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Stat Block Problems w/ Hordes of the Abyss
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<blockquote data-quote="buzz" data-source="post: 2891609" data-attributes="member: 6777"><p>I don't spend as much time with stat blocks as you do, James, so maybe it's not worth as much when I say I don't think the game is too complex (though converting CotSQ to 3.5 was quite an effort, I'll admit). But that aside...</p><p></p><p>The bigger issue to me is the lack of useful tools for dealing with the complexity. There are some great third-party tools out there (e.g., PCGen), but they are either limited to OGC or else require additional investment, either in time (learning how to modify the tool [life is too short!]) or money (buying data packs [paying "again" for info I already bought]).</p><p></p><p>I know WotC has some proprietary tools they use in-house for design, but it seem obvious that they're not perfect. I would think it would be in WotC's interest to develop an easy-to-use, <em>scalable</em> tool for managing PCs and NPCs/monsters; both for themselves AND their customers.</p><p></p><p>Seriously, make it easier for me to use D&D (without sacrificing detail) and <em>I will use D&D more often and more effectively</em>. As a WotC staffer or d20 publisher, <em>I will produce better content at lower cost</em>. Better games, better products. <em>All of this is good for the D&D brand.</em></p><p></p><p>Hero Games has a software product for HERO called <em>Hero Designer</em>. It's not free, but it is hands-down the most useful and <em>useable</em> RPG software tool I've ever seen. It outputs perfect math, makes HERO chargen a breeze, and is easily user-modifiable. They sell data packs, but for the most part, adding in that data myself is very easy.</p><p></p><p>This tool, coupled with volunteer "calculator commandos", keeps Hero Games' errata well under control.</p><p></p><p>If a little company like Hero Games can do this, why not WotC?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="buzz, post: 2891609, member: 6777"] I don't spend as much time with stat blocks as you do, James, so maybe it's not worth as much when I say I don't think the game is too complex (though converting CotSQ to 3.5 was quite an effort, I'll admit). But that aside... The bigger issue to me is the lack of useful tools for dealing with the complexity. There are some great third-party tools out there (e.g., PCGen), but they are either limited to OGC or else require additional investment, either in time (learning how to modify the tool [life is too short!]) or money (buying data packs [paying "again" for info I already bought]). I know WotC has some proprietary tools they use in-house for design, but it seem obvious that they're not perfect. I would think it would be in WotC's interest to develop an easy-to-use, [i]scalable[/i] tool for managing PCs and NPCs/monsters; both for themselves AND their customers. Seriously, make it easier for me to use D&D (without sacrificing detail) and [i]I will use D&D more often and more effectively[/i]. As a WotC staffer or d20 publisher, [i]I will produce better content at lower cost[/i]. Better games, better products. [i]All of this is good for the D&D brand.[/i] Hero Games has a software product for HERO called [i]Hero Designer[/i]. It's not free, but it is hands-down the most useful and [i]useable[/i] RPG software tool I've ever seen. It outputs perfect math, makes HERO chargen a breeze, and is easily user-modifiable. They sell data packs, but for the most part, adding in that data myself is very easy. This tool, coupled with volunteer "calculator commandos", keeps Hero Games' errata well under control. If a little company like Hero Games can do this, why not WotC? [/QUOTE]
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