Ultimate Campaign ... any ETA ?

[chiefweasel]

I was a bit confused with this as well. HL is a character builder not a kingdom builder. So I'm not sure a lot of the rules would even be applicable to HL.

Mind you I would love to see a kingdom generator. Something where you put in paramets and can watch it grow over time. maybe even have a map br automatically created as it grows as well.

[RavenX]

chiefweasel,

You should check out the work done in Shadowrun. They can handle kingdom creation in Hero Lab. We have vehicle creation and creation for many things in there. Hero Lab handles it all quite well. Based on the work done in that area, the kingdom building isn't much different, and its a big component from Ult. Camp. Not something I'd expect done quickly.

[SeeleyOne]

I think that a kingdom generator might be better fit for Realm Works.

[ChrisRevocateur]

Originally Posted by SeeleyOne

I think that a kingdom generator might be better fit for Realm Works.

Considering that the kingdom generation that they're talking about is player controlled, and is essentially a kingdom "character" for a player (or group of players) to manage, I couldn't disagree with you more.

Realm Works would be better served integrating things like the settlement rules and such from the GameMastery Guide, as that is campaign setting stuff, instead of a character by a different name.

[SeeleyOne]

I guess my issue is this: how would more than one player manipulate the data? How could a group of players alter the details of their kingdom?

I think that the best way would be to have the kingdom be a "character" that is accessible to all of the players involved. Aside from emailing it with the changes to everyone, I do not see a way to do this in a gaming group. At least with Realm Works there is already a sort of cloud service in use, and a particular kingdom would be linked to a specific realm.

That is why I recommended Realm Works versus Hero Lab for this situation.

[Mathias]

When playing a kingdom with pen and paper, you'll most likely designate a single record keeper to write all the details about the kingdom down. That stays the same - the record keeper will simply be recording things in Hero Lab, rather than on paper.

[ShadowChemosh]

Originally Posted by Mathias

When playing a kingdom with pen and paper, you'll most likely designate a single record keeper to write all the details about the kingdom down. That stays the same - the record keeper will simply be recording things in Hero Lab, rather than on paper.

Yep the same as when playing through Jade Reagent AP and one person would keep the records for the Caravan. Same idea here. Besides I would be shocked to find more than one person that gets any fun out of "record" keeping to be in a group.

[Maidhc O Casain]

Originally Posted by ShadowChemosh

. . . I would be shocked to find more than one person that gets any fun out of "record" keeping to be in a group.

Or even one

[jacook]

So, just to throw out a bone to the developers, I am finishing up an excel sheet to handle kingdoms. I'm about 80% through it and it is a BITCH. So I feel their pain. There is a lot of data entry and a HUGE amount of dependencies. I'm seeing IF statements in my sleep.

[SeeleyOne]

Being a fellow Excel-wielder, I can totally understand. Excel can do more than most people give it credit for. Sometimes VLOOKUP and HLOOKUPs are better than using a ton of IF statements.

I might have some other ideas that could help you. One thing to keep in mind is this: you are the creator, not the user. Other people will mess with it in ways that will baffle you. I learned the hard way to make it obvious where and how the user will enter or modify the data. I have also learned to "stupid proof" it, which is best done by hiding rows and then hiding the row and column headers.

Now that I have delved more deeply into the realm of actual programming my Excel days might be over. So far the only languages that I can program in are Java and C++.