A friend of mine has a website, PlayByWiki.com, that (as the name suggests) allows folks to game using a wiki.  This makes it substantially easier to play games that would be burdensome via email. 

Having received the Roach as a present last year, I'd love to try a game of it, but haven't found the right opportunities of time or players.  I was thinking of trying to get a game underway at PlayByWiki.com.  (The fact that the Roach is GM-less makes it ideal.)

From reading play descriptions, it's clear that the Roach is best enjoyed in a live in-person improvisational environment.  But do you think it would work as an online collaboration between players?  How many players would you suggest?

As a starting-off point, I've created a Roach page at PlayByWiki.com.  I'm very interested in comments, feedback, and players.
http://www.playbywiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Shab-al-Hiri+Roach

I think it would work, but you'll be missing a lot.  The table banter and crazed brinksmanship is a big part of the fun.  If I were going to play via an exclusively text medium, I think I'd structure the game a bit differently and have people writing letters and diary entries in the first person (maybe guided by the freeform notes in the rules).  The bidding and dice interplay seems like it would be pretty cumbersome.  I've never tried, so do let me know how it goes!

Thanks for your comments.  Yes, it'll be a substantially different atmosphere, but we can probably find a way to make it work in its own fashion.  (Take a look at how we ran a text game based on GURPS here: http://www.playbywiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Phoenix+Rising )

One thing we're still trying to figure out is how to deal with drawing cards.  (The die-rolling isn't too hard; there are lots of die-rolling utilities lurking around the web.)  Would you have any objection to us putting the text of the cards somewhere online and working out a system for players to pick one randomly?  (Giving each card a number and having players click on a random-number generator is my brute-force method.  I'm sure someone with real knowledge of programming can come up with a better system.)

No, that'd be OK with me.  I'd like to support play in different mediums, for sure. 

Use Abulafia for the cards: it's perfect for this.

Graham

Thank you!  That's exactly what I've been looking for!

I'm still exploring Abulafia (I'm getting an error message every time I try to set up an account), but in the meantime, I've got questions for you Roach experts.  There would seem to several options for doing the card-drawing in a Play-By-Wiki Roach.  Which of the following would make the most sense?  (Apologies in advance if I fail to use some established terminology; I'm making this up as I go along.)

1)  Closed-system card draw with standard Roach deck (Each player somehow draws a virtual card out of virtual deck that is identical to the decks sold as part of the game; that card cannot be drawn by another player. 
For example, I draw "DU MUMUA AK-NAR"/"IMPRESS."  Another player draws "DUG TUKUM NAR"/"DECORUM."  Neither of those cards can be drawn again.)

2a) Open-system card draw with standard Roach deck (Each player draws a card from a virtual Roach deck identical to those sold as part of the game; the same card can be drawn by another player. 
For example, I draw "DU MUMUA AK-NAR"/"IMPRESS."  Another player draws the exact same card.)

2b)  Same as 2a, except that the same card cannot be drawn during that same Event.

3)  Completely random card draw (Each card is newly generated using separate lists of Opportunities and Commands, resulting in combinations that do not exist with the standard deck.
For example, I could draw "DU MUMUA AK-NAR"/"DECORUM."  Another player draws "DUG TUKUM NAR"/"IMPRESS.")

Dude, don't do #3, because the Command/Opportunity combos are carefully tuned to encourage voluntary Roaching. 

I'd advocate for #1 if you can rock it, because duplication is boring and part of the fun of the game is the delight at the variety of weird Commands, but it won't break the game if two people draw MURUB on the same turn.

Thanks for the input.  It's pretty much what I figured.  Now I just have to figure out a way not to duplicate cards...

for now, Abulafia doesn't support options 1 or 2b - it doesn't have any concept of what the last draw or draws were. If that's functionality you need, it is supported in the program Tablesmith (http://www.mythosa.net/Utils.html), which is shareware ($10) and has lots of capabilities Abulafia doesn't (but isn't collaborative or web-based).

That said, I'll be happy to help if you're doing 2a.

Dave

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.  I'm happy to try version 2a for now, and I'll be happy for any help with Abulafia.

Okay, folks, the Roach <a href="http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Shab-al-Hiri_Roach">Event deck random generator is now up and running at Abulafia!

Looks great.  Please post an actual play report when you wrap up your first distributed game - I'm very interested.

Jason wrote:
  but it won't break the game if two people draw MURUB on the same turn.