Game-y Game

Something I've noticed about play-by-email (pbem) roleplaying games is that they tend to not be...games. The nature of the medium encourages contemplation and a relatively slow pace of play compared to the urgency of tabletop games. This has worked well for the Zanzer D&D campaign that I DM. A posting rate of approximately once-per-day allows the players to contemplate actions that are safe or fun, etc. or whatever play goal they have for their PC. As DM, the slow pace allows me to describe the environment and develop the plot in greater detail and in a way that doesn't necessitate a significant investment in preparation that may or may not payoff. For this reason, I don't foresee myself DMing a tabletop rpg campaign anytime in the near future.

Recently I've been contemplating ways to make my next pbem campaign more game-y with a sense of immediacy and urgency similar to what is felt at the table. I've come up with a few simple ideas and house rules for that purpose:

a) Focus on dungeon adventuring. This isn't a necessity, but I feel that fantasy roleplaying is most game-y when in the dungeon, in general. The next house rule and my campaign idea will further exemplify and require this.

b) Next is a house rule inspired by "The Triple Secret Random Dungeon Fate Chart of Very Probable Doom" at Jeff's Gameblog. I may just use Jeff's chart as written, but the concept of 'session' doesn't really apply to pbem roleplaying. My idea is to define a 'pbem session' as a month of real time play. At the end of each month, we roll to see if and what doom has met the adventurers who are still in the dungeon. I choose a month-long session simply because it is easy to track, but a month may be too long or too short. It can be adjusted. I like how the house rule serves as an extra reminder of the unpredictably dangerous nature of being in the dungeon for too long a time. Best to get out of the dungeon before time runs out and hope you don't run into any wandering monsters that might delay your retreat. It also functions as an abstract system for supply management. You can only stay in the dungeon for so long before you run out of mundane survival supplies. Similarly, it introduces a time constraint on dungeon delves, which encourages planning, focus, and decisiveness.

c) Last is a house rule for rewarding spontaneous and brisk play: Grant bonus experience points per post written. Something along the lines of: 10xp per post per PC level. Just a little bonus to encourage the kind of regular participation that a game-y game thrives on. Theoretically, PCs could level up with just a strategy of parley or evasion. Nothing wrong with that if it's what you enjoy.

My hope is that these few ideas will produce a unique pbem roleplaying experience. Perhaps a drawback of these house rules is that they limit the types of campaigns that can be played with them. Not only does it require relatively compact dungeon adventures, but also a focus that allows the PCs to get right into the thick of things without much wandering around or ambiguity of purpose. My next post will introduce such a campaign that I am developing.