Moving entries from Almanack to Mechanics

[meek75]

Yes, a Stat Block. The intent was that you wouldn't enter stat blocks as a bunch of snippets in Realm Works; you'd use Hero Lab or Statblock snippets to store the game definition of a character/creature/etc. Those can be copied (or quickly recreated and altered, for external tools) to create an individual if the individual needs their own custom stats. (Plenty of NPCs in my adventures would have character and story bits but use a generic stat block to which I could just link.)

If that was the intent then I think it should be reconsidered. I am running 5th Ed, which has no hero lab support. Even if it did, I can only leverage the power of tags and filtering if I have monsters directly in RW. Since there is a Monsters category included in the mechanics articles I'm guessing its intended it to be used pretty much as I am using it. I'm honestly not entirely sure how LWD envisions all this working.

 

[Lexin]

I am running 5th Ed, which has no hero lab support.

I run 2nd edition AD&D and Call of Cthulhu, and it's much easier in CofC to enter NPCs/monsters (where they exist) than it is for the AD&D games. AD&D requires me to create the NPC out of game, currently I'm using Word, then to copy them over. Creating NPCs and monsters is easier using HeroLab, and more fun.

There is a chap working on putting AD&D 2e in HL, but he's backed up working on RL, and my knowledge of programming is very limited indeed, so I can't do it myself.

 

[MNBlockHead]

I'm running 5th edition and the statblock snippet is useless. It makes RW less useful. If you don't have Herolab, I don't see much point. If I create a statblock, I have to open it as a new tab or externally in MS Word.

Instead, I just create a text snippet and use a macro program (Phrase Express) to create a nicely formatted template that I complete with the stats. Then I have them immediately viewable in the topic itself. I entirely remove the statblock and scene statblock snippets from the participants section in the scene topic, for example, and replace with text snippets containing my formatted statblock tables.

I guess if you like to print your statblocks, you might use these snippets, since you can then open them as MS Word documents and print, but I try to avoid having to print anything. So these snippets are not useful.

Regarding commonly used monster and NPC type statblocks, if I'm in a hurry or feeling lazy, I just enter "goblin" and let the autolink feature link to the goblin article so that I can just click on the link to open the goblin article and its stats in another tab. But it is annoying to have to do this and if you have an encounter with many monster/NPC types, I don't want to have to be constantly switching tabs. So I try to take a little extra time and copy paste from the monster article to the scene topic.

For very commonly needed statblocks (e.g. commoner, goblin, bandit), I create macros in PhraseExpress. So I just need to type "#goblin" and it will expand into a fully formatted table with the stats.

 

[meek75]

@MNBlockHead - I have Phrase Express, but haven't used it in the way you are suggesting. Thanks for the idea. I have my monsters/NPC use separate snippets for the various parts of information. That is so I can leverage the power of filtering by tag. If I want a CR 7 monster I can jut filter so that I see only the CR 7s. The downside is that is takes longer to enter the stats. My main issue is that I often take a monster and then modify it for use as an NPC or for use in a particular encounter. I don't want the NPC to live in the articles section of the almanac. I want them to live in the People section of the Topics almanac. If I put all the info in a single snippet, as you are doing (I think), it would be fairly easy to cut and paste the info, but I lose the filtering capabilities.

 

[MaxSupernova]

@MNBlockHead - I have Phrase Express, but haven't used it in the way you are suggesting. Thanks for the idea. I have my monsters/NPC use separate snippets for the various parts of information. That is so I can leverage the power of filtering by tag. If I want a CR 7 monster I can jut filter so that I see only the CR 7s. The downside is that is takes longer to enter the stats. My main issue is that I often take a monster and then modify it for use as an NPC or for use in a particular encounter. I don't want the NPC to live in the articles section of the almanac. I want them to live in the People section of the Topics almanac. If I put all the info in a single snippet, as you are doing (I think), it would be fairly easy to cut and paste the info, but I lose the filtering capabilities.

If you use the same format for all of your text, then you can simply search for it.

For example if you just use text snippets for your statblock, just search for "CR: 7" or whatever format you use.

You could also tag your monsters by CR. Create a "CR" tag and add values 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Then you can filter on tags.

You could also add an "NPC" and "Monster" tag so your issue with copying monsters as NPCs is handled as well.

 

[meek75]

If you use the same format for all of your text, then you can simply search for it.

For example if you just use text snippets for your statblock, just search for "CR: 7" or whatever format you use.

You could also tag your monsters by CR. Create a "CR" tag and add values 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Then you can filter on tags.

You could also add an "NPC" and "Monster" tag so your issue with copying monsters as NPCs is handled as well.

Hmmm, I did some testing, and when I search text snippets I get mixed results. For example, when I search for "CR 1" the results include CR 1, CR 10, CR 11, CR 12 ect . . .Is there a way to have it find only the exact match? If I go with the route you suggest it will make it very easy to copy and paste stat blocks. Still seems like a shame to forego all the great tagging power of RW, but it might be my best option.

