Ally/Enemy - More options?

[weogarth]

Hello,

Apologies if this was asked elsewhere but a forum search came up empty.

I was wondering if there was any discussion about expanding this option of 'role' vs the player in future updates. Both Johnn Four and Gygax have sets of roles that include villains, rivals, mentors, minions, etc.

Ideally, having a configurable set of these (choosing Four, Gygax, or others, even customizeable) would be best but even a generic list of such would be more helpful to me than simply 'enemy' or 'ally'

Thanks!

Gary

[Colen]

What Hero Lab distinguishes with "Ally" vs "Enemy" is really just whether the character appears as one of the "Good Guys" on the tactical console (i.e. on the left), or as one of the "Bad Guys" (i.e. on the right). This lets the GM easily see which "side" is up next on the tactical console - I typically put even friendly NPCs in with the "bad guys", so it' more of a "controlled by player" / "controlled by GM" divide.

Can you tell me what you're looking to accomplish with a more granular list? Is it just something you want to see for informational purposes, or something else?

[weogarth]

Originally Posted by Colen

What Hero Lab distinguishes with "Ally" vs "Enemy" is really just whether the character appears as one of the "Good Guys" on the tactical console (i.e. on the left), or as one of the "Bad Guys" (i.e. on the right). This lets the GM easily see which "side" is up next on the tactical console - I typically put even friendly NPCs in with the "bad guys", so it' more of a "controlled by player" / "controlled by GM" divide.

Can you tell me what you're looking to accomplish with a more granular list? Is it just something you want to see for informational purposes, or something else?

Thanks for the reply Colen. Basically, I'm very new to HL, and still on the low-end of the learning curve. I will not be using the tactical console, I'm basically using this to build NPCs for a campaign I run via FantasyGrounds II.

What I was looking to accomplish was to be able to have the NPCs 'role' in my campaign as part of the character sheet. As I mentioned, I have several books/PDFs on NPCs and storytelling, and two of them have a number of different types. For example, NPC Essentials , part of John Fourr's GM Mastery Series, has Villains, Rivals, Minions, Roleplaying Companions, Mentors, et al.

It's this kind of role I'd like to note on the sheet. As I learn more about HL, I may find that it doesn't lend itself to that, or that this may be something that's better added after I move the NPC to FG2. Anyhow, hope that helps explain my idea more.

[bodrin]

Originally Posted by weogarth

It's this kind of role I'd like to note on the sheet. As I learn more about HL, I may find that it doesn't lend itself to that, or that this may be something that's better added after I move the NPC to FG2. Anyhow, hope that helps explain my idea more.

Just as a workaround suggestion, how about putting a bracketed comment onto the name of the NPC.

Eg :
Skittle the candy kernel (Minion)
Toby le Rone (Villain)
Cheer Ee owes (Rival)

That would accomplish the same thing for minimal work. Even abbreviating the role into (R) rival (M) minion etc.

Just a suggestion.

[weogarth]

Originally Posted by bodrin

Just as a workaround suggestion, how about putting a bracketed comment onto the name of the NPC.

Eg :
Skittle the candy kernel (Minion)
Toby le Rone (Villain)
Cheer Ee owes (Rival)

That would accomplish the same thing for minimal work. Even abbreviating the role into (R) rival (M) minion etc.

Just a suggestion.

Thanks! As I do more with the program, I'll probably do just that or something close.

[Sketchpad]

Another option, at least for NPCs, is to make a custom form area in the NPC tab called Allegiance and not who they're with there.