PBM Chaos - Issue #20

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ISSUE 20

Well, we're twenty issues info this whole PBM Chaos ball of PBM wax, and what do you think, so far? Please, let's not everyone speak at once.

This issue, the focus is mostly, though not entirely, upon PBM games of the space warfare variety. What's included in this issue isn't the complete range of PBM space warfare games, of course, but it does include several of them for those space warfare fans of you out there. Here's a more complete list of space warfare PBM games taken from the new PBM List that remains a slow-progressing work-in-progress:

Fire on the Suns

Galac-Tac

Galactic Conflict

Green Sun: Rise & Fall

Mobius I

Phoenix: Beyond the Stellar Empire

Regime Change

Riftlords

RSW: Retro Space Wars

Spaceplan

Star Chase

Star Fleet Battles Online

Star Fleet Warlord

Starweb

Stellar Conflict

SuperNova: Rise of the Empire

Takamo

Wraith

I've decided for this issue of PBM Chaos to include the PBMville stuff for Issue #20. the hardest part, sometimes, is trying to decide what you want where, if you know what I mean. Thus, I tend to experiment, and sometimes I end up going back and forth, as I'm trying to decide.

Game 5693 of Alamaze has ended after 40 turns, and this marks the first game of Alamaze that I've played all of the way through, from beginning to end. It started with 12 players, and ended with just 7 players. Naturally, I came in 7th Place. But for just the final turn (but not the entire game), I managed to actually do better than the beleaguered Giants player.

Final turn (Turn #40) for the Underworld kingdom in Alamaze Game 5693

World famous PBM gamer and attention hog, Richard Weatherhead, would probably prefer that I toss in a mention of his favorite PBM game, Austerlitz - The Rise of the Eagle!. The indomitable PBM gamer, Wayne Smith, would no doubt want me to mention Duel2 and Hyborian War. And PBM GM personalities Clint Oldridge and John Davis would likely be aghast - utterly aghast - if I did not mention Middle-earth PBM.

The game, Diplomacy, is also getting some attention in this issue of PBM Chaos. I've never played it, myself, but the wide variety of Diplomacy zines are some of the best reading to be found on all of planet Earth. You might think that it was called planet Diplomacy, if the sheer volume of old Diplomacy zines were fully grasped by you. Honestly, I don't think that there's any end to them. They kind of remind me of Tribbles from the old Star Trek television series. A little further down in this issue, be sure to be on the lookout for Stefan Graf's Diplomacy idea.

In PBMville, I don't know how Richard Lockwood has such good luck. I would take this opportunity to encourage all of Richard's fellow players in that game to not cut his character, Mississippi Jane Deadshot, any slack. Looks like I'm gonna have to send in either a Terminator or a Bounty Hunter to get the job done. You guys sure are slacking!

Just as a final reminder, today is HALLOWEEN! I hope that your Halloween turns out to be a very festive and fun occasion, with a dose of spooky thrown in for good measure. At press time, I am unable to confirm or deny rumors swirling about that I have broken into my wife's Halloween candy stash, before any trick-or-treaters could come knocking.

Most of you old PBM coots are dressed up for Halloween 365 days a year. So, make the most of it, and get out there and have some good old Halloween fun, this year.

And while you're at it, treat yourself to a PBM game for Halloween, this year!

Happy Halloween from PBM Chaos!

Your text goes here

Star Fleet Battles Online image ad for Franz Games

I read the article about the name PBM to describe a form of playing. I agree that the term is limited. It is mainly thought off a way of playing that uses either electronic or physical mail to submit orders and send out the results of those orders. Now when you expand the method of this, it expands what it truly is.