 

[MaxSupernova]

Hmmm, I did some testing, and when I search text snippets I get mixed results. For example, when I search for "CR 1" the results include CR 1, CR 10, CR 11, CR 12 ect . . .Is there a way to have it find only the exact match? If I go with the route you suggest it will make it very easy to copy and paste stat blocks. Still seems like a shame to forego all the great tagging power of RW, but it might be my best option.

Well, it appears that once again I assumed that some sort of normal interface standards applied to Realm Works, but, as I am often accused of here, I made wrong assumptions.

When you search for text, if there is a space in the string you are search for then it treats them as multiple words "OR"d together. So if you search for

CR 1

It returns all the topics that have at least one snippet with "CR" in it, and one snippet with "1" in it. That in itself isn't so bad, I guess, unless you want to specifically find "CR 1" and only "CR 1". But searching for

"CR 1"

does the exact same OR behaviour. Disappointing. Quoted strings are usually treated as a unit. Next I tried changing the text in my snippet to

CR:1

and then searching for that. However, Realm Works doesn't allow searching for special characters, so it found nothing and when I went back to the search box it now contains just

CR1

The same thing happens for dashes, colons, tildes or any other non-alphanumeric character I tried. So, that's useless. I guess when I tried to use quotes to search for a string, it just removed the quotes rather than using them.

None of the documentation talks about searching in any detail, so I guess that's it. It appears you can't search for phrases.

You could try the tag route, but that's counter to what you are wanting with the stat blocks.

Sigh.

 

[Viking2054]

Try CR 01 instead of CR 1. Putting the zero in front of the one in both your text and your search should exclude the CR 10, 11, 12, etc. I'd do the same for CR 02 through CR 09. Just make it a standard 2 or 3 digit number if necessary with leading zeros.

 

[MaxSupernova]

Try CR 01 instead of CR 1. Putting the zero in front of the one in both your text and your search should exclude the CR 10, 11, 12, etc. I'd do the same for CR 02 through CR 09. Just make it a standard 2 or 3 digit number if necessary with leading zeros.

That will find every topic that has "CR" in it, and "01" in it. If that's the only thing you use with numbers, that's fine, but if you have a CR 09 monster that also has something else with a "01", then it will show up in that search.

I guess you could eliminate the spaces in your topic and say CR01 and CR09 and CR10.

 

[Parody]

Continuing to play Devil's Advocate:

If that was the intent then I think it should be reconsidered. I am running 5th Ed, which has no hero lab support.

My main Realm Works realm is for my Paranoia adventures, and Paranoia XP doesn't have Hero Lab support either. My main way of attaching stats to a character is via PDF snippet. (Thankfully, Paranoia is pretty light on this stuff.)

I like the idea of keeping the story info separate from system-specific stats. It makes it easier for you to write content and adapt it for multiple systems. As the folks here are showing, though, this is one place where they didn't anticipate how people would use their application. Also, the long-delayed Content Market didn't help.

Even if it did, I can only leverage the power of tags and filtering if I have monsters directly in RW.

My Paranoia character Topics have Tag Snippets for things like Security Clearance and Mutant Power. They're separate (and, yes, duplicated) from their character sheets but that's fine with me. The things that I've chosen to duplicate are more story-oriented than stats, but it is a place where system bleeds into story.

I'm honestly not entirely sure how LWD envisions all this working.

My opinion: they expect most people to buy content from the Content Market, which will come complete with statblocks in Hero Lab, statblock snippets (system depending), and links to Mechanics Articles.

When you search for text, if there is a space in the string you are search for then it treats them as multiple words "OR"d together.

This sounds very familiar....

 

[MNBlockHead]

@MNBlockHead - I have Phrase Express, but haven't used it in the way you are suggesting. Thanks for the idea. I have my monsters/NPC use separate snippets for the various parts of information. That is so I can leverage the power of filtering by tag. If I want a CR 7 monster I can jut filter so that I see only the CR 7s. The downside is that is takes longer to enter the stats. My main issue is that I often take a monster and then modify it for use as an NPC or for use in a particular encounter. I don't want the NPC to live in the articles section of the almanac. I want them to live in the People section of the Topics almanac. If I put all the info in a single snippet, as you are doing (I think), it would be fairly easy to cut and paste the info, but I lose the filtering capabilities.

Hmm...not sure I'm understanding the issue. If you are trying to really limit the amount of data entry, then my approach isn't for you. I'm learning to be lazy and focus on the most important things for session prep, which in most situations means less data entry. But with monsters/NPCs it is the opposite. I put in more prep and do more data entry to make managing the game in RW easier for me. Here is my workflow.

