[Tecumseh]

I'll be kicking off my first play-by-post campaign shortly. I've played Shadowrun for years as both a player and GM but this will be my first experience with play-by-post. I scanned the Gamemasters' Lounge looking for advice but I didn't see any other threads on the topic.

What are the best practices you use in your play-by-post campaigns, either as a player or a GM? How do you keep progress from slowing down to the point where it grinds to a halt? Any tips would be appreciated.

[Mirikon]

Talk with your players beforehand, so they know what you expect of them (and what they can expect of you) in terms of post rates.

Combat can be tricky, since there are times when players may want to go full defense when being attacked, and unless everyone is committed to posting at least 1/day, then posting in initiative order can bog things down. If you have to, simplify initiatives so that it is before baddies, baddies, after baddies in each pass. In the baddy post, sum up the effects of everything that has happened since the last baddy post, and if people are attacking your players, post the number of hits they got on the attack, and the damage. Let the player decide whether to abort to full defense or not. So you have Baddy A swinging at Player 1 with his katana. He gets 4 hits on the attack, and has a 3 strength. In your post (or if you have an OOC thread for actions and stuff, put it there) write: "Baddy A attacks Player 1 with his katana. 4 hits, 5P+net hits DV, -1 AP." Does this give away some of the stats of your baddies? Sure, but you gotta do something to keep the game from stalling.

Where PBP shadowrun games really stall is in the planning stage. Every so often give them a nudge in the OOC, asking if they are ready to move forward.

[Argent]

I've created/GM'd 2 PBP games (HoI and SimRTK) and played in 3 Shadowrun PBP games. Honestly the best advice I can give you is to cordon off time every day to post. If the players see inactivity from the GM then it becomes very easy for them to do the same. Be a good example and try to post every day.

Alongside that, go into detail with your posts. I'd be generous with making lots of the GM Perception rolls. Also if you are in combat, make it a story rather than just numbers and dice rolls.

Lastly, regarding dice rolls, use Invisible Castle. It's a great tool for PBP games.