of interest in the game.

* 5 – Digests will come once a week, on Saturday evenings.
Digests are quick run-throughs of the action for the week. The HG will plan on doing it, UNLESS some player wishes to make some extra Pips one month, and takes on the task. HG will determine how much such a player deserves every month, but trust me… it will be lucrative. In cases where multiple players do Digests, the situation will be handled in one of 2 ways… player vote… or, in the case of specific digests (IE Diary’s from character POV) separate pips will be awarded.

Characterization

* 1 – Hollyhock God rulings are law and word is the final say.
Ok, this is basically to say that the HG is the GM, so don’t argue with him/her/it. I don’t like kicking people out of the group, but I will if there is definite undermining of the game by any player. Keep in mind that there is a difference between argument, and debate. Debate if you will, but know that HG is the last word.

* 2 – Players Characters are players property and responsibility
I typically like to run games where the focus is the story, and not the characters. When I have run those games in the past, I instated a sort of ‘Post Editing’ rule, that says that to keep the game moving, a player may make assumptions about other players characters actions, but that at any time the original player can edit that post to what his character actually does. I’m –NOT- instating this rule in this game, unless players agree on it. Instead, players may post –only- for their characters, unless the subject characters player grants permission. Don’t post for other people unless they ask you to. The consequences will be… dire.

* 3 – Props are open for the game
Props are characters, items and things that do not specifically belong to a specific player, or the GM. These are not called NPC’s because Non-Player characters are very different things. Props are normal, average people, spirits, and other minor creatures, and items.

* 4 – Non-Player characters are like Player characters in all respects.
NPC’s are the property of the GM’s or the PC’s, and are listed as such on character sheets. NPC’s are subject to the same rules as PC’s, so keep this in mind during play.

* 5 – Playing the board is encouraged.
Playing the board is the concept of describing an area, behavior, or scene logically, although the HG has given no information. For example, if the HG says “ You stand in a large kitchen”, it’s not unheard of for a player to decide that there is silverware in the drawers, or that the water runs. The trick is to make sure that you’re playing the board so that it makes sense. You aren’t building plot twists, or anything; you are just filling in blanks left by the HG. Similar things can be done with character backgrounds. And the worse that will happen is the HG will say “no, that’s not exactly true.

* 6 – Character death –can- happen.
As simple as this sounds, a lot of people don’t really appreciate this. Take a stupid action, and you could end up dead. Don’t be surprised just accept it.

Advancement

* 1 – Advancement will happen once a month.
The Date of game start will mark the date each month that advancement will happen. I’ll set up a notice that will alert everyone that advancement is happening. Advancement lasts 1 week, and list of enhancements must be turned in for them to be established.

* 2 – Experience is awarded in character point fragments called ‘Pips’
Each Pip is worth 1/10th of a character point. As such an attribute would cost 30 pips to raise by one, so on and so forth.

* 3 – Characters (not players) receive a pip for every post made during that month.
A Post is considered viable if it follows all the posting conventions (See above), and is between 2 and 5 paragraphs long. Hopefully this will encourage players to post regularly.

* 4 – Hollyhock will supply more pips for other things, such as interesting story, role-play, and game play.
I try to appreciate my players, and when something interesting, unexpected, or well played happens, I’m rather giving with the pips. Be careful though, funny and corny are not far apart on the spectrum, and you get no points for corny. Also running gags give you pips once, maybe twice, but make sure it doesn’t get old. Bad guy characters can win Pips just as easily as good guy characters.

* 5 – Players are encouraged to keep track of their own Pip totals.
I make mistakes, and you may do things that I don’t think of come Advancement. Feel free to remind me, but keep the first characterization rule in mind. If I say no, better luck next month.

* 6 – Characters (not players) my expend Character points during advancement ONLY.
This should be pretty self explanatory. I don’t want people ‘manifesting’ useful powers at crucial moments. They only advance at advancement. And Characters –should- have some explanation for the enhancement that the characters gain during advancement.

