Role Playing Games

First some basics! Role playing games are games where players assume the identity of a made up character and play out scenario's that are usually the product of what's known as a Game Master (GM) or Dungeon Master (DM). He's another player who controls the game and who creates obstacles the player characters (PC's) must overcome. There are all types of role playing games, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, hero's (such as Batman, Superman, etc.), and many more besides. Normally the game is played around a table where the Game Master sits opposite the players and most of the time dice are used to resolve combat and many other situations. This is a very simplified explanation but covers the basic concept of most role playing games.

Play By Mail Role Playing Games --PBM--

Due to the fact that players often times couldn't find people in their own towns, cities, etc. to play with someone came up with the idea of trying to play by the regular (or snail) mail. The GM (Game Master) would send out what was known as turns to the players and they in turn would send back their replies. A single combat situation could last a year using this slow and cumbersome method. But it beat nothing at all. More importantly writing was still not the main object of the game. Dice rolling was.

Play By E-mail Role Playing Games --PBeM--

Then along came computers and with it the internet and email. Players soon found that there were thousands and thousands of other players just waiting and wanting to play in a role playing game. It was faster and things could get resolved much, much better and a heck of a lot quicker. Only many of the games started to change. Instead of depending on dice rolling to resolve things and situations the role playing games became more about 'WRITING' then gaming or dice rolling. More about building and creating your character through your own writing abilities then whether you roll a 16 on a twenty sided die.

There are still many, many role playing games played over the email and on the internet that depend on dice rolling. But here again it is slow and cumbersome and depends on whether the player is truthful or not. Many GM's do all the dice rolling and if that's the case, why bother with the dice at all?

So now what you have are many role playing games that are about writing and using your imagination and not dice. Some PBeM games don't even have a GM. Just someone who signs you up to the game and then leaves it to the new player to jump in, as it were. These are called 'FREE-FORM' role playing games.

Other role playing games are GM/Free-Form controlled, GM controlled, etc. Many players prefer to have a strong GM presence, while others like to just bull ahead on their own.

How PBeM's Work

Most play by email games are set up on what is know as an internet 'COMMUNITY'. Onelist and egroups are just two such communities. A community is nothing more than a huge database program that allows you to set up your very own smaller database (usually known as a 'LIST') and then you find other people who are interested in your game and they join this game 'LIST'.

The GM (if there is one) puts forth a scenario and will many times write the first post (email) and then the players take it from there. He, and then the players send their e-mail's to the community and the community in turn sends it out to all the players in the game, including the person who posted it. The big drawback with doing things like this is that at times the posts will overlap, or contradict one another. You can set it up where each player has a 'turn' and can't submit a post until it is their turn but I found this a bit restrictive for almost all the players in my game!

The internet community is just one way to do it. Other games still rely on the GM and his/her personal email, or one they have set up just for the game. He sends out turns and the players respond to it, and send back their emails directly to the GM's email address. These are usually slower games with players posting only 2 or 3 times a week so the GM can keep up.

Other Types Of Games

There are other ways to role play on the internet. Some people use chat rooms and things like ICQ to role play on the 'spot, or live,' as it were. Since I have never done this I can't tell you how they work. There are various other types of games as well, like muds, moos, etc. If your interested find a good search engine and find out more about them. I've included a URL to a search engine below that I like as well as a great Mud site if you think your might be interested.

http://www.askjeeves.com/

http://www.mudconnector.com/

For even more info about, and how to run a PBeM check out the following site:

http://www.pbem.com/howto/harrigan.html

How do you find an online game?

The best way to find a game in my opinion can be found on a Website called Irony Games.

http://www.irony.com/

Here you will find a bunch of goodies, including players looking for a game, tons of different types of games, old and new, a dice server and even a graphics map program that isn't all that bad if you have nothing better.

Another place to check: The PBM List Index

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/

Also, you can check at places like Yahoo, onelist, ICQ, and Ask Jeeves, or just about any decent Search Engine. Usually this just takes longer and you may not find what your looking for, but then again you just might!

About Me !!

I have been role playing since the late seventies, early eighties. Mostly AD&D, but Runequest and a few other games as well. Mostly I have been the GM rather than played. Until the internet came along I had not played for several years but was still interested in playing but I had lost all my players and didn't want to look for more.

At first I just got into a few online games and role played and wrote until I decided to start my own game. Now it's the only one I have time for. It's called Jendanni and the link below will take you to the Website. Make sure to have the sound turned on!

http://www.rglobal.net/user/nodntap/jendanni.html

At least consider getting into online role playing if you aren't already!

To me this is a great way to roll play. It's like writing a book with several other people!!

--Don Stephens (GM of Jendanni)

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