Role by Post
Sign in

Play-by-Post Tabletop RPGs

Play-by-post is tabletop roleplaying played in writing, one post at a time. Instead of gathering around a table for a four-hour session, the group keeps a shared story going in a channel: you post when you can, the game waits, and the narrative grows between sessions. It is the oldest way to play roleplaying games at a distance, and it still fits busy adults better than almost anything else.

Role by Post is a chat-first app built for exactly that rhythm.

Why play-by-post

  • No scheduling. The game does not need everyone online at once. Post from the bus, a lunch break, or late at night.
  • More room to write. Without a live microphone, players take time over their character's words and actions. The story reads back like fiction.
  • Everyone gets a turn. Quieter players are not talked over. The timeline gives each post space.
  • It leaves a record. A play-by-post campaign is a written chronicle you can reread, search, and export.

How Role by Post works

Each campaign is a private channel. You join by invite link, with an optional password, and the Game Master controls who is at the table. Inside, everything is built around a readable timeline:

  • Messages support Markdown, so you can write prose, bold a shout, or drop in a scene break.
  • Replies and reactions keep side comments attached to the post they belong to.
  • Whispers let you pass a private note to the Game Master without leaving the timeline.
  • The dice roller is part of the conversation. Tap dice notation in a post to roll it, or open an ability check with your modifier already filled in. Pool and success rolls are supported for systems that read each die on its own.
  • NPCs get a name and portrait, so the Game Master can speak as a character and keep that identity in the history.
  • A persistent status bar holds initiative order, active players, and story notes at a glance.

Built for the gaps between posts

Asynchronous play lives or dies on knowing when it is your turn. Role by Post tracks unread counts, marks new messages, and sends push notifications that you can tune per channel — everything, Game Master posts only, or just when it is your turn. If you need to step away, an AFK status tells the table and pauses your turn alerts.

Because it runs in the browser and installs like an app, a campaign travels with you across phone, tablet, and desktop. Full-text search finds any moment in the story, and you can export the whole campaign to Markdown whenever you want to keep it.

What it is not

Role by Post is deliberately not a virtual tabletop. There are no battle maps, tactical grids, animated dice, or AI-generated content. It is the conversation — the part of tabletop roleplaying that play-by-post does best — with the tools that keep that conversation moving.

Bring any tabletop RPG. Generic play is built in, and optional Shadowdark character stats are there when they help.

Start a story

Sign in with Google or a one-time email link and create your first campaign in minutes. See the full feature list or read how to run a play-by-post game.