Workflow/Best practice question for exporting modules.

[Sidmandoo]

Hey there,
Hoping for some advice here.

I want to run the megadungeon Rappan Athuk, which I will have to put together from scratch. It has a large bestiary and I will have to LOS the maps, put in the story bits etc.

I want to be able to run more than one campaign of it (two separate game groups). I am trying to figure out how to build and update the campaign and have it available for multiple game groups.

I am wondering if this will work: First I create a "Development campaign" where I can put the maps in and do LOS, add creatures, put story notes etc. I then export it as a module. Second, I create a "game campaign" and then import that module I created. I

As the game progresses though, can I update that original module as I add maps and NPC's to the "development campaign" for export? Would I have to export separate modules and then add them onto the game session campaign? Would this create too many duplicates in the game session campaign? Rappan Athuk is massive, and I would be working on it bits at a time, doing level by level depending on where the group is going.

Is this the right way to attack this problem?

I can certainly just build the campaign, but I am looking for a way that if I want to run a second session, I have a way of putting all that work into a second game, and then if there are updates, I can update.

I really hope this makes sense. Any help would be appreciated.

-Sid

[damned]

Have a look at Lord Entrails signature for a link to best practices.
Normally you do all teh updates in the Dev Campaign and export and open in the Game campaign each session.
For a huge module you might like to break it up into separate modules per level or per 4 levels or whatever seems appropriate.
But still the same methodology applies.
All changes are done in the Dev campaign and exported.

[LordEntrails]

Yes, you are on the right track. See link in my sig for a fairly detailed best practices.

For Undermountain I am doing one development campaign and module for each level. That is about 400 story entries for each module.

If you are just entering info from RA as is, you can probably just do things they same way they do, but for me, I am adding all new stuff for UM and did not have a single source of truth to go from, so I created this; https://www.dmsguild.com/product/229402/Dungeon-Room-Descriptions-FG to help me create not just the room descriptions, but it actually creates a standard formatted story entry. Something you can do without the linked module, just create a story template and the tables to go with it. Or, if you don't want random entries etc, then just create a story template that you can then use to generate the story entry for you to then transcribe all the info into the story.

[Sidmandoo]

Have a look at Lord Entrails signature for a link to best practices.
Normally you do all teh updates in the Dev Campaign and export and open in the Game campaign each session.
For a huge module you might like to break it up into separate modules per level or per 4 levels or whatever seems appropriate.
But still the same methodology applies.
All changes are done in the Dev campaign and exported.

Thank you! The breaking up of modules is a smart idea. The players will have a lot of options on where to go, so it will help to compartmentalize it a bit. I imagine there are parts they will never see, so I am trying to develop the module between sessions so I don't waste time .


Yes, you are on the right track. See link in my sig for a fairly detailed best practices.

For Undermountain I am doing one development campaign and module for each level. That is about 400 story entries for each module.

If you are just entering info from RA as is, you can probably just do things they same way they do, but for me, I am adding all new stuff for UM and did not have a single source of truth to go from, so I created this; https://www.dmsguild.com/product/229402/Dungeon-Room-Descriptions-FG to help me create not just the room descriptions, but it actually creates a standard formatted story entry. Something you can do without the linked module, just create a story template and the tables to go with it. Or, if you don't want random entries etc, then just create a story template that you can then use to generate the story entry for you to then transcribe all the info into the story.

LordEntrails, thanks so much. I had seen another post from you about moving items between campaigns and saw the use of the "Development" language but didn't know you had a whole document put together. I am super glad I looked at this before embarking on the work of building the module. It looks like I can update the module in the Development campaign and then use this "revert changes" feature.....

I am supposing that in order to update the module when I export with new additions and changes I just use the same file name for the module and it will overwrite it?

I will run some trials on this, but I think I am on my way. Thanks again!

-S

[LordEntrails]

You're on track.

So create Devl campaign, export to module, open module in 'play' campaign.
Use it but try not to make updates here (they will get lost if you edit the module entries and then update as described below)

When time to update/add/change; open devl campaign, update, export. All your previous export settings such as name etc will be retained. Keep them the same. Do not add a version or date to the file name. If you want backups, do that manually in the o/s.

Open your play campaign and it will now have all the new stuff you added to the module (no need to reload it or anything. The only thing it won't have is if you had previously modified a module entry in the play campaign. To get the new info, you can right click Revert Changes on the single entry, or on the entire module. But as noted, you will lose those local changes.

[Sidmandoo]

You're on track.

So create Devl campaign, export to module, open module in 'play' campaign.
Use it but try not to make updates here (they will get lost if you edit the module entries and then update as described below)

When time to update/add/change; open devl campaign, update, export. All your previous export settings such as name etc will be retained. Keep them the same. Do not add a version or date to the file name. If you want backups, do that manually in the o/s.

Open your play campaign and it will now have all the new stuff you added to the module (no need to reload it or anything. The only thing it won't have is if you had previously modified a module entry in the play campaign. To get the new info, you can right click Revert Changes on the single entry, or on the entire module. But as noted, you will lose those local changes.

Excellent. I see how it works now. Should be pretty breezy. Must make sure I am diligent with back ups, and that I am not in my play campaign when updating.....that would suck. Thank you again!