* PBEM Introduction for New Players For new players read on. For experienced players you can read it if you want to. Might learn something :) A. Anatomy of a Update: The update looks as follows: ******************************************************************** HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- R1 John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma .............. R4 Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Boyzdar [Wolf] (Strie'bog), ******************************************************************** This is the Player Header/Roster. It contains who is what and rarely their status if needed to be updated (like hurt or such). The HT column is Horse Type. Might look like: R1 - Riding Horse I W1 - Warhorse I R2 - Riding Horse II W2 - Warhorse II R3 - Riding Horse III W3 - Warhorse III R4 - Riding Horse Iv W3 - Warhorse IV That info is there as a reminder who has what for combat and movement at a glance. For new players let me know how you want to be classified in the roster. Warrior, Magician, etc. Its how much you want to reveal. Below the Roster are animals and companions the party may have currently with the group. ***************************************************************** Game Web Site - http://www.funport.com/longshot/pbem Public posts/actions to pnpgm@abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list) Private emails (not public actions) to pnpgm@comcast.net ***************************************************************** This section is a reminder on the Game Website URL. Where public and private posts go to. ***************************************************************** Game Update #51 in sequence (file #223) ---------------------------------------------------------------- ***************************************************************** This is a game update Number and file number. Each update will have its own separate number. Some may be 2-3 parts like large combats so they'll have a letter like 11a or 22c to denote those parts. File numbers are numbers for each file generated. Each post from players (public) is one file. So game update won't match up to file numbers. Both are good for later reference in finding text and other info. ***************************************************************** Admin notes: None. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ***************************************************************** There may be times I need to advise you guys of a special note. This will be where it is. It may be a mistake in some old update or a vacation warning for me, etc. Stuff not really linked to the game itself. So keep tabs on this section as well. ***************************************************************** [Recap] From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions] ...... GM: Ack. ***************************************************************** This section is where I post all action posts. Until folks tell me they don't want to see it anymore. Its a recap of all the public actions posted. There are several reasons I post stuff here from players. 1. To show what actions came to me. If you don't see your post here or on the game website or the game archives then it NEVER got to me. You should probably resend it. 2. The "GM:" comment line is where I add my own comments to those actions. Usually I just say Ack to acknowledge them. But sometimes I may include some GM related comments or warnings as a reply that isn't seen in the body of the update. ***************************************************************** ----------------------------------------------------------------- [New Stuff] ***************************************************************** After this line is the actual body of the update. Some areas of interest... "GM: ..." Where you see these lines are game related GM comments or warnings. I will ask questions to clarify situations here as well. "[Decalis 20th, 111th day since left Marentia, 47th day of Adventure #3 of the 1633rd year [TH].] [Location: Pavassa Forest - 59 miles west of Lake Oca] [Time: 11:42am]" This is important as its the date header. For those who don't recognize the date I'm using Burton's home rules for month dates and using Culture Book year info. The header may look like the above. The date is important as so you know what events are taking place on what days. Folks have gotten confused and simply not looked at the date header. "Actions? Comments? Next update Monday..." This is the end of the update body and shows when the next update is. Below it I may include status reports and other game related material. B. Update Schedule I post each update technically Tuesday morning usually late 2-3am. Though I classify it as a Monday update. For Friday's update I tend to post it about midnight if I can. Current schedule is Tuesday/Wednesday off for me. So I work the other 5 days. This means I stay up late on Monday night to 3am. So have good amount of time working on Monday's update. But for Friday's I only have from about 9pm-12am or so to work on it. So its best and highly respected to have actions as soon as possible. The sooner the better as I can work on updates (especially Friday's) faster. While it may take players 5-15 minutes to read an update it takes me a good 2-3 hours to write one. For combat oriented it could take 4-6 hours. That's alot of time involved (going back and forth on character sheets and such). So sooner the better on actions. But I also know folks get busy. If you get busy and get behind I have always said I can hold the updates. Just tell me to hold it and I can. C. Posting on Mailing list: The PBEM goes out onto a Mailing list. This means it is archived and digested and out on the internet. 1. Public Action Posts: Anything posted to the list for actions and for ALL to see should go to: pnpgm@abroere.xs4all.nl The server may get slow at times. You may see an immediate copy of your post come out right away or the following day. 2. Private Actions A. Private email to me: Post any private actions or comments you do not want seen to: longshotgm@comcast.net (prefer) pnpgm@comcast.net No one will see it. Keep in mind if you include dialogue to others or actions for current events. It won't be seen so I will include those things in the next update. That could mean a delay of 2-3 days. So if you want folks to reply to your stuff post it all publicly. Also if you want some stuff public and other stuff private. LET ME KNOW. Some include headers like PRIVATE and all below is private. Up to you. But if it looks like its going to be seen and heard by all I will assume it public unless stated otherwise. B. Private email to others: Sending email to other folks is fine. This is good for plans or interactions. But if you do so please send a CC (carbon copy) to me so I can have a record of it and know what's going on. Thanks. 3. Archives/Digests Digests can be found on the mailing list. For the link to the mailing list website Wout hosts see the Game Website link section. There is also a link for monthly archives. You can always check there to see if your posts get out. But anything public goes to my game website as well defined as its own link. D. Format of Actions Dialogue (anything spoken should be done in quotes "". If no quotes exist it will be thoughts or mental comments assumed. If you speak in a non native tongue or a common language like Marentian note it. Actions character does or does can be in [] or (). I don't care which. But I tend to use [..] to note sections of actions or introspections. Best way to figure out how to post is see a ton of the old updates and see how folks have done it. There is no right or wrong here. Maps are done via Ascii letters. I'm no artist and don't have time (especially for combats) to do graphic combat maps. So I use hexes and ascii maps. You can easily see several examples in pat combat updates. This is also to help that everyone can view them. If I did a graphical thing not everyone might have the software handy to view it. Ascii is in everyone's computer. E. Game Website Viewing the game website is totally optional. But there might be hidden surprises in the links section. I've included links for weeks before I state their purpose. So gives folks a head start on things. I also include pictures and other things not posted in the updates.