How are you guys using the Mechanics section?

[zarlor]

I kind of figured that might be something of the scenario there. Which also means if that is the expected method I'm going to probably have to break out more of my sections into full-blown categories... unless there might the idea that we could get linking to a section in a category instead of only to the category itself?

[rob]

Originally Posted by zarlor

I kind of figured that might be something of the scenario there. Which also means if that is the expected method I'm going to probably have to break out more of my sections into full-blown categories... unless there might the idea that we could get linking to a section in a category instead of only to the category itself?

A clean solution to that has been mapped out, or so I believe. It just hasn't been implemented yet.

[zarlor]

Originally Posted by rob

A clean solution to that has been mapped out, or so I believe. It just hasn't been implemented yet.

Woot! Best news of the day.

[lfseeney]

I can see that publishers for RW should get together and work out a system with LW to insure it flows together in a thought out matter.

Be nice if most Bought stuff follows the same rules for the most part.

And in return those Rules will shape over time how many of us use RW.

[Zaphod Beebledoc]

Originally Posted by lfseeney

And in return those Rules will shape over time how many of us use RW.

Indeed!

But the beauty of RW is it's flexibility!

[weogarth]

Having not found a better place to put them, I have just started adding in various custom flora and fauna from my game world into the Mechanics section.

[Kendall-DM]

Here is what I am doing:
Mechanics - Classes, Races, Rules, Spells, Monster Lore, in other words, game specific stuff.
World Almanac - Nations, Cities, Geographical Regions, Locations, Language, in other words, what makes up the living world.
Story Almanac - Story, plot, characters, motives, modules (for lack of a better word), in other words, things the drive the role-playing and the adventure aspect of the game.

While I was at Gen Con, I had a short discussion with one of the RW team members about how not all of these things were inclusive. Mechanics works fine, it exists separate from the other two, but the World and Story Almanac can be confusing, since each carries its own elements, yet have exactly the same structural makeup (if Nations exist in one, they exist in the other). I know that I, for one, don't like this setup, but I can see how it is useful, but after some thought after the conversation (like a week, unfortunately), these two elements should really be separate entities. Now, I know what you'll say, "maybe the Nation needs to be in the World Almanac AND the Story Almanac to further the story part". But can't I just reveal the World Almanac snippet, topic, or whatever and achieve the same thing? Frankly, I don't think they are the same, nor should they be. Otherwise, my Story Almanac will have a Topic for Nations, when I will never use it. Expound on that to other Topics, and well, the Topics show up and clutter the whole thing. So, the compromise was to allow the GM to hide Topics that are not needed in one (but not the other). Not hide as from players, but hide altogether from view (say when setting up the categories). Anyhow, my hope is that we'll get something like that, as I've already started having clutter that is annoying in on Almanac that never sees use there.

My 2... er hundred plus keystrokes worth.

[zarlor]

Seems to me that's just what World and Story are. Yeah, same layout, but anything you don't need to reference often, if you want to reduce clutter, that's what you keep on World. Think you'll need it in the next few game sessions? Put that stuff in story. Does something in Story reference something in World? No problem you still have all of those links intact and you can move to it whenever you want. To my mind it's really all about one thing, reducing clutter in Story. Clutter the heck out of World, it's what it's there for, but it might make it more difficult to find what you need at a glance, so keep Story to things you think you'll need at a glance and you'd be good to go.

[AEIOU]

Here's my understanding of how RW has World and Story implemented....

The World is a general holding area for things that are not currently needed for play but could be some day. It will be huge and unwieldy I think for most of us. It ensures that links are maintained and that you can access, update and bring into play non-essential information at any time.

If the players are in Magnimar, I really don't need to see Riddleport and Korvosa area information even if the players will eventually be traveling there. And I definitely don't need to see Rahadoum, Thuvia or the rest of the southern half of Golarian.... But the PC's may encounter merchants from those places or hear rumors about them and I definitely want to capture that information for another day.

The PC's are investigating a series of thefts. The proprietor of Eggle's Fine Shoes in Magnimar hails from Korvosa where his family is located and after the PC's gain his confidence, he tells them about several shops they should check out, mentions a few landmarks in the region and asks that they deliver a letter to his sister. I can pop over to World, mark those things as known to the players and ignore it for a few weeks until the players make their way to Korvosa for the next leg of their adventure. More importantly, I can leave all of the Korvosa info hidden until I need it. When the PC's move on, Magnimar info moves to World and Korvosa info moves to Story.

[Kendall-DM]

I'm only referring to the Topic itself. If I put nothing into the Topic at the Story level, the Topic stays nonetheless. If I make 100 Topics in the World that I DO populate, it doesn't always follow that I'll have those 100 Topics populated in the Story, which means I've just got Topic clutter with nothing in it. I could easily fill up Story with just Topics that aren't even used there (because the Categories you create apply to both World and Story). Make sense?