Personally, the term I have used for years is "asynchronous play". I am the proprietor and GM of the Star Fleet Warlord game. Players submit all orders via Email. This will be changing in the future to allow my players to submit them via the website. Also, I am the proprietor of SFB Online that allows online play of Star Fleet Battles against live opponents from anywhere in the world. So to me SFW is asynchronous (i.e. allows people to submit their order at any time), SFB Online is synchronous play (i.e. a player needs to wait for another player to complete their actions first). I know this a technical term, but I think it describes it best.

Paul Franz

Owner of Franz Games

Proprietor of Star Fleet Warlord

"May the Lord Grant You Extra Innings"

Hey Paul,

Nice to hear from you, and thanks for writing in to PBM Chaos!

"Asynchronous play" is a fine term to describe a lot of what is PBM gaming, but asynchronous is a word that's a bit hard on the tongue, and I suspect that many can't even spell it. And this without even taking into consideration that many simply won't have any clue what the word means.

Cambridge Dictionary has a good, short definition for it of: not happening or done at the same time or speed.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what people call PBM games, nor how they choose to describe them, I suppose, as we each tend to call them whatever we, as individuals, prefer to call them - and once we acquire a habit of referring to them a certain way, we tend to stick with our respective habit in the matter.

At least, that's what I think. Separate from that, I did include an image ad for Star Fleet Battles Online in this issue.

Charles Mosteller

Star Fleet Warlord image ad for Franz Games

Douglas Kent Happy Halloween 2023 inage ad for Diplomacy World magazine

Diplomacy, anyone?
Stefan Graf wants to know!

Diplomacy image ad for Stefan Graf's Diplomacy Game.

Hey Charles,

If you're interested, I could offer a Diplomacy Game for your PBM

newsletter.

I would play the 5-player variant (map attached).

There's no direct diplomacy, but as a player, you can publish messages

for other countries in the Newsletter.

However, these messages are visible to everyone.

What do you think?

Best regards,

Stefan Graf

Stefan,

It's always good to hear from you, and personally speaking, I think that your Diplomacy proposal is a really good idea. We'll need to see if anyone else out there is interested, though. I'm pretty sure that they will be - it's just a question of how many.

For those of you reading this, Stefan told me that the rules for this variant of Diplomach can be found here.

I have created a forum for discussion of what will be Stefan Graf's PBM Chaos game of Diplomacy. If interested in possibly playing in this particular game of Diplomacy, whose results and in-game player messages will get posted in issues of PBM Chaos, click on forum link, so that we can get an idea of who all is interested in playing in it.

Charles Mosteller

Image ad for 50 Tips for Playing Better Diplomacy

DungeonWorld PBM Discord

MadMat-UK

10/30/2023

Any sign of PDFs yet? I'm on a really shonky wifi connection today.

TheCesspit

10/30/2023

Don't think the turns have even run yet.

Artarkis

10/30/2023

Yeah they are on their way. Skeletoids are tough. Named ones are anyway.

Artarkis

10/30/2023

Never seen a Ring of Laser beams before, scary stuff.

TheCesspit

10/30/2023

Anyone have tips for how to collect loot when you have moved away after the fight (maybe you ended up moving Cos you didn't expect to be fighting?)

I seem to spend turns going back to loot. Maybe I should leave it behind, but in Brokenlands loot seems to be important - even if it's just gold to power my scroll production...

Artarkis

10/30/2023

If not needed badly i might not bother. All you can do is move back.

TheCesspit

10/30/2023

Right. Sometimes you dunno want is in the pile....

Artarkis

10/30/2023

You can usually tell depending on monster. Named can wield and drop better stuff I hope to leave this room with +19 vicous mace a +25 Longsword and a Ring of Laser Beams. Not sure how they will compare to Scathe my named Scimitar.

MadMat-UK

10/30/2023

Wow love it when a character that ends a turn in an empty room gets completely stomped on phase one the next turn.

Artarkis

10/30/2023

Nasty stuff, where were you?

MadMat-UK

10/30/2023

Inside the Hasjan demon gate

Six 72 demon units, a demon prince and a demon dragon spawned next to my character.

