Welcome! These forums will be deactivated by the end of this year. The conversation continues in a new morph over on Discord! Please join us there for a more active conversation and the occasional opportunity to ask developers questions directly! Go to the PS+ Discord Server.

Player seeking play-by-post group

31 posts / 0 new
Last post
mkn mkn's picture
Player seeking play-by-post group
I'm looking to join a new or ongoing play by post game (as a player). I've played EP on Roll20, but I'm still a novice to the system. However, I'm a big fan of the literature that inspires the setting and gameplay. I've played pen and paper RPG's on and off (lately off) for 12 years, but never a play-by-post game, so I might need a primer. Aside from learning the nuts and bolts of playing in a forum, I keep good etiquette, and I'll give a few day's notice if I'll be unable to post for more than 24 hours. If I can only find players (who can be patient with my growing knowledge of the system, and perhaps help set up the game) I'd consider GMing. I wouldn't discount playing on Roll20 or by IM, but my irregular schedule makes that difficult. post here, or PM me please!
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
zopaque zopaque's picture
Very interested in playing a
Very interested in playing a play by post! My schedule is crazy too, so it would be nice to sign in write the post and catch up in a quick amount of time. We need some more committed people if we really want to get this started.
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
mkn mkn's picture
Yeah, too bad Chideothe
Yeah, too bad Chideothe appears to be an insane robot. Ok, care to speculate on how to wrangle up some more players? To be honest, I've never played in a pbp. I'd have to research platforms and so forth to even get started. What's your experience with EP/other RPGs? Any thoughts on what kind of EP game you'd like to play?
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
zopaque zopaque's picture
lolz at robot.
lolz at robot. Hey I'm on the same boat as you. I've tried to start many a PBP sessions but no one ever sticks it out. I've only gotten as far as creating characters and setting up a small GM story but have never played the darn game yet. As for other RPGs, I've only played 1 or 2 D&D games. So really, I'm new to this. I've got all of the PDFs on my Kindle so we can use as much info as we like. As for game style, I'm into story/combat, pretty much the basics. I hoping to log in to the forums once a day for 5 minutes or so, read what's going on, play my character and go from there. I might be able to get some more people. Did you want to GM? By the way, I'm sticking this one out so I'll be back here often to check on posts. I really want to play this game!
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
mkn mkn's picture
I invited Nate from your
I invited Nate from your other thread to join this one. Maybe once every 72 hours would be the minimum if Nate can swing that, with once every 24 encouraged. I'm looking into EP's IC talk forum--that might the simplest place to start a game since we already have accounts. They don't seem to have a dice application, but I'd be ok trusting PCs to roll their d100 on their RL desk and report results honestly (unless someone starts having supernatural luck...). Zopaque, I would be happy to GM--I'm not totally fluent in the rules, but since it's PbP, I'll be able to look things up without slowing down the game. Would you care to pitch a character? I have a few themes and ideas for campaigns, but I'd pick and choose according to the player's interests. I would like to draft the PC's into firewall rather than having a more open plot, but other than that, I'm flexible. I'm willing to start with only two PC's, but we can try to pick up more as we go. If you know of any better platforms for PbP, I'm open. Especially with support for posting pictures--I'd love to use art in my descriptions.
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
mkn mkn's picture
Also, I fear combat could be
Also, I fear combat could be a stumbling block--if we don't post regularly, every combat round could take weeks! Maybe fewer players is better.
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
zopaque zopaque's picture
Sounds good to me
I'm totally down with starting a new character if you want to GM. I'm hoping to get some more guys I know in on this so we will see how many we can get. Hopefully some users here will pipe in and join. Also, I've been talking on another forum and a website www.obsidianportal.com was mentioned. Looks like it might be a good move for keeping characters, story, plot, and maps in one place? Another viable option is www.rpol.net. Pretty sure they've got a built in dice rolling app. As for combat, I know I'll be on everyday so that shouldn't be a problem for me at least. We could start a chat for combat instead of forum posts?? That might be cool... Problem with that is having everyone playing be available at the same time... I can get a char to you in the next couple days. Any restrictions on char builds?
