On the State of Digital Aids for D+D/D20/OGL

[Ranger REG]

Might I suggest that the people with the power to change this ultimately are you the players? If you start telling companies that you won't buy books that you can't get data for, that is the only way they will ever open up.

Are you suggesting we go paperless?

I can't understand this need to have both printed and electronic versions of the same product.

Now, I truly wish Y2K really did happen, to teach us a hard lesson on how co-dependent (or addicted) we are to digital.

 

[soulcatcher]

Are you suggesting we go paperless?

I can't understand this need to have both printed and electronic versions of the same product.

I'm suggesting that books that you can get data for give you more potential uses then books for which you cannot get data. Paper or not, using templates, and building special monsters is an example of the kind of complicated task that computers are better at then people.

Never mind just implementing all the rules as written.. You have no idea how many times I have seen people generate characters by hand, and then I'll turn around and put them in pcgen, and lo and behold, there are at least 3 or 4 calculations that were flawed on the paper version. People fail to notice all of their synergy bonuses, or encumbrance, or *something*. From a GMs perspective, PCGen (and presumably other character generators) help ensure all of the players are following the rules, and helps to prevent honest mistakes as well. From a player's perspective, you normally get a character with more of at least soemthing, because it's so easy to forget the many bonuses out there.

Now, I truly wish Y2K really did happen, to teach us a hard lesson on how co-dependent (or addicted) we are to digital.

We are dependent on the digital. But that's no more accurate then saying we are Dependant on Steel or the Wheel, or we are addicted to Fire and Clothing. Man has always been dependent on his tools. Increasing complexity in these tools is how we progress and create better quality of life for more individuals.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

YMMV, but I find my games are better without completely broken classes like the Warlock.

You lost me here. The warlock is generally and rightly viewed as balanced, perhaps even slightly underpowered. Go start a thread in Rules if you don't believe me.

Anyway, I do use sources like Malhavoc. However, I generally use mainly WotC stuff and I'm not going to chuck the books I own in favour of 3rd party stuff just because there's no electronic support for them. Speaking as a consumer, I want support for the things I buy, and I don't want to have to buy things based on whether or not they're supported. If WotC starts up a good chargen & DM management program that supports my books, I'll use that. If PCGen gets the rights to use WotC stuff, I'll use it...especially if it continues to improve along the trajectory you suggest.

 

[Ranger REG]

Never mind just implementing all the rules as written.. You have no idea how many times I have seen people generate characters by hand, and then I'll turn around and put them in pcgen, and lo and behold, there are at least 3 or 4 calculations that were flawed on the paper version. People fail to notice all of their synergy bonuses, or encumbrance, or *something*. From a GMs perspective, PCGen (and presumably other character generators) help ensure all of the players are following the rules, and helps to prevent honest mistakes as well. From a player's perspective, you normally get a character with more of at least soemthing, because it's so easy to forget the many bonuses out there.

Woe be the day our character sheets look and feel more like our tax forms. :\

 

[SkidAce]

Woe be the day our character sheets look and feel more like our tax forms. :\

woe indeed...

somebody has a mistake on their sheet....oh well, I am sure I have messed up a monster somewhere.

As long as we are consistent, it all works out.

 

[Ferghis]

I gotta say, I've been following this thread since the get go, and I'm really happy with where it's going. I feel very much like the OP: I spend a few days with each of the free/demo softwares out there, only to end up switching to excel and writing up my own sheet (mainly because I'm a little familiar with excel, so it was mostly a comfort zone thing). I think with RPGs like D&D, and to some extent with RPGs in general, software support is really the way to go. But the way WotC puts out publications, it's a steep hill just to keep up with them. After all, the new rules are more exceptions than hard and fast rules.

Are you suggesting we go paperless?

I can't understand this need to have both printed and electronic versions of the same product.

I do. I'd much rather have an RPG book in PDF than in hardcover. I can consult it much more easily, search it, and have all the books in one neat little place, without worrying about wear or tear. The problem is, as far as I know, that WotC doesn't like the electronic market much. They'd rather stick with the hardcopy sales.

 

[Ranger REG]

We are dependent on the digital. But that's no more accurate then saying we are Dependant on Steel or the Wheel, or we are addicted to Fire and Clothing.

Yeah, but since when does Steel needs electricity, or that clothings requires batteries (not included)?

 

[Ranger REG]

As long as we are consistent,...

You know what they say, to err is human. Which is why we're a flawed species (as deeply flawed as e-Tools).

 

[Taurendil]

Note: I *do* want to add a treasure chest and party loot tool to pcgen so that you can store items that can instantly be moved to a PC in rooms, chests, horses, or in a mysterious black box of "party treasure" that never seems to encumber any single member of the party

This is something I would really like to see. Since my campaign has hit the higher levels (15) it takes ma ages to generate the 'identified' version of the party treasure and then I have to calculate all the prices so they can sell the stuff they don't want. But the stuff they do want needs to be added to all those sheets and of course this frees up other items who have to be sold again (e.g someone replaces his cloak of resistance+2 with a +4). Nowadays I need spreadsheets to calculate everything. Would sure be nice to have this in GmGen, with features like: add enemy inventory to party treasure, add item to party treasure, sell party treasure, give item to character (if possible replace weaker version). Maybe an option to export to html or pdf (in my group the party treasure is put up on a website between sessions so everyone can ask for the items they want).

I had a look at the sourceforge site, but there doesn't seem to be a tracker for this. Or did I miss it?

 

[soulcatcher]

This is something I would really like to see. Since my campaign has hit the higher levels (15) it takes ma ages to generate the 'identified' version of the party treasure and then I have to calculate all the prices so they can sell the stuff they don't want. But the stuff they do want needs to be added to all those sheets and of course this frees up other items who have to be sold again (e.g someone replaces his cloak of resistance+2 with a +4). Nowadays I need spreadsheets to calculate everything. Would sure be nice to have this in GmGen, with features like: add enemy inventory to party treasure, add item to party treasure, sell party treasure, give item to character (if possible replace weaker version). Maybe an option to export to html or pdf (in my group the party treasure is put up on a website between sessions so everyone can ask for the items they want).

I had a look at the sourceforge site, but there doesn't seem to be a tracker for this. Or did I miss it?

There isn't. This has been something that has been on my mind for a while. Honestly, PCGen gets way more love then GMGen. Especially with the large architecture changes needed in PCGen, it's hard to really dedicate time to GMGen. But, I'll see what I can do about adding this sooner then later.

For those listening, I do want to point out, that PCGen has a pretty easy to use plugin architecture, and if you want something for GMGen, there is nothing preventing people from writing external plugins to meet needs like this. In fact we encourage it.

Devon