Help with Hero Lab purchase please

[Athansor]

Hello!

I have some Pathfinder games and this looks like a fantastical tool to speed up the prep/level up/etc processes. Now in our games we allow any of the races/classes/feats/traits released in official Paizo pathfinder books. It looks like most of their supplements have been released for Hero Lab at an additional cost.

I don't mind buying them as they come out but it looks like my initial investment into Hero Lab to get all the Pathfinder content would be about $250. Is there a package deal or something available anywhere to lower this cost?

Also some of the items are not available, such as things from the Carrion Crown adventure path. Do I have the capability to add these to the system or do I have to get the Authoring Kit to do that?

Lastly the character sheets printed out look okay but I'd love to customize them a bit. Is it like an access "report" you can modify and customize?

What can't you do without the authoring kit?

Thanks and I'm looking forward to owning Hero Lab!

[John]

Hi! Thanks for your post and interest in Hero Lab.

With the initial purchase of Hero Lab, you'll be able to set it up for the core data file for Pathfinder. That core package includes updates with some content from the Adventure Paths as a free update. We don't typically include monsters from the Adventure Path bestiaries, unless they are zero HD races that could be used as a player character race or are listed as animal companions, familiars, or improved familiar options.

If there was something you wanted to include from an Adventure Path that we didn't include, you could create it using the Hero Lab Editor. The Authoring Kit is really oriented toward the creation of new game systems in Hero Lab. The Hero Lab Editor is included in the purchase of Hero Lab.

We offer a couple bundle deals that you might want to explore, namely our Player Companion bundle and our Campaign Setting bundle. These offer five data add-on packages for the price of four, and the content is listed here: http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?context=hero_lab&page=pathfinder_rpg_packages.

We also offer a bundle deal on the purchase of all three bestiaries, although based on your post this may not be of immediate interest to you.

If you were to purchase the Player Companion and the Campaign Setting bundles, along with our stand alone data packages for the Companions and Settings that aren't part of the bundles, you'd have content from over 60 books for around $75.

We have five core package data add-ons, covering the Advanced Player's Guide, Advanced Race Guide, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, and Ultimate Equipment. Each are available for $9.99. So, with the original purchase of Hero Lab and the items mentioned above, you'd have everything except the Bestiaries for around $155. One thing to keep in mind is that you can use the Editor to create any material as well. So, if there were only a few things from a given set of books that you used, you could build these yourself in the Editor rather than purchase the ready-made data set(s).

In terms of character sheets, there are two custom character sheets that other community members have created which can be downloaded for free once you have Hero Lab. We also have an output option in Hero Lab that you could use to generate your own custom character sheet. The output is an XML file.

Regarding your question about the Authoring Kit, the only reason you'd need it is to create a new game system in Hero Lab.

I think this answers all your questions, but don't hesitate to let us know if you have others. If you haven't already done so, you might also want to download the free demo version of the software. You can't save or print characters, but you can get a really good sense of how it works and how much time it will save you in creating and managing your characters. I think you will enjoy Hero Lab immensely!

[ValaraukarU]

The bestiary items from Carrion Crown and other Adventure paths and much more add-ons are available on the d20 Pathfinder SRD site.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/hero-lab

Hero Lab comes with an editor tool that allows you to add custom stuff to an existing game system without the Authoring Kit. This is what the majority of the Community is using for adding stuff.

[Exmortis]

The buy in now is hefty, but you have to consider how long Paizo has been cranking out Pathfinder material, so if you were to run out and buy every hardcover book right now from CRB to UE how much would it cost? Then add all companions and accessory books.

I wish I had discovered HL way back before I bought so many of the HC books. really now I buy HL and the PDF, thats it and together both are cheaper then the hardcover book? How fricken cool is that?

As a DM now creating a new campaign world and campaign based on my favorite game of all time Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, HLs authoring lab is a worthy freebie!!

My gaming group is about to start our first full campiang in the PF system (we switched our now ending campaign midstream from 3.5), HL is the tool of choice for us. of the 7 players, 6 have bought into the system now, with 3 of us owning everything except the recent companion. Before long all 7 will be using HL exclusively as Players and DMs alike.

I admit, my previosu tool had a little better "laptop" page where you function in game combat, but the HL UI has so much more to offer with a few clicks away, and once you get used to it, its actually very good, if a little clunky. But as i get better and better with it, and more used to its UI layout, I find my time between rounds wasted watching the gaming table and listening to the other players, rather then flipping through 5 books like a mad man to find a simple enbtry on a simple spell or feat, nope not now, I simply hover the mouse and its all there. Outstanding.

Trust me, HL is not expensive considering what you get, but as a cost of entry it does seem a little steep. But I feel its worth it.