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
mkn mkn's picture
Why don't we collect
Why don't we collect character *concepts* first, and see if we can get a coherent group together. I don't want you to spend two hours building a character and find out you'd rather play something else when we come up with a campaign. My motivations/biases are as follows : ) - uplifts (I'm not a chauvinist, it's just hard for me to swallow that there's so many IN SPAAAAAACE!). I suspect that in any game I run, the only living uplifts will be locked up in hypercorp labs. + firewall - Solaryans/space whales/any other morph or background that confines the storyline too much. + existential horror Generally, I'm in favor of quick messy combat and dark, ambiguous plots... Thanks for the tips on PbP platforms, I'll take a look.
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
zopaque zopaque's picture
Sure thing
BTW correct website is www.rpol.net, I corrected that in the last post of mine. Absolutely agree on uplifts and solaryans/space whales. Too much for me to handle. Of all the uplifts, I find the idea of a gorilla or octopus OK at the least. I'm very much interested in the psychological effects of transhumanism and such which goes right along with the horror stuff. Could be really interesting. Couple this with some fast combat as you said and an interesting plot and I'm good to go. What I'm looking at now char wise: I'm just going to give Background, Faction, and current morph with a brief desciption of what the char is good at. Definitely sticking to Biomorph/Synthetic Morph (this is more just personal preference) 1. Fall Evacuee - Anarchist - Splicer (Basically look at the char sheet in Sunward, Earth Survivor. I'll use this as a base and edit to my liking) 2. Original Space Colonist - Argonaut - Lunar Flier (Physics savy, pistol wielding, flying nightmare) 3. Re-Instantiated - Scum - Hazer (Basically a psychopath. I'm interested in some negative traits which can impact the story in a fun way. Good with Psi but struggling in a morph that he doesn't like.) 4. Lastly a healer build, I'll have to look into this a little deeper and find a good combo. I'm planning on having some interesting negative traits for every character plus a good backstory.
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
Nate Mg Nate Mg's picture
72 may be a little much but I'll give it a go.
As far as combat goes, honestly I wouldn't mind someone else making some of the decisions/rolls on a combat turn. That will certainly help keep the pace going. Shooting an opponent, dodging a bullet, taking cover are only means to an end like preventing so-and-so's escape, obtaining the item, silencing the witness, etc. As long as we can trust each other to act capably towards our goals, I would think we could dispense with much of the combat lag. As far as genre interests. + Mars. I really dig the PC/Barsoomian tensions there, and the western feel suggested in a few places. - Uplift morphs. While the primates and octopuses could be cool, the clanking masses already do a good job as a persecuted minority. Extra - for surya & aquatic morphs. + Firewall. I read EP as an interesting blend of Shadowrun & Delta Green. PCs are working to do good (or so they think) in a setting where massive institutions, personal choice, and instant death by TITAN all threaten not just the humanity of the individual, but whole communities & worlds. PCs are riding the edge trying to find a balance that they can live with rather than making decisions they would sooner forget. +Tradecraft. I've been watching Homeland & The Americans. I really hope we can do an okay job portraying Firewall as a clandestine organization. Spy stuff is kewl. Character concepts. 1) Martian Ranger - Barsoomian, but has to play the middle to keep the peace. Probably a little crooked as well. - I would play around with the pregen a fair amount. My ranger needs a Rust Hound or Baboon(s). 2) Infolife Scum - Having a body is novel, this character would be very Bohemian. Perhaps a fork seeking experiences for the original. Now having a bit of a contentious relationship about merging. 3) Religious Character, but not very bioconservative. Cloistered monk complete with martial arts, seeking enlightenment in the outside world. For any of these i think playing around with some Psi chi could be fun if I can swing it points wise. zopaque, what drives those characters? What kind of game do you want to play?
zopaque zopaque's picture
oh yeah
Genre: +Earth. I find the whole Earth is destroyed but not really thing cool. Also what really happened, who's down there now, etc - Uplifts, I'm with you both on this + Firewall + Morph/Ego Psychology and Psi Characters Fall Evacuee - hes a survivor and wants to find out what exactly happened and who was responsible for the death of everyone in his life. Firewall is his best bet and they are promising answers Lunar Flier - more or less exploration and research. On the verge of discovering a complex physics equation (new weapon, etc) that could aid the one who pays the most Psychopath - a lone individual stuck in a Morph he doesn't like. Psi intensive but psychologically disturbed. Wants nothing more then to find the right Morph and kill those who brought this pain on him Healer Dude - classic mercenary char. Does the job and wants the money.
