Basically this is 3e D&D with a twist. You email your "Action" to the DM to say what you want your character to do (or not do) every "Move". The DM (that's me) then combines the results of everyone's "Action" into a "Move" that is kept by me in the archives and then altered for perspectives of each of the characters and emailed back to you. The players then email their next "Action" back to me, and etc. This is a time-consuming way to play, but it can be good fun and gives you a chance to exercise your writing skills. We are currently attempting a move every 2 days.
My campaign (running since October of 2003) is different that other email campaigns in that the players email the DM only. The players do not interact with each other; only the characters do. The players have their characters react to the "Move" and I create a broad next Move based on everyone's intentions. Then I determine the NPCs' actions and the actions of those characters whose players have not responded by the deadline. This gives me the story of how the Move unfolds. Then I copy and paste the move for all the players in individual emails, and edit each of those emails by the perspective of the character. Thus each character will not be getting exactly the same picture of what is going on. This differs wildly from tabletop games where you have to try and pretend you don't know that Bob the fighter got eaten by an Otyugh in the next room when he went to scout ahead. It also allows players to go off in different directions and adventure at the same time in different locations, perhaps hooking up again later.
The campaign will use the D&D 3e Core Rules (not 3.5!) for all character generation, combat, etc. You do not have to own a copy of these rules or even be familiar with them to play. I will convert any characters rolled up on older rule systems or from computer game character generators for you.
The campaign occurs in the City of Greyhawk, located in the World of Greyhawk. The year is 582CY, which is before the infamous Greyhawk Wars.
This game will be high in role-playing, and low in "roll" playing. There will be battles, and you will have to make combat descisions for your character. However, no meta-game numbers will be used in describing the scenes and battles. Your character may "take a hit from the thief's longsword, gashing your side and leaving you stinging, but you anticipate the planned sneak thrust from the dagger hidden in the thief's left hand and deflect the blade", but you won't see "The thief swings and gets a 17, beating your armor class of 15, and you take 4 points of damage. He misses with the dagger in his off-hand with a to-hit roll of only 12" (This information WILL be seen by the lurkers). You are welcome to use as much or as little meta-game terms and intentions as you want in your "Action", but there will be no indicated results in the "Move" besides what a person would note in real life.
All of the normal actions will be open to you, as well as anything you can come up with that you might want to do. All results will be determined by random die rolls by the DM, but the rolls themselves will not be posted (again, except for the lurkers). I will be sure to add text that indicates whether you almost succeeded at something or truly did not have a chance and thereore it would be advisable not to try again.
This campaign will adjust to the wants of the players. Player requests will be put to a vote. If the majority of players decide they want a certain type of adventure or some change in the way things are done, I will do my best to accomodate. I want this to be enjoyable for all.
