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Postal gaming predates both computers and role-playing games, incidentally -- long-duration play-by-mail chess is an old tradition going back at least to the medieval origins of modern chess, if not further, making this at least [[Older Than Steam]]. If you ever see an old movie with a rich guy standing next to a mid-game chessboard with no opponent, he's probably got a postal chess game going with an unseen character. Play-By-Email, obviously, is the electronic version of Postal Gaming, and is easily as prevalent as Play by Post games using bulletin board software.
See also [[Journal Roleplay]], which is essentially the lovechild of Play-by-Post with [[Character Blog]].
<big>'''In addition to all the various [[Tabletop RPG]] tropes, you see a few others prevalent in [[Play-By-Post Games]], including:'''</big>
* [[God Moders]] and [[Munchkin|Munchkins]]: Since Play By Posts are more likely to have informal or diceless systems, or sometimes no systems at all, godmoding (using out-of-character knowledge to make in-character decisions, or calling the actions of something controlled by another player) can pop up at times. Playing on a poorly-regulated forum RP is one of the few times you'll wish for [[Min-Maxing]] - since on some forums, there's ''no minning required''.'<br /><br />These terms mean very different things in these games. A Munchkin tends to be a [[Heinz Hybrid]] or a [[God Mode Sue]] in games where numbers don't matter. [[God Mode]] is when a player writes the other character as reacting in a certain way or acting in a certain way without their consent. The former is bad writing, the latter is a breach of ettiquette.
* [[Long Runners]]:
** The ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' was begun back in 1994, and continued until 2006. You can count the number of these games that have lasted ''twelve years'' on one hand, and you'll have fingers left over.
** If you thought nine years was impressive, try [http://www.Aelyria.com Aelyria.com] forum boards (previously known as ''Alleria''). The game was formed back in ''1989'' and since then has crossed between three different boards to keep up to date. It now has its own site and is still running strong ''twenty-one'' years later.
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== Regular Roleplaying (i.e. Safe for Work Content) Without Their Own Pages ==
* [http://blurringtheline.yuku.com/ Blurring the Line Between Reality and Fantasy] is a multiverse-setting RP community (with like 3 players), and is essentially a massive crossover between many universes. Including: Bleach, Naruto, Kim Possible, Pokemon, the Soul Series, Elder Scrolls, DC/Marvel comics, Kingdom Hearts, and some original worlds....and the list actually goes on. And on. And on.
* [http://hiddenvillage.net/ Hidden Village] is a warm, active RP community for NON-CANON Naruto-based role-play. All level role-players are welcome! Besides Naruto, we have games running in Fairy Tale, One Piece, Tenjou Tenge, Bleach, Air Gear, and so on. Come in and hop onto the chatbox to get to know a few of us before you make a commitment to the forum. The site has its own massive jutsu database, __ of the Year awards, marketplace system, and much more. The admin team is very welcoming and wants to make you feel comfortable. Come on in and have a look around. Note: broken URL is fixed! Sorry about that, we're still around!
* [http://www.maganicwars.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=47 Darkness Incarnate] An active community with Dungeons and Dragons style characters. What sets it apart, are the requirements for each class, and the importance of combat (it is the main part of the game)
* [http://coloholics.ca/ Coloholics Anonymous] is a large play by post RP forum where the roleplays are divided into massive RP forum worlds separated by genres such as Anime, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Nation-Building, and Modern and Miscellaneous. The name "Coloholic" comes from "Colosseum-oholic", meaning people who are fans of roleplaying.
* [http://virtual-hogwarts.org Virtual Hogwarts] has been an active Harry Potter-based RP for nine years and boasts a heavy emphasis on writing and a friendly atmosphere. Structured stat-based games are optional, limited to quidditch and duelling.
* [http://s4.zetaboards.com/A_New_Dawn/index/ A New Dawn] is a forum with an entire section devoted to RP'ing, although the rest of the site is a regular forum, mostly of friends. It has a wonderfully creative [[Space Opera]] going on called [http://s4.zetaboards.com/A_New_Dawn/topic/8043760/1/ Beyond the Stars] that borrows liberally from [[Mass Effect]].
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* ''[[Nation States]]'' is not itself one of these, but many player like to play them using their nations, either on the official forums or on the numerous forums created by players for various regions. And, amongst very vaguely and distantly similar lines, [http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=69 Never Ending Stories] at the CivFanatics forum.
* Steve Jackson Games at one time ran a BBS on which a number of such games were played, including the free-form no-rules roleplaying forum which evolved into ''GURPS Illuminati University''.