Ava Orgaz'am

10/31/2023

I suspect we're not supposed to go into the demon gates.

Tony/Gimli Ruddle

10/31/2023

If that was the case there would not be an entry code.

TribeNet Discord

Raven (108 Ebune)

10/08/2023

The submission deadline for Clan News Issue #79 rumours, notices, and articles is in 24 hours. We need more rumours. Notices are always welcome if you have them. Notices, captions, and articles to [email protected]. Rumours to https://tribenet.wiki/rumour

Magnus (0275)

10/27/2023

Weapons, armour and metal tools can be made from iron, brass and bronze. Brass and bronze are compounds that both require 2 metals to be refined before you can make them which automatically makes iron "easier" since it's only 1 refining process. Iron weapons and armour are stronger than those made of brass and bronze but the tools found under Metalwork are effectively the same whether brass, bronze or iron. Brass and bronze use less coal while being worked into tools so they do have some advantages. Especially if you can't find iron ore to mine but you can find the components for the others.

Debzy 116

10/27/2023

Just looking to clarify something: if I had forestry 4 I can assign 40 people - but it's that 40 people over all forestry tasks or per forestry task? Ie could I set 40 to logs and 40 to bark, or do I need to split the 40 between them?

Blackrune#0421

10/27/2023

Dont discount the Fair sale value of Salt in the early turns. Can be very lucrative.

Axomin 0129

10/27/2023

Agree, but first have to find some salt.

Blackrune#0421

10/27/2023

Follow a herd of wild game for a while...they will eventually lead you to salt deposits, I think. In the game, I typically found salt deposits near coastlines and swamps, which makes sense.

rossm 0180 (Index)

10/27/2023

Buy copper at the fair for 7. Turn it into a trinket, sell if for 17.

Blackrune#0421

10/27/2023

Yes, I made Trinkets early on, because Copper was the only ore available in my starting area. I never found a use for pursuing Jewellery further than that.

Debzy 116

10/27/2023

Thanks! Will keep it in mind if i find copper.

Magnus (0275)
10/30/2023
Glad I got in early then. Not keen on living the floor below 3700 goats.

Middle-earth PBM image ad for Middle-earth Games

Morning Charles,

If I tried to play in one of the team games in one of the other modules with more players, I just have this feeling deep down that I probably wouldn't be an ideal team member, and my independent streak could well bring about the demise of my entire team.

Charles Mosteller

We have two types of team games, rather confusingly named 'individual' and 'grudge', neither of which are what they sound like. Individual games means that we put together the teams, and balance them as best we can. These are ideal for new players, as they can be put with experienced players who can show them the ropes. Grudge games, on the other hand, are where players come to us as a team, and we pit them against another similar team. These tend to be where the best players compete against one another.

However, in both, teamwork is essential. Although we do have a scoring system which allows players to see who has done best in the game, it is first and foremost a team game, and won by a side not an individual. So an independent streak is great in terms of making suggestions and coming up with unusual plans, but not so much if it means going against what the team agrees on. And most of the time, the team that works best together wins.

On the other hand, we also have Gunboat games, where there is only very limited communication allowed between players on a team (generally one message every five turns). So in these, players have far more independence. However, that same lack of communication means we don't recommend them for new (or old and returning) players, as you're pretty much on your own.

So, as time and opportunity allow, I'll try to look the Champions of Middle-earth module over in more depth. Fair enough?

Charles Mosteller

Sounds good!
John Davis

Good morning, John!

There's the rub, I think, as far as going against what the team agrees on runs the risk of placing a player in a fairly precarious position, wouldn't you say? The great dilemma, thus, swiftly becomes, how do I do what I want to do, if it ends up screwing my team over, at the same time?

It strikes me as a hell of a choice to choose between doing what one wants to, in a bid to have fun and to get away from the usual constraints of a team game like Middle-earth PBM, and limited communication. But I suppose that Middle-earth PBM is, first and foremost, a team game.

