WOTC Campaign Tools

[Phaezen]

Forked from: Psion to debut in July

HOLY CRAP.

Traps and hazards in the Compendium?!

Now all they have to do is add skill challenges, and I'll melt into a puddle of happy DM goo.

Not quite skill challenges in the Compendium but I am looking forward to this:

From the thread it looks like they are working on a campaign management client. It will be like the Character Generator inthat it installs on your pc and there will be monthly updates.

The first part for release is a Monster Tool which does the following

To hit some highlights, here’s what this Monster Tool will be able to do:

• Search through and display monsters that appear in any of our books or magazines.
• Edit monsters so they fit into your planned encounter/campaign.
• Create, display, and print your own unique monsters in the official formatting style you see in our printed D&D material.

Simply put, the Monster Builder has a lot of features that the Encounter Builder doesn’t have. Besides the ability to easily create your own monster, one example of these new features is the ability to grab an existing attack/power from one monster and drop it into another. For a more colorful analogy, this monster builder tool would be eating its cornflakes, and not even notice that the Encounter builder had landed in its milk.

The new tool is a client program very similar to D&D Character Builder. It is designed to contain the monster builder to start and be easily added to.
For example the graphics and UI elements can be used for any tool we include with this application. It also updates monthly in the same fashion as the D&D Character Builder.

You can level up and down monsters with the touch of a button and it does the math for you as per the DMG/DMG 2. Some things don't work out perfectly, like a monster's damage doesn't always fall into the chart in the DMG but things like attack bonus, hit points, defenses, etc it is all automatic.

And Christmas is coming early this year

 

[wedgeski]

Thanks for the link. Sounds intriguing. Like most other DM's (I would think), I hope that the most effort they put into this is in the area of flexibility, and from the sound of it, their heads are in the right place.

Edit: Having read the rest of the thread, it really does look like their heads are in the right place. Looking forward to this a lot!

 

[Kwalish Kid]

And Christmas is coming early this year

Don't count on that. They have no official statement or release date yet, so this could come out next Christmas.

 

[Phaezen]

Don't count on that. They have no official statement or release date yet, so this could come out next Christmas.

True . Although they do seem to have learned not to give release dates or product development schedules for software .

And I am looking forward to this software, if it is anywhere near as good as the Character Builder I will be in DM heaven.

 

[Nymrohd]

Up until now I am impressed with the digital initiative (except for Dragon and Dungeon magazines which are declining). Both compendium and character builder are constantly getting updated and improved. Any utility they can produce that is of similar quality will be embraced by the DDI community I am sure.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Don't count on that. They have no official statement or release date yet, so this could come out next Christmas.

Exactly what I was thinking. I mean it sounds great but I really hope it is going to be released in the near (ie less than 3 months) future.

 

[Khairn]

I'm a sucker for DM tools, and this sounds really interesting. I'm also glad WotC isn't providing any dates with these new tidbits. Its great to see that they've learned a lesson from their past mistakes.

I'm hoping that the functionality of this app allows the DM to easily download and print any DM / Campaign information he creates. If the info is only available while online it will be a show stopper for me. As a DM, I like to use my computer to help me manage my table top games, but if a computer and internet access is required to use the app (and therefore play the game) then I'll have to pass.

I also wonder how (or if) any 3PP monsters might be included.

 

[malraux]

Exactly what I was thinking. I mean it sounds great but I really hope it is going to be released in the near (ie less than 3 months) future.

Given that they really don't want to even talk about a product until it is close to completion, I'd imagine this will get released sooner rather than later.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Exactly what I was thinking. I mean it sounds great but I really hope it is going to be released in the near (ie less than 3 months) future.

It would certainly help us create soldier-free encounters!

 

[CubeKnight]

I'm a sucker for DM tools, and this sounds really interesting. I'm also glad WotC isn't providing any dates with these new tidbits. Its great to see that they've learned a lesson from their past mistakes.

I'm hoping that the functionality of this app allows the DM to easily download and print any DM / Campaign information he creates. If the info is only available while online it will be a show stopper for me. As a DM, I like to use my computer to help me manage my table top games, but if a computer and internet access is required to use the app (and therefore play the game) then I'll have to pass.

I also wonder how (or if) any 3PP monsters might be included.

If it's anything like the Char Builder (and I don't see why it wouldn't), it should work just fine offline.