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Help the other players include your character in their posts

In your game, there are probably at least 5-10 other players. They all have characters, just like you do. But what makes your character stand out? It is hard enough for you to describe your character in your own posts, even harder for the other players!
In a movie, all the characters are dressed differently, they speak with accents or dialects, the move in different ways and they are automatically seen as different characters. In a written environment, it is not as easy to distinguish between the characters. Have you not had to stop reading in the middle of a post to think about which one of the characters it is about? I know I have.

If you include small descriptions of your character, everyone will eventually be able to include your character in their own posts in ways that better explains your character.

For example, if you write in your posts that you character tilt its head to the side each time when he or she is thinking, it is a signal that this is something that is unique and identifying for your character. Next time on of your friends include your character in a situation where it thinks, they can write that too. This gives the more life to the character.

If the Game Master allows it, it can also be helpful to include such instructions in your character’s character sheet or background page. By helping others use your character in their posts, you open up for more possibilities for yourself to follow up on their posts.

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The importance of a character background

Your character’s background is something that will follow your character and influence the way it acts. Therefore, it is important that you have a solid background already thought out for your character.

The number one thing to remember when writing a background for your character is to keep it believable. Nothing can cause so many problems further on than a background that is unbelievable. The background defines your character. Just like in real life where our education and experience makes up much of who we are as a person, your characters background defines how to play your character.

One of the most disturbing things in a background is when the character has already saved the world twice before even graduating. Okay, maybe that was a bit too exaggerated but you get the point. This “hero syndrome” creates characters that are unrealistic and extremely hard to play. If you are going to have fun posting, you need to meet challenges and conflicts. A character that breezes through everything without problems simply is not fun to post for.

The thing to remember is to write your background so that you do not limit the possibilities for posts and storylines. For example; unless you have a very specific reason, you should keep as many of the character’s parents and relatives alive in the background. You never know when you are going through a dry-spell (posting-wise, that is) and need to make a filler post. Perhaps you need a way to give your character more depth, explain the character’s feelings or past. Then it is always good to have a lot of supporting characters for your character’s background available to use. For example to write a letter to, visit or just happen to run into.

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Don’t limit yourself with bad choices for character background

Our character’s background is something that will follow your character and influence the way it acts. Therefore, it is important that you have a solid background already thought out for your character.When writing the background it is important to keep it believable. Although we have to remember that we often play characters that are among the very best. Therefore, we have to have the background true to who the character really is.

One of the most disturbing things in a background is a character that already has saved the world twice before graduating from school. Okay, maybe that was a bit too exaggerated but you get the point. This “hero syndrome” creates characters that are way too good. If you are going to have fun posting you need to meet challenges and conflicts. A character that breezes through everything without problems simply is not fun to post for.

Another thing that is widely popular no matter what kind of character you have is to have it have a shady background. While this can make for some great posting ideas later on, it is often not believable that a character that freely roams the streets is wanted for severe crimes or has connections with several criminal organizations.

One of the most common things I have seen in a background is having all the character’s parents and relatives being dead. In some cases, this can be necessary but often it is not. In addition, keep in mind that having several relatives described in your background you can use them in your posts later. An excellent way of describing a character’s background while in the game is to have the character write a letter to a relative or friend. So do not cut down on your options too early.

Your character’s background is something that you have to stick with so be sure not to limit yourself even before the game has started!

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Remember who you are and who your character is

Most of us probably started playing a character that was rather similar to ourselves. No matter how it looked on paper, it was still played like an ordinary person. If you want to take your character to the next level you need to separate it from yourself!
Always remember who you are and who your character is. It is important to always keep in mind that the two of you are not the same. Make sure that when you write for your character you keep that in mind so that you do not project your own opinions and actions on to the character. Let it live a life of its own!

Make it clear it is your characters opinions and actions you are writing about. Your personal values, even if they are important and you probably want to keep your character within what you feel comfortable with, are not the values of the character. Just like your background has formed you into who you are today, the fictional background of the character has formed it into what it is today. Most likely is it you who has written most of that background, so now you have to live up to what you have written.

A character with a very dark and disturbing background does not react the same way as a character that grew up in a loving family at a protected location.

Think about whom you are portraying and write the characters actions and reactions based on that. You will find that your character will be a lot more believable and perhaps even easier to write for.