Interesting Kickstarter...

[damned]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/610004753/realm-works-streamlined-rpg-campaign-tools

Doesnt look like it is designed as a VTT but it could be used as one I think - wouldnt be its strength but with all the other cool features...

[Mellock]

Dang, thanks for the link. I've been keeping an eye on it for a while at https://wolflair.com/index.php?context=realm_works

I'm wondering if it'll be handy to use in conjunction with FG, or if FG will end up incorporating a few handy features of it here and there.

[ddavison]

I looked at that the other day and it looks like there's a lot of overlap with features already in FG for campaign management. One thing that might be of interest would be to provide a share of the NPCs met to date but obscure the stats somehow or set the "Player readable info" for each NPC.

[Leonal]

For me this program would be mainly for use between sessions allowing players to access content, maps etc., and for me to map out a campaign instead of using Evernote/Google Drive.

Upon release I can see myself using this hand-in-hand with FG.

(I am a backer.)

[Trenloe]

I'm on the beta testing team for this product. So, unfortunately, I can't tell you too much about it (I signed an NDA).

Primarily, the application is intended to store, cross reference, and link information regarding all aspects of a campaign - maps, images, NPCs, locations, towns, countries, etc., etc., etc... It has the main GM interface and player interfaces where the players can see information discovered so far/revealed by the GM.

For it to be really powerful it requires the GM to spend a lot of time entering and linking information (sound familiar, GMs?). There are a lot of very nice cross-referencing tools that allow information to be linked and sliced/diced.

[Emrak]

Not buying anything from Lone Wolf again. hahaha I bought into the hype about Hero Lab and got it to help speed up Shadowrun character creation. I have yet to create a single SR character that is correct. There is always a flaw or many flaws.

"Oh well," says I, "SR is not it's 'core' ruleset, but I'm sure it's great for Pathfinder!"

But wait, we kept getting issues with PF characters as well! lol So I go onto the forums and it boils down to "oh, well, you're probably just missing XYZ." So, I buy several PF add-ons to Hero Lab (Ultimate Magic and so forth and so on). Guess what? Characters are still fubar! Not in huge ways, mind you, but in little ways. AC is off by 1. Wizard is missing/has too many spells, etc...

I do the uninstall/reinstall dance a few times. Finally I uninstalled it completely and left it alone for 6 months to give them time to sort through bugs. Just recently reinstalled it to try anew. Built a Witch character for my current game. Weirdest thing though...the witch only had a single spell (each level) to choose from beyond the cantrips. I must just not understand how the class is built, right? Nope! Went to the book, started picking out inconsistencies, tossed out the char and made my Witch by hand.

I'm just in awe that they have such a popular following. It can't just be me? Or maybe players just don't create enough characters to notice the flaws? I dunno.

[kairos]

Characters are still fubar! Not in huge ways, mind you, but in little ways.

If it's incorrect in little ways, it can't be f*#$ed up beyond recognition. ;)




I'm just in awe that they have such a popular following. It can't just be me? Or maybe players just don't create enough characters to notice the flaws? I dunno.

I've used it for nWod Changeling, d20, but mainly MM2E and MM3E for years with no problems. I reported one interface bug on the nWod, but that was fixed promptly. I've been very happy with it.

[Magnatude]

Personally I use an external manager and I find it quite useful when DM'ing a game. I've been using the Keep (NBOS.com) and it manages all my notes and ideas and maps.
Though yes, a lot of this funtionaly exists within FG... I find it easier to preplan everything by sketching out my ideas in notes... and bring it all together as a full fledged idea BEFORE throwing it into FG.
FG isn't that good at putting together scraps, and spellchecking ;)

I've used other writing managers as well including Treepad Plus/Business and Writeitnow
I like the "Keep" as it includes funtions with the Character sheet maker and Inspiration pad, both FREE and meant to be modded. But the Keep is the purchased Item, not free. Great handy tools all of them.

[kairos]

Personally I use an external manager and I find it quite useful when DM'ing a game. I've been using the Keep (NBOS.com) and it manages all my notes and ideas and maps.
Though yes, a lot of this funtionaly exists within FG... I find it easier to preplan everything by sketching out my ideas in notes... and bring it all together as a full fledged idea BEFORE throwing it into FG.
FG isn't that good at putting together scraps, and spellchecking ;)

I've used other writing managers as well including Treepad Plus/Business and Writeitnow
I like the "Keep" as it includes funtions with the Character sheet maker and Inspiration pad, both FREE and meant to be modded. But the Keep is the purchased Item, not free. Great handy tools all of them.

I use the Keep quite a bit myself. I've used Tiddly Wiki prior to that for a good bit. I think Realm Works will be a direct competitor to the Keep, but the latter still has a lot going for it. NBOS software in general is pretty great.

[Mellock]

I'll have a look at "The Keep" as well. Odd that I never noticed it on their website, I've known about Fractal Mapper for a good while.

I wonder if there could be a strength to Realm Works in premade or shared-by-others worlds. I see it comes with some free material upon purchase. That and perhaps some collaboration of GMs.

[malvok]

On the subject of campaign organizers, ywriter5 is a good tool. It was written to organize novels and stories but works well with game campaigns. It's free and doesn't have any ads or other junk.

https://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html