Ongoing work
Response to the availability of the beta has been really good.
There have been over 1000 downloads and registrations in just over a week. I've canned my old mailing list (since it was a lot smaller and most are now beta users - I assume ), and am using the beta registration list instead.
I have a handful of e-mails so far mentioning features and issues that need to be addressed. If you have any yourself, please feel free to e-mail them to
luke_jones@bigpond.com .
I'm not planning adding any major features to the beta for release 1, but I certainly am interested in any bugs you may have encountered, or small changes to existing features that improve the program.
If you have suggestions that might be "major", send them in anyway. I have a list of things to do after release 1.
Here are a couple of the more major things I'm working on for a beta update
- Character/monster generator.
I'm expanding this slightly to keep tabs of your original dice rolls to the 6 abilities (Str, Dex, etc). This will work much better for characters playing unusual races, and for proper randomization of monster race stats.
Ability dice rolls: Firstly, as an example, not all bugbears have the same strength. That's a bit like every human having a Str of 10. The stats you see in the monster manual represent the racial average. All the attacks and damage you read in the MM are based on that. Now, in RPM, you can easily vary (or roll) a bugbear's Str between 7 and 20, and RPM automatically adjusts everything (attacks etc) from there. Now it actually means something when you refer to the "big burly bugbear in the group" as you DM your encounter. Characters can get a surprise when they expect damage to be in a particular narrow range, and DMs can also tone-down certain stats for NPCs/monster where they need to (still properly within the Racial limits!).
Changing Race: Since RPM now keeps track of your original ability dice rolls, you can change your character to different races, and see what the effects are. If the DM allowed you to play a griffon, for example (with an average Int of 5), your 3-18 dice roll for Int would use the proper rules to give you an adjusted Griffon's Int of anywhere from 3 to 14. Whilst rules for above average stats are reasonably simple, below average ones get complex. RPM sorts it out for you.
This stuff works *really* well if you shapechange in RPM. If you were an above average Str dwarf you can shapechange to an above average Str bugbear. Similarly, if you were below average Str as a dwarf, you'll fit on the same relative position in bugbear form.
- Campaign Encyclopaedia.
This was a feature I added quite late to RPM, but has proved to be really popular.
I'm expanding it so that you can include web addresses, mail addresses, and especially, references to other areas of the encyclopaedia. Encyclopaedia references are great, where you can click your way around, just like navigating the web!
This makes the encyclopaedia an organized tree-view database with both web page and wordprocessor capabilities.
Regards,
