Or, how might we help PBEMs and PBPs to survive?

I've been thinking again about trying to run a realm-rulership game (set in Cerilia or elsewhere), and have found myself most stumped by the problem of trying to make it last, without having to take it on as a full-time job.

While perhaps the best option for smooth running and long-lasting success might be "recruit only the best of players, and ensure that they all agree completely with each other and the people running it on what they want from the game and from each other, while also making sure that everyone involved is in good health and in calm, stable employment", that's unlikely to ever be possible for a RL group, let alone online....

So what else can be suggested?

I'm particularly interested in the basic set-up of the game. The major cause of PBP / PBEM game-death seems to be the collapse of the people running it under a deluge of RL work and game emails (though an occasional OOC detonation among the players does account for others).

I'm inclined to suggest that the complexity of the rules is a major contributor to the frequency with which a RL blip results in DM overload and completely derails a game. Many (most?) online BR games seem to run with the DM at full stretch as a matter of routine - even a slight problem for him therefore risks being critical for the entire game. For those games (e.g. RoE and LEBR, from what I've seen) that manage to divide up the work among active and responsible teams, things can work very well - but that's not something that can often be implemented.

One frequently-proposed or wished-for solution is to computerise everything and let electrons do the drudge work - but the software produced over the years has never met with universal approval, and has always had its idiosyncracies. Certainly, a point of OOC interest while playing (the hugely enjoyable) Rjurik Winds was discovering - usually at the same time as the DM - quite what house rules / changes had been built into the version of BirMail in use.

So how about paring down the rules themselves, rather than coding them into software or having to draft in teams of helpers? What can be kept, and still retain the "feel" of Birthright?

A frequently-used notion's to streamline income - make GB returns as reliable and swift to calculate as 2e RP income - but this can have thematic problems, forces changes in law claims, and in any case only affects what are surely among the least complex of the sets of rolls a DM's likely to have to make while resolving a turn. For a large group it's a real time-saver, but it doesn't seem to do much to help with game survival.

Another streamlining option's the simplification of characters: I first came across a stat-free, level-free, skills-only set-up long ago in one of Solmyr's games. Personally, I liked the streamlining, though many BR players very strongly want to have more detailed sheets that let them send their characters off on heroic adventures rather than being restricted to playing the domain-level game.

My individual happiness with a stripped-down sheet aside, few games stall in chargen: prospective players can certainly be put off by a lengthy and complex sign-up procedure, but it's rarely the creation of numbers for their character sheet that brings them to a halt. Similarly, most DMs I've spoken to only reference a few skills on even the most complex of character sheets - Administration, Diplomacy, Intrigue, Law, Religion, and Strategy will cover almost everything that arises for most regents, and many will use just one or two abilities throughout years of IC time....

I'd suggest that the key problems tend to be the resolution of conflicts and the use of (realm) magic. Both are notorious for destroying games, yet the chance to be directly involved in grand ventures in these fields is what draws many people to the setting in the first place.

So... what's the essential minimum rules structure for Birthright (or for various forms of it - the "adventuring regent" and "domain-level-only" games would have different requirements)? The barest possible domain-leading ruleset is arguably Diplomacy, which has been adapted to all sorts of home-brew maps and settings over the years - but what (beyond Diplomacy's map divided into provinces, encouragement of negotiation, and basic conflict resolution mechanic) is required to make a game offer the key things that Birthright does?

Off the top of my head, I might suggest the following:

  • Provinces are the basic unit of visible control and power, and provide variable incomes due to varying potential and development
  • Holdings within those provinces provide options for active use of power, are of multiple types, and vary in value
  • Holdings are dependent upon the provinces in which they are found for much of their value
  • All holdings are of significant use, and each type should offer options the others do not
  • At domain level, characters act almost solely through their holdings
  • Conflict should be able to take multiple forms, violent and otherwise, with rules available for use where necessary
  • The capabilities of the character should have an impact, as well as the capabilities of the player
  • Characters and domains need not be equal for the game to be enjoyable or successes to be open to all
  • Characters must interact with each other and NPCs in ways that don't depend on resolution mechanics: there must be role-playing, not just rolling


As examples of points that I'm unsure about - are they fundamental to a "Birthright" feel or not? - a couple might be:

  • Income is derived in two forms - one monetary, the other permitting the use or creation of holdings in appropriate ways
  • Income is variable
  • Military units are bought individually, vary by race and region, and provide options for the player to customise an army for specific opponents or missions, introducing some degree of OOC "wargaming skill" alongside IC abilities


So... any thoughts? Or is this far too long for anyone to wade through?