Starting Your Own Game
Jun 23, 2015 12:51:04 GMT -8
Post by Daos on Jun 23, 2015 12:51:04 GMT -8
So you've decided you'd like to run your own game(s) here at Lost Souls. That's great! Any manner of game can be run here, including various editions of D&D, GURPS, Traveller, Vampire, Pathfinder, freeform (which means no dice or stats at all), or anything, really (except FATAL...never FATAL.)
If you are new to DMing (or GMing, if you prefer), play-by-post (pbp) is a great way to start. It's slow, which means you have plenty of time to improvise and come up with things at your own pace. Back when I was running real-time games, I might spend all week working on the mountain tomb the party is supposed to visit, only for them to decide on the day of the session that, nah, the mountain tomb sounds boring. Let's go explore the magical forest instead! And since I hadn't done any work on the magical forest, I would have to do my best to improvise or stall until the session ended. In a pbp game, that's not an issue. I might not even bother mapping out a dungeon at all until the party actually arrives there.
If you are new to pbp, but not GMing itself, then the change of pace is probably the most difficult thing to get used to. A simple battle might take a week of real time. There are lots of ways to help keep your game moving forward without wasting too much time. Feel free to ask advice of any of the current GMs on this, or any other matter.
Anyway, back on topic. The first thing you want to do is announce you are starting a new game in this sub-forum. An admin will create a new forum for you, making you a moderator for that forum. You'll have complete control over your own game, including the ability to lock threads, delete and edit posts, and choose who can join. Players cannot post in your forum (with the exception of mods and admins) unless you invite them. Furthermore, you have complete creative control in how to run your game, including use of house rules, gaming styles, and so forth. There's only one real rule here at Lost Souls, and that is to respect other members. As long as you aren't breaking that rule, you pretty much can run your game however you like.
When you ask for a new forum, be sure to say what the name of the forum will be and give a basic description of the game so the admin can add them. The description is the first thing people will see before entering your forum, so you'll want to mention the game system you are using and a basic idea of what kind of game is being run. For instance, in my Lost Souls Octhania game, the description reads, "A sandbox 2E game set in the home-brewed world of Amtar. On a group of tropical islands, a group of adventurers try and make their mark on the world." This sums it up pretty well. From that little blurb, you know it's a 2E AD&D game, it's a sandbox, it takes place in a tropical island setting in a homebrewed world, and the main plot is character driven.
(Sidenote: Sometimes it may become necessary to change the name of your forum or your description. Games change and evolve over time, after all. If you ever wish to change the name or description of your forum, just ask.)
Of course, you'll need to recruit players for a new game, as well. So it's important in your recruitment thread to let players know exactly what sort of game you are running. Although not required, I highly recommend using The Sixteen Questions, something I borrowed from Giant in the Playground (a great place to recruit new players, by the way, if you're looking to recruit outside of this site's regulars. There are hundreds of games being run there at any time, but 90% of them fall apart in their first week. So you have a lot of players who are eager to play, but frustrated by a lack of steady games.).
The Big Sixteen are:
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (e.g. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
4. How fast or slow of a pacing do you want to set? Some games require that players post once a day, every three days, or once a week.
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Feel free to copy and paste those questions into your recruitment thread, then just type in your answers, if you wish.
Over time, you may lose players and desire to find more. Your recruitment thread will remain unlocked and open as long as your game is active. You can revisit it and make an update on how many new players you need whenever you like.
Your game may use dice rolls. Lost Souls has its own dice rollers that can be used to help simulate dice.
Eventually, your game may end. Perhaps it has reached its final conclusion, maybe there was a TPK and you just don't want to start over, or maybe you have lost interest or no longer have time to run it. You may decide to hand the reins over to someone else, so the game can continue without you. But failing that, you can announce that your game is over and an admin will lock the forum and move it to the Inactive section. It will remain there, in a public archive, should you ever wish to reopen it or reference it later on.
I'll be leaving this thread open and unlocked, should anyone have any further questions on how to create, recruit for, change or end a game here at Lost Souls.
If you are new to DMing (or GMing, if you prefer), play-by-post (pbp) is a great way to start. It's slow, which means you have plenty of time to improvise and come up with things at your own pace. Back when I was running real-time games, I might spend all week working on the mountain tomb the party is supposed to visit, only for them to decide on the day of the session that, nah, the mountain tomb sounds boring. Let's go explore the magical forest instead! And since I hadn't done any work on the magical forest, I would have to do my best to improvise or stall until the session ended. In a pbp game, that's not an issue. I might not even bother mapping out a dungeon at all until the party actually arrives there.
If you are new to pbp, but not GMing itself, then the change of pace is probably the most difficult thing to get used to. A simple battle might take a week of real time. There are lots of ways to help keep your game moving forward without wasting too much time. Feel free to ask advice of any of the current GMs on this, or any other matter.
Anyway, back on topic. The first thing you want to do is announce you are starting a new game in this sub-forum. An admin will create a new forum for you, making you a moderator for that forum. You'll have complete control over your own game, including the ability to lock threads, delete and edit posts, and choose who can join. Players cannot post in your forum (with the exception of mods and admins) unless you invite them. Furthermore, you have complete creative control in how to run your game, including use of house rules, gaming styles, and so forth. There's only one real rule here at Lost Souls, and that is to respect other members. As long as you aren't breaking that rule, you pretty much can run your game however you like.
When you ask for a new forum, be sure to say what the name of the forum will be and give a basic description of the game so the admin can add them. The description is the first thing people will see before entering your forum, so you'll want to mention the game system you are using and a basic idea of what kind of game is being run. For instance, in my Lost Souls Octhania game, the description reads, "A sandbox 2E game set in the home-brewed world of Amtar. On a group of tropical islands, a group of adventurers try and make their mark on the world." This sums it up pretty well. From that little blurb, you know it's a 2E AD&D game, it's a sandbox, it takes place in a tropical island setting in a homebrewed world, and the main plot is character driven.
(Sidenote: Sometimes it may become necessary to change the name of your forum or your description. Games change and evolve over time, after all. If you ever wish to change the name or description of your forum, just ask.)
Of course, you'll need to recruit players for a new game, as well. So it's important in your recruitment thread to let players know exactly what sort of game you are running. Although not required, I highly recommend using The Sixteen Questions, something I borrowed from Giant in the Playground (a great place to recruit new players, by the way, if you're looking to recruit outside of this site's regulars. There are hundreds of games being run there at any time, but 90% of them fall apart in their first week. So you have a lot of players who are eager to play, but frustrated by a lack of steady games.).
The Big Sixteen are:
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (e.g. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
4. How fast or slow of a pacing do you want to set? Some games require that players post once a day, every three days, or once a week.
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Feel free to copy and paste those questions into your recruitment thread, then just type in your answers, if you wish.
Over time, you may lose players and desire to find more. Your recruitment thread will remain unlocked and open as long as your game is active. You can revisit it and make an update on how many new players you need whenever you like.
Your game may use dice rolls. Lost Souls has its own dice rollers that can be used to help simulate dice.
Eventually, your game may end. Perhaps it has reached its final conclusion, maybe there was a TPK and you just don't want to start over, or maybe you have lost interest or no longer have time to run it. You may decide to hand the reins over to someone else, so the game can continue without you. But failing that, you can announce that your game is over and an admin will lock the forum and move it to the Inactive section. It will remain there, in a public archive, should you ever wish to reopen it or reference it later on.
I'll be leaving this thread open and unlocked, should anyone have any further questions on how to create, recruit for, change or end a game here at Lost Souls.