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
mkn mkn's picture
Would the two of you be
Would the two of you be against playing a game where psi must be acquired rather than bought at character creation? (ostensibly, it would be by accident, but I'd be inserting Watts/Mcleod into the plot specifically to spread the psi around). I'd rather retcon psi out of the campaign entirely... My bias is that it's too conveniently magical for the tone I have in mind, and it's hard for me to imagine a game with psi that isn't *about* psi. That said, I'll get over it if it's an aspect one of you really wants to explore. I'm glad we're sort of on the same page re: uplift. I grump on the science behind octomorphs, but if nobody wants to play one, I won't go into... that. How much will it bug you to have substantial changes to the setting as written? Partly, I want to focus down on a more dark/horrific setting, but I also want to keep the setting surprising. The basic outline of setting and history will be familiar, but I'd like to take a free hand with details your character wouldn't be aware of before joining firewall. I don't know that an EP party requires a dedicated healer, but I haven't played enough to say for sure... if a nanoswarm can't handle it, I'm not sure what an old fashioned sawbones can do. Though that shouldn't keep you from taking paramedic or medical skills. All of these concepts seem workable to me. You may want to consider having a major and minor focus since the party will start small. Though if you're tricky, you should be able to work around missing specialties (ie, using social skills to secure a hacker for a mission, if there isn't one on the team). re: combat--how would it be to "automate" minor encounters (like a bar brawl, with a straightforward objective) and do round by round maneuvering for more complex action scenes, where you may want to change tactics or goals as the combat develops. From a quick glance, rpol.net looks like a strong contender. I'll sign up on Monday and see. I don't know if we'll need Obsidian Portal, at least not right away.
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
Nate Mg Nate Mg's picture
I could get over psi, but a
I could get over psi, but a story about psi sounds pretty cool. Changes behind the curtain should be fine. How do you mean more dark & horrific? More TITAN activity? So what kind of story are you thinking of mkn? What kind of skills should our characters have to succeed? re: combat- that sort of automation sounds great. Like an EP version of Burning Wheel's Bloody Versus or Fight!
zopaque zopaque's picture
No problem with scrapping Psi
No problem with scrapping Psi, I do find it interesting but by no means need a character with it. Def could go along with a story about Psi, but honestly I'm up for anything. From what we are liking and such I'll most likely stick to my Earth Survivor or Lunar Flier and adjust skills from there. Let me know what skills and kind of character you are wanting to play Nate? Once you get that post up on rpol.net, lets try to get some rough character sheets up and running.
Quote:
How much will it bug you to have substantial changes to the setting as written? Partly, I want to focus down on a more dark/horrific setting, but I also want to keep the setting surprising. The basic outline of setting and history will be familiar, but I'd like to take a free hand with details your character wouldn't be aware of before joining firewall.
Cool with this as well. I'm totally up for that setting and not knowing about Firewall to start.
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
zopaque zopaque's picture
Got another player
Just letting you guys know I got one more player. Once the RPOL is set up I'll bring him on.
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
mkn mkn's picture
I don't have an overarching
I don't have an overarching story picked yet, but I have a pile of plots, npc's, and so forth to draw from--so once I know what interests you guys, I should be able to put together a decent starting tale inside a week (hopefully figuring out the mechanics of our game platform won't add much to that). As far as dark/horrific goes--insanity, no-win situations, and ugly compromises will all be in the toolbox. Even if I knew the role TITANs would play, it would be no fun to tell you now... I know that's sort of bread and butter to the setting, but I just want to make it clear that it will be closer to Call of Cthulhu than James Bond. Re: necessary skills. To some degree, I'll play to your strengths--which has some in game logic to it--Your proxy isn't going to tap a hacker and a physicist (for example) to hunt exsurgents in the Titanian wilderness, after all. And remember that blackmail, intimidation, manipulation, hacking etc can all help you get access to skills that aren't on your character sheet. So cleverness is the only mandatory skill. Alright, psi is on the table. Purchase at character creation if you like, but don't include it in your character history--your acquisition of psi powers will be part of the first scene of the campaign. Personally, Mars is calling me as our initial setting. So the only thing I see in you guys' character concepts that might be dodgy is the Lunar Flier morph. FYI, I like Mars more for the variety it offers, so don't worry about the whole game taking place in one mileu. Take a look! Nothing's up yet, but I can upload some game background this week. http://rpol.net/game.cgi?gi=55103
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
mkn mkn's picture
Alriiiiiight, Nate and
Alriiiiiight, Nate and Zopaque, you should be able to post now. Sorry for the wait--work has kept me from learning the ins and outs of the interface, and rpol is making me realize how spoiled I am with more typical browser apps... tonight, I may figure out how to post a die roll in a thread. Nonetheless, seems well suited to our needs. Post there (with your favorite character concept) if you can, so I know I added you correctly. I estimate we can begin routine posting/gameplay about this time next week. Thanks for your patience! Haven't heard from your friend zopaque, but they're free to pm me on rpol if they want to play.
