Note: I'm borrowing these rules from an existing campaign that I'm taking part in.  I've found that they work well there, so I'm going to use them as well.



Basic Assumptions:

1. This is play-by-post, not tabletop. We’re not going to bother with standard turn order or formal initiative or anything like that.
 If the bad guys get the drop on you, I’ll post their action(s) when I set up the encounter. Other than that, we’ll play out fights in turn as individual duels between two(ish) characters. You can assume that if I’ve posted a response, it’s your turn and if I haven’t replied yet, it’s the NPC’s turn. If several PCs get involved with the same NPC, the NPC may not be able to attack both PCs; if so, I may post reactions for him without performing any actions--this represents times when the NPC can't act because he's busy with the other opponent. PCs are welcome to coordinate actions on a case-by-case basis—you know the NPCs will do the same. By handling fights in this way, we don’t have to worry about whose turn it is. One PC may get more screen time than another, but that’s okay. That’s the way it works in the movies, too. If a player misses a few beats, we’ll assume he’s handling his opponent offscreen, recovering from his last action, or setting up his next action. There will be a couple of ramifications to this:

   A. No more than one round per PC per day during combat.
  That's one round, which may take several posts if there's a question or clarification. This rule is just so people that are busy IRL don’t get left in the dust. If everybody is free and getting screen time, we can relax it.

 B. Players that post less often get more leeway for time on the turns they do take.
  For a player that posts every day, I’ll be pretty strict about how much he or she can accomplish in a 6-second turn. For a busy player that’s getting less air time, I don't mind fudging move or swift actions, like moving and attacking or swapping weapons or reloading, so he can get an attack or spell in. It’s not prejudicial treatment—it’s just game flow management.

 C. If you know you’ll be unavailable for a few days and don’t mind me resolving your actions for you, you can queue up actions in advance.
 If a player knows he or she will be busy for a few days during a combat, it’s okay to list several turns' worth of actions in the same post ahead of time for the GM to resolve by proxy.

 2. To speed up combat, ALWAYS combine damage rolls.
 Unless you roll an automatic failure (i.e., a 1), roll for damage in the same post you make an attack roll in case you hit. If you roll a potential critical, also make the confirmation roll in the same post.

 3. To speed up combat, we'll be multiplying Critical damage instead of rolling it.
 That way, you don't have to know whether the critical confirms or not before you roll damage.

So in the scope of things, I envision an attack going thusly in post:
For PCs:
  1. Attacker posts to describe the execution of the attack, uses the Dice roller, and includes attack, critical confirmation, and damage rolls (as appropriate) in the post.
  2. GM either posts the outcome or asks the attacker to embellish his or her (usually fatal) action with dramatic prowess.

For NPCs:
  1. Storyteller takes into account the attacker's modified AC, as previously stated in posts, uses the Dice Roller, and posts the resolution of the attack.

2.  Roll the dice when you're under pressure. Otherwise, don't.
 You don't have to roll d20 to use a skill in which you're trained unless you have to use it while people are shooting at you or while you're under serious time pressure or if you only get one chance to do it right. If you have time to work and aren't in the throes of an adrenaline rush, you don't have to roll unless the task should be too hard for you to accomplish.