Sage Canons of thy Quest

Spear

  1. Have Fun.
    If we break this one we're doing something wrong.

  2. Thy Master is always right. All encompassing absolute POWER.
    <a cackling hideous laughter can be heard in the distance>

  3. Adventurers are never wrong, misinformed perhaps, but never wrong.
    This is your standard CYA provision for when the DM messes up, which I will <g>. If you believe an action was adjudicated incorrectly then address this privately with the DM. You will receive an answer whether your concerns were addressed.

  4. Never under any circumstances speak for or move another's character.
    Pet Peeve #1: Whenever your scroll requires either acknowledgement from or action by another PC or NPC (flexible here, no abusing my NPCs) stop and post it. This is slightly more poignant in this PBeM since we have players portraying henchmen. Remember, loyalty is a two-way street. Nuff said.

  5. Limit scrolls to one main topic, action or conversation.
    Allow other players, or the DM, the opportunity to respond to your character's words or actions. For example, if a post ends with a character walking away or leaving the area, room, etc. then any response is either directed at the character's back or not heard at all unless action is taken by the responding character to ensure otherwise. There will be no assumptions made that any response is made prior to the original character moving. This has several corollaries.

    1. Interactive scrolls should be limited in length.
      The longer a post is the more likely another player, or the DM, will want to respond to a comment or action interior to the post. Such a response may change the original player's mind in how they wish to portray their character. However, the opportunity to change the portrayal is lost since the original character has spoken or acted.

    2. Actions posted are actions taken.
      Once the send button is hit, it's all over but the crying <g>. Nuff said.

    3. Ensure actions taken reflect those posted by others earlier in time.
      Pet Peeve #2: Read ALL your game related e-mail prior to posting. Backdating is highly discouraged. Timing issues are an inherent problem within PBeMs. If it's in your inbox then it has happened unless the DM has posted otherwise. Caveat: see Combat turns.

  6. Adventurers are required to post at a minimum of twice per week
    During interactive or free form posting, anyone may post at any time, but should allow others to reply prior to posting again. This places a responsibility on all players to be timely for interaction. Players who do not respond timely will discover, through natural selection, that other players will not approach their character to engage them in conversation.

    1. Timely equals two to three days.
      Remember, another player is awaiting a response. Their character is basically frozen until a response is sent. As the game progresses we'll discover each other's posting habits and learn from them. Posting requirements will become more stringent when in a Round or Combat situation to ensure the game doesn't bog down.

    2. Thy Master will interject when necessary.
      When required, I plan on replying within two days when it is necessary for the DM to interject or portray an NPC. Normally, a response will be sent within one day. I allow time for other players to interject before replying. I do not want to be the driving force during interactive posting. Hopefully, there will be periods within the game when it is running itself and all I have to do is monitor the posts while responding to player questions sent in the form of an ATTN DM.

  7. Absent adventurers with prior notification will be run by thy Master.
    Character actions will be based upon past posts and any instructions left by the player. I will not abuse your character nor take any insightful action unless it is described specifically within the instructions as contingencies.

  8. Absent adventurers without prior notification are subject to removal.
    Players who have not posted or had any contact with the DM for a period of one week will receive a reminder about the game in progress. Four consecutive, in other words one month, reminders without response constitutes abandonment of a character. The character will either be offered for others to play or meet their demise.

  9. All game mechanics will be handled by thy Master.
    Pet Peeve #3: Game mechanics will not be included within game posts. For example, 1) Use Tracking proficiency (Wis 0) to find where monsters went, or 2) Cast Magic Missle at monster. Describe what the other characters would see your character doing. All correspondence about game mechanics will be by separate e-mail, entitled ATTN DM, outside the actual in-character posts. If you want to ensure that a post which requires some DM action is understood then send both e-mails, the game post and the ATTN DM, at the same time.

