1tu3fore:

1. Us Central Time
2. Whenever i’m putting my daughter to bed is the best time. Roughly 3pm and again at night at 9-10ish.

I’m on the West Coast (ish) of Canada, so I’m what, 2 hours behind you guys, PST I think it’s called.

I’m doing the stay-at-home-dad thing for the summer, and I check my computer frequently, so there aren’t any “days” that I wouldn’t be able to post, but there are definitely “few-0hour gaps” where I would go missing. (which is what makes this set-up ideal as far as I can tell…I’ve never done a PbP campaign, but seems like it wouldn’t be as “time restrictive” as other forms).

I could generally do a post between 10 and noon, and again between 3 and 5 (nap times for duder) and then a couple at night…pretty much every day barring other outside activities (hoping to get a few rounds of golf in this summer, for example) but I’d know about those more than a few days in advance.

Going to borrow a rulebook from a buddy and have a go over it to see rules and such, as, like I said, I’m 3 books in, but it’s also been a while.

I’m in New Mexico, which is MST (one hour earlier then central time). I’m an at home mom, though I am involved in some volunteer things. Those only happen a few days a month, though, and I can usually give advance notice. Outside of that, I can post just about any time.

Okay, so it looks everyone should be able to average about 2 posts a day during a typical week. I’m liking 1-3 days per scene, although I suppose time will tell. I’ll try and keep things moving though.

As far as ground rules goes, my thoughts are below; most of this is pretty standard PBP stuff, but may be especially new if you’re new to the form.

1. 48 hours without a post (without warning, that is) constitutes either a “skip” or a “carry on.” That is, either you take no action, or you carry on with what you were doing before, whichever makes more sense to me.
2. If a player will be absent for longer than a day, they should designate a second to submit their actions in their absence, unless more than half the group is also going to be out at the same time. In that case, I think we can afford to take a break.
3. In-post, characters may write minor actions or dialogue for un-named NPCs, and even named NPCs of little consequence if they’ve informed me ahead of time. Any actions that affect other players or named characters of some import should be described without reference to the result (although telling me what dice need to be rolled is welcome help).
4. As an addendum to the above, it is bad form to describe another player or important NPCs reaction, and blatantly against the rules to describe another player’s action. I hope it won’t be an issue in the slightest, but I think a 3-strike policy is fair.
5. This format allows players a great deal of latitude compared to other formats. Generally, anything you think your character ought to succeed at, he or she will automatically succeed at unless it would have some dramatic consequence (compare climbing a tree to get a look at the surroundings versus climbing a tree while pursued by the Others). Clear or consistent abuse of that latitude will probably be dealt with under the same 3-strike policy.

I think that covers the big, nasty stuff that can make people angry at each other. Would anyone else like to propose any other ground rules going in? Proposed amendments to the above are also welcome, of course.

EDIT:————————————————————————————————————————————-

If everyone is comfortable, though, I think we might as well get started working on the fun stuff. Judging by the forum discussion of preferences, I think we’re looking at players belonging to a single noble house (although not all need actually be highborn, and banner-houses are possible) with the game set sometime around year 140 after the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror. It’s a tumultuous time, being as the dragons have just died out and what magic there was has faded away, but there’s also a nice gap of empty history for us to fill in. Thoughts? Suggestions? If you see a better time period, weigh in – it’s your game, too.

Oh, and in case it’s unclear, perhaps I should also mention that one of the virtues of PBP is that you can post any time day or night – we don’t all have to be on at the same time, so long as everyone gets a fair chance to participate during the day. I know that’s probably obvious, but it bears saying.

Poutine has also made a great point to me in a PM by asking about large scale combats – they could very well drag on for a long time if not handled well. While it won’t likely be a real issue for a while, I wanted to mention it now because I wondered if everyone was open to using group chats or even online tabletops (I’ve seen a few good free ones) to handle those.