From: rhunt@med.unc.edu (Rick Hunt)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Email role playing advice and opinions
Date: 27 Aug 92 19:43:12 GMT
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine
Originator: rhunt@icard


I have been email GMing for a few years now, so I feel qualified to 
give some advice.  

First and foremost, make the players read the campaign material and 
submit original characters.  A few of the players will want to bring 
in a character from another campaign that doesn't fit or is too 
experienced and powerful.  Make them start a new one.  The second 
reason for this is that email playing requires more work and 
dedication from the player than ftf.  Find out early who is willing to 
do the extra work.  I used to take players on a first come-first 
served basis and had a lot of dropouts after the game had barely 
gotten started.  Now I accept players as they get their characters 
created and accepted by the GM.  Now my dropout rate after the game 
starts is much smaller, almost nonexistant.

Have the players be in a group and have the same basic goal.  At 
first, I tried to let the players set up where they wanted and didn't 
worry if they ever got together.  This is much harder since you have 
to keep several different group's information seperate and everyone 
they interact with is an NPC.  If they are together in a group, they 
can have more interaction among themselves.  Sometimes I wonder if the 
players even need me around. :-)

One idea that I have not completely decided on is whether to let the 
players know the other player's addresses.  If I do, then they can do 
a lot of the communication without GM interaction.  Unfortunately, 
they sometimes slip up and tell the whole group something they 
shouldn't have.  If I don't tell them, I can parcel out the 
information to the correct players, but I have a lot more work to do.  
I have even tried to avoid letting the players know who are PCs, but 
that is very difficult.  Some of my players are professional writers 
and do dialog better than I do, which the other players can spot.

I prefer to avoid letting game terms creep into the game.  Email is 
ideal for this, since the GM can resolve everything in the background 
and has more time to reflect on it.  I then try to write everything 
out as it would be happening in the real world.  I even have one game 
(Shadowrun) where most of the players don't even know the rules.  I 
ask them what they are going to be doing and then resolve it into game 
terms.  I then let them know what happened without using game terms.

Expect the game to go much slower than a ftf game.  If the GM or the 
players get busy, it may be a couple of days before the moves can get 
resolved.  Learn to work around this and use it to your advantage.  
You have a lot more time to think up descriptions and names.  You can 
take a few hours to mull over an idea instead of having the time 
pressure of a ftf game when a player does something unexpected.

Players can take actions in the background that the other players 
don't know about.  You can also describe things that each player sees 
from his own point of view.  The other players won't suspect that 
something is going on when notes start being passed or the GM takes 
someone out of the room.  If one of the players finds something 
and wants to keep it to himself the others can't 'accidentally' see 
his character sheet.  Of course, just because the player thinks that 
no one else knows what he is doing doesn't mean he is right. :-)

There are some significant advantages to email rpgs.  I really enjoy 
the leisurely pace of the games and the time that I get to think.  If 
you are careful, you can get some very good players.  You get a lot of 
typing practice.  There are also some disadvatages.  The players 
don't bring any munchies.  You don't get to sit around and BS with 
your buddies.  Combats can take forever unless you just gloss over a 
lot.  Overall, however, I find it a positive experience.  

Rick Hunt
rhunt@med.unc.edu