Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 scottishviking Aug 10, 2010 12:24:25	I am already playing in a 4E in-person campaign here in Toronto, but I am looking to get a little more action. Problem is, well, family and home-based requirements. I would love to investigate the possibility of joining an online campaign. Can someone perhaps direct me to resources, or give me a few pointers about where to start? Anything is better than playing another MMO! Thanks in advance, SV
#2 lamarok Aug 12, 2010 11:18:52	Hey Viking, this community would be the best place to start. Try joining a couple of groups that host campaigns such as 'Play by Post Haven' and 'Real Adventures' and look at the recruitment/set-up threads within the forum. It may take a little while for a new one to start up as several campaigns can go on for months so many of the people willing to DM are swamped.  Another idea is to simply look around the different forums within the community and find someone who is learning to DM or trying to put a campaign together and ask them if you could be a player when they get it running and they can PM you with the details if it gets off the ground. Doing it this way also shows them people have an interest and they may be more motivated to start it and they can ask for your opinion on things before it starts.
#3 zeropoint Aug 12, 2010 19:40:47	Hey, Scottish. I'm interested in an online game as well. I can play or DM, so  lets get a few other people and get something going!
#4 lamarok Aug 12, 2010 23:13:55	Check me in as a player! What kind of campaign would you be looking to host assuming you end up as a DM Zero?
#5 zeropoint Aug 13, 2010 0:21:59	As a DM, I always look to run a game that my players are interested in. I usually hold a vote for which setting to use, though I can also run a standard points of light style if that's what the players want. I tend to make my own adventures and use a lot of custom monsters. I permit any published material in character generation, and have only a few houserules, mostly to fine-tune encounter pacing as opposed to changing the way combat works. In terms of what you could expect from my DMing style, my philosophy is that the DMs job is to give the players a good time while remaining an honest portrayer of the consequences of their actions and decisions. But fun always comes first. I run combat-heavy campaigns, but NPCs tend to naturally develop as the campaign moves along and I try to tell a compelling metaplot if the situation allows it. Player decisions guide my campaigns, and I work with them rather than at cross-purposes to plan events. So if you decide to kill the head priest and quest-giver and my favorite NPC guy who has 6 pages of backstory, I'll work with the consequences instead of saying 'no' or 'rocks fall etc.' But the game is usually more fun when that sort of thing happens very rarely . If I do end up running a game (yes please!) I would also throw out a few ground-rules about content. No sexually explicit themes, no meaninglessly evil actions (e.g. killing and eating orphans for the lulz), and no violent inter-party conflict unless all parties agree to it out of character before hand. A few other standard bits.   Most of all, I really love the game and am always looking for a chance to play it with people who feel the same. I've never run an online game, but I've played in one and am passingly familiar with many of the tools. Is anyone else on the forums interested?
#6 zeropoint Aug 13, 2010 0:37:05	I should also mention that, although most of my experience is with DMing, I love to play the game as well. I have enough free time that preparing for each game shouldn't be a problem, but if anyone else wants to DM/if someone shows up who has more experience running online games, I would be elated to play as well.
#7 lamarok Aug 13, 2010 1:32:28	Well that sounds fantastic, i would suggest you join Play by Post Haven and get a recruitment thread started as soon as time allows. I vote for a 4e setting as the majority of new people are easily acquainted with the rules and i am good for any campaign although if i had to put in a suggestion i would want something involving the underdark as im currently reading the Drizzt Do'Urden books and love the entire setting of dark elf society and the intrigue that follows with it. It would be interesting to start people out in the same house and see how the characters interact with each other and where they draw the line during encounters such as House Wars(clan conflict) and other things such as deity.  If you have never read the books then i would avoid that but i would also like to try something involving the new Dark Sun campaign even if you are using only the setting.
#8 zeropoint Aug 13, 2010 2:17:14	I have read the Dark Elf Trilogy and the Icewind Dale Books, though not the later Drizzt novels. I liked the portrayal of Drow society as well, and would be willing to run such a campaign if it won the vote. It would be a difficult double whammy, though, in that it would require both an evil group and some intrigue heavy adventures, both of which I've run before but only with players I know. As for the edition, my vote is definitely 4E as well. I like the rules, and it gets all the current support. It would mean I'd have to sign of for DDI, but I was going to get around to that eventually anyway. I'll head over to play-by post now.
#9 zeropoint Aug 13, 2010 3:29:46	All right, I've officially announced a DM looking for players in the VTT group forum. Head over there and check in if you are interested, please! It would be great if we could actually get this started. Are there any other more frequented forums that we could post this link? I'm not sure how many people check the VTT forums, and it might help attract more interest if we targeted a forum that gets more visitors.
#10 lamarok Aug 14, 2010 1:31:54	I have a had a few PMs for reserved slots if VTT does not work out and we swap over to PbP. I am good either way but leaning toward VTT just because your combat system seems like it would be alot of fun.
#11 DanTracker Aug 14, 2010 10:48:03	For either that are interested, mydndgame.com is a fantastic site to host play-by-post games. I run several adventures in one campaign and play in a few others. It is pbp, which not everyone enjoys for the slow pace, but it is a free site that has a robust CMS. It includes dice rolls in the script when making posts, that is a nice touch also.
#12 scottishviking Aug 15, 2010 13:13:43	Thanks very much for the replies everyone. I'm currently mulling my options and will send some PMs soon! Thanks again! SV
#13 lokust Aug 15, 2010 15:54:45	For either that are interested, mydndgame.com is a fantastic site to host play-by-post games. I run several adventures in one campaign and play in a few others. It is pbp, which not everyone enjoys for the slow pace, but it is a free site that has a robust CMS. It includes dice rolls in the script when making posts, that is a nice touch also. If only it had freeform and misc to chose from the list of systems i would have found a new home.
#14 scottishviking Aug 15, 2010 16:32:37	If only it had freeform and misc to chose from the list of systems i would have found a new home. What system do you use for remote games?
#15 zeropoint Aug 16, 2010 1:28:01	For anyone who might still be interested, I started up a group and am looking for players for an online game. Check it out.
#16 lokust Aug 16, 2010 4:44:16	If only it had freeform and misc to chose from the list of systems i would have found a new home. What system do you use for remote games?   I prefer to go without a system, at least as far as the players know. No dice rolling. Players roleplay attacks and abilities and i as dm check with a basic balance system so that no single character pwns the ground more than the others.
#17 feyberry Aug 17, 2010 0:09:38	You should also look into the forums at www.rptools.net  That's the official forums for the virtual tabletop software, MapTool.  The picture below is where my campaign ended tonight and is an example of what you can do with MapTool.  The invoker is near death, the rogue/warlock is dying, and the bard just got blasted through a circle of explosive runes.  Should be fun next week. heavensgate.wikidot.com/local--files/sta...
#18 zeropoint Aug 17, 2010 11:12:35	Thanks for the advice, Feyberry, I'd already decided to use that program, but it's nice to hear that it's working well for someone else!
#19 mobar2008 Aug 17, 2010 15:22:09	Are you Thanks for the advice, Feyberry, I'd already decided to use that program, but it's nice to hear that it's working well for someone else! Is your game still open for players?
#20 zeropoint Aug 17, 2010 19:19:58	Is your game still open for players? Unfortunately we are pretty full currently, but I'll let you know if any spots open up, or if I hear about any other online games that need players.
#21 mobar2008 Aug 17, 2010 19:40:32	Thanks!