Offline campaign wiki

[Snoweel]

Hi

I was just wondering if anyone had a good system for organising their game that didn't require internet access.

I guess what I want is some kind of wiki system on my hard drive; with pages/documents hyperlinked to each other and so on.

Is there any good software out there, free or otherwise? Or does somebody have a system that works for them?

Thanks

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

There something called tiddlywiki that structured like a wiki, but it's all bundled up in a single file (javascript). It's all run through the browser, lets you hyperlink to other files if you need to, and doesn't take too long to learn and tailor to your own taste (took me maybe three days to really get it figured out using online examples, etc).

As long as you're not talking about gajillions of wiki pages, it's a neat little solution, imho.

 

[SiderisAnon]

If you want a campaign wiki, why not just run a full wiki on your computer? You don't need internet access to host a local web page. Really, all a wiki does is open a page in your browser and then let you click on links to other pages. It doesn't know or care whether the pages are on your local hard drive or off on one in another country.

Things like a search function might require you to install some Java components and run them on your computer while you're using the wiki, but Java can be gotten for free. Check out the Sun web site.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend a wiki to you, but there are threads here from people who use various campaign wiki systems.

 

[lulzapalooza]

Yeah, sounds like you just need a basic HTML file stored on your hard drive. Every link in that file goes to another HTML on your hard drive. Look up HTML for beginners.

 

[Asmor]

There something called tiddlywiki that structured like a wiki, but it's all bundled up in a single file (javascript). It's all run through the browser, lets you hyperlink to other files if you need to, and doesn't take too long to learn and tailor to your own taste (took me maybe three days to really get it figured out using online examples, etc).

As long as you're not talking about gajillions of wiki pages, it's a neat little solution, imho.

I'd like to second that. Actually, more specifically, I strongly recommend a particular variant of the tiddlywiki called MPTW. I wrote up a guide to making campaign sites with MPTW a while back and I think that should get you going.

Also, just to be clear, tiddlywikis are designed for offline usage. You can store and even update them online, but that requires a bit of hacking.

 

[Snoweel]

Thanks guys.

That tiddlywiki looks like what I'm after. Especially that MPTW mod.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I'd like to second that. Actually, more specifically, I strongly recommend a particular variant of the tiddlywiki called MPTW. I wrote up a guide to making campaign sites with MPTW a while back and I think that should get you going.

Oh yeah! This is exactly what I used to teach myself what I needed to know. Heartily recommended! (And thanks to Asmor for putting it out there )

 

[Snoweel]

a particular variant of the tiddlywiki called MPTW.

I've been dicking around with this all day. It's excellent.

 

[jbear]

Check out Master plan tool if your campaign is 4e.

Masterplan

You can add in monsters directly from Adventure Tools. Upload your map tiles and build your encounter maps. Basically construct your encounters, traps and all, calculating automatically the encounter level that you are creating, and even the total amount of encounters and xp available, and when your group is going to level up. Then it even lets you run the encounters, keeping track of initiative, hp, conditions, one click access to the monster stat cards, and allowing movement around the map.

Basically you build your own libraries of every feature you wish to have in the game, and then build your encounters with them.

Apart from that, you can build skill challenges, traps and major and minor adventures.

There is a whole section for campaign notes, an encyclopedia etc, for the wiki side of things. There is a feature that also allows you to show the players certain elements, while keeping others hidden. Then it's all printable, including the monster stats in a very official looking format, the maps to scale (this could still use some work, but the program is still being developed) or decreased to page size, the skill challenges, encounter setups, all of it really.

I've just started using it. Now that I've got my head around it, and have all my monsters and tiles loaded up, its very quick. It's pure awesome!