As more and more people use the Internet, it was inevitable that gamers who had trouble finding a local gaming group would start to play online.

But is playing online something you'd enjoy?

The concept is the same. You play a character, you tell the game master (GM) what you want your character to do, and the GM tells you the results. But the pace of the game is far different.

You have far more time to think about your character's actions when playing online. You may, depending on the pace of the game, have days to think about what to do. Days to make plans, change plans, check the rulebooks, change plans again, and finally come to a conclusion. Then you send the GM a message, and wait until she resolves the action.

A system such as D&D allows a very simulationist approach to combat. That works fine face to face, but with online delays you cannot afford to manage combat to that fine a detail. So you'll find yourself working at more of the scene level of detail, and less the round level. Dice rolls are also typically made either by the GM, or by an online dice rolling system.

You'll find yourself writing more with an online game, especially the play by forum or play by email versions. While you'll resolve action at the scene level, you'll write the story in some detail, taking advantage of the communication delays to work on the description of what just happened.

The above assumes playing by email or by forum.

Another possibility is playing using a program designed to facilitate online role playing. Systems such as OpenRPG provide a tabletop environment online. All the players and GM must be online at the same time for these systems.

OpenRPG provides a miniatures map, a chat window, and extensive design tools allowing the GM to prewrite much of the adventure and then activate appropriate parts when they're encountered. The big advantage to something like OpenRPG is that everyone is active at the same time, and the pace is very much like a tabletop role playing game.

The disadvantage is that everyone has to be active at the same time, not always an easy task.

Other forms of online role playing exist, too. For a while, I ran a game called Crossover Earth '98. This was a story telling game, loosely backed by the Hero System mechanics. Each player played a super hero and a super villain. Villains and heroes would battle it out each month, and the winner would write the complete story about what happened. Over time, the shared universe built up a continuity of its own.

Freeform role playing online is all about writing stories, with no game system behind them. You simply write what your character is doing, and others write what their characters are doing, and the story line evolves over time. There are some basic rules of courtesy, such as "don't make decisions for someone else's character", but no game system and no dice rolling.

Some people don't get along well at all with online role playing, while others thrive in it. In general, you have to be patient enough to wait for someone else to respond, unless you're playing using a program like OpenRPG. And you have to be willing to give up rolling your own dice, unless you have a very trusting GM.

If playing online sounds at all interesting to you, give it a try! We can even do a game or two in the forum here at BellaOnline, so head there and let me know you're interested.