The Grudge games are definitely not a realistic option for me. I'm definitely not a "best player of Middle-earth PBM." I don't know a ton about the Gunboat games of Middle-earth PBM, but perhaps that's what I need to be taking a closer look at.

The impression that I have (and you can correct me if I a wrong, John) is that Middle-earth PBM has been played so many times by so many players, down through the years, that only certain strategies are viable - and that it wouldn't take very much, at all, for one player to really muck things up for everyone. Or am I simply being a bit too paranoid?

Charles Mosteller

PBMville Characters & Locations
The Living

Doc Dudley Feelpain

Player: NPC Doctor

Health: GOOD

Last Location = 13

Assignment Last Turn: MOVE to 24.

Current Location: 24

NOTE: Doc Dudley Feelpain gets one order slot per turn.

NOTE: Doctors can occupy any location that the wounded are at. Wounds are treated at the END of a turn. Doctors will always give PRIORITY to treating wounded law enforcement officers over treating outlaws and those disturbing the peace.

Acting with haste, Doc Dudley Feelpain headed towards Mississippi Jane Deadshot, to treat her wound, after patching up Deputy Winslow Kinkaid. In a jiffy, Jane was back on her feet, her trigger finger itching, once more.

"Wicked" Wilbur Whitley

Player: Stefan Graf

Health: GOOD

Last Location = 25

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Mississippi Jane Deadshot in 24

Current Location: 25

Trying to get the drop on Mississippi Jane Deadshot, "Wicked " Wilbur Whitley sneaked closer and closer, and then took aim. POW! He had his chance, but he failed to make Mississippi dance. Missed by a good bit, Wilbur did.

WANTED

Frank "Nine Fingers" Chambers

Player: Barry Robertson

DEAD OR ALIVE

$500 REWARD for killing Sheriff "Wild Bill" Hickok

Health: WOUNDED

Last Location = 19

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Sheriff “Wild Bill” Hickok in 7.

Current Location: 19

People Killed: 1

Sheriff "Wild Bill" Hickok had approached within a very close distance of Frank "Nine Fingers" Chambers - too close for comfort, if you were to ask Frank. Frank Chambers was not a man to be trifled with, and he pulled his gun on Wild Bill. BANG! It was o that day that Frank Chambers became infamous for gunning down "Wild Bill" Hickok. The good sheriff was suddenly no more.

Sheriff “Wild Bill” Hickok

Player: NPC

Health: DEAD

Last Location = 7

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Frank "Nine Fingers" Chambers in 19.

Current Location: 7

NOTE: Sheriff "Wild Bill" Hickok gets two order slots per turn.

"Wild Bill" Hickock was fed up with all of this lead slinging in his town. Not far from him was one disturbing the peace - old Frank Chambers. But before Hickok realized it, Frank "Nine Fingers" Chambers got the drop on him, and down Hickok went, graveyard dead. But before he got hit, he managed to let two bullets fly. The first one found no target, other than the side of the barber shop's sign. The second one, though, hit home, and Frank "Nine Fingers" Chambers was now licking his bullet wound like a wounded dog.

Sharpshooter Archibald Tyrrell

Player: Darrell Lias

Health: GOOD

Last Location = 3

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Big Bad Black Bob in 5.

Current Location: 3

Archibald Tyrrell had made the decision to gun down that sorry, no good, no account Big Bad Black Bob. In fact, he had bet nearby bystander that he could kill the negro cowboy with just a single shot. But just as he pulled the trigger, Big Bad Black Bob skedaddled out of the way, and Sharpshooter Archibald Tyrrell's pride was the only thing that got shot all to hell.

Average Joe Smith

Player: NPC

Health: DEAD

Last Location = 15

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Brendan "The Dirge" Weir in 14.

