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Feature Request: Better Tracking of Gear

V

Valdacil

Well-known member
The Gear tab in Hero Lab is cumbersome and here are some of my ideas to improve it:

1) Ability to sort by various fields (name, weight, value)
2) Ability to give a custom name to default items, especially containers (like backpacks and chests). So we could name things like "Crafting Chest", "Adventuring Backpack" or whatever else we wanted to organize things.
3) Ability to filter the view (ie. hide/unhide certain containers). Example of usage would be to add a chest, name it Manor Storage, put in items not being taken on an adventure, then hide that chest while adventuring to de-clutter the display while adventuring.
4) More designations for location besides 'dropped on ground' for things like containers left at stronghold/manor/etc.
5) Tree type view so items in a container show immediately below that container (but indented). So it would show Backpack (2 @ 10), then right beneath that would be the 2 entries, indented.
6) Ideally, the 'tree' described above could be expanded and compressed. So have a button, checkbox, + sign or other button that would expand/compress the contents of the container. Ideally, one could compress all and see just a list of containers, then expand just the one you wanted to look inside and the contents would show inline (but indented) under that container.
7) Since most containers (like backpack) limitations are based on volume not weight, it would be nice to have an option of showing how much volume items take up and how much volume is used up in a container. I list this as an option since some groups may not bother with this rule, therefore they may wish to be able to turn it off.
 
Valdacil said:
5) Tree type view so items in a container show immediately below that container (but indented). So it would show Backpack (2 @ 10), then right beneath that would be the 2 entries, indented.
6) Ideally, the 'tree' described above could be expanded and compressed. So have a button, checkbox, + sign or other button that would expand/compress the contents of the container. Ideally, one could compress all and see just a list of containers, then expand just the one you wanted to look inside and the contents would show inline (but indented) under that container.
Click to expand...

This would definitely make the whole idea of containers and such way, way more useful than it is now.
 
Some of these you can do now, or mostly do.

Re: 2, for example. In the editor, copy the Chest(s) to a new Gear Item(s). There is a setting to allow user text for additional naming and clarity. Or just use "Custom Container" and name it as you like.

Re: 4, for example. Use a Custom Container and call it "Inn Room" or "At Home". Don't set its location to being "on Hero", and it is now a Free-floating place to hold gear not currently with the hero.
 
Silveras said:
Re: 4, for example. Use a Custom Container and call it "Inn Room" or "At Home". Don't set its location to being "on Hero", and it is now a Free-floating place to hold gear not currently with the hero.
Click to expand...

Custom Location would probably be better for that, since it doesn't need to be moved to the "dropped to the ground" container, it and its contents automatically don't count their weight against encumberance.
 
Valdacil said:
7) Since most containers (like backpack) limitations are based on volume not weight, it would be nice to have an option of showing how much volume items take up and how much volume is used up in a container. I list this as an option since some groups may not bother with this rule, therefore they may wish to be able to turn it off.
Click to expand...

Problem with this is that most items only have weight defined in the rules, not volume. Waffle irons weigh 5 lbs, but how much space does one occupy? What about items with a certain amount of squishyness, like bolts of cloth or a feather pillow?
 
Aaron said:
Problem with this is that most items only have weight defined in the rules, not volume. Waffle irons weigh 5 lbs, but how much space does one occupy? What about items with a certain amount of squishyness, like bolts of cloth or a feather pillow?
Click to expand...
Stop it and your crazy "logic" Aaron! :D :p
 
Valdacil said:
5) Tree type view so items in a container show immediately below that container (but indented). So it would show Backpack (2 @ 10), then right beneath that would be the 2 entries, indented.
6) Ideally, the 'tree' described above could be expanded and compressed. So have a button, checkbox, + sign or other button that would expand/compress the contents of the container. Ideally, one could compress all and see just a list of containers, then expand just the one you wanted to look inside and the contents would show inline (but indented) under that container.
Click to expand...

I agree with @Roadie that these two improvements would be a really great quality of life improvement, and would make containers much more useful.
 
Aaron said:
Problem with this is that most items only have weight defined in the rules, not volume. Waffle irons weigh 5 lbs, but how much space does one occupy? What about items with a certain amount of squishyness, like bolts of cloth or a feather pillow?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's really a problem with the rulebooks since they give limitations on things like backpacks in cubic feet, but then don't define how many cubic feet items take up.
 
At the moment, it is a judgment call.

Can the packrats (my players) fit three suits of full plate into a Bag of Holding type I? How about six maces as well. They'll keep going, until I "guess" that it is full. Wealth, along with levels, is power in the game.
 
The magical storage containers (Bags of Holding and Handy Haversack) have specified weight and volume limits for their contents, while the mundane backbacks and belt pouches have only volume measures. I pulled the weight capacities from my old D&D books to put together a composite list (p.17 in the attached PDF).

The other limit that Players tend to forget is the opening of the container. The bag of holding may be able to hold 250 lbs of gear, but it still has an opening that is only "so big". The bag is described as 2ft x 4ft ... so the opening is 4ft in perimeter, Anything that can't be fit into 2ft x .01 ft (flatttened) or is rounded and more than 1.2 ft in diameter isn't going in.
 

Attachments

In the grand scheme of things, this point regarding volume is relatively small compared to the functional interface changes which are the main purpose of the request. I also acknowledge that Paizo hasn't solved/defined this thoroughly and therefore am not asking Lone Wolf to do something they themselves have not. However, since Paizo does have terminology for for it and may someday refine the rules surrounding it, it would be useful for LW to at least add a field for item things to define volume and perhaps also dimensions. Then should Paizo or player groups decide to utilize that metric the functionality framework is there.

Again, the more important feature request, however, is the structural/organizational improvements to the view. If LW can accomplish something akin to what I described above from an interface perspective much of the pain of gear management would be resolved.
 
Just saying, "Whoot! Whoot!" for this idea. The ability to "open" and "close" containers with dropdown lists would be AMAZING!

I would add: Please print the indented lists on the hard-copy sheets!
 
=2 (one for tree-in-gear and one for tree-in-configuration)

Since it'll be the first part of the app with a tree container (right?), how about adding the same functionality to the Sources configuration panel? I find it such a pain to locate and enable disable sources and there's no search capability either?!
 
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