About pbem.dk

 The pbem.dk web site is owned by Morten Larsen and devoted to the Play By E-Mail games developed for his COSMOS play by (e)mail engine. The server (and the developer) is situated in Denmark, hence the ".dk" suffix.

It is intended that this site will offer three basic services:

  1. You will be able to play all the COSMOS play by email games through pbem.dk, directly from the designer/developer.
  2. GMs licensed to run COSMOS games have the option of getting a sub-site of the main pbem.dk site to provide on-line order submission and automatic order checking to their players. This gives players the opportunity to enjoy the services of a full time GM and/or get their reports sent by mail while also enjoying the convenience of instant order checking.
  3. You can always find the most up to date information about the COSMOS games here, including rule books, player tips and more. This is provided as a service to all COSMOS players, whether they play with pbem.dk or with a licensed GM.

About the COSMOS play by (e)mail engine

 COSMOS is the name of a generic PBM/PBEM engine developed by Morten Larsen. It is "generic" in the sense that it can be used to run very different games depending on the data the game designer feeds into it, for example a fantasy wargame like War of the Dark God or a space exploration/colonization game like Stellar Conflict (a.k.a. "COSMOS Space" or "COSMOS SciFi: Stellar Conflict"). It would also be possible to make a character based adventure game (what some would call a role-playing game), historic games, et cetera. The engine is primarily designed for running 100% computer moderated games, although it is of course possible for the game moderator to make changes in the database and to the turn reports during the game.

About Morten Larsen

 I have a PhD in computer science and work at Edlund A/S where I spend my time developing software for insurance companies. I have always been keenly interested in games and game design and there is nothing I like more than playing a good board game. I have been developing and running play by mail games since 1987.

As PBEM is not my main occupation I cannot (alas) devote all my time to develop the COSMOS engine, create new games for it and run the games. Because it is the development and creation of games I like best I prefer to have my games run with as much automation as possible. This means that when you play my games at this site you are serviced by the pbem.dk server for all normal tasks such as submitting orders or requesting special maps and reports. It also means that you will have to learn the order format that the machine can understand (although this is fairly simple and I have tried to make the order checker as friendly as possible). For tips and general guidance you will have to rely mainly on your more experienced allies, but if you have rules questions or orders you can simply not get to work, you are always welcome to contact me at help@pbem.dk and I will do my best to help. However, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to answer questions in time for the next deadline if you wait until the last minute before contacting me (I generally only check my email once a day). That being said, if you like the smoothness of instant, automatic service and only occasionally run into situations where you need a human GM to clear things up, you will probably be more than happy with playing at this site.