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Playing D&D in a chat-based environment requires a few tricks.

(Adapted from Cold Blood)

1) The DM ends blocks of descriptive text with a § symbol.

• Godfear > The wind rustles the leaves of the trees, and you shiver in your cloaks against the unnatural chill.§

If there’s a big brick of text, along with a map or illustration, I’ll try to just e-mail it to you during the game.

2) Anything your character attempts gets * asterisks * on either side:

• bluejedi81 > * Azal creeps up behind the demi-lich, hoping to catch a peek at what it is writing. *
• DarthKrzysztof > * Aramis searches the refectory for religious icons. *
• Teachernine > * Owen takes a running start to leap over the pit. *

3) Any dialog goes in “quotes.” If it isn’t obvious who’s speaking, or to whom, use the character name. You can also add physical business with the asterisks:

• Godfear > Erky says, “Could you please stop getting hit?”
• DarthKrzysztof > “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
• bluejedi81 > * Azal speaks in a stage whisper to Aramis, * "Do you think they want to see me naked?"
• Teachernine > * Smirking, Owen draws his blade. * "I'm gonna kick your ass."

4) Out-of-Character conversation goes in (parentheses).

• Godfear > * The kruthik swings its sharp appendages at Aramis! *
• Godfear > (Does 16 hit?)
• DarthKrzysztof > (No, AC 18)
• Godfear > * But the creature clangs up against his armor. *
  
  

• Godfear > Shadows lurk in the many corners of the old warehouse.§
• Teachernine > (Can I see anyone in here?)
• Godfear > (Roll Perception)
• Teachernine > (13)
• Godfear > (Looks clear.)
• Teachernine > * Owen strides boldly into the center of the large room. *

We’ll be trying to use MapTool. Hopefully, it will be a smooth combat interface. Also, for GM to Player notes (and vice versa), we can use AIM, Y!IM, or something like that.

Finally, I trust you to roll your own dice, but if you’d rather “make your rolls in the open,” you can use the MapTool die roller. Here is the command:
/r #d#

For example, to roll a d20 type ”/r 1d20”

You can also include modifiers in the roll like this:
/r #d# + #

For example, ”/r 1d20 + 5”