Play by EMail

[Allen]

I've seen many PBeM groups and am wondering how much fun it is? Please give me your opinion of PBeM.

[Temujin]

Personally, I'm a pbem fan. It isn't quite the same as a home game though.

The good sides:
*You get to play Birthright.
*Its possible to play with a large number of different people at the same time without driving everyone crazy due to the talk arround the table =)
*Playing a villian is often allowed and won't piss off your fellow players and the DM.
*You get to try your hand at either a character of your own choosing, or the existing regent.
*You can role-play with someone online even if you can't meet him physically.
*You get to play Birthright. =)

Good or bad:
*Most games focus on the domain action part of the game and less on the adventures, though some game try to keep a good balance between both.
*Some pbems have a very modern feel in the role-playing which ends up with the creation of the UNHCR(United Nations High Council for Refugees) or a NATO vs Warsaw Pact situation, or failing that, the lets gangbang the evil-doers situation. Who exactly is an evildoer is of course let up to the majority to decide. Thankfully(in my opinion, some like that), not all are like that.
*Rules are often personnalized to the dm's likings. Some players will like the rules, some won't.

Bad:
*Adventures are rarely done through chat, so you don't always get to play them.
*There's usually two or three rotten apples in the pack of players. Either power-players, or inactive players.
*Sometimes the dm forgets to play some NPCs that are important to you.
*Most pbems end after about 10 turns.

As always, there are good and bad pbems out there, its up to you to find one you will like.

[Lord Eldred]

Allen, this really should have been posted in the PBeM forum. Not here.

In between session my group often plays by email. As long as your DM keeps up with the emails it can be fun (I sometimes had delays in responding which caused some upsetness).