  10. Remember this is a game.
    See Canon #1.
Spear

PBeM Scroll Mechanics

Subject Lines

Ensure that [IotA] is within the subject field or your post may be misplaced. I subscribe to numerous e-mail listservs and receive on a daily basis over 300 e-mails a day (no I don't read them all). I can be a little quick with the delete key when scrolling through this deluge. The easiest way to ensure the subject line is correct is to use the 'Reply-To All' function of most e-mail clients. Remember to insert your character's first name over that of either the DM's, NPC's or other player's name. I have established the following filters to move scrolls automatically:

  1. [IotA] thread name: character's first name
    Replace "thread name" and "character's first name" by the appropriate information. The post will be placed in the proper thread folder allowing easier archiving and response. I'm almost positive there will be multiple threads at one time or another during the game.
  2. [IotA] ATTN DM: thread name: character's first name
    Replace "thread name" and "character's first name" by the appropriate information. The post will be placed within the corresponding thread folder and will highlight that a post requires my input. Performing actions which require adjudication by the DM should be addressed in this type of ATTN DM.
  3. [IotA] Routine/Rnd #/Combat: character's first name
    Include the type of turn being submitted and replace "character's first name" by the appropriate information. The post will be placed in the turn folder. Once the time to submit has been reached or all character turns have been submitted, the DM will compile the turn.
  4. [IotA] character's first name
    Replace "character's first name" by the appropriate information. The post will be placed in each character's individual folder and is for all e-mail relating only to character creation or issues pertaining to the character sheet.
  5. [IotA] ATTN DM: descriptive subject line
    For anything else that doesn't fit in the above areas.

Interactive/Free Form posting

This type of posting should comprise the majority of the game where characters are interacting with either each other or NPCs.

Turn Submission

There are three types of turns; Routine, Round and Combat. The DM will announce when a turn is due and how much time the turn will encompass. By definition, a Round is one (1) minute in length and a Combat Turn is twelve (12) seconds in length. A Routine turn may encompass just a few hours or several days dependent upon the situation and the desires of the players. A Round or Combat turn may interrupt a Routine turn. The players, through a designated party leader, may at any time petition the DM to close a scene and recommend a time period to be covered by the subsequent Routine turn.

Routine Turns

Submit a Routine turn with the following subject line:

[IotA] Routine: character's first name

The purpose of a Routine turn is to advance the storyline in relation to time. Vice skipping over huge chunks of time which may be used constructively by players, the Routine turn offers an avenue to accomplish many of the mundane, yet could be oh so important, tasks outside the interactive roleplaying environment. Routine turns are most often used when character's are travelling, spending a day shopping, gathering information, etc. or between two scenes divided by time, i.e. its evening and the party has a scheduled appointment with an NPC the next day. All Routine turns will be written in third person referring to the character, but written in an out-of-character [OOC] context. In other words, use plain english to describe the actions of your character.

Routine Turn example:

Tonight:

  1. Wait to speak privately with Perc (to be handled by private messages).
  2. Conduct a lesson in reading/writing Colletti for Akalan and Xamis beginning with the basics of the ABCs. Practicing recognition and drawing the letters in the dirt.
  3. Retire to the common room of the Boar's Head Tavern listening to any local news or gossip. Retire when the common room is cleared.

Next Morning:

  1. Upon waking, go outside into the nearby woods. Edric will read through his somewhat sparse Tome of spells.
  2. Return to the Boar's Head Tavern and break fast eating a common meal.
    Cost: 1sp
  3. Accompany the company to the pits.

Routine turns may be sent to all players to increase coordination between players though this is not required. However, care should be taken by players not to react to OOC information their character is not privy to either before or after the Routine turn. Routine turns may also be modified prior to the submission deadline based on subsequent postings by players. Resubmissions should be sent in total. Only one Routine turn, the last in time, will be used by the DM. I will not attempt to piece together a mish-mash of Routine turns submitted by a single player. Even though Routine turns are written in an OOC context, they should not include game mechanics when sent to other players. It is recommended if a player desires to use a proficiency, ability check or other game mechanic during a Routine turn that two versions be written up; one for the other players and one for the DM. The Routine turn for the DM should also contain any private actions desired.

A Routine turn may contain as many actions or contigencies a player may think is possible during the time allotted. However, if an action is not listed as taking place in the transition between scenes and it has not been addressed in a private post then there may have not been sufficient time to start that action. Time periods, Day 1, Day 2, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, etc., should be separated by grouping and individual actions should be numbered sequentially. Queries concerning Routine turns should use ATTN DMs.

