Pathfinder Adventure Modules

[joepacelli]

So I've not purchased Realm Works yet. I have been looking at it for a very long time now and the thing that interests me the most is the Content Marketplace.

I remember watching the spotlight series and seeing the videos online and seeing them using the Rise of the Runelords. I was running Rise of the Runelords at that time and almost purchased Realm Works in Oct 2015 based on the what was being hyped about the Content Market.

So I waited and waited and kept checking the status of the Content Market.

Needless to say I've since finished the Rise of the Runelords campaign and our group is currently playing Shadowrun 5th Edition. This time I'm not a GM, but instead a player.

But now looking towards the future and the end of this year I'm planning out the next campaign and would love to purchase Realm Works prior to starting anything.

But I don't want to purchase it and have to spend long hours entering the data into it for one of the Paizo Adventure Modules.

So a few questions;
When will Content Market be officially released?
Which Adventure Modules from Paizo will be available at that time or within the weeks following the release of CM?

To the users of Realm Works;
Have any of you taken any of the Paizo Adventure Modules and entered them into RW?
How long did it take if so?
Was this all 6 adventure books, or only a few?

Thanks
Joe

[daplunk]

No one really knows the answers you seek except LWD. They are heads down coding hard. They released an update yesterday that said the following.

• NOTE! The bulk of this release consists of internal changes that put the (hopefully) final client-side pieces into place in preparation for the official Content Market launch.

Realistically the last few months have been spent patching bugs that appear to have been found with the export and Import functionality. More bugs than was expected I'd wager. So. Hopefully the answer now is the CM is right around the corner.

A good indicator will be what happens next. There should be one more free content pack release and then the kickstarter content should roll put. If that happens I suspect we will quickly see the CM follow.

I'm in beta and under nda so can't talk to specifics. But alot of Pathfinder content is coming. More Pathfinder content than anything else

Manual data entry takes a bit of time. A 300 page book can take a solid few weeks. Persoanlly I enjoy this though as it's part of my prep and helps me learn the module.

[Parody]

Originally Posted by joepacelli

When will Content Market be officially released?

Soon.™

Originally Posted by joepacelli

Which Adventure Modules from Paizo will be available at that time or within the weeks following the release of CM?

Modules or Adventure Paths? Right now you have We Be Goblins for free. Otherwise, We Don't Know Yet.™

Originally Posted by joepacelli

Have any of you taken any of the Paizo Adventure Modules and entered them into RW?

I have not entered any Modules or APs, but I know others have done so. Time will vary depending on how much of the book's info you're bringing in and your experience with entering that data and any side programs (Hero Lab, for example) you're using to skip entering data in RW. As daplunk said, it takes a while to do a full AP. (It's taken me forever just to put in some of the Paranoia XP reference material and my own adventures, but that's because I'm lazy. :)

[kbs666]

I entered the first 3 parts of Wrath of the Righteous to give to a friend who wanted to run it. Each one took me the better part of a month to enter but that was working on it a few hours here and there as I had the time. I was working directly from the PDF and had some previous experience doing this sort of thing having done some RW data entry for one of the companies that will be releasing content on the CM.

A lot would depend on how much you break up the content and how long you spend working at each session. RW data entry is fairly mind numbing work and I've found that an hour or two of it at a time is about all I can take in one sitting.

[ruhar]

I have entered one book each of two different Adventure Paths. It takes time because you need to learn the program and figure out how you want to lay it out. But that's not a bad thing. During that time you are not only learning more about the program but you are learning about the Adventure Path. There were times I was only a half a step ahead of the game on entering the information.

If you plan to buy it then I recommend you buy it now so you can start playing with it and start to understand how it works. We Be Goblins is a short adventure to cut your teeth on using the program as the GM. Trust me, you don't want to start a game the same time you're learning to use the program. It's not as simple as taking it out of the box and pushing the on button.

I will warn you that you will probably get frustrated with it as you learn it. I did and I'm sure several here have. Do not despair and give up. Again, it's not as simple as taking it out of the box and pushing the on button. When you get frustrated walk away and come back later. Once you get start getting more proficient with the program you'll wonder why you didn't get it sooner. But remember, it's not as simple as taking it out of the box and pushing the on button. I can't stress that enough.

[Farling]

I input the Skulls & Shackles adventure path, and I'm currently running it. The input of data allowed me to understand the plot across 6 books better than just reading the PDFs. I also added a lot of other supplementary information about other islands and various background materials from other PDFs to vastly expand the information about the part of the world involved in the adventure.

Buying a pre-entered adventure wouldn't get me to understand the path at all. I think I would hate to try and read an adventure path using Realm Works itself.

[Silveras]

Originally Posted by Farling

. I think I would hate to try and read an adventure path using Realm Works itself.

That's why Paizo requires the PDF before you can buy their content on Realm Works.. because RW is not "user friendly" for a direct read-through.

[Bidmaron]

Not really, Silveras. The PDF thing applies for Fantasy Grounds, too, and FG pathfinder module is almost as easy to read the module as a hard copy. I don't think the PDF coupling of your purchase has anything to do with readability.

[Silveras]

Originally Posted by Bidmaron

Not really, Silveras. The PDF thing applies for Fantasy Grounds, too, and FG pathfinder module is almost as easy to read the module as a hard copy. I don't think the PDF coupling of your purchase has anything to do with readability.

Yes, a primary (if not the primary) reason for Paizo's policy has to do with maintaining control over their licensed properties.

Still, they've stated that part of their goals with the AP volumes is to make them pleasant to read through as well as easy to run. Neither Fantasy Grounds nor Realm Works makes that easy. Both applications are better served by breaking up the text into multiple separate units of content. Both employ linking of that content to navigate. Both depend on the choices of the person(s) preparing the data to create a sense of "flow", and that representation of "flow" does not necessarily work equally well for all users.

Paizo also has a vested interest in doing what they can to ensure that licensed properties work well, especially with new media formats that are still finding their best approaches (VTTs are still new enough for that to apply, I think, though Realm Works is far more "new").

So mandating that the PDF must also be present is a way to ensure that people can read the "flow" in the way Paizo's developers believe best presents the information. I may have over-stated the importance of it, but it is still *a* reason if not *the* reason.

[Bidmaron]

Yep. I agree, Silveras. Good summary!