Is Hero Lab for me?

[Batei]

A couple of things to consider: I have never used Hero Lab, so I have no idea on its strengths or pitfalls. I am also new to Savage Worlds and would like a utility that helps me create characters quickly and correctly for my players.

Problems I see:
There appears to be very little done with SW beyond the basic rules... are the explorer rules/options even included?
I picture my characters jumping from world to world, which means I would need information in Hero Lab to cover many different worlds which of course introduces additional edges/hindrances/etc.

Is there anything that would make my fears false? I am really interested in finding a useful utility, but something that only goes halfway in making a character would not fit that criteria.

Thanks!

[tatteredking]

HeroLab is built with the Explorer rules in mind. It is being overhauled to include the Deluxe rules. As for the different worlds, all of them have to be hand entered, and are being done so by volunteers. As we are writing the files for the different campaign settings, we are finding fundamental things that need to be changed with the core SW file.

So to answer your question, the core rules are in there. Everything else is in progress. With several Pinnacle official campaign settings and MANY licensee settings, we few volunteers have to select some of the most popular settings to work on first.

[Batei]

Thanks for the reply. If only I had some programming skills.

[CapedCrusader]

The farther a Setting strays from the core rules, the more there is to do. If you're just playing different Genres using the core rules, it should support you fine. If you're playing some of the full-blown settings (Deadlands, Hellfrost) some have completed source files, some are in work, some haven't been dealt with yet.
If you're just talking about adding a certain Edge or Hindrance that you like, you can perhaps find something that does close to the same thing and duplicate it. If that's not possible, you can float the question here and I can help, or there are several others who know as much or more than I do that will be more than willing to either help you out or even write the item up for you and send you the file. I've done it several times already.
I've found that Hero Lab is an extremely flexible tool, and you can do a lot with it. I'm currently working for Lone Wolf to add support for Savage Worlds Deluxe, the Fantasy Companion, and the Super Powers Companion, along with adding widgets to allow the Realms of Cthulhu Hindrance rules, adding a second Faction, and creating a flag to disable the standard Arcane Powers. The work is progressing nicely, and should be ready for Prime Time soon.

[Batei]

Well, with a username like CapedCrusader I do not doubt you prowess to get things done.

I do plan on using the main rules, but want to submit my players to many different realms. Think of Quantum Leap meets Sliders, but Dr. Who and Miskatonic U would feel at home. The main book looks like it covers anything in the fantasy genre, but the strange worlds and/or futuristic stuff could be troublesome. I have a bad feeling the campaign in my head might stretch the Lab system a bit.

What is behind the scenes for Hero Lab? In other words, what program or skills are helpful to have/know?

[Duggan]

Originally Posted by Batei

What is behind the scenes for Hero Lab? In other words, what program or skills are helpful to have/know?

I work in Mutants and Masterminds data files, but I'm pretty sure that Savage Worlds also lets you have full access to the editor from the demo, so it's not too difficult to mess around with it on your own. There's even a tutorial for editing most of the gaming systems.

Otherwise, it's pretty much your basic scripting language with nicer ways to handle the more common tasks like setting the cost of something, or its name or description.

95% of the system is just getting the name and description in. That last 5% can get tricky, but you can do about 4% of it on your own. That 1 in 100, you need to appeal to a higher power in Lone Wolf Development for access to the correct variable or function.

[CapedCrusader]

Just a general knowledge of programming. It's a custom-made scripting language created just for Hero Lab. For most of it, you can look at what was done for other things and go from there.

[Batei]

Originally Posted by CapedCrusader

Just a general knowledge of programming. It's a custom-made scripting language created just for Hero Lab. For most of it, you can look at what was done for other things and go from there.

Thanks, that is what I was wondering. I have had to do some similar things for work projects with various levels of success. I will take a look at the demo.