D&D 5E DungeonScape (formerly known as Morningstar)

[ForumFerret]

They mentioned/hinted that type-in would be available.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you need a laptop/tablet to use this? Don't have one, won't get one. Don't have any use for apps either. So this is a big MEH for me.

 

[ForumFerret]

Also available on PC browser and smartphones

 

[Agamon]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you need a laptop/tablet to use this? Don't have one, won't get one. Don't have any use for apps either. So this is a big MEH for me.

You need an electronic device...what were you hoping for that's not PC/mobile?

 

[mcmillan]

A couple other reviews were also posted today

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...Scape-is-the-Good-End-of-Codename-Morningstar

http://www.madadventurers.com/my-dinner-with-chris-and-evan-and-rachel-a-dungeonscape-preview/

Some things that stood out to me

From the Escapist

From the dungeon master's end of the table, DungeonScape promises to be profoundly useful. The full text of published D&D adventures will be available, but it's not just that - it's fully integrated. Tapping on an important NPC's name pulled up game art of the character, allowing the DM to show it immediately to the players. Same with maps, which got pulled up as soon as they were needed. Hyperlinked game sections moved the DM effortlessly from area to area in a dungeon or town.
...
In the future, Trapdoor will be implementing a "Forge" function that allows creators to make their own adventures and have them work precisely like official modules. Matney hopes that the community will quickly share their creations with each other, and hinted at hopes for a process to convert community content into premium official D&D work.

From TheAngryDM

But what really piqued my interest is the way Chris Matney, the Managing Director, talked about it. He wasn’t talking about a character generator or an encounter builder, as I hinted at. He talked about two things: data and possibilities. “Our rule of thumb,” he said “is there is no limit to technology.” Once they get the data in, there’s nothing they can’t do with it. Or allow you to do with it. And it shows.
To them, the idea of customizing the layout of your character sheet is the most obvious thing in the world. They agreed that some people would want it to look like a traditional character sheet, but that the medium allowed them to give people other options. Expand and contract the fields, move them around, hide the bits that don’t matter to your character, put skills and ability scores next to each other and put your saving throws next to your combat stats. Whatever.
And that’s really what made me sit up and take notice. Not that this team built a character generator, but that they built a method for delivering data and they want to hand that data over to every player and DM to use, abuse, and manipulate in whatever ways they can imagine. And they seemed eager to hear what ways people want to use the data.

 

[SigmaOne]

The character stuff talks about "selecting" your personality traits, bonds, etc.; does that preclude free-form entry for those? (For that matter, what about gender, given that much-discussed language about other options...?)

Definitely gender, weight, etc, you can write what you want. [source] For personality, I think either the Escapist or AngryDM blog said the same thing.

 

[SidSad]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you need a laptop/tablet to use this? Don't have one, won't get one. Don't have any use for apps either. So this is a big MEH for me.

It will be available in the morning newspaper too, subscribe at a local newsstand.

 

[SigmaOne]

Here's a question that may have already been answered: We know that content from the books will (obviously) be available through the app. We know that the primary delivery mechanism that's been discussed has been through the "interface" --- i.e., when building a character, you're offered classes, which are then described using PHB or Basic text. What I don't know is whether one will be able to access the books as ebooks through DungeonScape. Like, to do a cover-to-cover reading. On the one hand, I can't recall having seen anything to this effect. Yet on the other hand, given Trapdoor Tech's background, I guess I'd be quite surprised if we can't. I mean, their focus was interactive books.


Has that been discussed? Has it been explicitly stated, or otherwise implied that this will or will not be the case? Are people making assumptions about this? It seems like a big deal because, well... if so, then we kind of already know the ebook strategy, or at least a key component of it. If not, then it really is still a big question as to how they're going to deal with digital delivery of the books.

 

[Otakkun]

So far, I'm getting Deja-Vu from the 4E "digital tools" release. Let's see if they've learnt anything in the last couple of years. At the very least we should be getting layered maps and character creator/sheets for phones/tablets.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

You need an electronic device...what were you hoping for that's not PC/mobile?

I obviously wasn't very clear with my question, and should have been. Sorry about that.To wit: I have a PC running Windows 7. That's it. No laptop, no tablet, no smartphone. And I know zip, zero, zilch about apps. So my question is, with all that in mind, will I be able to use DungeonScape if I bought it, or not? Yes, this is a serious question, as I'm barely computer literate.