DM Posts

[Benicus]

Hey I've been reading some games here that I like and I was wondering how you do your 'DM Posts'. Do you sit down and write out what your going to do and then proof-read it then take it back to the drawing board, do this 8-9 times before your satisfied to post it ;). But yeah, what I do is usually the following:

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For Chapter Starters
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Usually I think about what I want to imply with my words and then just write it out from there. I don't really put much fore-thought into the posts but I like to be as creative as possible with my descriptions and such giving the players better imagery in their minds. I like to include the player's individually but most of the time I end up with a slightly ambiguous 'You do blah blah and feel blah' post.

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For action resolution
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I like to include alot of detail, but again I don't usually put too much fore-thought into them. I love being as detailed as I can in combat but sometimes it just ends up with being something like "You hit him in his arm, [ooc:1 damage]" or something which is of course ok.

Can't end up having every post be a masterpiece now can we?

[LuneMoonshadow]

In general I just sit down with an idea in my head and start typing. Sometimes I start over but usually my first draft pleases me. I send it through word spell checker then post it. I also try to include as much detail as possible, as I think it makes it more interesting for the players but any readers out there who for one reason or another stumbled onto my games.

I like to think I do pretty well.

[nightinverse]

I've been forcing them, myself, if you couldn't tell. I've been in the midst of some personal issues for a long time, and understandably the quality has suffered - to be honest, I've never posted as a GM at the standard I want to on ORP.

If I could I would mix precomposition for starters and secondary segments with my customary improvisation for the remainder.

[Mercutio]

First thing I do is figure out initiative rolls. I write everything down on a piece of paper separately. Then I read through the PC posts and write down their intended actions. I also write down the NPC intended actions. I then go through and work out all the details (movement, attack rolls, etc) and note those. I update the maps with movement at that time. Then I write the flavor text about the characters and NPC actions. Finally I write the little OOC blurb, using my handwritten notes. The last thing I do is post the initiative order again.

[zachol]

I divide my stories into chapters and sections ("Chapter 3C," "Chapter 5D"), and theoretically books (likely to happen with Atropos and any other game with significant, deep divisions).

At the start of each section (the start of each thread), I include a moderately large bit of semi-backstory or other bit of "tonesetting" writing.
This takes a good frame of mind and about fifteen to thirty minutes of typing.


Combat posts generally take up to half an hour, or possibly fourty five minutes if it's really complex.

I give a general description, a map, and actual numerical results.


In combats, first I determine locations, then initiative, and go through all the actions.
Then I make the map, using the GIMP and some sort of premade base map (layers make moving the letters easy from round to round).


In general, everything I do is a "first draft."
I only go through the stuff for obvious typos and mistakes regarding PC actions.
Otherwise, I find that my first attempt at writing works just fine.

[hedgeknight]

When I start a new chapter, I have usually thought about it for a few days. And then I just sit down and type it out - making corrections as I go or after a re-read.

In combat, I copy the player's actions to a Word document and work out of it, being as detailed as I need to be to describe the action. I don't like "You hit and did 8 pts damage" type of writing. Instead I might say, "You slash at the Orc, leaving a bloody furrow across its chest with your battleaxe! (D8)"
Once I have everything like I want it, I copy and paste it into the thread.

Detail is the key to writing - you are in charge of describing what you are "seeing" to your players. It's hard to do sometimes - but I like the challenge.
-g-

[My Fellow Gamers]

Hey I've been reading some games here that I like


Which ones?

I don't plan much and just sit and write. Simple. It will never make me a great storyteller/writer/poster but that is my way.

[treehouse]

I don't really think I have a specific form, but generally I try to read the last few IC posts before writing a new one to make sure I'm not leaving out something that someone else wants to do. Then I just write whatever comes to me - on days that I am feeling inspired I produce work that I'm happy with, and for the longest time I'd only write when I was feeling inspired. But I am trying more often now to update my game even when I'm not satisfied with the results - any game can die if you stall too long, even if everyone is having a great time. So in the end, whatever techniques you use, make sure to post often!

Off to do that now, actually.

[AoM]

I write on the spur of the moment, post what I've written, read through it, and if anything immediately jumps out as wrong I'll edit it. Otherwise, I'm not all that "professional" with my posting.

I do try to avoid telling people what it is that they think or feel. I try to stick strictly to objective sensation descriptions. I've discovered that it helps to write everything in the 3rd person, because it creates a more objective distance between the players and the characters. A personal decision, obviously, but one that permeates through all or many of my IC posts.

For combat actions, I prefer to sacrifice strict rules for a more cinematic experience.

[Benicus]

MFG:Inceptum and RHoD mainly, though I've been off for a while.

Good to hear you guyes responses!

[elmer_jok]

I'm very critical of my own writing... to the point of hating it. So I will leave you with this suggestion.

Take a look at how coffee does his quick post scenarios. Truly genious.

[Skidrow]

I personally put quite a bit of thought into what I'm going to post; I aspire to give the best detail that I can, I feel that it makes the game that much more entertaining. However, because I've never had a post long enough or had enough information to present to my players, I don't think that I've detailed any of my posts enough for me to be truly satisfied with them.

I guess thats what happens when you plan on being an author.;)

[elmer_jok]

You are always your own worse critic. That's true in any form of art.

[zachol]

Yeah, but for some people the self-criticism is better-placed than for others.



As a note, I'm finding pbp DMing and RL DMing have an amazingly different set of skills.

Either that or my D&D buddies are way more used to open-ended DMing than usual.

[crueldespot]

I have an MS Word document with all of the IC posts. I copy all of the player posts into the end of the word document, then write the DM post there. Then I copy and paste the DM post from word onto the messageboard. That way I have an archive in case something happens to the messageboard site, and I don't have to worry about the post getting lost due to connection problems.

[LeeCHeSSS]

[...] That way I have an archive in case something happens to the messageboard site [...]Heh, I reckon that the backups of this site are safer than your Word document... I have more than 3.5 GB of backups on a redundant RAID 1 setup.

[crueldespot]

That's good to know. We moved here from another site that went down and lost everything. I was glad to have my own backup copy. Even if the technical side is 100%, God forbid you could get hit by a bus or become a born again Christian or something so that one day I would find "404" when I opened this site. It is also handy when I hit "submit reply" and the post disappears due to a bad connection. Instead of losing the content I just repaste from my word document.

I just feel safer with redundancy.

I just feel safer with redundancy.

Redundancy.

[LeeCHeSSS]

I can understand that feeling :)

Back on topic now...