How do you Play-by-Post?

In a typical PbP game, the GM begins by presenting the players with a scenario. They’ll typically include narration to set the scene, leading to an unfolding event, and ending with an opportunity or two for players to act. The players then respond, with the ability to include both in-character descriptions of their reactions as well as how they’d like to proceed from a gameplay stance. The players are free to banter with one another and plan their moves out of character. The GM responds by asking for a dice roll if the rules call for it, then explains how the scene progresses based on the roll’s result.

There are some key differences in how one plays in PbP vs. certain in-person norms. For one, PbP demands that everyone be more descriptive. Since you’re not seeing each other, both players and GM need to write out how characters’ expressions reflect their thoughts. Also, both GMs and players will often provide multiple potential outcomes to their last post so you’re not hashing out every last detail. Yet while description is key, so is discretion. You don’t want to burden other players with paragraphs upon paragraphs for one exchange. There still needs to be a collaborative, back-and-forth effort.

Another thing PbP needs is a way to distinguish in-character and out of character text. Players may want to ask the GM a question about rules before deciding on their action. Many people add a “OOC” label to their posts to indicate this. The GM will lay out the rules of their PbP server before the game starts, including things like how often one is expected to post, any house rules they have, and general code of conduct.