What is suffix for?

[ruhar]

I have searched the different manuals and the forum and I can't find a reference of what the suffix is for. I know what the prefix is and use it all the time, but I'm scratching my head on the suffix.

[Parody]

I use it to disambiguate Topics/Articles with the same name.

[rob]

In the documentation, look for the term "Identifier". A number of weeks back, we split the identifier up into a separate prefix and suffix instead of doing double-duty. The documentation hasn't yet been updated to reflect this change. There should be notes about the benefits of a prefix and of a suffix, including when they come in handy.

@Parody's example of disambiguation is an excellent one. However, there are other uses for the suffix as well.

[Pollution]

I use prefix and suffix like this:

In a dungeon - Room A1 for RotRL book 1 would be "(RotRL 1) Entrance Hallj (A1).
In a town - (Sandpoint) Bob's Magic Shop (Magic), or (Sandpoint) Dragon's Inn (Lodging)

I also like to set alias' for when it's a dungeon room so not only is it (A1) as a suffix, it's also alias'd to A1, so that in text I can put A1 in the description and it'll point to the Entrance Hall topic.

You could also do it for individuals, if you wanted:

John Smith (Smith)
Bill Smith (Smith)
Sarah Johnson (Smith) to denote that Sarah is a Smith by blood, but has a different name.

You could also set it for a family group for groups without having to remember tags or group association links (which I always forget to do). In Vampire you could have:

(Ventrue) Archibald Bishop (Prince)
(Primogen) Barry Darkmein (Primogen)
(Malkavian) Kevin Coons - no position on this guy
(Ghoul) Bob Bergin (Malkavian) - Kevin's Ghoul

This makes the Clan the primary sort while denoting the city's government in the Suffix. You could reverse it, and have the powers that be at the top, with Clan clearly denoted after.

You can use the Prefix and Suffix in ANY way/combination you want to make your data more readable. I like to put info I want to see ASAP as the Prefix or Suffix. You could use family relationships for the above, but then you'd have to reveal the info (and remember to do it) for your player's to see, plus you'd have to look elsewhere to see the ties. I find this easier for the most part. I use the family/organizational ties for things I want to know sometimes, but keep secret from my players until a big reveal happens. And even then, I'll edit and make it obvious in the Prefix/Suffix after the fact.

[JustinThomason]

I use them for clarity. My current campaign has the PCs running around on side quests. Each side quest has a Quest topic, and when they complete a quest, I put "Completed" in the suffix. This lets you see at a glance that there are no more open loops on this particular story point.

[MaxSupernova]

I use suffix to mark NPCs as DECEASED when appropriate.

[Mystic Lemur]

I do it exactly opposite of Pollution. Prefix is for map key (so it sorts correctly) and suffix is for Book/Adventure/whatever.

Example: 334 - Inky Chamber - ToEE

I considered MaxSupernova's use, but there's a Status dropdown or somesuch in the topic that I can just add a "Deceased" tag to, which works better for me.

[MNBlockHead]

I'm similar to Mystic Lemur. Prefix is just a map/area key. Suffix is for disambiguation and contains either a location or adventure name. The hint you get when hovering over the prefix suggests you use the suffix instead for disambiguation. I'm not sure why. I don't know if the prefix and suffix behave differently or have different character limits. Given how Pollution uses them, however, I doubt it.

I often do not use the Prefix as very little of my content is from published material and keying maps is often just not required when using smart maps in realmworks. But for some published material for for very complicated situations where you may want to reference map areas in the text descriptions (e.g. "If the party fails to avoid the noisemaker, guards will come running from rooms C4 and C3.")

Suffixes are especially useful when you are prompted to select from topics with the same name. For example: Blacksmith (Torgeirheim). Though I've come to realize that I should just type that into the name in most cases: "Torgeirheim Blacksmith" so that you don't end up with long conflict lists when accepting autolinks.

For "Scenes" the suffix is usually the related adventure. E.g. "(A1) Tunnel Entrance (Gnoll Retreat)"

[MaxSupernova]

Originally Posted by Mystic Lemur

I considered MaxSupernova's use, but there's a Status dropdown or somesuch in the topic that I can just add a "Deceased" tag to, which works better for me.

Yeah, I'm a "belt and suspenders" kind of guy.

[Pollution]

Originally Posted by Mystic Lemur

I do it exactly opposite of Pollution. Prefix is for map key (so it sorts correctly) and suffix is for Book/Adventure/whatever.

Example: 334 - Inky Chamber - ToEE

I considered MaxSupernova's use, but there's a Status dropdown or somesuch in the topic that I can just add a "Deceased" tag to, which works better for me.

With the new Views, I'm thinking about changing this all around.

I used Pre/Suffix that way to ensure that Chapter 1 of an AP would be listed first, followed by Chapter 2, etc...

Now, I may go to A1-Entrance Hall (Important Note) as a standard. So for instance, (B4) Treasure Room (LOCKED) to remind myself that the room is not accessible before a disable devices check or something.

I could use views to set up Chapters now....

Views are weird. I like them, but it's changing the way I want to do things.