I'm starting up a play-by-post Edge of the Empire pretty soon with some local friends, and while I'm familiar with the rules of Edge of the Empire there's one mechanic that I'm trying to find a solution for. Specifically, it's a keyword that the rulebooks use: "Each Session". For example, experience should be awarded at the end of each session, and obligations trigger once each session. For a campaign that doesn't have sessions, this obviously poses a problem.

It is difficult for me to imagine what a good point would be to introduce any elements that should be done each session. Perhaps it should be a certain number of posts? But then lets say this post limit is 20, and the player characters spend 20 posts role playing the same event? In other words, they make no physical progress during that time, so there's the potential for an obligation to trigger twice during the same event.

The other idea I had was to set the campaign up with some sort of "chapter" system, and then dole out xp and obligation consequences once each chapter. However, unless my chapters are incredibly short, the chapters would most likely span multiple sessions, if I were not doing a play-by-post.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to deal with mechanics that use the "each session" keyword. What have play-by-post GMs done in the past to overcome this obstacle?

I don't do play-by-post, so take these recommendations with a grain of salt.

First, dispense with the standard way of dealing with Obligation rolls and triggers. Running in that sort of setting means that all characters are at risk of their Obligation jumping on them at any given time. When it happens should be determined by how convenient/inconvenient it is at a given point in the story. Ideally, they should start game trying to deal with their Obligations, which brings them all to the same place. Whenever a character is dealing directly with their Obligation, inflict the 2-point lowered strain threshold to that character, as it's stressful, and the 1-point lowered strain threshold to all others, as their feeling of stress is affecting everyone.

Second, XP will have to be given out based on waypoints and goalposts. The basic unit needs to be 5 XP.

• A waypoint is simply an indication that a character is both a.) following along with the story, be it theirs, someone else's, or the combined narrative, and actively participating; and b.) remaining true to their motivations/personality. Say each time they impress upon you this fact (which might require knowing a bit about story beats and mechanical encounters) you tally them up for 1 XP. This is only accumulated once per scene/encounter, and only awarded once it reaches 5 XP. In this case, try to be as impartial as possible: don't go overboard awarding it, and don't be stingy, either.
• A goalpost is specifically a major turning point in the unfolding narrative. This isn't awarded based on a character's actions, but based on the cumulative effect of a character's actions towards a certain goal. Cleaning your new droids isn't a goalpost; cleaning them, chasing after one that ran away, confronting danger to recover it, and as a consequence being rescued by a local hermit represent the actions that lead up to a goalpost. In this case, the actual goalpost is learning your father was more than just a pilot on a spice freighter. This should come in flavors of 5 XP or 10 XP, but not greater, and only at 10 XP if the goalpost is significant for more than one character. (Ideally, all of them.)

Otherwise, keep track of exceptional roleplaying and hand out bonus XP for it every now and then. Communicate with your group out-of-character about how they feel concerning their characters and the direction the story is going, and adjust accordingly. Don't let them spend XP during times of high activity; make them seek out downtime to learn new things.

Most of all, good luck. It's not an easy undertaking.

The CRB actually defines a session, handily, as "2 or 3 major encounters and a handful of minor encounters."

So that has made it pretty simple for me...essentially, after 2-3 major encounters, the session ends. Award XP, ditch all strain, give players a little time to update their PCs, do screen-wipes as appropriate, roll up the new Destiny Pool, roll up Obligation/Morality/Duty as appropriate, and go!

A couple pointers:

• The hardest thing for me to remember in PbPs (I don't know what it is, but I either forget it or nearly forget it every time) is the after-encounter strain recovery.
• When awarding XP, be generous; PbPs are slow, so high XP awards can help to maintain interest. I recommend around 20 XP per "session," with bonuses for milestones, playing to a PC's motivation, and other exceptional roleplaying moments.

Hell yeah, this is some excellent advice. I really like the idea of building up XP and then doling it out once it hits 5XP, and the goalpost idea is a good one. I'll have to make sure I remember to grant the after-encounter strain recovery.

More advice is certainly welcome, but this is a great place for me to get started.