E-tools: is it worth it?

[Goobermunch]

Hey all--

I'm getting ready to run a campaign that I've been brewing for the past 5 months. I'd like to find a suite of tools to help manage it. I'm looking for something that will make it easy to track my monsters and add templates. I'm not too concerned about tracking the players since they'll be using a non-standard ruleset.

E-tools looks like it's got a lot of the functionality I want. But I'm in a 3.5 world. How good is their stuff?

--G

 

[Dimwhit]

Hey all--

I'm getting ready to run a campaign that I've been brewing for the past 5 months. I'd like to find a suite of tools to help manage it. I'm looking for something that will make it easy to track my monsters and add templates. I'm not too concerned about tracking the players since they'll be using a non-standard ruleset.

E-tools looks like it's got a lot of the functionality I want. But I'm in a 3.5 world. How good is their stuff?

--G

I don't think the 3.5 datasets are out yet, though I think they're due out here very soon. I don't use E-Tools, but most of my group does. Some of them love it, some don't. If you're sticking to the core books, it's probably pretty good. Otherwise, it costs extra to get the datasets for other material (like the splatbooks). Of course, most of them are 3.5 compatible yet anyway...

Have you tried some of the other programs out there, like PCGen, DM Buddy, etc.?

 

[Goobermunch]

Not yet. I'm kinda trying to get a sense for what's out there first. Then I'll make the jump. Tell me about these other programs of which you speak.

--G

 

[Dimwhit]

Not yet. I'm kinda trying to get a sense for what's out there first. Then I'll make the jump. Tell me about these other programs of which you speak.

--G

I don't know them too well. PCGen is a popular character generator. There is DM Familiar, which apparently helps a DM run the whole thing. There's a thread about it here in this forum. There are some others, but I'm not very familiar. Most of them are Windows programs, and I'm on a Mac. PCGen and CrystalBall (Mac only) are the only ones I've used.

 

[Goobermunch]

Well, I've done a lot of thinking and some (but not enough) research.

I hope someone can help me find what I need.

What I need:

I need a program that has the basic MM monsters included.
I need a program that is easy enough to customize that I can add my own monsters and templates.
I need a program that handles templates.

. . . I need advice!

--G

 

[Davin]

I need a program that has the basic MM monsters included.
I need a program that is easy enough to customize that I can add my own monsters and templates.
I need a program that handles templates.

If you need to be able to apply a template to an existing character/monster, and that's non-negotiable, then skip eTools for now. Unless CMP can pull a rabbit out of it's hat, one-click retroactive templates will have to wait for their rewrite. However, it will let you build a pre-templated race and (re-)build your character using that new race. Some people might find that to be sufficient for their templating needs. (The rest of your requirements are fine for eTools. Other people will have to tell you the benefits of using the [many] other choices out there, as I'm not familiar enough with them personally.)

 

[kingpaul]

I need a program that has the basic MM monsters included.

PCGen has the monsters from the R/SRD in datasets

I need a program that is easy enough to customize that I can add my own monsters and templates.

PCGen has list editors to aid people in creating their own custom sources. Also, the documentation that comes with PCGen aids you in creating it from scratch, if that is your desire.

I need a program that handles templates.

PCGen can handle templates.

 

[DMFTodd]

You want a program that does all the math for you in creating a monster, yes? In that case, you want character generation software. You have lots of choices: ETools (which doesn't do templates as pointed out), PCGen, Campaign Suite, Roleplaying Master, DM Genie, and others I'm probably forgetting. I don't know them well enough to tell you if they support templates.

DM's Familiar is not a character generator, it's a program to use at the game table for, primarily, combat management. It tracks initiative, makes attack/damage rolls for you, and lots of other stuff. You can Oewadd monsters to DMF very easily - you just type in data. It doesn't do the math for you though.

Other combat manager programs are Roleplaying Master, DM Genie and GMGen.