First, everyone should know that I used to run traditional play by mail games and have sworn NEVER TO DO SO AGAIN!!! Traditional PBMs are very time consuming and difficult to run. They burn out referees right and left (when they work). But more often they don't work because some key player doesn't turn in orders at all or sends in a book of orders every turn. So the game crashes on the second turn. When designing Matrix Games I wanted to find ways around this problem. The rules of the Matrix Game make this happen by changing the focus of the game away from the referee (I do not have to decide what happens based on no orders or volumes of orders) and away from the player only running one man or unit. Players can argue about anything so no unit has to stay put the whole game. So what does an MG referee do? NOT BLOODY MUCH! SETTING UP THE GAME I had to write a cast of characters, a list of forces, make a map, and write up a short teaser to get people into the scenario. That was done before I even started thinking about playing the game. I needed a crew of players who knew the Matrix Game rules. Soon the basic Matrix Game rules will be up on my web page for free use so over time more and more players will be available. I contacted the players through the Matrix Gamer Onelist (which is also how the Matrix Gamer newsletter is distributed) so I knew the players would know the score. I put a notice out on the Onelist and via the Matrix Game and players joined up immediately. I've since had the game write up posted on my web page but the rest of the game was done via email. Each turn I sent out a turn result roster. The roster included a list of the characters (and which players controlled them) a calendar of when turns were due and a running list of events so far. I kept this roster on my publisher/word processor program so I was able to update it easily each turn. The final turn roster (modified a little) is included in this Matrix Gamer. Each day I would check my email to see what orders I had received. Once a week I copied and pasted the email messages into the turn roster. I then did what I do in face to face games. 1. DECIDE HOW STRONG EACH ARGUMENT IS. 2. DECIDE WHICH ARGUMENTS ARE IN COMPETITION (WHICH CAUSES DICE ROLLING CONTESTS). 3. DECIDE WHICH ARGUMENTS CAUSE TROUBLE AND CONFLICTS. In face to face games the players roll for their own arguments – but in PBEMs the referee does the rolling. Someday I hope someone will write a computer program that will do this for you. The dice rolling contests for competing arguments can take a few minutes but never very long. After arguments occur in a face to face game, the players do arguments to resolve conflict and trouble. Only the involved players make arguments. The referee decides who in involved. This is not as easily done in a PBEM. The players are not there! So instead I let everyone make arguments for conflicts but only rolled for the ones I thought were involved in the fight and were strongest. With trouble though – only the player involved argued. I resolved conflict arguments on the Sunday following the Thursday turn. Some players arguments were very long so I often shortened them before sending out the turn results. If my editing was not always right it was due to honest mistakes. Words are often ambiguous. I then emailed the turn results out to the players and waited for the next turn. THE REFEREE IS JUST A CLERK In many ways an MG referee is just a clerk. But a smart clerk. The referee decides who strong arguments are. So there is power to deny anything from happening. But this is a small power – since the referee wants things to happen! So I frequently ruled arguments strong. More of the referees time is spend rolling the dice and cutting and pasting the turn results. All in all I would spend twenty minutes or so processing the results of each turn. HOW THE PLAYERS TOOK CHARGE The players soon discovered that they could send messages (read that propaganda) to one another via the Onelist. I read all the messages and was glad that I did not have to be involved in relaying this mess. What I saw happening in the message flying was inter-player negotiation. Role playing – if you like. In face to face games this happens during the negotiation phase. Players talk, cut deals, role play and grand stand. It is fun to watch especially since the referee doesn't have to do anything (This is when I go to the toilet!) IS IT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS? YES!!!! Anyone can run a PBEM Matrix Game with a minimum of effort and little more that an email account. It helps to have a one list set up for the players to make it easier to them to communicate (and easier on the referee to send out turn results) but it is nor required. SHOULD OTHER PEOPLE RUN GAMES? Oh yes!!! I like running games but anymore I am just as happy playing. All the fun of a PBM without all the work! Back to Table of Contents -- Matrix Gamer #12 To Matrix Gamer List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Chris Engle. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com