Handling PbP Combat

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

I'm running into serious issues with pacing and player confusion in my PbP games - a lot of it seems to surround what players know and their ability to react to opponent actions. I normally try to keep villain Defensive stats " behind the screen ", which leads to ;

ME : ( secret rolls ) okay, ___ you were hit, make a DC__ Toughness check

Player : ( makes check and posts OOC/IC )

Me : okay, ____ happened - I'll post the results IC ( IC result of rolls posted )

That seems ... long. Am I handling that correctly for a PbP game ? I checked out games run by other ATT GMs and things just seemed to flow better. To the GMs that browse this post, which would you prefer;
- making ALL the rolls ( NPC and PC )
- posting ALL NPC rolls
- something else ...

PbP is slow - just is what it is - I want to make sure the combat aspect of the game is as smooth as possible for the players. Any comments would be greatly appreciated and thanks

[roguescribner]

I don't hide minion rolls, but when PCs start to learn about non-minions, I'll begin to weave their rolls in too.

I'm still learning what works best. In one of my games, I'm currently wrapping up a big city invasion scene and right now, with the amount of NPCs running around (ally and enemy), unless a player directly interacts with an NPC, I'm just writing descriptive text of what's going on to keep things moving. I could be rolling all day for the various groups and that'll just take time for what amounts to little pay off.

Combat in a pbp setting is going to take time. The trick is to find that sweet spot where it stays interesting and doesn't drag out or get bogged down in numbers. I'm still searching...

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

I don't hide minion rolls, but when PCs start to learn about non-minions, I'll begin to weave their rolls in too.

I'm still learning what works best. In one of my games, I'm currently wrapping up a big city invasion scene and right now, with the amount of NPCs running around (ally and enemy), unless a player directly interacts with an NPC, I'm just writing descriptive text of what's going on to keep things moving. I could be rolling all day for the various groups and that'll just take time for what amounts to little pay off.

Combat in a pbp setting is going to take time. The trick is to find that sweet spot where it stays interesting and doesn't drag out or get bogged down in numbers. I'm still searching...

Thanks for the input, Roguescribner - posting NPC rolls seems to be an improvement, although, as you stated, when a GM has a large conflict going on, using description vs. numerous rolls keeps gameplay more fluid. I normally use Team attacks for groups of Minion attackers, so there's just one roll, modified for multiple attacks ( +2 or +5 Circumstance Bonus ). Thanks again

[Doctor Devious]

Another "standard" is to get the players to give you a list of 100 rolls every now-and then. You start at a random point in that list and just go round, using their rolls without telling them what the number was unless it is obvious (a critical): after one of them, just shift to a new random point in whatever rolls are left and keep going. When down to 10 or so, get another bunch of rolls from the player, add them to what's left and keep on going.

[roguescribner]

I thought about getting a list of rolls, but that robs the player of an opportunity to use hero points to negate bad rolls, unless it's after the fact, in which case you have to rewrite something you've already posted.

I think one thing that does help is letting players post out of initiative order. Resolve posts in initiative order, but don't force players to wait on someone else before posting. One round of action could take days to resolve if everyone waits their turn, so I figure it's best to just get those posts up ASAP. One round is 6 seconds long, so to me it stands to reason a hero with lower initiative may do something that's no longer necessary. If the player catches it before you post, they can always amend their action.

I'm also looking at breaking combat into little mini-scenes, so it's not just one big brawl. Here you have to gain entry into the villain's lair, here you have to fight your way to the command center, here you have to rescue some hostages, here you have to disarm the device before it goes off, here you have to try to defeat the villain before he gets away.

It all adds up to a lengthy combat scene, but it's separated into bite-sized chunks so if you need to rearrange or eliminate some pieces to keep the momentum going you can.

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

Another "standard" is to get the players to give you a list of 100 rolls every now-and then. You start at a random point in that list and just go round, using their rolls without telling them what the number was unless it is obvious (a critical): after one of them, just shift to a new random point in whatever rolls are left and keep going. When down to 10 or so, get another bunch of rolls from the player, add them to what's left and keep on going.

I seriously consider that for my first game, but forgot to mention it to the players I like that method even better, mainly if I'm with a group that doesn't mind the GM handling their rolls - Thanks, Doctor Devious

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

I thought about getting a list of rolls, but that robs the player of an opportunity to use hero points to negate bad rolls, unless it's after the fact, in which case you have to rewrite something you've already posted.

I think one thing that does help is letting players post out of initiative order. Resolve posts in initiative order, but don't force players to wait on someone else before posting. One round of action could take days to resolve if everyone waits their turn, so I figure it's best to just get those posts up ASAP. One round is 6 seconds long, so to me it stands to reason a hero with lower initiative may do something that's no longer necessary. If the player catches it before you post, they can always amend their action.

I'm also looking at breaking combat into little mini-scenes, so it's not just one big brawl. Here you have to gain entry into the villain's lair, here you have to fight your way to the command center, here you have to rescue some hostages, here you have to disarm the device before it goes off, here you have to try to defeat the villain before he gets away.

It all adds up to a lengthy combat scene, but it's separated into bite-sized chunks so if you need to rearrange or eliminate some pieces to keep the momentum going you can.

Hm - great points, Roguescribner - I think allowing players to post when ready works well, it's the post edits that could end up bogging me down, since my posts often rely on PC action and reaction - I'll try it anyway

[FuzzyBoots]

Personally, I reveal the results of most rolls simply because enough players are good enough at metagaming that they'd figure out the target values, so this makes it fair for everyone. As for success, I have players post what they think is going to happen, and I revise reality if it doesn't work out that way.

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

I'm going with the " Players post when ready " method, based on what they think will happen - then they can edit the post if necessary - should speed things up - I'll also post all rolls to eliminate confusion ( NPC attacks and checks ) - thanks folks