How to organize play-by-post GURPS games on Discord

How to organize play-by-post GURPS games on Discord

Due to my geographical location and a chaotic work schedule, most of my GURPS games are in the play-by-post format. Many consider PbP unacceptable, but for me it's a comfortable way of playing. If you want to read my thoughts on PbP in general, you can read this post. Perhaps some of you wanted to try that out, but do not know how to organize the channels?

Not everybody likes Discord, and that is understandable. I'm sure that there are many good alternatives, but Discord has an upper hand in one thing - Pseudobot (by Pseudonym). Make sure to invite the bot to your server (you can use the .dsm command to get the link, or I can just share it here - https://discordapp.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=242855270076645377&scope=bot&permissions=0). I don't know if there are alternatives for other communication platforms, but this bot is extremely useful, and not only because it can roll the dice, but has a plethora of other functions (use the .help command to see the entire list).

First, you should create an OOC channel, where all out-of-character conversations are going to transpire. If everything is kept in the same channel, things become very confusing very fast. Some people create a separate channel for rolls and other bot commands, but I consider that optional.

Then, you will need an IC channel, where the actual gameplay is going to be, including in-character conversations. If you are hosting two or more parties, you might want to create two or more channels. If your PCs tend to go off alone, splitting off from the party, it would be reasonable to create a common IC channel and separate IC channels for each character. If you want to keep these channels private, you can assign each player a role on Discord that will prevent him from reading any channels that you do not want him to read.

A channel for notes is crucial. It usually contains such things as the current date, time, and weather (which is extremely important if you split the party to avoid time paradoxes), current HP/FP/other resources of combatants, turn order in combat. It could also contain various information that is often forgotten - names of the NPCs and locations, notes about the current quest, or even the current map for the ongoing combat. Sometimes it is reasonable to create a channel where recaps are posted, just as a reminder of past events.

Finally, you should have a channel for character sheets, so you can quickly find them.

I think that's all - I hope this is at least somewhat helpful.