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Ragingsystem · Jan 17 '11, 10:42pm

Hey I'm new to PbP but would like to DM a DnD 3.5 game however I don't know how I would run combat, so can you guys give me an example of how combat might work in PbP so I can get a feel for it?

Silverkiss · Jan 17 '11, 10:54pm

I do not play or run DnD 3.5, but if you want a feel for how combat is run, you could go to the Games section of the site, and search for 3.5 games that are under way. Peruse some of them, seeing the tricks and tools each DM uses, and that should give you a good base and feel for how things are usually done. (:

Mordae · Jan 17 '11, 10:56pm

See this thread.

Ragingsystem · Jan 17 '11, 10:58pm

Thank you very much.

Dalar · 11:05pm

PbP combat is considerably different than tabletop combat. Here's what works for me as a DM:

Saving throws: I always roll these, both to limit metagaming and to streamline play.

Skill checks: I roll the passive ones (such as Sense Motive to resist a feint in combat), but let them roll the active ones (such as Jump checks).

Ragingsystem · Jan 17 '11, 11:07pm

Wow that sounds really effective I think I'll have to do something similar to that thanks for the advice Dalar.

Genuine · Jan 18 '11, 1:42pm

I'd also like to say that maps are more important in PbP than they would be on tabletop. Without quick and immediate dialogue between players and the DM you can easily get into misunderstandings that can bog down the game and frustrate everybody (what do you mean I'm too far away? I said I was moving to the side of the room before I fired. You didn't say the room was 100' wide! And so on).

Maps don't need to be fancy, a simple text graphic is fine (tip: use courier new as a font, the width of each symbol is the same). Personally I'm a fan of maptool.

Dalar · Jan 18 '11, 9:42pm

+1 to that. Maps are crucial for PbP combat. It can be as simple as something you slap together in Paint (copy/paste is pretty handy there), or as elaborate as the below image:

Genuine · Jan 18 '11, 9:59pm

Here's a couple that I've made using maptool:

Also a text example:

Nameless Void · Jan 19 '11, 12:19am

I tend to use Excel, primarily due to ease and secondarily because I don't have the tokens to make maptools pretty.

Excel is easy because you make the grid size you want, make the characters etc and copy the map into paint to sae as an image. Then host it at some-where like webshots and link to it for your game.

Perhaps I should get Genuine to give me a rundown on maptools..

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DnD 3.5 Combat in PbP