Giving up on Ream Works

[Guyanthalas]

Originally Posted by Mystic Lemur

...
Is Masterplan still a thing? That's what I used to use. It was designed for 4e, but was passable for other versions of D&D.

I just recently uploaded a torrent for it because everyone kept asking where to get it on my tutorial videos. I tried a few hosting sites and decided that torrent was the better option.
And no, I'm not the creator of MasterPlan, I just did the tutorial videos.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjQfT72G1I2a1mhqOLttja-RNS6X

[Guyanthalas]

Oh, and I suppose to keep this on topic...

Don't take this the wrong way. Reading between the lines, the OP is probably in a position of "The tool is overwhelming, DMing is overwhelming, and RW doesn't allow it to be any easier" and I think they are spot on. Buying a nice garage worth of tools doesn't mean you are great at building a house.

I bought Realm Works for my girlfriend who runs a homebrew campaign. She was using OneNote to hold all of her stuff and I thought Realm Works was the better option. I'm pretty sure when I got it for her it was a week of solid cussing from her as she transcribed things. I really felt like a piece of crap because it was a birthday gift for her and thought I had let her down.

However, after she struggled through the learning curve, she loves it. It does exactly what she needs to do (for home brew campaign). I use it for Princes of the Apocalypse and Daplunks videos have helped me a lot for putting in existing content. Now she and I are trying to figure out the best way to get the PHB / DMG into RW in a cohesive manner and that is not an easy problem to tackle.

The tool doesn't help a new DM with running a game. Point of fact, it probably hurts a lot more than it helps (more options is RARELY helpful when someone is unsure what to do). That doesn't mean its a bad tool, but we some root cause analysis might be in order to help getting the guy off the ground.

[Gwydion]

Originally Posted by Guyanthalas

Oh, and I suppose to keep this on topic...

Don't take this the wrong way. Reading between the lines, the OP is probably in a position of "The tool is overwhelming, DMing is overwhelming, and RW doesn't allow it to be any easier" and I think they are spot on. Buying a nice garage worth of tools doesn't mean you are great at building a house.

I bought Realm Works for my girlfriend who runs a homebrew campaign. She was using OneNote to hold all of her stuff and I thought Realm Works was the better option. I'm pretty sure when I got it for her it was a week of solid cussing from her as she transcribed things. I really felt like a piece of crap because it was a birthday gift for her and thought I had let her down.

However, after she struggled through the learning curve, she loves it. It does exactly what she needs to do (for home brew campaign). I use it for Princes of the Apocalypse and Daplunks videos have helped me a lot for putting in existing content. Now she and I are trying to figure out the best way to get the PHB / DMG into RW in a cohesive manner and that is not an easy problem to tackle.

The tool doesn't help a new DM with running a game. Point of fact, it probably hurts a lot more than it helps (more options is RARELY helpful when someone is unsure what to do). That doesn't mean its a bad tool, but we some root cause analysis might be in order to help getting the guy off the ground.

Interesting in that I use it for POTA as well. I loaded all the significant NPC's in, maps with pins and the basic read aloud text for the players. I use Fantasy Grounds to play and after each session I unshade the maps so the players can view stuff offline. I also update map entries to briefly describe what they battled and/or found out in a particular session. It was a lot of work, but it is really helpful for them to remember clues, who they have killed, etc.. I've gotten into the habit of putting a R.I.P. entry in Realmworks for each significant NPC the players take out.

[Exmortis]

Originally Posted by Guyanthalas

Oh, and I suppose to keep this on topic...

I bought Realm Works for my girlfriend who runs a homebrew campaign. She was using OneNote to hold all of her stuff and I thought Realm Works was the better option. I'm pretty sure when I got it for her it was a week of solid cussing from her as she transcribed things. I really felt like a piece of crap because it was a birthday gift for her and thought I had let her down.

However, after she struggled through the learning curve, she loves it. It does exactly what she needs to do (for home brew campaign). I use it for Princes of the Apocalypse and Daplunks videos have helped me a lot for putting in existing content. Now she and I are trying to figure out the best way to get the PHB / DMG into RW in a cohesive manner and that is not an easy problem to tackle.

The tool doesn't help a new DM with running a game. Point of fact, it probably hurts a lot more than it helps (more options is RARELY helpful when someone is unsure what to do). That doesn't mean its a bad tool, but we some root cause analysis might be in order to help getting the guy off the ground.

I felt the same way your GF did. I felt the same way getting started with CC way back in the day.

The best, most powerful tools are rarely user friendly, are rarely easy to just jump into. However, for those who are willing to the invest the time, effort and learning, they pay off in spades.

Think of that as R&D, nothing worth while just lands on your lap, one has to work at it. RW is not for the casual minded note taker, it is for the core campaign gamer who wants an open management and content delivery platform.

never use a hammer to put in the screw,

[tiggertazz]

Originally Posted by Guyanthalas

Oh, and I suppose to keep this on topic...

Don't take this the wrong way. Reading between the lines, the OP is probably in a position of "The tool is overwhelming, DMing is overwhelming, and RW doesn't allow it to be any easier" and I think they are spot on. Buying a nice garage worth of tools doesn't mean you are great at building a house.

I bought Realm Works for my girlfriend who runs a homebrew campaign. She was using OneNote to hold all of her stuff and I thought Realm Works was the better option. I'm pretty sure when I got it for her it was a week of solid cussing from her as she transcribed things. I really felt like a piece of crap because it was a birthday gift for her and thought I had let her down.

However, after she struggled through the learning curve, she loves it. It does exactly what she needs to do (for home brew campaign). I use it for Princes of the Apocalypse and Daplunks videos have helped me a lot for putting in existing content. Now she and I are trying to figure out the best way to get the PHB / DMG into RW in a cohesive manner and that is not an easy problem to tackle.

The tool doesn't help a new DM with running a game. Point of fact, it probably hurts a lot more than it helps (more options is RARELY helpful when someone is unsure what to do). That doesn't mean its a bad tool, but we some root cause analysis might be in order to help getting the guy off the ground.

Thank you Guyanthalas, Exmortis and Gwydion for your updated input. I have been looking to getting back to DMing again and have been looking for some tools other than paper and pen. I have looked at Roll20 but have a hard time thinking that it is all in the cloud and I may not have access to it offline. This my 2nd look at Lone Wolf products and I am intrigued with the tools but also it is only as good as what you put into it. Most of my games have been me moving from note card to note card. You info has helped me remember that if a tool sits in the the garage unused then what good is it.

[kbs666]

Originally Posted by Exmortis

I felt the same way your GF did. I felt the same way getting started with CC way back in the day.

The best, most powerful tools are rarely user friendly, are rarely easy to just jump into. However, for those who are willing to the invest the time, effort and learning, they pay off in spades.

Think of that as R&D, nothing worth while just lands on your lap, one has to work at it. RW is not for the casual minded note taker, it is for the core campaign gamer who wants an open management and content delivery platform.

never use a hammer to put in the screw,

It is really difficult to make a tool, of any kind, intuitive, easy to learn and broadly useful. That RW falls short of that shouldn't shock people.

The reason I make videos, and the reason I hope others evangelize in whatever ways work for them, is to help GM's use what I think is the single best GM's aid to ever come along. The more GM's that use RW the better it will be for all of us as LWD will have more income to devote to it to add features and improve the existing ones.