Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 35
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That is exactly how I have been doing it. Your little tools for formatting have been excellent in making this a quicker and easier process.
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#11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,528
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I have been entering Second Darkness. Based on that:
Expect to do multiple passes. "Rough in" the main topics. Either People or Places first, with just name and any identifier you want to use. I found Places slightly more effective than People first, but it does not matter much; either way, you will see the links appear when you start entering the details. Be prepared to edit and move things around. The presentation in the AP is text, and makes sense for a GM reading the book solo. When it comes to RealmWorks, you will likely want to split up some paragraphs into separate snippets for easier revealing. Also, expect to re-word some of them so they make more sense to the players. I found doing the home base city first, then specific adventure locations, worked pretty well. Because I expected that there would be some kind of "official" version of published books available eventually, I have focused on the AP-specific materials, with only enough background to make it work. I expect something based on the Inner Sea World Guide to be available eventually, so I don't want to duplicate that effort. Creating a custom topic for the contents of the Campaign Guide, and revealing all of the snippets, should make al of that advice immediately available to the players when you start. You can also add to this if you want to use 3rd party classes or expand on the advice for customizations. Since I have the HeroLab files for details of the creatures, I don't bother putting in more than names and flavor information. Anything I need for running encounters and the like can stay in HeroLab until needed. That won't help those running a game system without HeroLab support as much, though. |
#12 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Limal, Belgium
Posts: 98
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Quote:
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#13 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8,232
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Quote:
So don't worry. The design of Realm Works will always keep those concerns squarely in focus, since we're writing something that we can also use ourselves. And we can accomplish that while also creating a product that excels for the big name games. It just takes a bit more work to do both. |
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#14 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 35
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Quote:
I didn't think about just doing names and identifiers and then coming back later and putting in the snippets. That would certainly speed things up with linking things, and would mean fewer passes through everything to make sure all the links are in there. One of the things I have been doing is just pasting all the information into the Description section and then splitting it up into snippets. At some point I will be going back to reorganize, expand, and even rewrite the snippets. Some of the sentences have basic information that could be learned early on mixed in with information the PCs may never find out, and sometimes it isn't immediately clear if you need to split up a statement or not. Once I have all that done I want to go in and fill in details like possible items for sale, a tavern's meals, background information on an NPC, or anything else the actual AP doesn't cover. Things that I wouldn't be inputting if I was one of the data entry people, for example. |
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#15 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8,232
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Important Tip!
Be sure to use "Quick Create" when entering content to ensure all the links are automatically created immediately for you. Let's say you're pasting in a topic for an NPC named Fred. The text talks about his buddy Barney and his wife Wilma, as well as the town he lives in and where he works. Before you press the Save button, press <ctrl+Q> a few times. This will prompt you to select the type of topic to create and specify the name. That's all there is to it. This will create a new topic with the given name, returning you right back to where you were. Then when you press the Save button, all those topics are in place and the links to them are automatically detected and hooked up the very first time! Using the above technique will eliminate many of those extra passes you refer to above. Hope this helps! |
#16 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,528
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I found Quick Create quite helpful for adding minor NPCs or places that are mentioned in one or two places only. I still find it more practical to comb through the book doing all of the People and Places without details, first. I also use that pass to create the HeroLab portfolios of all of the NPCs I will need (typically 1 - 4 large portfolios with all of the monsters and NPCs needed per book of the AP).
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#17 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 14
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Quote:
Any thought to publishing your own games? Or having freelancers work with you to create games specifically for RW? |
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#18 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8,232
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We're a software development house, and the leap across to RPG publisher entails an entirely different skill set. So we don't have plans to publish our own creations. HOWEVER, we DO intend for Realm Works to provide an excellent publishing vehicle for RPG creators, whether they be content for an existing game (e.g. modules, settings, etc.) or entire new game systems. We're partnering with a variety of publishers to that end already and working on licenses with more companies. We definitely view it as a partnership, though, since we'll leave the writing to those with expertise in that arena and we'll focus on providing great software to leverage with that content.
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#19 |
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