Using Realmworks to organise things as a player

[craghammer]

Originally Posted by Happydevil43

Hi guys,

I woke up this morning with an almost brilliant idea.... not sure how practical it is yet...

Has anybody ever used Realmworks to organise information as a player?

not as a player view, but either during game play or after wards to track, where did we find that information, who was that guy, what quest did he send us on ?

I am playing in about 2 different groups and sometimes its hard to keep track of things were we are at... etc.

Any thoughts ?

No problem!
As long as you have a GM version, just go ahead and add content you learn about as a player. Keep either two realms to keep your content or, as I do; We play in Forgotten Realms, so I've added tons of common stuff (most of the Sword Coast and the North is in) about locations, NPC's, the gods, and have a Storyline for our campaign - where I am a player. So I use RW as my library of stuff for the campaign I'm in. Works swell!

In the Storyline of our campaign, i add topics and snippets for all "custom" NPC's, locations, quests and all that is specific to our campaign, and update the common world topics as we move along if there is some "new" knowledge - and you can tag that as custom content too.

So for you case, create two storylines and go forth and work that realm

[Vargr]

I have done it for a Star Wars campaign I was a player in.

I entered most of the data while we played (actually I made notes in the User Notes during play and if I had the time also added the relevant data as topics).

It worked well and I could most of the time immediately make the connections and tell the others (including the GM); such as when the other players asked: "Hmm, where did we hear that name?".

But it does take time and RW is not fast enough for taking notes out of the very confusing and multi-faceted discussions that take place at the table, so sometimes things just had to be finished after the game.

Oh, and I took pictures of maps and other stuff placed on the table and included it later.

[Happydevil43]

Its a cunning plan that cannot possibly fail.

I'll create the realm tonight before bed, but probably wont have time to get it populated from the notes I do have before tomorrows game session.

As its a public holiday here tomorrow, we have planned an all day session, 10am to 11pm.... breaks for pizza and coke runs, before coming back on Saturday to do it again... Game on!

[Maidhc O Casain]

Originally Posted by Happydevil43

Do you do it in-game or after?

Well, since I play via Play by Post there really isn't "during" or "after" as there aren't defined sessions. So technically, I guess it would all be classified as "during." When the GM makes a post (either in-character or out-of-character/metagame) that seems pertinent I put in a topic or a snippet to add to a topic we've already discovered.

This lends itself very well to play-by-post, as the text is already there for me to copy/paste, and then I just have to carve it up as necessary to put it where it belongs in my Realm.

[kbs666]

I know some people really love play by post but in my attempts at it the length of even short adventures involved significant player attrition. However if you could get players to stick to it I'd think player edition would work amazingly well for play by post. The GM could reveal what ever was relevant to each post he made and sync afterwards. Each player could sync when checking the forums and therefore see the most up to date details of the realm.

[Silveras]

Originally Posted by kbs666

I know some people really love play by post but in my attempts at it the length of even short adventures involved significant player attrition. However if you could get players to stick to it I'd think player edition would work amazingly well for play by post. The GM could reveal what ever was relevant to each post he made and sync afterwards. Each player could sync when checking the forums and therefore see the most up to date details of the realm.

Unfortunately, when I mentioned before that my players refused to even try Realm Works after I gave them licenses... I was talking about a Play-by-Post type of game.

I agree that it would, indeed, have been a nearly perfect match.. except for the players' attitude.

[kbs666]

LOL!

I can't get my players to use it for in my in person game and you can't get them to use it for PbP. Sometimes I wonder if we're wasting our time on all this world building and adventure design. Maybe the players would be perfectly content with set piece encounters with nothing actually tying them together, sort of the Michael Bay school of GMing.

[Silveras]

Originally Posted by kbs666

LOL!

I can't get my players to use it for in my in person game and you can't get them to use it for PbP. Sometimes I wonder if we're wasting our time on all this world building and adventure design. Maybe the players would be perfectly content with set piece encounters with nothing actually tying them together, sort of the Michael Bay school of GMing.

I'm pretty sure mine expect me to remember for them.

They're fond of suggesting... "Can I make an Intelligence check to see if my character remembers [x] ?" for everything.

More seriously, though, that makes me concerned about the potential growth of the market for Realm Works. Players using electronic tools are increasingly looking for "free" tools that are "web-based" ... meaning a) immediate updates, b) no cost to them, c) nothing to be installed, and d) no cost to them. If Realm Works' financial plans are based on selling player licenses, that may not work unless the player side is immediately updated by the GM's actions (and the GM needing to close the Realm to sync makes this all but impossible) and is either fully browser-based or is an App (rather than a full application).

[Happydevil43]

Originally Posted by Silveras

More seriously, though, that makes me concerned about the potential growth of the market for Realm Works. Players using electronic tools are increasingly looking for "free" tools that are "web-based" ... meaning a) immediate updates, b) no cost to them, c) nothing to be installed, and d) no cost to them. If Realm Works' financial plans are based on selling player licenses, that may not work unless the player side is immediately updated by the GM's actions (and the GM needing to close the Realm to sync makes this all but impossible) and is either fully browser-based or is an App (rather than a full application).

I guess for our group this is a non issue. I am the only one out of all of us using RW. A couple have looked at it, and then said, "oh you have to put the stuff in yourself...umm no.".. that may change when content market is open.

Most of my players use Ipads (apart from that one guy who is holding onto the dark ages by using paper!), so unless RW makes an app for players like they did with Herolab (or even better a connector in Herolab?) , I can't see it being adopted at least for my group.

[kbs666]

Originally Posted by Happydevil43

I guess for our group this is a non issue. I am the only one out of all of us using RW. A couple have looked at it, and then said, "oh you have to put the stuff in yourself...umm no.".. that may change when content market is open.

Most of my players use Ipads (apart from that one guy who is holding onto the dark ages by using paper!), so unless RW makes an app for players like they did with Herolab (or even better a connector in Herolab?) , I can't see it being adopted at least for my group.

It already connects to HeroLab. Pretty seamlessly if you ask me. You can store portfolios in RW, including entire encounters, and use those to launch the tactical console to run combats.

Here's the video I did on using HL and RW to run combats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBXnZGMohIc