Couple questions before buying

[Doomknife]

One question, actually.

I currently use City of Brass for the purposes which I'll use RW for. I already know which powers RW has that CoB does not, but my mais issue with CoB is that the "generic ruleset" demands that I enter all stats, trackables, spells, abilites, feats and so on for every single player or NPC I create.

And after I create one, that template isn't saved, so I have to do it all over again. I'm fully aware that RW demands a large entry work, but remaking the character sheet template everytime is taking way too long.

What I wanted to know is: once I determine what the stats are, can I set a template for future characters? For instance, I'm playing Symbaroum and I want to have a template like the character sheet (not design-wise but "data"-wise).

Also, habilities, spells, etc. are those saved to be used in other characters/NPCs? Same with items?

Thanks a bunch!

[Kairos]

Originally Posted by Doomknife

One question, actually.

I currently use City of Brass for the purposes which I'll use RW for. I already know which powers RW has that CoB does not, but my mais issue with CoB is that the "generic ruleset" demands that I enter all stats, trackables, spells, abilites, feats and so on for every single player or NPC I create.

And after I create one, that template isn't saved, so I have to do it all over again. I'm fully aware that RW demands a large entry work, but remaking the character sheet template everytime is taking way too long.

What I wanted to know is: once I determine what the stats are, can I set a template for future characters? For instance, I'm playing Symbaroum and I want to have a template like the character sheet (not design-wise but "data"-wise).

Also, habilities, spells, etc. are those saved to be used in other characters/NPCs? Same with items?

Thanks a bunch!

From my experience, there are a couple ways into this.

First, you can create a Category with all the relevant snippets in this. Call it PC. Then, when you add PC Topics based on that Category, that Topic has all those snippets (or fields).

Second, you can use a statblock snippet type.

Third (which is what I do), I maintain in RW (or outside it as you like) the text of the PC character sheet. When I create a new PC/NPC, I paste in this statblock into the snippet and take advantage of the autolinking, so that skills, stats, weapons etc get linked to the Mechanics Reference (if you have that material entered).

[Doomknife]

Thanks a lot for answering so fast!

Although I'm not absolutely positive I get what you're saying (since I've never even fiddled with RW).

How does Character Sheets work, exacly?

[Kairos]

Originally Posted by Doomknife

Thanks a lot for answering so fast!

Although I'm not absolutely positive I get what you're saying (since I've never even fiddled with RW).

How does Character Sheets work, exacly?

There isn't a character sheet per se, but a couple options for maintaining that data in RW. Attached are some screenshots of how I do it (#3 in my list above).

[AEIOU]

the "generic ruleset" demands that I enter all stats, trackables, spells, abilites, feats and so on for every single player or NPC I create.

RW doesn't require anything to be entered. Enter the material that is relevant. I remove the fields that aren't being used. I can add fields back if they are needed later. You can customize RW to meet your needs and you can add or remove snippets (fields) at any time.

The default snippets (fields) for PC/NPCs focus on race, class, mannerisms, contacts, history primarily. Stats, levels, spells, etc do not have predefined snippets. So minimal crunch or mechanics are predefined. The focus is on what you need to roleplay the PC/NPC.

Many people copy/paste a stat block in as a text field. If the game is supported by HeroLab, then you can link HeroLab portfolios.

Some people may add their own snippets for levels, spells, etc.

Monsters are different. They have snippets for all the stats. But again, you can ignore what you don't want to use. And you can remove the unused fields.

[daplunk]

What system do you play? It could greatly change the answer.

[Farling]

You can even enter a character in its own topic, and the duplicate that topic and modify a few details for the next similar character.

[Doomknife]

Originally Posted by Farling

You can even enter a character in its own topic, and the duplicate that topic and modify a few details for the next similar character.

I'm playing Symbaroum and I wanted to use RW (among other things) to input PCs, NPC and such, for fast consultation during the session.

Another question (I´ve seen lots of people trashing RW for this): what's the cloud service needed for? Is it absolutely crucial? What features won't work if I don't want to use the cloud service?

[daplunk]

Ok here's some screen shots of 'some' of the ways you could do stat blocks.

This is a Realm Works category (D&D 5e). You can see it has categories for all sorts of stuff.


This is a single snippet with all the information pasted in.


This is a Hero Lab portfolio being viewed within Realm Works. This is the best option but your game system is not supported to my knowledge.


The take away being that Realm Works is incredibly flexible. You could put the stat block in a table, or not, completely up to you. You can format it anyway you like. You can create your own templates so you only have to create it once. Completely up to you. This is a very flexible program. Those little buttons next to each snippet can be ticket and if selected your players will be able to view that snippet using player copies if they have it.

[daplunk]

Now lets discuss the cloud support.

It's not necessary although I could not operate without it.

The cloud is basically a backup to a server. It's not live sync. You work in Realm Works and as you exit you get the option to sync your changes backup to the cloud.

If you are using just one machine and are ok with making your own backups (trust me, loosing a years worth of work in Realm Works is heart breaking) then you could go without it.

Personally, i need the cloud because I prep on my PC and run games on my laptop. The cloud backup lets me sync changes from one machine to the other and back again. It's very easy and saves a heap of messing around.

Also I don't trust my HDD's not to fail (anyone who watches my videos can vouch for that). I have about 2 years(?) of data entered. One of the largest realms around these parts to my knowledge (prove me wrong people I want to see the beastliest realms!) and if my HDD failed I sleep safe in the knowledge that my realm is backed up to the cloud.

Now all these nay-sayers are... well I wont say anything nasty... but no on, and i mean NO ONE is currently paying for cloud storage. The timer is stopped and has been as long as I have used the product. It's scheduled to start up again with the launch of the Content Market which is just around the corner so you are going to have to consider that in your purchase.

But seriously, for the amount of support that LWD give us (I pester them a couple of times a week and they always personally respond, sorry team!) I personally don't think the cost is a concern. Servers and bandwidth cost money to run. I use a ****load of bandwidth and i will certainly get my money out of support from the full-time team.

This isn't some coders project. This is professional software with many years of development and honestly... they deserve more than we have paid IMO.