tabletop rpg's over the net

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for a long time i have been wanting to play some of the tabletop rpg's i love, alternity and DnD, the friends i used to play with have all scattered in search of their respective educations and as such i find myself without any friends interested.
now i have been looking for online comunities playing these games and have found a few (somewhat inactive) sites, some use whatever collaboration software that works to share vital info like maps and the like and do the gaming in a chat, toehrs use special made software for the purpose.

does anyone have any experience playing tabletop rpg's online?
if so did it work or did the gameplay suffer from a lack of comunication?

I do, they don't last, problem is like, world of Warcraft, people get bored, like I was in a Guild, the leader of it, was not online for like 6 months, no one was in charge and it just went no where, apprently, he knew he was going to stop playing but didn't appoint a new guild leader... I've forumed Blizzard many times and asked, well, say if the leader is off line for more then a month, the guild leadership should go to whom ever has total Activity time on guild.

i am not talking about mmorpg's here, those i already play.

the tabletop scene is quite different in structure.

Oh, yes. Quite often.


There was plenty of communication, just not the kind that kept the story rolling.

I play Traveller. It's billed as "Science-Fiction Adventure In The Far Future". While there is plenty of canonical adventure material, the game system is open enough to allow application to almost any science-fiction story - Firefly/Serenity, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate: SG1, and several Anime/Manga storylines.

Unfortunately, Cadzie was right. Most on-line TTRPGs do not last, and mostly due to equal parts lack of players and failing player interest.

Most of my attempts lasted less than a month. Only one lasted longer, and failed just short of one year.

HOWEVER...

The best way to handle such an endeavor (imo) is to have two threads: one that is open to public commentary, and another that is close to all but the GM (and the mods, of course). The GM presents the current situation in the closed thread, and the players respond by PM to the GM, who then determines the outcome of all player actions and posts the new situation in the closed thread. Running commentary can be made by anyone in the open thread, but no action posted there is 'canonical' to the closed thread.

The game turns take anywhere from 24 hours (for really dedicated players and really ambitious GMs), to 7 days (for more casual, but no less dedicated players and GMs).

I can advise you further, but I can not run a game at this time.

hmm never thought it could be done in forum format,

all examples i have seen use software similar to openrpg or use live chat.

maybe the real issue here is finding a large enough player base.

A bunch of my friends tried running an online game once, but by the time they had finally worked out most of the kinks in the program, the rest of us had all lost interest or become busy.

Plus, I had a heck of a time trying to convince them that I didn't have a working microphone to use in Ventrillo

BINGO!

Rules? There are plenty of rule systems out there to choose from, even though most games seem to evolve their own "house" rules.

Websites? Dozens ... hundreds ... thousands available.

GMs?: Everybody wants to be a GM, it seems.

Players? I think that most are looking for another WoW or Starcraft experience, and not the table-top method that us old-timers grew up on. If they don't get the flashy graphics, the 5.1 surround sound, and the neat little add-ons that give them advantages over other players, then they will soon be distracted by those game sites that offer these things.

I haven't played any Tabletop RPGs online, but I have played post-by-post ones. In those, you can flesh your character out a lot, due to their being no rule system besides what is stated by the GM first. Really, your writing a story with other people. Cool?

I've only ever played a tabletop RPG once and it was DnD (forgot which ruleset). I've always wanted to play online but couldn't seem to find anyone who plays the ones I'm interested in DnD/World Of Darkness. I'm a programmer and could totally make custom software to accomidate a game like this (chat/info sharing/turn tracking/whatever) But I lack any friends to do it with. The closest I've found to what you where talking about was the tabletop RPG games on Byond. Not only do people/adults/kids make their own games easily on there, but they've also mastered some real nice supportive programs for tabletop gaming and you're always guarenteed an audience. If you host ANYTHING on that site it lights up for everyone to see

I've only ever done play by post stuff too, tried making a custom game with adapted rules mixed with NWOD and some wargame. The story had fighter pilots and stuff, kind of like Wing Commander. Everyone lost interest and we only had 4 people anyway.

I really prefer just playing with people I know anyway. Maybe its just a combination of shyness and not having thick skin toward people that just want to "roll" play which seems a lot more common on the internet. I think tabletop is more fun in person but that's just impossible for people living out in the middle of nowhere so it has to exist.

Does the RPGA still exist? That's where went after my regular role-playing group moved away.

PS Thumbs up on the Alternity.

Don't know much about this Byond thing...
But I do know of rptools.net (And one other I really haven't looked at.). You can program it anyway you want, or just use the standard plug-ins. Takes a bit to learn, I'm sure, but it's probably the best out there.

I would be down for some RP'ing. PM if interested (But not really interested in forum post RP'ing. I'd rather do voice chat or at least IM'ing.).

Hey, in case anyone wonders, I also have a thing for every 'monster' race(except drow-they annoy the heck out of me) in Pathfinder. Especially Kobolds and Goblins. I haven't played the game yet, but I have made a goblin sorcerer and Kobold cavielier. If I ever was a GM, I would have a 'No Drow' rule since everyone would ask when I said monster races are allowed if they could play Drow. Also, from what I know of the character from tv tropes and webcomics, Drizz't is supposedly an overused character-archetype.

Last edited by Anarbaculardrop on 08 Aug 2012, 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I really liked how Gary Gygax explained why having PCs as monsters is a bad idea, in the AD&D 1st Edition DM's Guide; he made a lot of good points.

@_@

Actually, kobolds actually make good adventurers of you play them right. So do goblins and tieflings.

Also, I thinking of calling my fantasy world Chitheria Tempelian. Cool?

Note: Click here to see the Post-by-Post RP I started for it!