The Ironlands
Ironlands is a fantasy RPG and game world built to be used for an online, play by post role playing
campaign. So I suppose the first place to start is, what does play by post actually mean, and why use it?
Unlike other types of role playing, such as tabletop or live action, play by post (PBP) does not involve direct
or immediate interaction between the players. You post, on a message board, your character's actions, and
then wait for a reply. While this obviously is a very different feel than actually being face to face with
another player, and having a real conversation, much like tabletop vs LARP, there are both advantages and
disadvantages.
On the down side, the play can be choppy, and at times very slow. Few things are more irritating than being
in the middle of a combat, for example, and suddenly hanging, waiting on someone's reply. The plus,
however, is that since no one needs to actually get together, play can happen any day, and every day, with
the players simply logging in to the message boards from wherever they happen to be. You can post at 3 in
the afternoon, or 3 in the morning, whatever works for you. And, while the conversation my be slower, the
ability to write what your character is saying and doing, at your own speed and in your own time, can
actually provide a much richer game experience. Consider the following:
"He walks into the room and attacks."
"Kicking the door open, he charges into the room, sword at the ready. Sighting the closest opponent, he roars
out his battle cry and lunges forward, hacking with his blade in a vicious blow meant to cleave his foe in
two."
Both statements say essentially the same thing; you've entered the room and attacked an opponent. But
with a little time and effort, the second one makes for a much more enjoyable read, and ultimately, a better
character. Like tabletop and LARP, PBP is really neither better nor worse than the other styles, just
different. In any case, it's what we've got, so we'll make the best of it.
Now, one major difference between PBP and tabletop is dice. A tabletop campaign revolves around dice
rolls, and obviously, this can't be done in a post. So, like LARP, we've come up with a different way of
handling it. In Ironlands, combat, and in fact the game system itself, is built around points.
To begin with, you will use points to create your character. If you've ever played Warhammer, it's a similar
idea. A basic person costs a certain number of points, and then you can spend more points for things like
items and abilities. You want armor, it costs points, and the better the armor, the more points it costs;
likewise spells and other abilities. Each of you will be given a base income for your character, which
determines how many points you can spend. Your income can be changed as we play, and you can also find
items in the course of your adventures (treasure) that equate to more points. These extra points can be spent
right away, or saved up, but there is a catch. At the start of each calendar month, you will collect your
income, and essentially re-buy your character.
Suppose, for example, that I had 20 points of income, and on Nov 1, I created a 20 point character. During
the month I managed to collect another 10 points worth of treasure, which I spent as I found it, to give me a
30 point character. Come Dec 1, I need to re-buy my character, so if my income is still 20, I'm going to be
short, and my character is going to lose those extra 10 points. One solution would be to only spend 5, and
save the other 5, so that I can at least cover a second month, in which I will hopefully find enough points to
cover the next month, and so on. Another option would be to use some of those points to improve my income
source, so that I collect more each month. I'll talk more about this in a bit, but for now, just know that it is
possible to continually increase your income.
The up side of the re-buy, however, is that you do not have to spend points on the same things that you did
last month. So, if you decide you want to take your character in different direction, like for example add a
few spells to his arsenal of weapons, or lose the shield and start swinging two-handed weapons, it's up to
you. As you get enough points you can even start gearing up extra characters (henchman, anyone?). Decide
your henchman isn't really worth their weight after all, and you'd rather have some better armor? No
problem; every month is a whole new ball game.
Now, that covers building a character (briefly, at least) but what about combat? How do I find out if I've
hit something? You do it using the same points, which are spent, and re-charged, every combat round.
However many points your character is worth, that's how many points you can spend on your attack and
defense. Each character begins with a basic attack of 1, defense of 1, and life of 1, which will be modified by
whatever items or abilities they've spent points on. Generally speaking, weapons increase your attack, armor
increases your defense, and special abilities, spells, and so on, can affect any of the three stats. If an attack,
with all adjustments, is higher than a defense, with all adjustments, it is a hit, and takes 1 life.
For example, let's say my attack is a 3, my defense 2, I have 2 life, and my character is worth a total of 20
points. When I attack an opponent, I automatically attack for 3, but I can spend up to 20 of my points to
boost that attack. However, what I spend on attack, I can't spend on defense, so if I put all 20 into my
attack, I now attack for 23, but I am left with only my base 2 for defense (like a berserker, for example).
Now, as long as my 23 attack can beat his total defense, I'm going to hit him, but if he has anything more
than a 2 attack, he's also going to hit me. There are lots of reasons why this strategy might or might not
make sense, and we'll get more into the fine points of combat in the next section, but just to cover the basics,
here it is in a nutshell:
Every character starts with a basic income, in points;
A character can get more points and/or increase their income as the game goes on;
Points are collected, and re-spent, at the start of each month, in whatever way the player wishes;
The total point value of a character is used in each combat round, to be spent however the player wishes, and
is reset for the start of the next combat round.
