Welcome to Quarrels and Quills

What is Play by Post Roleplaying?


While traditional tabletop roleplaying is done with the group all together in person and typically with rule books and dice, play by post roleplaying is done over the internet. It is similar to collaborative writing or interactive fiction. Play by post games are typically run on a message board like Quarrels and Quills.


Play by Post posts are typically in the third person which allows the different players to write their character’s actions and thoughts without it being put back on the player themselves. These posts need to be open ended so that the next person can continue the story unless of course the time has come for the conclusion of the setting to occur. This is typically the job of the Gamemaster if there is one.


The first post in a thread sets the setting up for the story to proceed. Subsequent posts are then a continuation in how the story progresses with each person’s character chiming in with their actions and dialogue.


In order for the roleplay to work, there has to be some rules set up and agreed to by the players. Such as all actions that effect another person’s character must be decided by that player. For instance, a player 1 cannot post, “Player 1 stabs Player 2 in the stomach.” Instead, player 1 posts. “Player 1 attempts to stab Player 2 in the stomach.” Then Player 2 can decide if the action succeeds, “Player 2 jumps back and avoid the stab. Then attempts to kick the knife from Player 1’s hand with a roundhouse.” Or “Player 2 is surprised by Player 1’s attack and the knife dives into his stomach. Player one swallowed and fell to his knees as the wound began to bleed. The light began to fade and he couldn’t see. And Player 2 fell to the ground and his life was expired.”


Another way is for the GM to decide who wins all the battles. Or to use dice which there are many online dice rollers.

What is Roleplaying?


Roleplaying is a way for a group of people to come together and tell a story. It is no different than one person writing a short story or a novel. Only instead of doing it alone, you are doing it within a group of two or more people. So if you think writing is okay, then you should believe roleplaying is okay as well. Those that are so opposed to roleplaying do not seem to realize that it is simply telling a story. No one becomes the characters that they are portraying. In that way, roleplayers are like an actor in a play or movie.


The different people in the group create characters for a setting that has been created typically by a Gamemaster who acts as an editor to bring the story and characters together. Typically the players in the group will have a good guy and a villain in the story. That way the story will be interesting and have many potential plot twists that not even the Gamemaster might see.


Once the characters have been created, the Gamemaster or one of the players will begin the game with an opening description. There was a time when all roleplays began in a dungeon, then it became an inn. But over time, people have tried to come up with other ways to get their group of characters together.


Anyway the opening description sets the stage for the other characters to interact. The opening might say the wind is blowing strongly through the area so the other characters will have to deal with the wind. So roleplaying is like putting on a play in this regard. You take on a role in your mind and decide what would your character do. And then you describe what you think your character is going to do as a result of what the other players have done.


So what is the goal in roleplaying? Is it to win? No. The goal of a roleplay is to tell an interesting story that people want to see through to the conclusion. And most importantly, it is for the players to have fun telling the story. Each character may have their own goals and agenda but their success and failure should not limit the fun of the people involved.

Some of you have asked for this, and now we have it. You can now select your default post style for writing your posts.

Go into Settings (link at very top of page).
Look for the "My Account" section in the left sidebar.
Click on "General Settings" to go to the General Settings page.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the Default Text Formatting Settings.
Select your settings and save.

Voila! Your posts will now be styled by default!

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.