When I was having trouble getting a new tabletop game going, I started to grumble that it would be a lot easier to get a game going online. Instead of telling me to quit whining, a few friends encouraged me to get to work on starting one. I started poking at notes for a setting and stories, but I kept not doing anything about it, because I couldn't find software I liked to actually run the thing online. Finally, my friend Nick got sick of my inaction and found suitable software. I announced in March 2011 that we'd start play soon. Then I did nothing again for a few months, but the game finally started happening in November 2011.
Now we play every other Saturday, from nine to noon, Eastern time.
I keep a journal of game recaps.
I'd like to keep the game pretty open. If we end up with too many players for one group, I will try to run more games, with rotating membership. If you want to play, join the mailing list where we'll be scheduling and discussing the game.
We're playing Mazes & Minotaurs (Revised), the 1987 (but really 2007) old-school RPG of sword and sandal adventure. The rules are available free online, and you can print it at your local copy center for a few bucks, if you like paper.
Mazes & Minotaurs is a very simple system, with a feel something like early AD&D, but with a lot more "roll a d20 based on your attributes" than that. Characters have six attributes, a bunch of derived bonuses, a class, and that's about it. If you're a really complicated character, you might have a list of spells.
Of course, I also have a bunch of house rules.
We play the game every other Saturday (with exceptions for holidays and other crises) from 9:00 to 12:00, New York local time. We have players in Chicago and players in Amsterdam, so this is one of the few times relatively convenient for everyone. We may play at other times if secondary groups are formed with members in different time zones.
We play using two main tools: Mumble for voice chat and Roll20 for maps, minis, and dice. So far, they have worked pretty well.
Alar is set in the massive city of Alar, one of the largest cities in the sprawling and powerful Castaigne Empire. In recent months, the city has become more and more crowded with refugees fleeing the mysterious spire that erupted from the earth, bringing with it terrible creatures and a spreading chaos. Alar has been left cut off from the seat of the empire, and the situation has grown even more tense and dangerous than usual as players on all sides – including the player characters – try to use the situation to their advantage.