If all of this sounds interesting, at least enough to learn a little more, then continue on to the next page
where we dig a little deeper into Combat.
campaign. So I suppose the first place to start is, what does play by post actually mean, and why use it?
Unlike other types of role playing, such as tabletop or live action, play by post (PBP) does not involve direct
or immediate interaction between the players. You post, on a message board, your character's actions, and
then wait for a reply. While this obviously is a very different feel than actually being face to face with
another player, and having a real conversation, much like tabletop vs LARP, there are both advantages and
disadvantages.
On the down side, the play can be choppy, and at times very slow. Few things are more irritating than being
in the middle of a combat, for example, and suddenly hanging, waiting on someone's reply. The plus,
however, is that since no one needs to actually get together, play can happen any day, and every day, with
the players simply logging in to the message boards from wherever they happen to be. You can post at 3 in
the afternoon, or 3 in the morning, whatever works for you. And, while the conversation my be slower, the
ability to write what your character is saying and doing, at your own speed and in your own time, can
actually provide a much richer game experience. Consider the following:
"He walks into the room and attacks."
"Kicking the door open, he charges into the room, sword at the ready. Sighting the closest opponent, he roars
out his battle cry and lunges forward, hacking with his blade in a vicious blow meant to cleave his foe in
two."
Both statements say essentially the same thing; you've entered the room and attacked an opponent. But
with a little time and effort, the second one makes for a much more enjoyable read, and ultimately, a better
character. Like tabletop and LARP, PBP is really neither better nor worse than the other styles, just
different. In any case, it's what we've got, so we'll make the best of it.
Now, one major difference between PBP and tabletop is dice. A tabletop campaign revolves around dice
rolls, and obviously, this can't be done in a post. So, like LARP, we've come up with a different way of
handling it. In Ironlands, combat, and in fact the game system itself, is built around points.
To begin with, you will use points to create your character. If you've ever played Warhammer, it's a similar
idea. A basic person costs a certain number of points, and then you can spend more points for things like
items and abilities. You want armor, it costs points, and the better the armor, the more points it costs;
likewise spells and other abilities. Each of you will be given a base income for your character, which
determines how many points you can spend. Your income can be changed as we play, and you can also find
items in the course of your adventures (treasure) that equate to more points. These extra points can be spent
right away, or saved up, but there is a catch. At the start of each calendar month, you will collect your
income, and essentially re-buy your character.
Suppose, for example, that I had 20 points of income, and on Nov 1, I created a 20 point character. During
the month I managed to collect another 10 points worth of treasure, which I spent as I found it, to give me a
30 point character. Come Dec 1, I need to re-buy my character, so if my income is still 20, I'm going to be
short, and my character is going to lose those extra 10 points. One solution would be to only spend 5, and
save the other 5, so that I can at least cover a second month, in which I will hopefully find enough points to
cover the next month, and so on. Another option would be to use some of those points to improve my income
source, so that I collect more each month. I'll talk more about this in a bit, but for now, just know that it is
possible to continually increase your income.
The up side of the re-buy, however, is that you do not have to spend points on the same things that you did
last month. So, if you decide you want to take your character in different direction, like for example add a
few spells to his arsenal of weapons, or lose the shield and start swinging two-handed weapons, it's up to
you. As you get enough points you can even start gearing up extra characters (henchman, anyone?). Decide
your henchman isn't really worth their weight after all, and you'd rather have some better armor? No
problem; every month is a whole new ball game.
Now, that covers building a character (briefly, at least) but what about combat? How do I find out if I've
hit something? You do it using the same points, which are spent, and re-charged, every combat round.
However many points your character is worth, that's how many points you can spend on your attack and
defense. Each character begins with a basic attack of 1, defense of 1, and life of 1, which will be modified by
whatever items or abilities they've spent points on. Generally speaking, weapons increase your attack, armor
increases your defense, and special abilities, spells, and so on, can affect any of the three stats. If an attack,
with all adjustments, is higher than a defense, with all adjustments, it is a hit, and takes 1 life.
For example, let's say my attack is a 3, my defense 2, I have 2 life, and my character is worth a total of 20
points. When I attack an opponent, I automatically attack for 3, but I can spend up to 20 of my points to
boost that attack. However, what I spend on attack, I can't spend on defense, so if I put all 20 into my
attack, I now attack for 23, but I am left with only my base 2 for defense (like a berserker, for example).
Now, as long as my 23 attack can beat his total defense, I'm going to hit him, but if he has anything more
than a 2 attack, he's also going to hit me. There are lots of reasons why this strategy might or might not
make sense, and we'll get more into the fine points of combat in the next section, but just to cover the basics,
here it is in a nutshell:
Every character starts with a basic income, in points;
A character can get more points and/or increase their income as the game goes on;
Points are collected, and re-spent, at the start of each month, in whatever way the player wishes;
The total point value of a character is used in each combat round, to be spent however the player wishes, and
is reset for the start of the next combat round.
If all of this sounds interesting, at least enough to learn a little more, then continue on to the next page
where we dig a little deeper into Combat.
