I have a question for those who run Apocalypse World by Play by Post (PbP). Mostly I’m wondering about working on your Threat Map. The book says to work on it after the first session, since you’ll want time to consider what kind of Threats each person or group is, and space to think about their backstory and motivations. But with the way I’m doing it for the game I’m running, we had characters made and then I got a thread going during my own time. (We didn’t start right away)
They had given me large numbers of NPCs that could be easily and quickly listed in their threat category, and sometimes I have ideas for moves or countdowns. What I’m wondering is if it would be acceptable to use the free time between writing posts to dwell on the Threats even if the session is still technically ongoing. In face to face tabletop playing, you’d have a few hours and then meet next week. Here, I write what’s happening and over the course of the new few days the players will say what they’re doing and I say what happens as a result, etc. etc. But there’s far more time to think and plan then if we were doing this live.
The basic question: Would it be acceptable to have written out some Threats, maybe even a clock or two, during the constant downtime I have to unleash in the first session? Or should I just stick to the book rules and avoid having any of that until the second session? Do the first sessions where everyone is playing live tend to be shorter due to character creation? If so I might end it a bit sooner then planned.
Thanks for any advice you have.
That’s imho just a suggestion and not a rule. In face to face games it can be distracting to work on the map during the game, but whenever there is a break you can work on the map. Just because a threat isn’t written down yet that doesn’t matter in-game. So don’t worry about that.
How long a (first) session is, depends on how long everyone can/want to play. For play by post that’s not an issue anyway. Personally I tend to play within the same timeframe, first session or not. So first session are not shorter per se, just the play time.
Nachiket Patkar – you’re good, use the downtime like you have been. PBP has a slower burn and a lot more threads to manage. In person 1st sessions can flex to accommodate the time constraints of the players; I’ve had them be anywhere from 45 minutes at a convention to 6 hours at the start of a weekly game. Just be sure you do have threats, clocks, and NPCs.
I’d add the following caveat: Write in (metaphorical) pencil–be willing to erase and revise during the “first session” in particular. And never let the prep get too far ahead of you. There’s so much downtime in a PbP that it’s very easy to go overboard with prep and create so much that your players don’t have a voice.