It’s tough. People’s schedules just don’t always line up the way we’d like them to. People move. People get married, have kids, and other things that make getting together less and less possible. So, what do you do? Many groups call it quits after they find they can’t get together once every week, month, or even year. But there is hope.
The internet. People used to think it was just good for porn, but it’s actually made communication easier. It’s become more accessible to more people. You may not even realize this, but you’re using it. Right now.
Can we use it to play our favorite RPGs? Some are already doing this. Where some may use one method exclusively, I suggest using a few in tandem to make things work better.
Depending on your group, you might use these things in different ways. I’ll give a few examples here. This is by no means restrictive, and nothing should stop good gaming if it’s happening organically.
Live Sessions, VTTs, and Voice Games
Live sessions and any kind of real-time gaming are pretty much vital to a game going at it’s best. Nothing will replace gathering around a table rolling dice, but when that’s not possible, technology can be a great surrogate.
I suggest this for any time you need live interaction, such as when an encounter happens or the climax of an adventure. Obviously, that won’t always be the only thing that happens, but it makes for a good centerpiece, with maybe some roleplaying before and/or after.
PBM/eM, PbP, and Moderated Discussions
I’m talking here about Play-By-Mail/E-Mail, Play-By-Post, and discussions, either by forum or chat that are moderated by (ideally) the DM. I would use these to push roleplaying, although it doesn’t need to happen exclusively here.
The benefit for players and DMs using a PBM or PbP is that those players and DMs can think about what characters will say before they put the words out there, and players who get anxious about talking in character can get over their fears. Some of us (myself included at times) are just better writers than actors.
Wikis
Keeping track of events in a campaign can be a hassle. Wiki pages offer the ability to keep track of things in a way that is editable by all involved. This can be a great thing to ensure some level of continuity between adventures.
Also DMs can let the players write or contribute to the wiki, giving the DM the chance to see what details stand out as important to the players, and these can be guideposts the DM can use to seed future adventures. The DM can then save things in his or her back pocket, ready to be pulled out when the PCs least expect them, building a stronger campaign for all.
Putting It All Together
Here’s how I see an adventure going down:
-The players and DM get together to talk about the upcoming game, do some worldbuilding, some character generation, and general startup stuff.
-The group starts the campaign wiki after the first session, outlining characters, major NPCs, campaign themes, and other important background information.
-The DM sets up the first event of the game. It can be either a roleplaying event, handled by a PbP/PbM, or a combat/tactical encounter done on a VTT. For our purposes here, let’s say it’s a combat. Combat plays out. The session ends shortly after the encounter plays. The DM describes some aftermath, and announces where things will go next. We’ll say it’s a roleplaying/social scenario. The DM and players then update the wiki.
-The DM emails everyone the set-up for the scenario, and the players respond appropriately. The DM and players update the wiki appropriately. This continues back and forth until the next combat encounter, when the DM and players arrange a time to meet, online or in person, to play it out. The wiki is updated.
…And so on. Now, people can play things out on their terms, and by their schedules. Now, if there needs to be a one on one session between a particular player and the DM, it won’t bog down the rest of the party.
So, now on to you. What do you all think of this? Is this a do-able concept? Would anyone play a game that uses all of these different technologies? Comment away! Oh, and watch those Threatened Squares.
Useful Links
- Skype – Good VOIP (Voice Over IP) for gaming
- RPTools – One of the many VTTs that are out there. This one’s my personal favorite.
- Wizards Communtity – D&D’s Community, where you can run a group for play.
- Obsidian Portal – A site designed EXACTLY for what I’m talking about here. DMSamuel will putting up a review of the site here, so keep it here for more info!