It seems like I have the most experience here so let me try and lay out what you need for a successful rp.
1. First you need to decide what type of game you want to play. Be it fantasy, sci-fi, superhero/villain, history, Star Wars or even real life. I’ve been a part of all of the above at one point and they all have their merits.
2. Decide if this game is going to have a solid plot. Because while winging it is certainly an option, and some of the best rp sessions I’ve played have had a sandbox feel to them, a lot of people tend to lose interest if there’s no real direction.
3. Make sure you have enough people involved. While you can definitely play a play-by-post game with just two people it’s just more fun with more. Judging from the amount of people posting here already, you shouldn’t have trouble with this.
4. Develop a certain set of rules for people to follow so there’s not mass chaos. These rules are mostly just guidelines so people know what they’re doing. No spamming/god-modding, no auto-hits etc. One other rule I’ve seen a lot of people employ is that posts must be a certain length. Usually about a paragraph. One sentence posts are just kinda boring.
5. Develop a character sheet for people to fill out. This is just so everyone knows a little about the other characters involved and what to expect. It doesn’t have to be anything too lengthy but should at least contain sections for name, age, special abilities and maybe a little about their history etc.
6. Elect a Game Master. Someone to run things and make sure things don’t go off the rails. This is usually the person who came up with the idea for the game in the first place but I’ve seen the role of GM deferred to others in the past. (I’m going to eliminate myself as a possibility for this role right now for the simple fact that I can’t be certain I’ll actually have the time to dedicate to it. If a game is set up I may join as a player but it’s much easier to work around a player not posting for some time than it is to work around the GM disappearing)
If you have these things then you should be fine. Now this is just from my own personal experience. I know other people have different ways of doing things but I just thought I’d try to help with what I know.
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