Fluid site up, E-Tools Screenshots available

[Ranger REG]

I have one BIG question... okay, three...

Are the Fluid folks committed to giving owners of eTools their full attention toward the software's technical support and assistance? Will they answer our questions via email, snail mail, toll-free call, and perhaps a web-based messageboard? (They might as well use Wizards' since it is already set up.)

Are they ready to face the angry and hateful elements of the public like those lurking on Wizards' eTools forum, especially their competitions who are providing their wares for free?

 

[javapadawan]

You might just be the ONLY one of your block to own it.

Not if he lives on the same block as me.

I really like the way it looks and am looking forward to picking it up.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Maybe it's just because I'm skeptical, but is there any reason for me to go spend money on this when there's tools that do the same thing already for free?

Yes, the layout has improved over the CharGen. The GUI, aside from the annoying colors, is the only thing that puts it over PCGen as far as character creation goes, IMO. Well, not true. From the looks of the program it will be easier to add new content to e-Tools than it will be to PCGen - my one complaint with PCGen is you have to go editing files, which I am capable of, but not everyone is. There should be an option in-program.

Still, I'll take a little inconvenience over paying 50+ dollars any day.

 

[bushfire]

Still, I'll take a little inconvenience over paying 50+ dollars any day.

MSRP is $29.95 for E-Tools (not the $50 the original Master Tools was projected to cost).

This means that you should be able to find it at a place that discounts for around $25.

And to me $25 is definetly worth not having to put up with the inconvenience of PCGen any day.

 

[Ranger REG]

HMM...

I wonder... if some vendors are going to sell the Back-To-School D&D Toolkit (contains PH, DMG, MM, and eTools: a $120 value if sold separately) for $99.95. And as an added bonus, throw in a free rolling backpack (a $20 value).

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

Well after checking out the screenshots it does look interesting. I may just pick it up.

The colors are a little strange, but otherwise it looks nice and simple.

 

[JCLabelle]

Looks nice, a bit bland but I can agree with functionality over looks.

Unfortunately, I don't see anyone from my gaming group getting this until/if they implement the stuff from the Splatbook, as I think most of our characters use feats/classes/stuff from them ( and most of the monsters too, most monsters in our game are heavily modified versions of those found in the DMG or custom made .)

It's a shame, PCGen is nice and all, but tends to crash a lot on my computer, for some reason, I'd welcome a more stable solution ( note that the crashing problem is probably mainly my computer's fault .)

 

[Christian]

MSRP is $29.95 for E-Tools (not the $50 the original Master Tools was projected to cost).

Really? I hadn't heard that ... this is definitely on my 'check out after release', if not my 'to buy' list. As opposed to the 'not a chance' list it was on before.

Are they still using the Jet/Access backend they had planned? 'Cause I use some customized NPC classes & other rules ... it'd be nice to have the possibility to do some editing, even if it's not supported by the front-end. (And yes, I'm a hot Access/SQL programmer, so I'm sure I can both do this and avoid breaking anything ...)

 

[EricNoah]

Yeah it's still Access. I was *this close* to getting the Red Wizards of Thay PrC working (everything was working except some kinds of requirements and the +1 level of existing spellcasting class thingy). So it's definitely doable to some extent.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Eric:

Can your copy of E-Tools do monster advancement beyond the "legal" HD of a monster?

Can it add class levels to HD-Advanced Monsters?