Etiquette
In Dungeon World, gameplay is a conversation. This lends itself very well to the play-by-post format. If we structure that conversation a little bit and follow some rules, it's going to make things move faster, be easier to follow, and be more fun for everybody.
Do not act as others. You cannot describe what someone else is doing. You cannot make decisions for other players.
Use Colors. Pick a color for your character, and use that color for things your character is literally saying aloud. Keep the details (text about the effects of your move, descriptions, the dice rolls, etc) in black. Use that same color for the entire game, so when somebody sees red or whatever, they think "Jim the Fighter!" Do you have an apprentice? A wolf? Pick a color for them, too.
Use the first person as much as possible. Speak as your character, not as someone telling the story of your character. Say "I charge into the fray!", not "Albus Dumbleshit charges into the fray!". This helps you focus on action, not description of action, while enforcing your limitation of only portraying the actions of your own character by keeping you in the mindset of your dude, not the mindset of a novelist. We don't need to tell a story, because through out actions, this story will tell itself.
Pre-roll if it's obvious. Sometimes, your stated action is just simple and obvious and you know you're going to do some kind of check. Don't bother making the GM ask you to make the check - just include it in the initial post. If the GM decides you can't, or must do something else first, we'll work it out.
| quote: |
| JimFighter: "I charge at the Goblin while screaming my mother's name, sword in both hands! I Hack'n'Slash with a roll of 11, and a damage roll of 6." GM: "In your seething fervor, you failed to notice the archer in the tree until after you start charging. Before you get to the Goblin, what do you do about the archers that are loosing arrows at you?" JimFighter: "I see them, but I don't fucking care. For winterfell!!! I Defy Danger by powering through it (STR), and roll a 5. Shit." GM: "Arrow after arrow rains down around you, and several of them hit. As you jump through the air to bring your sword down on the goblin's skull, you take 7 damage. You've got arrows sticking out of your back, but now the goblins head is in two messy pieces." |
Turn Timer. There's no strict timer on post frequency, and because players can act simultaneously (see below), you often won't be holding anybody up if you're not responding quickly. That said, I'd appreciate it if everyone reads all news messages at least every other day. Additionally, if you are required to respond (the GM asks you a question), please do so within the next day or so. Some people can play all day, and some only play at night. It'll work out.
Enable notifications. Go into user prefs and turn on a notification schedule that suits your lifestyle. Please. If you aren't responding to questions in a timely manner, Bad Things Will Happen to your character. I'm not above a little cannibalism.
Players can act simultaneously. While JimFighter is charging, JoeWizard can cast a spell. The GM will figure out the timing. We all know that this is asynchronous play, so we'll figure out a way to make it work. Sometimes, that might mean, that we learn something that negates a previously posted action and we'll strike it from the record or modify it to make more sense. In general, we'll be able to work around it in an actiony way. "JoeWizards spell distracts two of the archers. JimFighter, change that 7 damage to a 5.