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I'm just starting off with a text based Lords of Gossamer and Shadow campaign, using roll20.net. I've never run this system before, and I've never participated in a text based campaign. So I'd better figure some things out.
I'll take my old standard, Microscope, as the baseline for getting the game going. An initial round of posts from the players to veto things they don't like, and include things they want to cover, is a great way to get people on the same page, or at least in the same book. Hopefully from the people who expressed an interest I'll be able to identify a group that I think can play well together.
As for gameplay, there doesn't need to be the equivalent of a session, like there would be in a live game. I think the round based structure of Microscope will work well again. One player can make a new thread, outlining some new plan, an event, the arrival of a new character, or the arrival of their character in a new place. Other players can then reply, adding their characters' reactions to the scene. When all the other players have made a post, or a certain time limit has passed, the original player closes the thread with a final comment. This might represent a week's worth of posts.
Then the next player in turn gets to open a thread, which could follow on from the previous one, or be independent, particularly if their own character wasn't present in the previous scene. Over time we get story threads initiated by each player, and every player gets to riff off each other player.
So where does that leave the GM? I can initiate threads too, and it's up to players to respond to them or not. I might say that the game week starts on Monday, and if no player has initiated a thread by Wednesday then I'll initiate one.
In terms of mechanics, I might just publish the abilities of all the characters as they come up. That way a player will always know if they will win or lose in a contest, and there's no need for the GM to chime in whenever resolution is needed. Players can choose the right type of contest for their character, and even narrate figuring out how to defeat an enemy. I don't like the idea of having everything out in the open though, so another option is that I just post whenever a ruling needs to be made, and hope that I don't have to contradict players.
One more option is that I send rulings as private messages, so they are invisible among the posts. This would lead to a much cleaner narrative. If players can remember to state what they intend their character to do, and leave room for the resolution to be unknown, then this can work well.
I'll take my old standard, Microscope, as the baseline for getting the game going. An initial round of posts from the players to veto things they don't like, and include things they want to cover, is a great way to get people on the same page, or at least in the same book. Hopefully from the people who expressed an interest I'll be able to identify a group that I think can play well together.
As for gameplay, there doesn't need to be the equivalent of a session, like there would be in a live game. I think the round based structure of Microscope will work well again. One player can make a new thread, outlining some new plan, an event, the arrival of a new character, or the arrival of their character in a new place. Other players can then reply, adding their characters' reactions to the scene. When all the other players have made a post, or a certain time limit has passed, the original player closes the thread with a final comment. This might represent a week's worth of posts.
Then the next player in turn gets to open a thread, which could follow on from the previous one, or be independent, particularly if their own character wasn't present in the previous scene. Over time we get story threads initiated by each player, and every player gets to riff off each other player.
So where does that leave the GM? I can initiate threads too, and it's up to players to respond to them or not. I might say that the game week starts on Monday, and if no player has initiated a thread by Wednesday then I'll initiate one.
In terms of mechanics, I might just publish the abilities of all the characters as they come up. That way a player will always know if they will win or lose in a contest, and there's no need for the GM to chime in whenever resolution is needed. Players can choose the right type of contest for their character, and even narrate figuring out how to defeat an enemy. I don't like the idea of having everything out in the open though, so another option is that I just post whenever a ruling needs to be made, and hope that I don't have to contradict players.
One more option is that I send rulings as private messages, so they are invisible among the posts. This would lead to a much cleaner narrative. If players can remember to state what they intend their character to do, and leave room for the resolution to be unknown, then this can work well.
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