Are identifiers in use yet?

[EightBitz]

I imagine identifiers in Realm Works are similar in concept to identifiers in Hero Lab. If I'm defining a Klingon race, I can set the identifier to "rKlingon", or if I'm defining a group called "The Dirty Dozen", I can set the identifier to "grpDirtyDoz". Is that a good assumption?

But . . . what are they used for? Anything yet?

[Mirrorscape]

As far as I can tell they are there to make topics with the same name unique.
So that if you have two entries called "Joshua" you can put identifiers on them and have one listed as Joshua (Town) and one listed as Joshua (Ghost).
I could be missing something though.

[Mirrorscape]

Disambiguation! That's the word I was looking for.

[rob]

@Mirrorscape nailed it.

It occasionally happens that the same name is used for two different things. Sometimes, it's two different people with the same name. Other times, it might be a city and a ship with the same name. Whenever this occurs, the identifier can be used to disambiguate the two.

The identifier also comes in handy when entering dungeons and similar types of areas from pre-created material. Rooms and areas will all have names, but they will also have map codes indicating their location. For ease of reference, you can place the map code in the identifier. Then you can quickly see both what a location is and where it resides on the map.

Hope this helps!

[EightBitz]

Seeking a bit more guidance here. It seems that identifiers are not required as they are in Hero Lab. So, they're optional, and purely for human reference.

That being said, I'm looking for some guidance on good practice. Again, in a small, one-off, it sounds like they won't matter much. But in a larger world, they could come in handy. And in that scenario, I'm assuming you would want to use them consistently (if you use them on one topic, you should use them on all topics).

I'm also assuming you'd want to set up some sort of convention for their use, just as in Hero Lab, you have an "ab" prefix for abilities, and "r" prefix for race, etc. But if I have two cities named "River City", and I set their identifiers as "locRiverCity", then that's not unique. I could set them as "locRiverCity1" and "locRiverCity2", but that's not informative.

For those of you who've used identifiers effectively, could you provide some tips and/or examples regarding how you've used them and how that's helped you?

I know this can be a broad topic. I'm not asking for a dissertation from anyone, just a few practical tips and/or examples.

Thank you in advance.

[Cornelius]

I have used the identifier as a means to identify NPCs. I have a Pendragon game and in it the family is an important part. As various members of the family have the same name (being named after a grandfather and such. I have for instance three NPCs each with the name Robert Salisbury. But each has a different identifier (I, II, or III).

The biggest advantage is that when I write another topic the name Robert Salisbury it gives me the option to create a link with one of the NPCs.So it can create automatic links.
In the case of using different names it will not identify the words 'Robert Salisbury' as a link to one of the NPCs.

[Farling]

I wouldn't use them at all like HeroLab.

I use the identifier when entering adventure paths using a notation like "B1-C1" for location C1 as described in book 1 of the adventure path.

You can also use identifiers to number topics sequentially if entering a large section, so that they appear in numeric sequence rather than alphabetic sequence in the topic list.

[AEIOU]

I'm with Farlling. I only use identifiers when they are needed.

Dungeon/adventure room/area numbers are my main use. I also use them in plots so I can sort the material in plotline order rather than alphabetical.

Given that many names are common in the real world, I would use an address/quarter/town for the identifier if I ran into duplicates in gameplay.

[rob]

Everyone above has it right. Identifiers in Realm Works bear NO resemblance to identifiers in Hero Lab. In HL, they are the unique code for something that you'll use in the editor. In RW, the unique codes are completely hidden from view, so they don't factor in at all.

In RW, the role of the identifier is either for disambiguation or for identification via a different mechanism. So they should only be used when actually needed. Disambiguation is described pretty well above. Use as identification (whence from the name derives) centers on the primary way you'll utilize identifiers. This form typically associates a map code or other type of indicator to a topic. If you have a dungeon level A with rooms labeled 1-23, the identifier would be the label used on each room (e.g. A13). Each room would be a topic with a name based on its actual purpose/role (e.g. Throne Room, Kitchen, Sentry Post, etc.), and the identifier would be the map code. This way, you can easily sort the list of room as A1-A23 in the navigation pane on the left, which makes everything vastly easier to work with.

Hope this helps!

[EightBitz]

Yes, thank you. I appreciate everyone's feedback.