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Player's Guide to Play By e-Mail

Yahoo PBeM

Communication with your DM

It is common courtesy to send a copy of any campaign related email you send, regardless of content, to your DM. Whether you have a secret plan, or it’s just a piece of information, your DM will need to be informed.

When creating your character, first get in touch with your DM and ask if there is any format he/she would prefer your character sheet in. The different formats and programs for presenting sheets are almost countless, and it is far easier for the DM if all of the player’s sheets are in the same format.

Game play is naturally slow due to the PbeM system, but you can help eliminate unnecessary waiting by giving your DM a list of default information. For example, it is of great use if a spellcaster gives the DM one or more default spell lists. If you wish to change your spells for a specific event, it is easier to say ‘when we prepare spells, take default spell list and swap spell x for spell y the next time we rest’. This rule does not just apply to spellcasters, many characters will develop some actions which they take as default in certain situations, and the game progresses much more smoothly when no one has to wait for an email confirming the action every time.

Communication with other players

Makes sure that whenever there is interaction in character between players, the DM is copied on all communication – what the DM is not aware of, did not take place!

It is fairly standard to write the actions of your character in the second or third person perspective. Other players may have different styles of writing, and it will take some time for you to get to know your group as people. Try to write as other people would see your character, rather than giving away too much information that would not normally be readily available. For example, ‘Mialee’s scowl deepened as Krusk mentioned the disaster at Talltrees’ is preferable to ‘Mialee was disturbed by Krusk mentioning the disaster at Talltrees, burdened by the guilt that it was partly her fault’

However, in some cases adding some of this information can be prudent, certainly if characters have travelled in each other’s company for some time. As in real 1-on-1 interaction between people, knowing someone provides some form on insight into the type of information as suggested in the example above. If Krusk and Miallee had travelled together for months, both would know the other relatively well, and then adding non-verbal information can be beneficial. Tread with caution though, when in doubt, refer to the first suggestion: Try to write as other people would see your character, rather than giving away too much information that would not normally be readily available.

It is fair to assume some actions of fellow players, but be careful not to assume too much. When writing in character, try to use words which leave an opening for another player to interject with their character, for example ‘Lydia strides boldly into the tavern and announces clearly “The city watch are coming!”. Reading the expression on Jozam’s face she falls silent’ is preferable to ‘Lydia strides boldly into the tavern and announces clearly “The city watch are coming!”. She sees Jozam look shocked and stand from his seat, and falls silent whilst he starts to tell her what to do’

When communicating out of character, it is common to use square brackets and OOC to represent the text - [OOC: <text>]

Similarly In character actions are represented as [IC: <text>] or when replying to a previous post (leaving only the relevant portion of text the reply relates to) it is common to start the character’s section with [character name – new].

This convention is more important when there is a mixture of in and out of character text in one message.
When using a distribution list such as Yahoo groups, there is a disadvantage when sometimes there is activity that not all of the players would be privy to. As noted under the DM section, the nature of the PbeM allows for groups splitting and merging with more frequency and attention to detail vs. a table-top game. These situations can be handled ‘off-list’ in the same way as if not using a distribution list like Yahoo groups.