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Hey guys, I've recently got the urge to set up a play-by-post RPG, mainly because I've always liked the idea of pen-and-paper RPGs, but have never had the opportunity to play one in real-life (mainly due to time and availability constraints), and I enjoy writing creatively and need something to flex my creative muscles.

Specifically, I've been looking into the GURPS discworld system to go with, mainly because I love the Discworld setting and most people are familiar with it. Looking around the 'net I've seen advice to get the 'original' source book (GURPS: Discworld Roleplaying) and match it up with the 4th edition GURPS lite rules (instead of the included GURPS Lite 2nd/3rd edtion).

So, what I would really like from the good people of Dakka, is any advice anyone is willing to offer on how to go about setting up and running this sort of thing. From a technical perspective I know vaugely how to admin a VBB system (I've dabbled with vBulletin in the past) but could churn out something custom in a pinch. But I would really like advice on the DM side of things, how to go about setting up a story, managing a game etc etc.

EDIT: Also, any opinions on the GURPS ruleset in general and/or suggestions for alternate rulesets which have a discworld source available would be very much appreciated

I'm thinking of having this running as an open-ended affair, so rather than having a fixed story arc, the PCs just kind of act towards particular goals of their own, with the DM controlling what happens and how.

So, dungeon masters of Dakka, give me your wise words! (and if you're interested in joining in/helping, give me a shout and I'll update you on the status of the whole affair)

I'm very wary of PbP games as they rarely seem to get far and the longer ones (that I've read or been involved in) seem to be more like chain fiction than RPGing. My honest recommendation to you is to think about hosting a skype game. With either medium, I find a more rules lite system tends to do better than rules heavy games.

Funnily enough I was hoping for it to go the way of a chain-fiction style affair, mainly because I don't have a fully story arc to play through, and it allows me to keep things fresh while still advancing characters etc.

I'd like to do 'real' RPing, and similarly via skype would be nice, but a PbP allows me to counter-act that lack of free time that has been the bane of all hobbies since man first smeared some oddly-shaped rocks with various plant extracts and threw teeth to decide their fates.

In that case, there are a ton of ongoing PbP communities that you can apply to join. Simply pick a franchise you like and do a google search. Plus it's better to get involved with one before trying to run one.