What online tools should I build? (Round Two)

What online tool should I build? (See thread for explanation of options)

  • Play-by-Post Facilitator

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • Table Tool Creator

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Improved Character Builder Sheets & Power Cards

    Votes: 2 12.5%
  • Enhanced Encounter Builder

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • Campaign Information Manager

    Votes: 3 18.8%
  • Campaign Web Site

    Votes: 2 12.5%

Truename

First Post
As I mentioned in an earlier thread (http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/249221-what-online-tools-should-i-build-you.html), I'm part of a team that's building a 4e-focused website. The goal is to provide useful DM & player tools that complement DDI. Parts will be free and parts will require a modest subscription.

I got some good suggestions from that last thread and now I'd like to narrow it down. We only have time to build one thing, and we start on Thursday. What should we build? Here's an explanation of the options:


Play-by-Post Facilitator

This tool provides a virtual battlemat (you upload the map and the monster/player tokens), a dice roller, and a logging system to facilitate your play-by-post or play-by-email games. When it's your turn, you log in, move your token on the map, take some actions using the dice roller, and log out. Everything you did would be securely recorded for other people to see, and you can link to the battlemat in your forum posts on ENWorld or other sites.

Note: This is not a replacement for DDI's virtual gametable. It's not realtime.


Table Tool Creator

This is a collection of tools for making printables for the table (such as action points tokens, healing surges, condition cards, etc.) as well as ideas for information management, all gathered in one place. A DM's starter kit.


Improved Character Builder Sheets & Power Cards

Upload your .dnd4e file from Character Builder and we automatically create a prettier/more usable character sheet than the one Character Builder offers. Choose your preferred sheet and power card style from the options available. (If time allows, we'll also let you design and upload your own styles.)

Due to restrictions in the DDI license, you'll have to cut-and-paste power card entries from the Compendium for this to work. But we'll automatically format each power once you paste it in.


Enhanced Encounter Builder

This tool helps you build complete encounters suitable for printing and using at the table. In addition to adding monsters from the compendium, you can also add traps, hazards, and skill challenges. We'll give you the ability to enter explanatory text (such as "Tactics" and "Features of the Area"). If time permits, we'll include math crunchers so you can design your own monsters, traps, and skill challenges. The whole thing will print out in a nicely-formatted document that you can use at the table.

Due to restrictions in the DDI license, we won't be able to let you search the Compendium for monsters like the DDI Encounter Builder does. But you can cut-and-paste from the DDI Encounter Builder into our tool and we'll automatically format the encounter and monster stat blocks for you.


Campaign Information Manager

This tool helps you manage all of the information for your campaign. It's designed to be paper-based, so you can print out what you need to use at the table.


Campaign Web Site

This is an online compaign information management and brag site, for planning and for players between game sessions. It includes group features such as a wiki, discussion group, or forum; campaign databases such as item, monsters, and pcs. We'll include other features as time permits.
 

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You should consider just doing all of these, one at a time. They all seem equally useful, so I don't see why you should cast out all the other ideas just because one gets more votes.
 

You should consider just doing all of these, one at a time. They all seem equally useful, so I don't see why you should cast out all the other ideas just because one gets more votes.

Our development budget only allows us to do one. If that does well, then we'll have budget to do more, but for now we have to pick one.

But I'm glad the options are good enough to make it a hard choice. :cool:
 

(final) bumpity. We start development tomorrow, still hoping for some more responses.

It looks like the poll options are getting equal love, so now our big question is, "which one will attract enough paying customers to pay our development costs?"
 

An encounter builder that lets you basically output the encounter definitions in the published modules (monster blocks, maps, info, description, tactics, loot..) would be great
 

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