* [http://bop.nfshost.com/ Patton]is a website dedicated entirely to games like this. The main focus is on a play-by-post adaptation of Chris Crawford's Balance of Power, but at any time a half-dozen to ten games are running. Some are roleplaying games, others are strategy, but everyone is welcome, especially tropers (most of the old members are tropers).
* [http://roleplayerguild.com/ Roleplayer Guild] is a forum dedicated to pbp roleplays. Rps are sorted into three categories: [[Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels|Basic, Casual, and Advanced]].
* There is an entire site devoted to this known as [http://www.rpol.net/ RolePlay Online], or RPoL. It has a built-in software dice roller, among other features, allowing one to use dice in such a game seamlessly; however, quite a few of the games run there are still freeform.
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** [[Live Journal]] hosted [[Journal Roleplay|quite a few.]] Most have since moved to InsaneJournal or Dreamwidth.
** Many of the GreatestJournal players have moved to InsaneJournal.
* The Giant In The Playground [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/ forums], for the D&D-based webcomic [[Order of the Stick]], feature a fairly large section devoted to PBP games. The board, like RPoL, even has its own dice roller. Some games have individual pages further down.
* [http://plothook.net Plothook.NET], another site devoted entirely to this.
* [http://www.myth-weavers.com Myth-Weavers], again, is solely for this purpose, and is known for its plethora of useful built-in software and message board mods, including a very popular XML [[Character Sheet]] database.
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* [http://www.cityofsupers.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi Prodigy] is a superhero-based play-by-post, made out of original characters and played in the [[City of Adventure]] of Prodigy, New Jersey.
* [http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?t=12504 Stargate: Aftermath]. A [[Stargate Verse]] based RPG, creating an alternate universe after [[Stargate SG-1]] season eight. Started with a [[Earthshattering Kaboom]] and has survived one Goa'uld assault and one earthquake.
* [http://www.themuseacademy.com/prievillage/index.php?c=4 Muse Academy]. Only readers of Muse Magazine understand half of what happens, but it's the special crazy sort of randomness that comes from having no real GM.
* [http://www.birthright.net/ The Birthright] campaign setting for AD&D and D&D has a large number of games running. The PCs of Bithright campaigns where not adventures but rulers. A given party might consist of The Duke, his Court Wizard, the High Priest, the Master of the local guilds etc. As well as normal adventuring stuff the game system had domain rounds, where PCs administered various holdings, collected taxes and fought wars. Which translated quite straightforwardly to play by post play in which most if not all of the different kingdoms are take by PCs. As well as the default campaign settings the 'engine' has also been used to run similar games set in Fantasy feudal Japan, post Arthurian Britain, etc.
* There was an impromptu one on the [[
* The [[
* [[BZ Power]] has a [[Bionicle]]-themed roleplaying forum, it being a Bionicle fan forum, but don't expect to just walk in and make a new RPG-only three RPGs besides the [[BZPRPG]] can ever be occurring at once. They have to place 3rd or better in a polled contest every three months to even get started, and to avoid being closed they have to enter the contest again and place 3rd or higher again. Thankfully, there is an official planning topic to refine RPGs and RPG concepts.
** There are also a few RPGs active in Lego General Discussion and Completely Off Topic forums. While more than three can be active at once, the former requires approval from an LGD forum leader (who acts as a quality control for incoming RPGs), while the latter requires 7 RPG judges, [[My Friends and Zoidberg|and Sisen, the RPG Leader]], to approve the RP (which acts as a more strict quality control.) Thankfully for COT, there is ALSO an official planning topic for refining COT RPGs and COT RPG concepts.
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* [http://stararmy.com Star Army] features an original [[Space Opera]]/[[Standard Sci Fi Setting|sci-fi setting]] created by its members and characterized by [[Cool Starship|sleek, powerful starships]], [[Powered Armor|power armor]], [[Artificial Human|cute catgirls]], and [[Badass Normal|heavily armed men of action]]. Star Army has run continuously since 2000 and has up to a dozen or so individual games within the universe's main factions at any given time.
* [http://asylums.insanejournal.com/kiseki_rpg/profile Kiseki], which is a [[CLAMP]]-based RP at Insanejournal. There's a mod who tosses events out every six weeks or so, but she doesn't really act as a GM per say and the gaming is very freeform.
* [http://ninja-academy-online.invisionzone.com/ Ninja Academy], a [[Naruto]] RPG with an active player base, an elaborate, custom-made game system and a solid pipeline for user-created content. 7 years old, yet still active and developing.