Say the party is going to a new area where they will run into new beasts and new types of NPCs. So, I'm starting from scratch. Let's also assume it will be a fairly big story arc with lots of scenes where they will encounter the same kinds of NPCs and beasts multiple times.

1. Create Articles
For each monster or new generic NPC type, I create a Mechanics article under Dangers—>Monster/Enemy. These contain full details and descriptions, along with typical statblocks.

2. Create text-expander macros for statblocks of frequently-encountered monsters/NPCs

If I expect that the party will be frequently encountering a monster, I'll put the statblock into PhraseExpress and create a trigger word, such as "#goblin" so that when I type it, the trigger word is replaced with a nicely formatted statblock. I do this as I'm creating the article. It is just a copy paste and creating an easy-to-remember trigger word.

3. Create Topics for Individuals
If any of the NPC or monsters are going to include an individual of especial importance who will reoccur in the adventure/campaign, I create a World Almanac topic under People—>Individual. Often I don't bother to copy over the stat block unless I am going to customize it specifically for that individual. The topic is mostly for history, flavor text, etc.

4. Create the Scenes and Encounters
For most snipped, the auto-linking is enough. In the "participants" section of the scenes, however, if I expect that there will be combat or heavy interaction requiring rolls, I'll use the text expander to put the statblocks directly into the snippet. This way it is right there in the scene topic, I don't have to open the monster/enemy article in a separate tab.

It seems like a lot of work but really isn't. The main work is creating the monster/enemy article. Linking to that is automatic. While creating that topic I copy the statblock and create the text expander trigger. Creating individual topics can be time consuming, but I really limit my use of them to especially important individuals, so I am not creating a lot of these.

 

[meek75]

OK, it sounds like your process is pretty similar to mine. This discussion has got me thinking of new ways to use phase express though.

The main difference, I think, is that I have been using multiple pre-defined snippets rather than 1 large text box. That is mainly for tag purposes, but I could add those tags manually after the entry is made.

Thanks for the ideas. It's nice to bounce ideas around and her what others are doing.

 

[meek75]

I did some testing and I think I am going to start entering monsters, as others have suggested, in a single text snippet. This gives me MUCH better formatting control and is easier to read when I finish formatting it. I can still add the tags I want via the "Tags" wrench on the right side menu. That seems to be the best overall approach for me. I get more aesthetically pleasing entries, tags for filtering, and the ability to easily copy and past the information.

Thanks again for all the great input!

 

[MNBlockHead]

I did some testing and I think I am going to start entering monsters, as others have suggested, in a single text snippet. This gives me MUCH better formatting control and is easier to read when I finish formatting it. I can still add the tags I want via the "Tags" wrench on the right side menu. That seems to be the best overall approach for me. I get more aesthetically pleasing entries, tags for filtering, and the ability to easily copy and past the information.

Thanks again for all the great input!

I find that folks generally fall into two camps. (1) More content in fewer snippets for better formatting. OR (2) Break up content very granularly into many snippets for better control (esp. granular reveal).

I tend to be in camp one now. If I know there are sections that will be revealed separately, then I'll break it into multiple snippets, but it is rare that I need to have every line or even paragraph in separate snippets.

Also, it is very very easy to break a snippet into two. Easier than combining separate snippets (though that's easy to). So I'm not worried about getting the snippet breaks "right" the first time.

I do like to break up things into sections so I can navigate using the Table of Contents widget at the top of the right column to navigate longer articles. I can also collapse whole sections to better control screen real estate.

 

[MaxSupernova]

I used to put almost every sentence in its own snippet. It looks good and gives granularity of reveal.

However without any output options like print or export, I find myself cutting and pasting out of Realmworks into other more useable programs and doing that a snippet at a time is time consuming.

I'm been using CTRL-M to merge a lot of my older work into more easily copied chunks.

 

[AEIOU]

Me too, MaxSupernova. It's a pain but at least it works.

 

[wurzel]

Quite often I find myself yearning for more programming-like features in RW. One of these features I'm missing is inheritance like in OO development.
On example for that: let's say I create an old castle haunted by some ghosts. The ghosts have some rule-mechanical aspects like the withering touch in D&D5, and they all have these aspects in common. So that is best done as a general article in the mechanics section. Layla the Witness is a particular ghost with her own story, her own looks and riddles, but she still uses the same mechanics as other ghosts. The (at least for my understanding) most effective solution is simply that Layla inherits the ghost class and therefore has all the mechanics in place. During play I can simply open Layla's topic and have everything I need. If I ever switch to another rules system I just have to adapt the ghost class and everything is fine.

I know this should be in the feature request section but I don't expect this ever to be done since it would probably mean a tremendous amount of work.

 

[AEIOU]

@wurzel: That can all be done in HeroLab already actually. That's where NPCs, mobs and characters can be built and yes, the inheritance of a ghost aspect is there. However, the powers that be have decided not to license their work for HeroLab....