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.” -William S. Burroughs
Snowflake Snowflake's picture
I have a suggestion.. Mythweavers
Hey. I have been following the conversation here and although you already picked a PbP forum you might want to consider Mythweavers... they are PbP and its a very slick and long-lived site. It has a lot of advancements and it is no cost to you.
Smokeskin Smokeskin's picture
Is this game running? Is it
Is this game running? Is it possible to join?
zopaque zopaque's picture
I'm pretty sure yes!
We haven't started this PbF yet...I think Easter rolled around and we got busy. Waiting on mkn to finish up some stuff. If you'd like, head over to the RPOL forum: http://www.rpol.net/display.cgi?gi=55103&ti=1&date=1364677170 and sign up.
"I don't talk things," said Faber, "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" - Fahrenheit 451
BlindBleu BlindBleu's picture
May I lurk in the game?
May I lurk in the game? I am fairly new at EP, would like to see it in use. Thank You
Smokeskin Smokeskin's picture
I'd still like to join this
I'd still like to join this if it ever gets going. I'm starting a game as GM in the other EP group at rpol.net too.
Seeker of Truth... Seeker of Truth and Knowledge's picture
newbie here....
Yo, are you guys still accepting new players?
Nate Mg Nate Mg's picture
This seems to have stalled...
This seems to have stalled...
Seeker of Truth... Seeker of Truth and Knowledge's picture
hey man, its only a week and
hey man, its only a week and a bit. Considering how many games there are, I wouldnt be too picky :P4
Steel Accord Steel Accord's picture
Volunteer
If there is still room. I would love to play this game!
Your passion is power. Focus it. Your body is a tool. Hone it. Transhummanity is a pantheon. Exalt it!
Darn_the_Vargr Darn_the_Vargr's picture
Any chance we can revive this?
Hey guys. I've read a lot more of the EP core rulebook, and while thinking about how I'm going to run my game, my character ideas have burst from the bolstering creativity in my cyberbrain! I love the setting, love sci-fi, and love the concept of transhumanism and weird genders and uplifts. I'd love to play in a game where I don't have to be the GM for once! Modeling some of the upper post, here are my char(s) motives: -capitalism +communism +resource-based economies -normality +embracing mental disorders (possibly +extreme violence, depending) I would enjoy any game where we may discover some of the 'secrets' of the game (I opted not t read Game Information, b/c I adore revelations!) and focus on character development, interaction, personal life and possible romance; grittiness is fine, as well as learning to cope/participate in the darker aspects of the setting (sex, drugs, violence, slavery, genetic engineering, et al.) Feel free to contact me via Skype! Skype: dogbreath91
"You think that of Me? I! Am the ONE WHO KNOCKS!"
BlindBleu BlindBleu's picture
Vargr? Traveller Player?
Vargr? Traveller Player?
Darn_the_Vargr Darn_the_Vargr's picture
I wish. I heard about the
I wish. I heard about the wolves when I was browsing for info on games on Wikipedia. Obviously I had to tap that, lol!
"You think that of Me? I! Am the ONE WHO KNOCKS!"
Leodiensian Leodiensian's picture
I've put together something
I've put together something on the IC board for anyone who's interested. It's a game about the spaceship Crystal Wind and an exoplanet colony.
Darn_the_Vargr Darn_the_Vargr's picture
MiA?
Hello, mate. I was wondering, what ever happened to the PbP game?
"You think that of Me? I! Am the ONE WHO KNOCKS!"