Current Location: 15

Joe Smith was a real nobody in this town. That is, at least up until the day that he put a bullet in Brendan "The Dirge" Weir. BAM! That's exactly how quick that it happened, but "The Dirge" was wounded, not dead. And that wasn't good news for Average Joe Smith.

Deputy Farkus Gurdeen

Player: NPC

Health: WOUNDED

Last Location = 23

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Mississippi Jane Deadshot in 24.

Current Location: 23

NOTE: Deputy Farkus Gurdeen gets one order slot per turn.

Farkus Gurdeen knew that he had to put an end to this shit. The streets of PBMville were mighty violent, this day. He took a sharp aim, and squeezed the trigger. He hit nothing but air!

Big Bad Black Bob

Player: Indie Spin

Health: WOUNDED

Last Location = 5

Assignment Last Turn: MOVE to 6.

Current Location: 6

Deputy Winslow Kinkaid

Player: NPC

Health: GOOD

Last Location = 13

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Brendan "the Dirge" Weir in 14.

Current Location: 13

NOTE: Deputy Winslow Kinkaid gets one order slot per turn.

Winslow Kinkaid just about pissed himself, with all of the lead flying through the air. He wanted to stop "The Dirge," and so he jerked the trigger on that Colt, but accuracy never was Deputy Winslow Kinkaid's greatest strength as a deputy lawman. A clean miss!

WANTED

Mississippi Jane Deadshot

Player: Richard Lockwood

DEAD OR ALIVE

$100 REWARD

Health: GOOD

Location = 24

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Deputy Farkus Gurdeen in 23.

Current Location: 24

People Killed: 1

Mississippi saw the lawman aiming at her, and she let a round fly, quicker than he clothes flew off, back hen she was working as a saloon girl. POW! And down went Deputy Farkus Gurdeen, wounded!

WANTED

Rowdy Slim McGraw

Player: Casey Link

DEAD OR ALIVE

$200 REWARD

Health: WOUNDED

Last Location = 10

Assignment Last Turn: MOVE to 8.

Current Location: 8

People Killed: 2

WANTED

Brendan "The Dirge" Weir

DEAD OR ALIVE

$200 REWARD

Player: Brendan Weir

Health: WOUNDED

Last Location = 14

Assignment Last Turn: SHOOT at Average Joe Smith in 15.

Current Location: 14

People Killed: 2

Possession: Ace of Spades [1 Use Only] [Averts Death]

Brendan Weir, aka "The Dirge," saw Average Joe Smith drawing a bead on him, and his hand hit that revolver's handgrip, the gun coming alive in The Dirge's hand. POW! Lead went down range at a quick pace, and in no time, at all, Average Joe Smith was pushing up daises.

Boot Hill Cemetery

The Dead

R.I.P.

"Wild Bill" Hickok

Here lies old Wild Bill

The pine box sure fit him

Nine Fingers got the kill

Ended his life on a whim

Killed in Issue #20

R.I.P.

Average Joe Smith

Killed by The Dirge
On a dusty old street
Slayed by an urge
Of violence as a treat

Killed in Issue #20

The Narrator Speaks

As soon as I get everything prepared, an event will kick in. It can't happen, until things are ready on my end, though. In the meantime, just keep on shooting and killing one another in the streets of PBMville.

In due time, Outlaw Gangs will get implemented. What all that entails and will provide for, I'm not at liberty to say, right now. But I did want to go ahead and get a few of your hopes up. That's sort of what a narrator is supposed to do, I reckon.

Ultimately, what all that is envisioned may either work or not work. It can't prove to be unwieldy and expect to survive. That said, I do think that we can increase the excitement level in PBMville, considerably, without it all becoming too much of a time-consuming headache.

The game needs a real map. It doesn't have to be super fancy, or nothing like that. There has to be more to life in the Old West than just moving and shooting, don't ya reckon?

Remember, until next time, you hang in there. Just don't hang, if you get my drift.

Contact PBM Chaos at
[email protected]

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