* [http://www.retributiongames.com/ Retribution Games] sprung from forum-based games History of the World and Divided We Stand played on the [[Something Awful]] Forums.
* [http://z7.invisionfree.com/_timetopretend/index.php Time To Pretend], an Academy RPG where characters have the spirits of [[Disney]] or other fairy tale characters.
* [http://www.online-roleplaying.com/index.php Online-Roleplaying] is yet another site, most active with D&D gamers but willing to host anything. It also has its own dice roller.
* [http://superhero-rpg.forum-motion.com/forum.htm Super Hero Rpg] is a rpg where you can design your own hero/villain/regendgae. It constantly updates and goes through Chapter Arcs. There have been 4 so far, but it's easy to come in the middle of one too.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPoSMClV1U This fictional commercial] advertises a service that allows [[FPS|FPSes]] to be played this way.
* [[MSF High]] has one on its forums (which gets more attention then the actual webcomic.) http://www.msfhigh.com/forum/index.php
** Link to the [[TV Tropes]] page: [[MSF High Forum]]
** Characters from the forum have even appeared in this comic, and a good few of the moderators are tropers.
* The Gaming Steve Forums have one: [[Gaming Steve Universe|The Gaming Steve Universe.]] The game itself can be found [http://www.gamingsteve.com/blab/index.php?board=18.0 here.] While the individual creations' pages can be found [http://www.gamingsteve.com/blab/index.php?board=17.0 here.] This is actually an offshoot of a Spore 2005 [[Fanfic]]; when Spore failed to live up to the expectations of the universe that was created, Origin became its own story. Especially notable are the Nauceans, a race so well-built that [[Will Wright]] himself CANONIZED them.
* [http://oberon.hawkwingaerie.com/ Oberon and Salvation] are two linked games, each following one of the eponymous ships in the Firefly 'verse. Like several examples listed above, these games emphasize writing as well as roleplay, and a general outline of the plot for each "episode" is worked out in advance, although there is a great amount of flexibility in the outline and deviations are generally accepted if they lead to good story.
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* Struggle Against Mecha Insano: A long running free form game run on the [http://spoonyexperiment.com/forum/index.php Spoony Experiment Play by Post Forums]. It concerns a resistance group fighting against the evil Doctor Insano (Yes that one.) It spans over twenty years in game and has several generations of the family fighting against Insano. Is known for large time skips lots and lots of drama and intense violence, putting characters through everything imaginable.
* [http://www.hexrpg.com Hogwarts Extreme] (also known as just HEX) is a rather popular Harry Potter forum-based RPG. It also works as a regular messageboard and general online networking community for Potter fans. Each individual roleplay thread is stand-alone, so it's a good site for beginners who don't feel ready for a more traditional Play By Post site.
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=24188.0 Multiworld Madness] is a "derelict flagship" of the [[Roll to Dodge]] game type. Having recently "celebrated" its second anniversary, spanning three mini-universes as of this writing, with six more to come, this action epic has pretty much drove the Roll To Dodge games forward, causing their explosive growth within the confines of the [[Dwarf Fortress|Bay 12 Games]] forums and being influential in their spread across the internet. Although progress in the game has [[Schedule Slip|slowed from two updates a day to one update a week]] (at most), it still remains the largest Roll To Dodge forum game on the internet.
* The ''[[MS Paint Adventures]]'' forum [http://www.mspaforums.com/forumdisplay.php?92-Collab-Roleplay Collab/Roleplay] section has a lot of these, the vast majority of them based on ''[[Homestuck]]''.
* [http://z7.invisionfree.com/VGAHD/index.php?act=idx Video Games and Hair Dye] is a [[Scott Pilgrim]] roleplay that's active and always welcoming of new members, although most action takes place on the in-character chatbox.
* [http://s4.zetaboards.com/Gallega/index/ Gallega] is a new Sci-Fi RP with a small but dedicated group. The RP focuses on user made content while the staff design most of back story. The RP itself follows the story of a crew exploring unknown space. Of course players can easily start their own stories.
* [http://z10.invisionfree.com/TARRRPG/index.php Totally Awesome Random Robot RPG] the mechtalk story that took on a life of it's own. Pilot a massive [[Mecha]] of your very own for either the Mighty Fandom or the Determined Earth Sphere Union. Lots of [[Gundam]] and other [[Anime]] influences collide in the titanic struggle for the Earth Sphere.
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