Rise of the Runelords GM - Should I buy?

[Laski]

Hi! RotR (Anniversary Edition) GM here. I'm looking for a way to scale encounters easily and apply buffs (or debuffs) to NPCs, and considering buying HeroLab for that. The question is: will it be suitable for my use case?

Specifically, I'd like to:

- Import RotR NPCs (without having to create them myself).
- Apply buffs and debuffs to them, seeing the results in real time.
- Modify them (perhaps adding a level or two).

All three steps are needed, because without one I could just be using another thing to do the work (e.g. PCGen if I have to implement them). Have anyone here used HeroLab for this? What do you think?

Thanks in advance

[NeoEvaX]

Yeah, you can do all that with the GM pack.

Once imported from the Encounter Library (which is separated by room/encounter from the AP), the characters are then saved and modified like any other character.

I recently took 2 NPCs that my players didn't fully kill. I put them into a portfolio from the RotRL Library, then added levels and gave them buffs and then saved them off into a separate file (like any saved character). Last night I loaded that NPC up and attacked my players.

TL;DR: You can do all 3 of your requirements with the RotRL GM pack thing.

[Azhrei]

I'm currently playing in a rewritten RotRL campaign (meaning the new one for PF1). I've GM'd other campaigns using HL, but not this one in particular.

Short answer: yes, HL can accomplish all three of your tasks. Long answer? Keep reading...

My GM for this campaign has purchased the RotRL encounter pack ($25, IIRC) that includes pre-made encounters that includes all NPCs and/or custom monsters. We, the players, send him our characters and he combines them into a single "portfolio" (HL's name for a collection of characters into a party or encounter). Then, when an encounter occurs, he can import the party portfolio into the portfolio that contains the NPCs and monsters, and use that to run the encounter. HL does this using something called the Tactical Console.

The TC doesnt do everything, but it is certainly helpful! For example, buffs and debuffs can be done using it, although it can be cumbersome. For example, applying Cat's Grace is easy because it only applies to a single character, but Mass Cat's Grace is a bit of a pain, since the GM has to visit each PC and apply the change on the "Adjustments" tab (or maybe it's called something different on the desktop; I'm primarily using the iPad app as a player lately). Really, anything that applies to more than one character is a pain: damage via area of effect spells, movement penalties because of difficult terrain, and so on. (I used to use DMGenie back in the 3.5 days and it had a much better system for these types of things.)

There is also no automatic tracking of per-round spell effects. So short duration spells still need to be tracked "manually", so to speak.

I have a thread around here somewhere in which I've articulated the issues I have with how the TC works. My GM was frustrated by some of the above and we sat together for 4-5 hours one Saturday and jotted down notes of how it currently works and how he wanted it to work, then I posted here as well as filing those notes as a bug report (really more of a feature request, but HL only has bug reports; "for anything that you think doesn't work the way it should," which applies both to game rules and software functionality).

<extra>
I posted sort of tongue-in-cheek that I would write my own iOS app to address some of the issues. Well, turns out that I've actually been working on this, but it'll be my first iOS app so it's slow going. I plan to be able to import portfolios, but it'll only track the combat, it won't allow for leveling up — one of the items on your wish list. That will require HL.
</extra>

[Ryan F]

Originally Posted by Azhrei

You should also be aware that HL as a desktop application is going away at some point. LoneWolf is working on Hero Lab Online, which will be a subscription-based online approach. As such, the current tool (now referred to as "Hero Lab Classic") will at some point become the "legacy" tool.

Hi there, I want to correct your assumption on the record if possible.

We have absolutely NO plans, intentions, or desire to retire Hero Lab Classic. The product is our flagship, and we have no intention of cutting off service for their products or Licenses.

If you purchase a Hero Lab License, your content rights to it will always remain intact, and we fully intend on supporting the platform as long as humanly possible. This means even if we stop having regular content releases for Hero Lab Classic, we are still going to ensure the product runs everything smoothly, and that new Users would be able to purchase the tool for their Character Creation needs.

--
Ryan Furnas
Lone Wolf Development Support - support@wolflair.com
http://www.wolflair.com

[Azhrei]

My apologies — I should've been clear that these were my opinions and not statements published or implied by anything LW has said or done. I've deleted the paragraph entirely as I don't want to be inflammatory. My bad.