Round Turns

The purpose of the Round turn is to limit player actions to a known time constraint when timing or player actions may be critical. All Round turns are one (1) minute in length. However, there is a limit to the number of postings allowed during a Round turn before time advances and a player may not respond twice during the same phase of a Round turn. Each Round turn consists of five phases or periods when a player may act or converse. Due to the complexity of the Round turn, this type of turn will not be used unless necessary. The format is similar to the Interactive/Free Form posting and is in-character except for the following:

The subject field is the most complex:

[IotA] Rnd 1
Original message from DM
[IotA] Rnd 1: Ag
Agath responds to the original message.
Agath has acted/responded during the first phase.
Due to some e-mail clients having limited space in the subject field it is best to use abbreviations for a character's name.
[IotA] Rnd 1: Ag: Row
Rowena responds to Agath.
Rowena has acted/responded during the second phase.
[IotA] Rnd 1: Ag: Row: Forn
Forngull responds to Rowena.
Forngull has acted/responded during the third phase.
[IotA] Rnd 1: Ag: Row: Forn: Fran
Franz responds to Forngull.
Franz has acted/responded during the fourth phase.
[IotA] Rnd 1: Ag: Row: Forn: Fran: Rey
Reynard responds to Franz.
Reynard has acted/responded during the fifth phase.
This portion of the Round turn is complete.
No one may respond to Reynard until the next Round turn.

This does not mean that each Round turn is limited to five responses. Assume for the moment the preceding exchange took place without interruption and prior to reading any of the responses (players are on their honor not to react to postings that would occur later in time) Rakehell decided to act/respond immediately to the original post.

[IotA] Rnd 1: Rake
Rakehell responds to the original message.
Rakehell has acted/responded during the first phase.
Rakehell's action cannot be based off of Agath's actions or comments.
Rakehell's and Agath's posts are taking place at the same time.

Anyone can respond to Rakehell except for Rowena (she has already acted/responded during the second phase) and possibly Agath. If both Rakehell and Agath spoke during their respective posts then Agath shouldn't respond. If actions taken by Rakehell couldn't be seen by Agath due to his own actions then he shouldn't respond either. Players should use their best judgement when responding and if in doubt ask using an ATTN DM. Branches may also form off of any intermediate response.

[IotA] Rnd 1: Ag: Row: Forn: Mick
Mickel responds to Forngull.
Mickel has acted/responded during the fourth phase.
Mickel's action cannot be based off of Franz's actions or comments.
Mickel's and Franz's posts are taking place at the same time.

All players are required to respond at least once during a Round turn. The last post of a player should include an Action section in plain english describing the character's actions for that round. A Round turn will be declared over when either all branches have reached their limit or the time to submit has been reached.

Combat Turns

The purpose of a Combat turn is to regulate the actions of character's within the normal constraints of combat taking place during twelve (12) second turns. A Combat turn requires two posts from each player. One post to all the players and the DM containing the descriptive text of what the character is doing and saying, and a second to the DM only containing the same descriptive text with two additional sections, Action and Stats, and possibly a third, Contingency.

Example:

'Human?!? . . . what is a human doing this deep within Sakathaz Sithzzarass? Did this stupid human disturb the crocodiles for sport?' thinks Callahdre as he grasps the situation before him. Reluctantly, Callahdre realizes in order to answer these questions he needs the human alive. Hoping the chill waters still dull the otherwise keen senses of the crocodiles, Callahdre slips into the water and with a powerful thrust of his tail and hind legs propels himself towards the nearest of the crocodiles. Rising from the waters of Sakathaz Sithzzarass, Callahdre swings his mighty club downward in an effort to crush his victim.

Action: Move by swimming towards the nearest crocodile alert for the croc to try and use its tail upon approach. Attack croc with club.

Stats: AC: 4, THAC0: 20, Slow (great club), Dam: 2d4 1d6+1, Strength (+2 ToHit, +3 Dam)

Contingency: If the water isn't deep enough to swim properly then Callahdre will advance normally to the attack.

The descriptive text is what you are doing in-character while the Action and Stats sections express it in game terminology. Try to use the 'buzz' words included within the Combat (overview) message that each player received.

Conversations are difficult in 'combat' situations. You are limited to one short sentence per half-move or attack phase, maximum of two. You may get a response from other player's but you cannot reply until the next turn. Spellcasters may speak prior to casting, but this will delay the start of their casting to the 'Fast' phase which could push the spell taking effect into the next round if it is a 'Very Slow' spell to begin with.

Initiative: I will post a general line up based on when each character may act, i.e. what phase of the combat turn. This does not mean that is the order in which I expect the posts to arrive from players. A player may always delay their actions to take place after a slower character or during a slower phase. A player who either responds to a slower character's comments or bases their actions on a slower character's actions will automatically be considered to have delayed their actions until the slower character's actions have taken place.

Once a Combat turn has been submitted it may not be changed, altered or retracted in any manner. When you hit the send button your character just acted.


Alternate Oerths / Keith Horsfield / afn09454@afn.org / updated 11 Aug 98
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