CoD:GameProcedures
The Cave of Danger
General Procedure
This game should move fairly quickly. There are thirty-one levels in the dungeon. Hopefully, the party completes all of these levels and ascend to legendary status. Naturally this will take some time, but to start off, here is the ground floor in order to make PbP gameplay quickly.
Dungeon Exploration Mode
Determine a party leader. This will be the go-to point of contact for GM and represents the party. This person should be easily contactable and should be at the forefront of decisions that determine what the party does when exploring the dungeon - what corridors to go down, doors to open, turns to take, etc.
In the event the party leader is not available or is unable to make a decision and the GM is preparing for an update, decisions on what to do will revert to party majority vote. Whenever 4 of the 7 party members vote one direction that is the decision that will go "for the voice of the party".
Please determine party formation and marching order. This will let me know how you are organized when you run into an encounter (trap, monster, etc.).
Each map that is posted will be from a 'master grid' which has coordinate numbers for every square that the party has access to. When posting movement, please state where the party is moving from and where they are moving to in terms of grid space.
Encounter Procedure
1. Combat, Trap, or Trick
Assume that all encounters are hostile unless they are specified as Allies or Noncombatants. Certain monsters may be too powerful for the party to beat at their current power level (for example a L8 solo vs. a L1 party) - they will consider them either too weak or attempt to harass the party in a nondirect fashion such as bartering with them, going along with the party and blowing their cover, or acting as an obstacle to seal off a particular portion of the dungeon.
Encounters will be handled per the DMG's recommended 'Encounter Budget'. There may be a chance for "out of depth" encounters to be generated - also, if the party is clearly delaying for some reason in a level, there is a chance that a high-powered Solo may come after them to chase them out of the dungeon.
Encounters are not meant to be very long - the party should be able to make a decision whether the encounter is worth fighting or fleeing from. They can always perform a hit and run tactic to defeat the encounter at a later date. Of course, there may be an opportunity to defuse an encounter through non-combat "role playing" methods, however in a Random Dungeon, this may not always be available.
When the encounter begins an exploded and zoomed in map of the combat area will be provided for the players. This will allow them to easily see where everything is, and pick and choose their movements accordingly. Combat blocks should be posted during every post in combat regardless of a status change or not.
Please separate your actions line by line so that it is easier to read. It may make your posts much longer and bloated, but it's easier on my eyes. A guide to shorthand actions will pop up some time later to further streamline this procedure.
2. Search for Loot
Per the DMG loot tables will be posted at the start of each level. Players will have the opportunity to create a "magic item wish list" for their characters and the party that I will draw magic items from. These magic items should be no more than 4 levels above the party's level. I will choose mostly from the PC wish lists - however, if there are items that I feel would be useful to the party or would be amusing for the party to have, they may replace loot on these tables.
Loot will be used intelligently by sentient encounters. It may so happen that the players go against a solo that has an item 4 levels above the party - they should be cautioned, as the items from their wish list will be used against them in a trial by fire.
3. Continue to next Encounter
After the encounter and loot phases are finished, the players will revert back to Dungeon Exploration mode until they come across a new encounter.
The City of Wyrmscrote
General Town Information
Players who are in town will automatically be healed to full HP and have their powers refreshed as if it were an Extended Rest. They have access to storage area provided by the Guildhall. When in town, time flows abstractly and any stretch of time can occur within the span of an update - when in town, the players can feel free to RP as much as they like or they can simply post the actions that they are performing in town until the party is ready to go back down into the dungeon.
Buying Things in Town
To avoid useless exposition assume everything you ever wanted to buy is available as long as you have the money for it. Merely list what it is you're buying and perhaps a brief description of where you're going and why you're buying it, and pay the money for it. Occasionally the Black Market will be updated with new goods that are "out of depth" - however, they may be too expensive for an individual to buy with the loot that is available to the party at any one given time.
Leaving the Game
If, for any reason, there is a party dispute and players need to leave the game or wish to take a break, they can temporarily retire their character and relinquish their play slot for a person in the waiting list. They may choose to nominate someone from the waiting list, or they will be randomly chosen. If there is nobody in the waiting list that is still interested in the game the encounters and will be ratcheted down appropriately and a recruitment thread will go up and become available until the remaining spot is filled. A player who wishes to return to the game but finds their spot has been taken may go back into the waiting list at top priority.
Town Events
Occasionally special events will happen in the town that may give players an opportunity to gain more loot and experience - these are events that break up the dungeon crawling and may give players an opportunity to expand their character's history, get sweet new items, etc. These events will be posted and last until the current dungeon level is completed.
Word of Recall
Players will have the ability to return to town when they are on any safe dungeon level (that is one they have fully cleared). They are considered to have mastered a given dungeon level and can pass freely through it in order to get back to town in record time - the method of this will be revealed through the course of gameplay.
