Difference between revisions of "Posting Guidelines"

Latest revision as of 00:43, 21 December 2019

Online 3E Posting Guidelines

02/01/01

Greetings Woldians!

Below I will discuss the rules we have concerning posting as well as strategy points with regard to posting. I am more than willing to answer any questions you may have about posting at any time. Posting is an art, just like roleplaying is. It takes time to learn the nuances of playing D&D on a Message Board.

Read carefully below and I'll try to save you from many of the pitfalls that beginning posters often make.

Jerry Phelps Site Owner and Campaign DM

If you are completely new to message board games and "play by post," please click here.

Posting Rules

All Woldians are expected to post once per weekday for your PC. Everyone depends on the DMs and the other players to advance the story daily to ensure the health of each game. (If you play multiple PCs, post once per weekday for each of them.) Post for your bound companions, familiars, summoned creatures, and others you control in your daily post. A day starts at 12:01 am and ends at 11:59 pm Wold time (check the date stamp on your posts to get a feel for this). Friday lasts from 12:01 am on Friday through 11:59 pm Sunday.

We play weekdays. We don't play on the weekends, which some players prefer to reserve for family and other obligations.

There is some flexibility to this rule. A few DMs prefer to post Sunday Night through Thursday night. Everybody misses a post once in a while. Sometimes a short second post is reasonable, if done rarely and for good reason.

Even if your DM has not posted, please make a post each day; in the absence of a DM post advancing the action, use your post to roleplay, or make a free action skill check, such as a perception check or a knowledge check.

In general, the system works best when DMs and players can post at about the same time every day, but we understand that real life does not always allow that

If you miss a post once in a great while, that’s okay too. If you miss two posts in the same week, the Sheriff will call you out in his report, and your Assistant DM may contact you. If your posting is especially poor, we may ask you to either commit to improvement or step back from the Wold until you can do so.

If you know that you will have to miss posts, for example [vacation, business, family needs], then please alert your DM and fellow players so that they can arrange for a substitute. If you are forced to miss more than two weeks, the best solution is to ask for a leave of absence. Woldians in good standing can take leave (“go walkabout”). It is not unusual for Woldians to return to us after a long absence, even months or years later.

Help! I'm too busy to post!

If you are going to miss more than one day of posting per week on a regular basis (including outside of combat), you should do the honorable thing and go inactive, for the good of the group. Going inactive is what we call quitting for a short period of time. We have another inside term for this which is "going walkabout." The other characters suffer in combat and role-play when one player is missing. When your schedule allows, you will be welcome to return to The Wold. A player in this situation, who does not volunteer to go inactive, but begins to miss posts on a regular basis, may be asked to do so.

If you are going out of town, on vacation, or are not going to be able to play for a short period of time, there's no need to quit or go 'walkabout" for that. Simply contact your DM and together you can plan for one of the other players to play your character until your return. Everyone needs to do this from time to time. It's normal. We'd rather you take the time off when you need it and return to us, than to try to squeeze everything in when you're busy and burn out. Real life affects us all and we all need a few days off from posting from time to time.

To Summarize:

• All subbing of players must be DM approved.
• No player may sub for more than 1 player at a time.
• Any subbing situations that exceed 1 week require CDM notification.
• Any player that can't post for more than 3 weeks in a row must go inactive.

Technical Problems

Notify your DM if you experience any technical problems.

Dice rolling on the Game Boards

You'll notice that there are dice rolling hot keys above the Action Field in the Posting Area of the board. Click on the dice you need and it rolls. It's that simple. It can get confusing for the DM, though, if you don't list your dice rolls in your post below.

Here's an example of how to add the dice results to your post in the message field:

Onrad takes a few steps back and full of confidence and determination, runs forward hurling his body across the 15' chasm. Time seems to stop for him as he reaches the apex of his leap. He pumps his feet and stretches his body, willing himself to the other side. He suddenly realizes (jump check of 17 and needing a DC19 or higher) that he's not going to make it. He let's the air out of his lungs hoping that the difference in weight will see him across. His fingers miss the far side by two inches. "NOOOOaaaaaauuuughhhhh!" His demented scream seems to echo forever as he falls into the bottomless darkness below.

Notice how the roll is included in the post by putting it in parenthesis? Sometimes several rolls will need to be made in one turn. Listing each number clearly in your message post keeps it simple so that the DM and other players can see what roll goes with what action.

Memorable Quotes

Any Player may nominate a memorable quote to be posted on the Wold by sending an email to the CDM and ACDMs (the PTB) stating Board, Date/Time, Hero, Quote, and Circumstances. The PTB will record the request and periodically review to approve and adjust the Woldian Quotes. One current quote may be viewed each time a Player posts in any board in the Wold

(Example: Hook City; 18 July 2013; Bosk deOx; "Hey guys. I bought that poison. Who wants breakfast?" - Bosk. Between adventures, Bosk, a good cook and also Avenger, purchases poison prior to cooking the group’s morning meal.)

Giggling Ghost

We have a separate game board called The Giggling Ghost where the characters, not the players, from all the games can gather, meet and chat in character. There we talk, have shared games, parties, and contests -- and some occasionally are invited to enter a magical Tapestry in which adventures take place. All posts in this inn are done in character. With permission from the Campaign DM, you may occasionally introduce or play an existing NPC on this board. You may begin to post here just as soon as you've sent the first draft of your character sheet to your DM. If you have some questions about using this page, email your DM.

All characters entering the GG find themselves at the 6th level of experience (check with the guest DM running the Inn for details). The only exceptions to this are characters who have joined the ranks of the Dragon Consortium. They may enter the inn at their current rank of experience. No one ever seems dies in the GG or in its magical Tapestries, at least not permanently. This seems to be handled in various ways depending on the circumstances. But thanks be to the Gods of Wold that such is the case, because I've seen them dropping like flies in there, each disappearing only to walk in again the next day!

No one knows how characters from various games, places, and times all end up at the GG together at the same time and place. It is a grand mystery. Some suggest that the Inn summons those who are restless in their sleep to its comforting environs. Supporting this is the fact that several characters have noticed that rewards earned in the GG have occasionally appeared the next morning in their bed roll or under their pillow. Someday perhaps this mystery will be revealed.

Before the Giggling Ghost was established, the Wold used a board called The Red Wyrm Inn as a similar watering hole. The RWI was known for having a huge dungeon underneath the inn, and characters would enter it for a dungeon crawl adventure with PCs from other games.

One thing is for sure and that is that if your character is searching for more adventure, and wants to meet the characters from other times and places, then the Giggling Ghost is the place to be!

The Loot 'n Booty Inn

Our game board called The Loot 'n Booty Inn is for out-of-character posting. You can access the LnB from either the Main Games Page or by selecting the button at the top of each Message Board. Here, at the LnB, players from all Woldian games talk shop, or anything else we want to discuss from movies, to philosophy, to game rules. Note that this inn is readable only when you sign in. This keeps the conversations within private.

I strongly feel that all truly great and successful D&D groups evolve past being just playing buddies to being true life-long friends. One of the things that I hope sets our site apart from others of its type is that we work hard on creating an atmosphere where friendship and a feeling of community is encouraged and fostered. Please get involved in the site by participating in the LnB and the GG when you can.