Pathfinder 1E New Pathfinder character generator coming soon

[jeevz]

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that I've been working on a new Pathfinder character generator. Please checkout the site and signup for the newsletter if you are interested in beta testing it when it is ready.

The url is: Trailblazer - A character generator for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Thanks!

 

[serioustiger]

Good stuff. I read your blog post on the 7 reasons to create a character generator. Although I'd argue that - since several other generators already exist - six of your reasons are reasons to have one, not to create another. That said, the 7th reason is the best of all for creating one.

Can you tell us a bit about how this will compare to, say, Hero Labs? Or if free, perhaps PCGen? And which supplements you intend to support at launch (or in the future)?

Best of luck with the project!

~ST.

 

[BriarMonkey]

Good luck with this project!

(And yes, I did sign-up as I like seeing what others have done and the options that gives the community.)

 

[jeevz]

Good stuff. I read your blog post on the 7 reasons to create a character generator. Although I'd argue that - since several other generators already exist - six of your reasons are reasons to have one, not to create another. That said, the 7th reason is the best of all for creating one.

Can you tell us a bit about how this will compare to, say, Hero Labs? Or if free, perhaps PCGen? And which supplements you intend to support at launch (or in the future)?

Best of luck with the project!

~ST.

Thank you for the encouragement.

Someone asked a similar question on the Paizo forums. Here was my answer:

I'm directly competing with Hero Lab. I will post a comparison on my web site on a later date. I haven't really played around with PCGen that much. But again, it looks like I will be competing with that tool as well. This will be similar to D&D 4e's tool. But I think Trailblazer is turning out to be much better than 4e's tool. WotC has a terrible time creating good software.

First release will be Core Rules, second release will be APG. After that I will be adding support for rules based upon popularity. My early goal was to let people create their own character classes and rules. But supporting the creation of classes without any coding is very, very difficult. But letting people add feats, equipment, etc. is a little easier, so I will probably add that in a later release as well.

 

[BabyBackRibs]

Do we have an eta for beta testing?

 

[serioustiger]

I'm directly competing with Hero Lab. I will post a comparison on my web site on a later date. I haven't really played around with PCGen that much. But again, it looks like I will be competing with that tool as well.

Good strategy to aim at Hero Lab. I wouldn't worry about PCGen too much - it's functionality is fine and it's free...but assuming you can get each screen in Trailblazer to load within, say, 2 hours of the previous one, you'll have PCGen beat. (OK I'm exaggerating and PCGen is better on my main PC - but when gaming I use a Netbook and on that, levelling 4 PCs up in the middle of a gaming session is painful, which is why I bought HL).

First release will be Core Rules, second release will be APG. After that I will be adding support for rules based upon popularity.

I imagine by the time you get those done, Bestiary (+2 and probably +3 at some point soon), UM and UC will be your next requests. For me, being relatively new to PF myself having been a bit of a 3E dinosaur, I don't really care about player companion and campaign releases - but I would guess more seasoned players will own these. If it's just you developing, you may have to make a choice whether to focus on new releases or try to match HL's back catalogue.

But letting people add feats, equipment, etc. is a little easier, so I will probably add that in a later release as well.

I do wish HL was a little more flexible in this respect - but not being a codie I have no idea what the implications of this would be. If you can deliver greater flexibility around customisation, you might well be able to circumvent having to hard code data sets from the more esoteric supplements.

As a dad who GMs for his son and friends, who likes tools to make life easier and without your talent, I wish you every success.

~ST.

 

[DaveMage]

I don't know if calling it "Trailblazer" is the best idea since there is an RPG called Trailblazer that can be used with Pathfinder. Calling a Pathfinder character generator Trailblazer might confuse people into thinking the program can actually make characters for the Trailblazer RPG!

(Heck, I'm confused just writing this! )

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Trailblazer-New-Horizons-3-5-Roleplaying/dp/1449503608/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261865533&sr=8-2""]Link to Trailblazer RPG[/ame]

 

[Alan Shutko]

So far, with little detail, there's some stuff I like. It looks like a web app, so it should work with Mac and the iPad. A view of character sheets on the iPhone and other phone-sized displays would be nice.

Also, it looks like it'll have a fairly clean design, and won't look like faux parchment, or a video game menu, or something else overblown. I like that.

My wish list:

• Light background (even if only as an option). People have distinct preferences on this, but for me, I really dislike dark backgrounds. While ENWorld's white skin was broken, I visited the site far less frequently.
• A way to snapshot characters at different points. With PCGen, I currently save my character each level into a different file, just so I can keep track of changes.
• Some sort of freeform text entry areas. I often have strange equipment, or want to include some notes, or some background.
• An output format option that is flexible. XML, for instance, or some other defined format, would let me reprocess it, perhaps load it into another program to define my own character sheet format, etc.
• Links to the PFSRD!
• Maybe work with the PFSRD people or d20pfsrd to define shared data formats so that the two sites can share the burden of updating to new rules.

 

[Alan Shutko]

Some more crazy ideas for monetization:

• Have a link that automatically does a reaper mini search (or Paizo mini store) for a fig that matches your weapon, armor, and race.
• Online marketplace for character portraits, either off-the-shelf or commissioned.
• Links into Paizo store or Amazon (depending on affiliate programs) for Rulebooks when you see their name and/or use certain rules in your character.
• Hook into Pathfinder Society Organized Play to automatically register your character if desired, report events, etc.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

You need to change the name. Soon.

"Trailblazer" is already in use by a 3.x rules system. And it is compatible with Pathfinder.

Too bad you already bought a domain name for it. But seriously, you should have looked around just the slightest.

Name choice, not cool. App, cool (with a different name).