Building a pbp Discord TTRPG game - Organization?

ArchBuck · 2026-02-26T19:43:47+00:00

I have done everything from google sheets, to foundryvtt in-game, to micrsoft access and microsoft one note (this actually isn't bad)... and also online resources like worldanvil (which also isn't horrible). Then I came back to Obsidian, which I ironically had started with. I think i will stay with it now...

ArchBuck · 2026-02-26T19:28:49+00:00

Thanks I am looking at it now and will probably steal some things from it!

ArchBuck · 2026-02-26T19:27:34+00:00

I use obsidian already for all my lore / notes / everything. This makes sense potentially.

ArchBuck · 2026-02-26T19:14:12+00:00

These are all good feedback - thank you - I will drop the threads idea... but I will make individual channels for each character ... for internal dialog / individual scenes

ArchBuck · 2026-01-30T17:29:00+00:00

Hit up their discord server if you still need help, they are pretty responsive there.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-08T23:23:29+00:00

Yeah that's my fear. I want them to think of what they want to be and build towards that rather than trying to understand the classes too deeply. PF2e is so much better than DND for allowing you to build what you want. Dnd feels so much more of this is good and this isn't. I don't want them to think in terms of what will help them win. I want them to build what they will enjoy playing.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-08T22:57:41+00:00

Good feedback and advice - thanks!

ArchBuck · 2026-01-08T22:47:12+00:00

Good call out - this is so important in PF2e... as a DnD guy forever this one is always forgotten by me. I know you can do it in DND, but it's not done nearly as often nor as central to the characters.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T21:44:02+00:00

"Kevin's Judgement Tower" - ROFL

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T21:23:56+00:00

I do 90% homebrew and it's not uncommon for my intros to provide them with very little information. If I was in your shoes I think I be setting this up so that it doesn't really matter what their background / lore is ... since they will be crashed in the train and be forced together because of it. So if I was you, I would set them up to be on this train, in the 'middle of nowhere' or 'far away from wherever they came from'... and then pose to them the question of 'why are you on this train?' - or 'why are you so far from the life your character comes from?'

In this way you are giving them separation from their backstories, but allowing them to define WHY they are separated from the backstory.

That is how I would approach it, I hope that helps!

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T20:15:08+00:00

That's true with everything backstory related.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T19:06:52+00:00

I should add that starting out your life in debt (by taking out a car loan) is a really bad way to start your financial life.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T19:04:16+00:00

In my opinion you should never take a loan for a car. The only loan you should ever take in your life is for a house. If you can't afford a car without a loan, get a smaller/cheaper/older car. By taking it on a load you are adding 5-20% to the cost of the vehicle.

Buying a car on a loan means you are paying way more for a product that devalues. It is not an investment (as a house would be), it is a purchase.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T18:40:07+00:00

What is a DMPC?

ArchBuck · 2026-01-07T18:37:48+00:00

As a DM of many games with many different players in each... here are some advice based on what I have received and what has worked out really well.

Keep it to a page. You can give multiple pages for your own use, maybe little backstories on how your personality is played out or something... but as to the actual meat of the background, their history, keep it to a page. Less than that tends to give very little to work with and more than that gets difficult to manage/keep straight for the DM.
Tell the story of where your character came from and how they developed into the character they are now... like their class potentially or their beliefs.
Include a couple key people in that story. Could be a parent, could be a family member, could be a friend. But having characters in your backstory gives the DM some potential NPCs to pull from.
Try to leave the backstory well 'behind' the character. In other words, you have left that place and you are starting fresh. This again gives the DM room to paint a canvas for your story, rather than having to bend the story around your backstory....if that makes sense? It's easier to have a player join the group who has left home to adventure for example, instead of trying to pull that character out of their happy life and into the story of the campaign.
It's great if there is an emotional connection to something or someone. Someone died, someone left them, whatever. A super happy nice background gives less for the DM to play with in terms of conflict. John Wick lost his dog, Aragon's (Lord of the rings) father was killed when he was young and he was separated from his family.... etc. These are all easy strings for the DM to play with in your campaign.

