Well, if my wife finds it before I do, she will NOT be pleased!

I doubt it's been delivered, yet, or I would have gotten that phone call asking me what in the heck I have ordered now?!

Thanks for the update, and I look forward to its arrival so that I may move forward with my own PBeM campaign I am working up ... I just have to get additional motivation, and I expect this will do it!

- Carl

i'm preparing an order from the store. any idea how long from order date to arrival in NY? I'm trying to get an idea for when I might get books and when it will allow me to start my campaign. sorry to continue to derail the topic!

I'm not positive, but it should arrive within a week, maybe less.

I'm thinking Richmond was one stop before it got sent out my way (I am sort of in the sticks) ... so, I suspect it will get here on Monday.

And here I was hoping to peruse it on Sunday! Ah, well, I guess I'll have to spend today with the wife and kids!

- Carl

Very good sourcebook, all 'round. I like the oruskans, an especially the kobolds.

I got it Tuesday ... now I am looking through it and trying to come up with a setting and a campaign area ... and a PbP forum to run a game.

Ah, fun.

- Carl

Groovy Gamers has a friendly environment for pbp games. www.groovygamers.com - They're hands off and the people are very welcoming.

I own a site called NextGen RPG, and we have two Desolation games starting up soon (think we decided on January after the holidays), if you're interested in a setting where crossovers might could happen. Thing is, we're pretty story driven (interactive fiction), so might be more work than your after, and you'd have to endure the whole discussion about GM commitment and such - which I assure you is a pain. ...but I hate games that make a call and never get off the ground or stop shortly after. www.nextgenrpg.com (We're not forum based though, we use shared editing/web 2.0)

I have a whole list of role playing forum communities, if you want more of them. ...but groovy gamers has a thriving active community, so that's why I suggested them. If you want more links, I'd be happy to give them to you so that you can check out some others.

Weeeelllll, I could mention there's a game site out there who's currently in the stages of starting two Desolation games but would be glad to host a third. The site is http://www.nextgenrpg.com; one of its organizers posts in these very forums under the handle Chairman. You could PM her here or at the site if you're interested.

Wherever you decide to stake your claim, let us know. I'm raring for some Desolation action!

Edit: And she beats me to it! Woo hoo!

Hmmm ... two to ponder. I'm liking the narrative that I see with Nextgen, but it might take a little work to understand how to alternate posts without riskin ga player accidentally deleting the entire thread!

Though, I am familiar with the simple machines forum used in Groovygamers as it is the same one used in Cortexsystemrpg ...

I'll have to look a little more at each and see which is more user friendly. Ideally, I hope to put out maps and info, and allow for players to post with the GM to modify the actions. I am not sure how that works in Nextgen just yet, but in Cortexsystemrpg they tend to run an active thread, and the GM later compiles the individual posts into a more cohesive single thread, so I assume the same can be done in the Groovygamers system. But, I would certainly like to support this site's resident Chairman, so I will give that site a look-see and mull over what it can do.

- Carl

Impossible. *grin* Each new addition creates a new revision. So if someone accidentally deleted all the text in the shared document, we can revert (The GM can revert) it to the previous revision. It's never happened, it is possible, but could be repaired by clicking a few buttons. Only the GMs and Admins could fix it, it would likely freak the offending player out - and give them that belly dropping into the ground feeling. But we could fix it right quick.




oh...I have NO idea about the uh.. technical parts of the thing-a-ma-jigs. *grin* I just like friendly thriving communities, beyond that, I'm useless when it comes to pbp sites. I just don't like those places where the admins try to keep to close a hold on GMs games, it can be a buzz kill.



No worries about supporting me, seriously, I'm kind of a pain in the butt. Nearly everyone regrets getting tangled up with me, it somehow leads to work and unplanned projects. Consider yourself forewarned, just in case.

...BUT... let me tell you about how games are run there. Each document is basically a living breathing compilation of a game move. The GM starts it and players hop into the same document, find where they want to add their parts, add it and save. So there is no compiling required later. GM actions and Player actions are added to the same shared document, GMs can edit anything at any time.

The site has a die roller set up for Ubiquity, has picture galleries, forums (for out of character banter), private place for user notes, blogs for character side fiction pieces/journals/whatever, and as much room and pages as you need to create a game related guidebook.

