Category: Writing

To play Text Adventures like ROK II you will need to put on your thinking cap. Unlike video games, where everything is visualized for you, in a text based RPG you need to imagine what is happening. This means you need to read and comprehend what you are reading. Jumping over the text of the story will have an unfortunate impact on effective play.

Imagine part of a story that includes your character entering a magical vineyard. The adventure may have the premise that you need to pick purple grapes and leave the green ones. If you decide to gather the wrong ones then you will end up with a result that puts you in a dull place.

Sometimes a scenario may not be so cut and dry. For instance, a non-player character (NPC) might say “Do not take the ones that are the same color as a plant’s leaves…” rather than “Do not take the green ones”. This is where you have to think a bit to know what should be your character’s next action when embarking on text adventures. Of course that example is very simplistic because games like ROK II tend to have mysteries, puzzles and clues that are hidden within the story. Sometimes these are implanted in a subtle manner that might be easy to overlook.

Typical text role-playing adventures normally guide your path by giving you a general direction to go in. This is where ROK II is different, once you enter the Town (the central place in the game) then you have to decide your next move from hundreds of options. Young minds, who do not want to exercise the head muscle, might immediately look for a ‘cheat’ button to get past all the ‘thinking’ that’s involved but there is none. To play ROK II you will need to read everything and digest it as mentioned here: Text RPGs: Reading vs Comprehension.

You can also learn more of about various kinds of text adventures through this article: Browser Text Games.

Play By Post Explanation

Play by post is a method of role-playing where a bulletin board / forum is used as the medium of communication to play a game normally played around a tabletop. Usually, role-players like to play Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder or Traveller (as examples) with friends who meet at a set location such as a designated home, game shop or game club, however co-coordinating everyone’s time for a number of hours may be difficult because of real life constraints. This is where play by post, or PBP for short,  comes into the picture because it is asynchronous (does not require dedicated time).

What Are The Advantages Of Play By Post?

Using play by post as the method of role-playing allows you to:

• Play anytime with anyone from around the world
• Be far more detailed with what your character does / says
• Allows you to have a record of what everyone is doing
• Fits in your schedule so you do not have to set aside long hours

How Does Play By Post Work?

Play by post is merely the way role-players communicate their character’s actions, therefore the Dungeon Master may start a “post” (a typed message you can see on your screen) to explain the game and rules. Players see this message and act on it by replying with their own posts. Thus a game has started. Of course the above example is the most basic representation of play by post but it is more elaborate than that.

What Do You Use For Dice In Play By Post?

In an elaborate Community like International Discussions they have coded into their forum an embedded dice script that can be used along with the posts you make describing your character’s actions. Just like the real dice you can roll with your hand you can choose a dice range from D2, D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 all the way to D100, assign bonuses and the amount of times you want to roll. There is even an anti-cheat feature as well to ensure because of an unfavorable outcome you do not roll and  try to change your character’s actions at the same time.

What About The Character Sheet?

Again, in the International Discussions community there are custom coded character sheets made for ANY game system. Players can create multiple characters and keep track of as much information as they want about them. This is all part of what is called the Text RPG Character Creator, an easy to use free online system where you can input character data and store it as needed.

Is Play By Post And Text Role-playing Connected?

Yes and no. Text role-playing (Text RPGs) and play by post (PBP) role-playing both have the similarity of using text to play the game, however Text RPGs focus more on solo play where an adventure is already made for you. In PBP the focus is on group play and the adventure gradually unfolds just as it will in live role-playing. In Ruler of Kings II Text RPG Solo Play by Post there is a combination of both Text RPGing and PBPing. You can choose to play alone or interact with other players. Here is a good video that explains the various methods of role-playing and how PBP fits in:

Do You Have Examples Of Play By Post Games?

Yes, there are many in the D&D / Pathfinder PBP RPGs Board but here are some specific links you can look at:

• A current Dungeons and Dragons game:
  Daishain’s 5e D&D RPG Main Thread – Page 778 of 780
• A player character sheet:
  Game Coder Tired Old Man

Do You Love Writing?

If you do then you will love Text Based Role-Playing Games that allow you to write your own adventure. Although, I’m saying “write”, in this case its really ‘typing’. These days fantasy role-play stories are all done online via your keyboard / mobile interface.

Some people refer to this style of online storytelling as “collaborative writing”. It’s not all  writing, its more than that because you bring your imagination into play in an interactive game. When you you describe a Character using words you can create a gigantic muscular hero or a slender sly thief. Words are very powerful and one word can say more to your mind than a graphic or even a movie clip.

Say What? Imagination?

If you don’t know what we’re talking about yet then read on. Imagine a fantasy novel where you are the heroic warrior but instead of reading what happens to the warrior you decide what the warrior does, says and who he fights. This is role-playing: bring your imagination into a text format for everyone to read. Essentially, instead of just reading the story – your character becomes the story and you decide what steps your character needs to take in order to shift the world he is ‘in’. This can be done solo or with other writers also referring to them to as “players”.

If you are part of a group then the person who defines the world or environment has the title of “Dungeon Master” or “DM” for short. Other systems may call this role “Game Master” or “GM” for short. The person who role-play’s the character in the DM’s world has the “Player” designation. A typical RPG can have 1 DM and 3-8 Players. The method of role-playing is through writing.

What You Need In Text Based RPGs?

Imaginative role play, depending on which game you are in, also involves: personal achievement, membership status, activity, rolling dice (luck), statistics and logic. There are also some visual resources in creating your own adventure in systems. Creating your own story games like Ruler of Kings II make this obvious right away. Options such as selecting avatars, body type, symbols and familiars are all part of character building. Each time you add to a game these things are looked over and displayed! In our RPG Community we use custom, D&D, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller and many other systems to bring about active gaming where character / world building is essential.

Is It All Medieval Fantasy?

A lot of Players tend to gravitate towards a fantasy Medieval setting but there are others. Horror, Drama and Science Fiction themes are available for you to create an adventure. In our Community, you can play / write anonymously, we don’t ask for your real name and phone number like some social media.