So, due to various distance issues I was thinking of trying to start a play by post group to continue the Rogue Trader game I have going now. Does anyone have any sort of experience with playing RT by play-by-post or similar systems? If so, what advice do you have? I did try a short experiment with play by post and Dark Heresy once, but it didn't work out. I focused too much on having us roleplay individual conversations so those who didn't post a lot ended up getting shut out.

No, but im in a similar conundrum.

Right now i would put the organisational stuff into play by post, and hope that everyone interested has the time for a skype/Teamspeak session for the actual combat/Social scenes.

But i dont really know if something like that could work.

Yes, i play under bobh's PbP for RT. It works out great. I've also played several non-RT PbP's which worked very well.

Main pitfalls imo are:

1. players dropping out: given that PbP are largely without meeting the people it often happens that players disappear. I like bobh's solution a lot of keeping their characters handy on a side-track so that when/if they come back they can continue. They're still there, but blurred into the background. Works wonders imo.

2. lots of metagaming which the GM dislikes: honestly, i'd simply make an OOC thread and then allow people to metagame at will. They can do so anyways, might as well see what they're thinking (so you can use that knowledge to surprise them every once in a while).

3. speed of combat: imo, PbP's shouldn't focus on combat all to much. Dakka is fun and necessary, but the real cool thing about a PbP is that it allows you to role-play a lot more (even if you're not a good actor) as it's all typed down with ample time to think your post through. It's very possible to actually live your character. Combat is part of that, but not so much as it is in tabletop games imo.

4. different people = different posting speeds: some people can post less then others given their schedule. As a gm, i'd try to keep an eye out for who posts how much and encourage them to take up a role that fits their posting abilities. Someone who can post only about once/week honestly should not be the captain unless you're going slow ... very slow, or if he has a retinue that is largely independent. Vice versa: the guy who checks every day should not be delegated to a roll that doesn't come up much.

Thanks Badlapje!

numb3rc,

What do you have for a campaign so far?

I've run, and been in, Rogue Trader games done via PbP before, and it works pretty well. I made sure to do all the combat narratively, rather than using maps, as maps tend to slow everything down.

I'd suggest www.rpol.net, it's a good PbP site that's a lot more customisable than most RP forums.