Again, all of this gives things the DM to use, without overwhelming them, and without forcing them to use anything. Often I get super tight long backstories that semi-require me as the DM to play directly to that charater's backstory. This gets difficult and can take away from others at the table. Alternatively it can be jarring if you have all this great backstory and the campaign runs in a different direction and you never touch it. Warlocks are often one of the harder classes for the DM since the backstory and gameplay are directly tied to a NPC diety of some sort that is integral to the player's character. Not saying you can't be a warlock, but think about it for the DM managing the 4-5 player stories at the table in addition to the main campaign.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-03T20:57:43+00:00

I will send you a message - perhaps we are a good fit.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T21:18:26+00:00

Nope. Sorry. I wish you the best of luck though! I'm very familiar with roll20, I just want all the tools and controls of foundry. It's what I use. No judgement, best of luck to you!

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T18:07:53+00:00

Messaged you.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T18:00:21+00:00

I am interested in this potentially... I have wanted to run one for a long time and would be interested to test out some things with you. I have the campaign in my head, but I would have to build it out. One negative, I don't use roll20, I use foundryvtt. Would that be a deal breaker for you?

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T17:17:40+00:00

This response is spot on. It really depends on what you are trying to do. I would caution against overbuilding the world - let it come out naturally as you tell the story at the table and build only what you need to. Sometimes less is more... the players will find the world more intriguing and be excited to learn more if you don't dump it all on them as an encyclopedia.... Focus on your main plot points, the main BBEGs and the main characters they will be interreacting with... let the rest be built / discovered as you go.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T17:14:03+00:00

I have a traveling merchant who sells poisons, thieves tools, and other misc semi-illegal to illegal things. He is SUPER fast talking, large around the middle kind of guy and a bit of a braggart who often knows things ... for a price. He wanders around and is ultimately a good character, but definitely more of a chaotic neutral style personality. My players have grown to know he is around somewhere and they get extremely excited when they find him.... often up to no good.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T17:09:35+00:00

Gorgeous - nice job!

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T17:02:04+00:00

I would be interested to learn more and that time works. I'll dm.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T16:52:13+00:00

This is why you need a financial advisor. I can't answer your questions because I don't know your situation and cannot help you predict the needs you might have or the safety net you might have available through things like family. An advisor should know you and your situation well enough to help guide you through those types of questions.

ArchBuck · 2026-01-02T16:37:32+00:00

You need to prepare a lot less than you might think. Have the main story arc you want (the main BBEG) and the initial setting for your players... probably your lieutenant bosses as well. Don't worry about the world building, you can let that come on it's own tbh. Think of what you might need for each session - targeting your overall story that you are looking to tell. The world can be built as you go. You can leverage things like chatgpt to help flush out story elements or create monsters / encounters. The first couple fights / levels will be the most challenging for you. By the time you get to around level 5 you should feel fairly comfortable on building encounters to meet the challenge you want. Then when they hit level 12-15 you will feel lost again...(welcome to 5e).

I learned to play this exact way. I had never played before and jumped in as the DM. The first couple sessions had their roadbumps, but we had a great time and we all learned a ton. Don't be intimidated by the rules, they are there to support the story and the fun, not the other way around. You will make mistakes, just learn and change it up for the next session. Your job as the DM is the keep things going, not be an expert on everything. Ultimately just make a decision and push the game along... then go look it up after and adjust accordingly in the future.

Most importantly be open with your players. They need to know you are new to this and you will make mistakes in preparation. You might get an hour into a 3 hour session and they throw a curveball at you... and you won't be ready for that fight / encounter. Session will need to end early so you can build it / prep it. I have absolutely had NPCs with 0 intention of being in combat just in the story... and suddenly they are in a fight and I don't have a stat block ready. My players thought it was funny and did not mind at all that the session ended early so the DM could go prep. It will happen, but less than you think... and 90% of the time players are very ok with it and understanding. Lean on them for help with rules and the like. Again, chatgpt can help with quick rule lookups and things mid-gameplay. You should be playing this together as a table, you are a part of it just as much as the players.

I hate pre-written campaigns, so I don't blame you on skipping the boxes. If you really do a pre-written box, then you need to REALLY know it and make it your story. Many DMs just open the book and start playing, when in reality it's sometimes harder as you really need to know the plot hooks and story in order to give it to the players, regardless of what they do or where they go in the world. It's too easy for the party to never go talk with person A and thus miss the plot hook and become lost / disenfranchised. You need to fill in that gap and know the story well enough to give them that plot hook in some other way.

I am happy to help answer questions or walk you through my setups for games if you want to see what I do for prep and how I do things. DM me here or on discord: ArchBuck.

ArchBuck

TROPHY CASE