Manually enter the data or wait for Content Market

[joepacelli]

I'm on the fence as to whether I should start entering the creatures from the Pathfinder Bestiary source books or to wait and hope that I can just purchase this material when the Content Market comes online.

I know your not allowed to give us any information, but I would hate to spend 2-3 weeks of my time entering this information and then find out that this source book is available in the Content Market

Can you provided any direction?

[daplunk]

I don't know where this one sits on their to do list but I do know monster manuals came back as a high priority out of the survey.

[Thomssen]

I'm in the same boat as you are, only with the Pathfinder Core Book rules. I have most of the feats and skills entered, as I find it very helpful, but I am hesitant to continue if the core book will be part of the content market.

Originally Posted by joepacelli

I'm on the fence as to whether I should start entering the creatures from the Pathfinder Bestiary source books or to wait and hope that I can just purchase this material when the Content Market comes online.

I know your not allowed to give us any information, but I would hate to spend 2-3 weeks of my time entering this information and then find out that this source book is available in the Content Market

Can you provided any direction?

[Silveras]

The value varies a lot depending on other factors. If you also have HeroLab, there's much less value in entering the monsters in Realm Works. If you are not using HeroLab, there's much more value.

Regardless, how valuable "much more" and "much less" are is a personal evaluation.

My advice:

Based on how you play now, is having the information in Realm Works critically important to you?

Even if the Bestiary (1) is in the first wave (not known.. just for example), there's no reason to assume that Bestiary 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be with it. It may be months, or even years, to get them all.

So... with that in mind... if you can't wait out however long it takes to release them, then that should tell you what to do (maybe start from Bestiary 6 and work backwards, hoping to meet the official content along the way?).

If you can wait, but want to do something now, here's a suggestion. There is no official "table/list of what gets revealed on a knowledge check". So you could start entering custom topics for that purpose (something I have done). My custom topics have a few of the Bestiary data points (type, subtypes, CR) for use in measuring the base DC for the check... and snippets with the required total DC in GM notes. So the first snippet may say "This creature is a X, a Reptilian Humanoid that dwells in swamps" with a GM note that the DC for his is 11. The next snippet may say "They have strong claws and a tail that strikes hard", and an attached GM note that the DC for this is 16. And so on.

[joepacelli]

While it would be nice to start entering data manually, and even if only Bestiary 1 is the first thing to be released, and 2 through 6 may be 6 months or 1 year away. Even if this is true, and I need to manually enter some of these. I could have the first book as a reference of how they are entering there data. This way I can at least conform to their style and enter my data the same way.

[daplunk]

For Monsters I would absolutely be trying to get it from the CM. Entering monsters sucks. Especially since you have to enter them twice effectively. Once in RW and once in HL.

Out of everything I hate entering monsters the most.

[joepacelli]

Let's say I spend over 1 month entering all the data for one of the Bestiary books. What if once done I export the file and sell it. Basically charging for my time and service to enter this data in manually.

Can you do this?

[daplunk]

No, you would need a license agreement from Paizo in order to use their product for profit. LWD have this agreement already.

[Silveras]

Actually, monsters are Open Content as far as I know, so that would be OK.. provided you did nit include any protected names or other protected content, and otherwise obeyed the restrictions of the Open Game License (OGL).

But that's the thing.. you have to obey ALL of the restrictions. You can't use Paizo's art, for one example, because that's not Open Content. And there may be more, especially in future books as Paizo begins to blend more of their closed content into the RPG line of books (which were previously world-neutral).

Originally Posted by Bestiary 4

Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)

Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.

So you would be best advised to talk to a lawyer about the OGL for what you can and cannot do, before planning to do any such thing.

[Farling]

I think Bestiary 6 is also listed as PFRPG rather than OGL on the paizo web site.