DM Getting Started with PbP

Hi GP folks,

I'm starting a PBP Dnd 5e game for some close friends, and I wanted to see how its done before we get started.
I'm primarily here to read/learn for a while, but I am interested in joining a game or three once I get our game running.

I found this game that I'm reading through but very much appreciate any other suggestions.
Especially if you know of any Wild beyond the witch light games because thats what I'm going to run my friends through.


My group has played through mines of phandelver in person years ago and we've each taken turns trying to DM longer campaigns in the past but life got in the way so none of them got past 5-6 sessions. We all talk everyday online for 10+ years now so I'm hopeful we can use PbP to get a solid campaign in.

Thanks for this welcoming a community, hopefully I'll be in a game with one of you you someday!

Welcome BojacPrime! I hope you can find a suitable game soon, here.

If you want to see how GP functions, here are links to the New GP Member Guide, the forum rules, this video introduction made by user Qralloq and a little helpful formatting guide made by user Adam. You might also be interested in looking through some public games as well to get a feel for the site.

If you have any questions about how to use the site, you can put them into our Questions and Help subforum.

To join a game, keep your eyes on the Games Tavern, where GMs advertise their games and look for players.

You're also invited to join us on the Discord server for some friendly conversation, about the site, RPGs in general or anything else!

If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to contact any of the following moderators:

BedzoneII
CancerMan
Dr_B
Falconloft
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KCC
Keleth (site owner)
LightOfMidnight
Psybermagi

Happy gaming!

Welcome Aboard!

What are your general plans for your PbP game, BojacPrime? What's your expectations?

Hey-yo! There are a few DnD campaigns that have been running for years here on GP (like this), so there is a wealth of info, tips and templates to pick from. If you go to "Games" on top and then click on the red "Browse Games" button, the list of all current games can be viewed. You can simply type "Dungeons" in the search bar to view all DND stuff or name of the campaign to see if any you're interested in running/playing are up. There are no Wild beyond the witch light, but I'm pretty sure there was one or two phandelver miners around, though I think they were using Nimble ruleset.

There are a lot of nifty features on GP so if you're seeing something you want to incorporate but don't know how - do not hesitate to ask! Folks are all friendly and more than willing to help!

Thank you!

My general plan is to get everyone comfortable with dnd and hopefully continue the group past "beyond the witchlight" into another level appropriate campaign until I'm comfortable enough to sand box.

My realistic expectation is that it will drag at first as they figure out how to pace posting with each other.
I think it will give them more depth of roleplaying opportunities once they do, and that will hopefully overcome the pacing issues.
I've communicated that we will plan calls occasionally for dense sections.

My pie in the sky hope is that regular posting will get them so comfortable with DnD we can do more regular 1-2 hour live call sessions along with the PbP. I think part of our troubles in the past was everyone needing to remember how to play every session because we could only meet once a month if we were lucky.

Thank you, I'm going to take a look at that game for sure.

And walking back through the game search also helped.
I think I clicked on private games before without realizing it and assumed none of the games had links to their forums.
I was going to ask how to find them but now I see they are available on most of the games posted as public.

Welcome :)

Pacing can be a challenge until you all get the hang of it. In PbP asynchronous posting is both an advantage and a curse. You can end up waiting for someone to post AND get flooded with posts from everyone else at the same time. PbP posting can get 'fast & furious' at times and then drag for a while, depending on what's going on in-game and IRL. The good news is that learning the flow comes pretty quickly and gets easier with time.

Asynchronous posting is GREAT because it allows everyone time be to included AND to have time to craft a thoughtful response, look up particular rules, strategize, etc.

GamersPlane has a lot of really great image & text formatting features that can make the PbP experience easy and make keeping track of things from day to day pretty accessible and organized! If you haven't seen Qralloq's YouTube series on using GamersPlane, I HIGHLY recommend it. Asking around on the forums and Discord is a great way to get advice on that too.

Welcome to the fold!