We Be Goblins Issues

[Silveras]

Remember that Paizo views Realm Works content as an extension of the PDF.. and so expects you to already have the PDF for a read-through. We Be Goblins was planned and prepared before that policy was set, though, through a separate arrangement with LWD, so it is somewhat "grandfathered" in that respect.

I have no idea what other publishers may be telling the people working on their content. I know at least some users have mentioned that they are working on material for other publishers, and their layouts and methods may well be very different.

With regard to kbs666's comments... early on, advice given to users was along the lines of "create only what you need" and "don't over-create". This could well be part of why We Be Goblins is laid out as it is.

My push for additional icons in the Features Request thread comes from my own desire to be more specific than the LWD guidelines (and the LWD Pathfinder structure) have laid out.. I want MORE Categories than there are in the standard Pathfinder structure, and more specific identification of similar-but-related things. Hence, my style is more like what kbs666 suggests.. more Individuals, Places, and Incidents even if they're only name-dropped, and so on.

[Galymyr]

Originally Posted by kbs666

That map Galmyr couldn't find to start with should have been in the Marsh topic or somewhere else really obvious not half way down the storyline.

Second I would have created NPC topics for the chief and his minion rather than simply making them alternate names of a scene and having a bunch of links point to that scene when they really point to those NPC's. I might have even created a topic for the exiled goblin wizard that found the fireworks in the first place.

In my PoV stub topics give you something to build on if you want or need to and in this showcases where the scenario could be expanded.

Compare to Pixies where, I think, all the characters get their own topic and the town could easily be expanded into a party's home base for some early adventures.

This right here. I did find it, but it was not in an intuitive location and was not linked from the topic that referenced it which is why o was confused.

[Mystic Lemur]

The NPCs didn't need their own topics, because everything you need to know about them to run the adventure is detailed as part of the location/scene where you meet them. No reason to have another tab open for such scant information. Tying non-vital NPCs to their location was mentioned as a best practice some time ago.

[Bidmaron]

That was in the context of having the NPC with the location as containing parent not imbedded in the location.

All NPCs should have their own topics so you can reveal if players discover them from an informant or something before the encounter.

[kbs666]

Once an NPC is mentioned/linked multiple times elsewhere I give it a separate topic even if I first put it somewhere else. That was my point.

[Silveras]

In some ways, it is a meta thing.
If the players are actually using Realm Works, and the creator only made Individual-type Topics for significant NPCs, then they know a) anyone with such a topic is hardly the "bystander" you may have told them s/he is, and b) anyone without such a topic is nowhere near as important as you may have made him/her sound.

So, I too make any NPC worthy of a link into its own Topic.

[Bidmaron]

General rule: If they are worth having a name, they are worth a topic.

[MNBlockHead]

lots of food for thought. i can understand the pov of giving every npc a topic, but in game, I would not like having to open a new tab for every npc in an encounter. if the creator takes this approach, I would hope that they would also include the statblock (herolab snippet) and basic description in the Encounter/Location topic itself. Duplicates information somewhat but makes running a gam easier while still allowing you to reveal npcs and to better use npcs in multiple topics.

[Bidmaron]

Of course if they would let you make links to snippets instead of just topics, the problem would go away because you could place a less significant NPC into, say, the place that he lives and then link to the snippet in another place he might show up, like say the tavern, or the magic shop he runs.

This would be analogous to how you can set a target on a web page and link straight to that part of the web page rather than the top of the web page.

[Galymyr]

Originally Posted by Silveras

Remember that Paizo views Realm Works content as an extension of the PDF.. and so expects you to already have the PDF for a read-through. We Be Goblins was planned and prepared before that policy was set, though, through a separate arrangement with LWD, so it is somewhat "grandfathered" in that respect.

I agree that use of Realm Works is best if you have the book or .pdf to read ahead of time. However, once I've done my read through I shouldn't have to pick that book/.pdf up again as every last bit of info I need to run the adventure should be in Realm Works. Is this not in line with how Paizo thinks I should use their products?