It has a lot of cool things, it really does. But we have our down side too. We come with an audience, a peanut gallery of sorts, that often times will read your game moves whether you want them to or not, and leave comments. Usually good, but it doesn't offer a lot of privacy unless you request a private game to be set up. A LOT of focus is put on the narrative/story part of the game, more so that the mechanics of the game, so it doesn't appeal to as many straight up gamers as a pbp game might.

If you're a gamer that likes to write or a writer that likes to game, then we're a perfect fit. ...but if you just want to play, and not worry about creating a story, then we're likely more work/effort than we're worth. So, it's totally about the style of play and quality of writing that you're after as a GM. Now, if you do decide you're interested, I'd be happy to give you a personal tour and tutorial. It only takes about five minutes to figure out once you open a page, but describing it can be a pain.

Two more things.

Here is an EXAMPLE (unfinished, work in progress) of the beginnings of my guide book for my upcoming Desolation game, http://www.nextgenrpg.com/content/vernal-steps - It's also a good example of our peanut gallery. *grin* Do forgive my moodyness in the comment section, it was the same day my hubby forgot our 13 year wedding anniversary.

secondly, Imajica is almost done with a style chip counter as well, which was a big concern of mine. I worried quite a bit about the extra step involved with awarding style chips during game play. Making it an extra out of character action, keeping track of them, a whole bunch of really simple things, but when you added them all up it had potential to slow down the game (in a text based medium). So the idea, is that this style chip counter, just has each character's name along with an editable field for their style chips, and will show up on your game pages, so as you award them, you add them on the spot and click save - everyone sees them.

I know people are running Hex based games successfully without it...but for me, the idea of tracking all of those things was a nightmare. So, that just might be me being a needy bit, more than a must have thing, but still. I wanted to share.

I imagine that particularly problematic peanut gallery posters could be exorcised by Admin, right?

As for my games, I tend to be more into the story than the mechanics. I have run - and continue to run - a number of PBeM games, but particularly enjoyed the possibility of a forum game because of the problems one might imagine with an e-mail game (people posting replies at the same time, stepping on each other, etc.) I currently play in a pair of Cortex system games and the stories are good, but the pace has been kinda slow.

I have mulled over both a Savage Worlds Post Apoc game using the Darwin's World environment, Savage Worlds in the Midnight environment, or, Desolation. I like both systems (SW and Ubiquity) and have an interest in all three backgrounds. It's more a matter of finding 3 or 4 dedicated players for a game. I have seen too many games die for lack of participation, so players are important. Too many seems to be a killer, and too few can meet a roadblock if someone fails to post ... 'tis a quandary.

- Carl

Indeed it is Carl. I have the same frustration with text based games. That's why I have a heart to heart with potential GMs before creating game pages and such. I understand that real life happens, but I expect them to put as much time into considering their commitment to run a game, as they do in considering the system and world that they want to run in. It's so frustrating for players and GMs when their counterpart isn't committed to the game.

I only have 9 games at NextGen, mainly because I'm a stickler for commitment and scare GMs away. ...but all nine of them are still active. Soon to be 11. I welcome growth, but at the same time, quality and contained growth. Silly to have a hundred games if only 20 are running with players to fill them.

I help with player recruitment, as much as I can and as the GM welcomes it. ...and we've had a lot of success, the smooth style of play tends to get players excited. It's something different from the ordinary and I think they get a kick out of how it's actually a printable readable story when the game move closes. Regardless, we only have 85 members or so, and only about a third of them are super active, so I'm sure that even with just two Desolation games, we'll be doing a lot of recruitment from other RPG boards.

If the right amount of attention is given to the game call, and you define exactly the kind of commitment that you're looking for and are willing to give to the game, it should appeal to the player types that you're after. Regardless where you're running, posting here and on the HEX forums, would be huge, as well as EN World. I have a list of great sites, that I can share with you when you're ready to recruit. It's the ones that I post at for GMs that run on NextGen, and they're all advertising friendly, so you won't get any hate mail.

I think a lot of people in active communities like Groovy Gamers, will post in their 'new interest' game threads. And get four to six people that are interested, but then it's so hit and miss on whether they're really in it for the long haul. ...but you know all this, sounds like you've lived through it! What's nice is when you have 4-6 slots and get 10 apps to choose from, doesn't always happen, but nice when it does!

Regardless, yay for another Desolation game! And if there's anything I can do to help you get it off the ground when you're ready, I'm happy to help. We need to spread the word and infect the RPG community with the Desolation virus! Let the insanity begin!