Game Formats: Live vs. Play by Post

This week on game formats I'm going to talk about the difference between live games and play by post games. The two formats are very different from each other, different enough that they almost feel like entirely different games. Running each style needs to be approached differently if they are going to work well. So join me as I break down each style...

Live Games:

These are the games that most people think about when you mention Dungeons and Dragons. They are the games that take place around tables covered in character sheets, pencils, and books. They are the games we play on Roll20, and the ones that are recorded by professionals like over at Critical Role.

These are the strengths of a live game:

• Pacing. You can get through much more game much more quickly than you can in play by post.
• Socializing. You get to talk or listen to each other all at the same time. Inside jokes develop as people become friends.
• Dice Rolling. Dice rolling happens live. If you are a person that worried about people cheating (something I tend to think is a waste of time), then you can see the dice either on the table, or in the game chat of whatever table top replacement program you are using. In addition, when dice rolling happens live, it adds weight to moments when everything relies on the dice. Critical hits are celebrated with others, and critical failures cause the rest of the table to empathize.

Pretty great, but here are some weaknesses of the live game:

• Scheduling. Everyone in the group needs to be free for several hours, all at the same time.
• Party Splitting. Splitting the party can cause major issues. The Dungeon Master has to think about not spending an entire session putting the spotlight on one of the split groups. Unless they decide to run the groups in different sessions, which can be hard to schedule and make the parties feel isolated from each other.
• Recording. Most of the time live games aren't recorded. The only record of them is in the notes of the Dungeon Master and players. When you invite someone new to the game, there's no way for them to catch up with the rest of the story except for it being told to them by someone else.

Now lets move onto the play by post game. But before we get into the strengths and weaknesses of this format, let me first explain what it is. I'm sure many people in the rp community have never participated in one of these.

The play by post game became popular as rp communities developed on the internet. They replaced the much older (and slower) play by mail games. Can you imagine playing Dungeons and Dragons by sending letters to people? I think I'd go insane.

Eventually the play by post game congregated around message boards. And this is where they get their name. The game would update with a player making a new post, and then the dungeon master would respond with the results. 

Now days these games are still found on message boards, but many have moved to places with active text chats like Skype and Discord. 

Now we're all on the same page, let's jump into the strengths and weaknesses of the format:

The Strengths:

• Participating in a play by post game is as close to writing as you can get while playing Dungeons and Dragons. Depending on the game, you might be crafting a story with expert writers who really know how to describe a scene and a situation. 
• Immersion. In most play by post games there is a rule not to post out of character information in the game chat. There is usually another chat or message board devoted to that sort of conversation. That leaves the game chat as a perfect record of what's happening, without any interruptions of people asking for clarification or permission to do things. 
• Scheduling. Play by post games usually have a set schedule to them, but nothing like a live game requires. Instead of everyone being free at the same time, there is a set expectation of how many times you will update. A slow game might be once a day (I even played a short lived game that tried a once a week schedule), and some games allow four, five, six, or even more posts a day. Either way, along with the expectation that you will update this much, there is also an expectation that you will allow others time to update as well. 
• Non contact gaming. With a play by post you never have to interact with another person face to face, or even voice to voice. This format works really well for people that deal with social anxiety, or just flat out don't like dealing with other people in person.
• Party Splitting. The format of a play by post game works really well for parties splitting up. In a live game, a split party requires the DM to split their attention. The group is only together for a few hours at a time, and the Dungeon Master has to deal with both groups, but can only deal with one group at a time. In a play by post game, the Dungeon Master has time to update both stories as they happen. 
• In character relationships. I don't mean romantic ones. But because play by post games move slower, there is often more time for people to spend forming the close ties that adventuring parties would form. This works especially well when a few members of the party move to a separate chat to play out a night story telling around the campfire, or hanging out in the common room of an inn. These scenes might not drive the plot of the game forward, but they can drive the relationships closer.

Like live games, play by posts have lots of advantages. But they also struggle with some major problems:

• System clutter. In a live game, if a player has a question, it's a moment of seconds for a Dungeon Master to answer it. But during a play by post game the player has to wait until the Dungeon Master checks the message board or chat log. And if the Dungeon Master needs to clarify something about the question, it has to wait again until the player checks in. This can lead to long segments where nothing is happening in game because a player and DM are hashing something out. The more complicated the system is, the more difficult this becomes to manage.
• Initiative. This fits in with system clutter, but deserves its own point. When you are playing with a strict initiative order, a game can really slow down. Out of combat posts can happen whenever a person logs on. Even if you are waiting for the whole group to respond, it doesn't matter what order people post in. But if you are running initiative, and you check the game at noon, only to find out that your turn isn't for another three turns, you have missed a chance to post. Initiative requires posts to be in a certain order, and that can suck big time.
• Pace. Play by post games move at a crawl. That can be nice in the sense that it gives a player or Dungeon Master time to think out what they want to do. But it can also be disheartening.
• Players (or Dungeon Masters) ghosting. This is starting to happen in live games too, especially when running on things like roll20. But this happens a lot in the play by post world. People will sign up for a game, and then a week or two in decide that they don't like it. In a live game that would likely be a single session, a matter of a few hours. But since it is drawn out longer in a play by post game, it can be a much bigger deal.

So what does this all mean? It means that the formats are very different, and what works well in one format doesn't in another. It means that thinking about the type of game you are running is important when developing what you want to accomplish in them.

Because play by post games can grind to a slog so easily, and because they move slower in general, it can be hard to get through and epic plot. Play by post games lend themselves much better to simple stories that can be tied together.

I also consider what system I'm using while running play by post games. Gritty systems like Dungeons and Dragons can get bogged down in initiative, skill rolls, attack rolls, saves, and all sorts of other situations. A play by post game can be much more effective with rules light systems like Fate Accelerated. 

And the biggest take away I have for people, is that the experience of each format is incredibly difficult. If you go into a play by post game expecting the same experience you get from a live game, you're going to be disappointing. But it works the other way as well. If you consider the format's strengths, you can play to them, and provide a much better experience for everyone.