e-tools: what does it do, what doesn't it do?

[tetsujin28]

No ranting. I would like to find a DM manager that doesn't require me to spend time editing text files to get things done.

My requirements:
Add prestige classes, new feats, ans skills
Maintain and manage pcs
Create npcs

What I don't need:
Mapper of any kind
Too many tricky extras that require a laptop @ the table to use

 

[kristov]

What it doesnt do

What it doesnt do....


anything your looking for.

 

[Fast Learner]

It maintains and manages PCs and creates NPCs just fine. You can add new feats and skills via third-party helpers with a fair bit of difficulty. Adding prestige classes is quite difficult, and effectively impossible if they're caster prestige classes.

 

[jdavis]

You can find all sorts of feats and skills out there that other people have already done the work on, ethelper lets you add them with relative ease. Of course it depends what you are looking for EricNoah's homepage has links to tons of stuff on it. I think that ethelper is also supposed to be able to help you enter classes now too, I have not tried it out yet so I can't tell you anything about that.

I use it to maintain my character and make NPC's on those odd times when I am DMing something, but I'm sure it depends on what class they are, for instance e-tools is having a tough time getting clerics printed right.

It does everything you want it to do, but not all of them does it do that well, I have never tried any other programs to compare it to so I don't know how you would rank it. It does everything I want it to do but lower the critical range for keen weapons, of course that's just my pet peave because I had a keen sword which I got rid of just because it was too much trouble to change on the character sheet every time I printed it.

The good news is that it fullfills everything you don't need, there isn't any mapper and not that many extra functions at all more less tricky ones.

 

[KenM]

It does not WORK. Go with PCGEN.

 

[Fast Learner]

It does not WORK. Go with PCGEN.

You can't beat baseless hyperbole for help with decision-making.

 

[tetsujin28]

It does not WORK. Go with PCGEN.

Hmm. Must have missed the "no ranting" part.

Anyways, I find PCGen clunky, and I specifically do not want to spend all my spare time copying and pasting lst files, text files, or any other kind of files. That's what computers are for. Editing Access wouldn't be too much of a detriment, for me, since I already know how to do that.

 

[Big_Daddy]

It does not WORK. Go with PCGEN.

Ummm, yes it does work. Quite well in fact.

I've had no trouble using eTools to create and print multiple stat blocks for use in my home campaign. In this capacity it has become quite invaluable to me. With minor tweaking (downloading Eric Noah's and other's excellent database additions) it has also become my personal choice for character generation and printing.

My wife is a rabid RolePlaying Master registered user, and we continually discuss the abilities of both programs most everyday. We have come to the conclusion that she believes RPM to be superior while I think eTools actually rocks. Though in truth we do actually agree that as a CAMPAIGN MANAGER, RPM has a significant advantage with it's many data management tools.

Ultimately, I say ABSOLUTELY IGNORE what everyone says (yes even me) and try it for yourself. Borrow a buddies CD, install it, download Davin's "eTools Helper" and grab some of the databases mentioned in some of the other posts and take a whirl with it. If it works for you, go buy a copy. If not, then I would strongly suggest downloading a copy of RPM instead.

From what I've seen there are MANY people on these boards that take EVERY chance to go out of their way and bash eTools in every topic they can find. I don't know why they are so vehement about it. I can say it's why I personally gave eTools a chance. As a general rule, I've found that if there's so much poison being spewed about something, it's usually personal, and not really based on sound reasoning.

Andrew "Dice" Clay is a fine example.

Either way, good luck with what ever program you choose. You're definitely in the right place to get assistance no matter your choice.

Sincerely,
Ken Rehor
Underdog Lover & Fan of the Unloved

EDIT -- Doh! I can't believe that I missed this, but if you are actually looking for a good DM manager, then I DEFINITELY suggest either RPM (www.roleplayingmaster.com) By Luke or even DM's Familiar (www.paladinpgm.com/dmf) by DMF Todd. Both are excellent for that very thing, and their authors are frequent visitors to these boards.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I think anyone who could create an easily customizable character generation product would find it well received by the masses. Hard core people may not mind editing text files and databases, but Joe Gamer just wants to play.

I would rather pull out my toenails than write up a prestige class for eTools or PCGen. Just give me an easy user interface. Playing D&D shouldn't be work.

 

[Hardhead]

PCGen vs E-tools

E-tools is OK. It works, but not all that well. As you can see by reading many of the other posts around here, it's full of bugs and God knows when (or if!) they'll get fixed. Third-party programs have made E-tools more usable, but it's still a long way off. You can get most feats to work, but not some of the more interesting ones, like Monkey Grip. Most PrCs are next to impossible. Many are flat-out impossible

PCGen is better. It used to be somewhat slow, and definitly clunky. It's now nice and fast, and only very slightly clunky. Well, maybe "clunky" isn't the right word. Once you've created a few NPCs on it, it's a breeze, though there is a learning curve (but not a very steep one). PCGen also handles pretty much any and everything. Only the most insanely exotic or rule-shattering PrCs and feats give it pause, and the really great thing is that if you need some functionality specifically for your own feat or PrC, you can put in a feature request.

Also, as soon as you download PCGen (it's free, in case you didn't know) it comes with Psionics built right in (and you can't even add psionics to e-tools), as well as templates (another thing E-tools lacks), the ability to convert classes into ex-classes (barbarians that become lawful, monks that stop, clerics that loose their religion, ect). I think e-tools only does the ex-palladin, but I could be wrong.

And, of course, PCGen comes with tons of non-WotC stuff. Atlas Games, Avalanche Press, Bastion Press, Chaosium, Fantasy Flight Games (including, of course, Dragonstar), Green Ronnin, Kenzer, Malhavoc Press, and many more are all included in the PCGen download.

And if you have custom stuff, adding it really isn't that hard, though it does require some text-editing. I know you said you didn't want that, but to be honest I don't think sucha a program exists. E-Tools requires MS Access database management to change stuff, so at least PCGen is more easily managed than E-tools. And the PCGen mailing list has lots of helpful people on it for when you have questions editiong the list files.