PBEM
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Acronym for "Play By E-Mail." Vaguely derived from the role-playing games of old, PBEM is a style of game consisting of several players who assume the role of heroes or monsters or aliens1, and send emails to each other in character, describing how they would interact in a fantasy otherworld. The only way to distinguish between the ludicrous personas created by PBEM players and the ludicrous personas created by all other casual users of chat and email and message boards is that PBEM players may use dice when deciding to have the strength of an Olympic athlete or the bank account of a prince. If you meet an unreal character in a "HOT TUB RUB-A-DUB" chatroom, it is probably2 not a Play-By-Email game.