• Please note: In an effort to ensure that all of our users feel welcome on our forums, we’ve updated our forum rules. You can review the updated rules here: http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=5528.

    If a fellow Community member is not following the forum rules, please report the post by clicking the Report button (the red yield sign on the left) located on every post. This will notify the moderators directly. If you have any questions about these new rules, please contact support@wolflair.com.

    - The Lone Wolf Development Team

Questions and wanted features thread!

B

bocephus

Active member
I'm very interested in a product of this type and haven't seen one made available yet that has been worth purchasing... Hero Lab has certainly met nearly every expectation and desire I've had in character generation software, so I have high hopes for Realm Works.

While I understand official announcements are forthcoming, I thought I'd drop a few questions about Realm Works in the hopes that little bit of info will be revealed... and perhaps get a bit of discussion going about what others want in a product of this type. So...

#Will it have a built in document editor for compiling notes, images, PDFs, and other files?

#Will it support extensive hyper linking and searching?

#Will you be able to organize gaming material via a tree like folder structure? Ie, similar to outlining software.

#Will it have a flowchart view that can track a group's progress along a plot/adventure? Possibly have it correspond to a tile map ala Masterplan.

#A blurb on a blog mentioned the product will keep certain information from players. Does this mean that it is a multi-user and/or networked product?

#Will it license certain systems and be able to display various stats, tables and whatnot, similar to a GM screen, or even say SRD type data?

#Will it feature a scripting engine to handle text objects in order to pull randomly generated data from tables?

#Will you be able to import character data and keep track of player and npc stats, abilities, and inventories... and update them dynamically?

Anyway, those are just a FEW of the features I'd love to see in a product of this type.
 
Got plenty more. Not really expecting them all to get answered. Mostly just listing suggested features that would make a solid product.
 
Hopefully it will link in with HeroLab to be able to edit / show characters in-game.
 
Very definitely in agreement with DMG; being able to pull NPCs and PCs directly from your HeroLab files would be a great feature.
An integrated document editor with the ability to export to various standardized formats [PDF, et al] would be a great boon, too.
 
im new to herolab and LOVING it! finally getting great "e-tools" so I have high hopes forrealm works to help on the GM/DM side of things!
 
My answers below may be vague in some cases. That's because we're staying mum on various aspects for the time being. More details will be forthcoming as we get closer to release late this year. A lot of details are likely to be be revealed at GenCon.

bocephus said:
#Will it have a built in document editor for compiling notes, images, PDFs, and other files?
Click to expand...

Essentially yes, but not in a traditional manner you're likely thinking of.

bocephus said:
#Will it support extensive hyper linking and searching?
Click to expand...

Realm Works will be significant step above PDFs in terms of capabilities.

bocephus said:
#Will you be able to organize gaming material via a tree like folder structure? Ie, similar to outlining software.
Click to expand...

Again, essentially yes, but not in a traditional manner you're likely thinking of.

bocephus said:
#Will it have a flowchart view that can track a group's progress along a plot/adventure? Possibly have it correspond to a tile map ala Masterplan.
Click to expand...

Sort of. Masterplan is a nifty tool. We're doing something very different with Realm Works, but there will definitely some overlap in terms of general functionality.

bocephus said:
#A blurb on a blog mentioned the product will keep certain information from players. Does this mean that it is a multi-user and/or networked product?
Click to expand...

Not in a traditional sense.

bocephus said:
#Will it license certain systems and be able to display various stats, tables and whatnot, similar to a GM screen, or even say SRD type data?
Click to expand...

Sort of. Again, not in a traditional way.

bocephus said:
#Will it feature a scripting engine to handle text objects in order to pull randomly generated data from tables?
Click to expand...

I don't understand this one. Please give me a concrete example so I have a better idea of what you're seeking.

bocephus said:
#Will you be able to import character data and keep track of player and npc stats, abilities, and inventories... and update them dynamically?
Click to expand...

That sounds like Hero Lab to me. Realm Works will be distinct from HL, but the two will work in concert.

bocephus said:
Anyway, those are just a FEW of the features I'd love to see in a product of this type.
Click to expand...

If that's just a FEW, I guess I should strap on a harness and brace myself before you really start to unload on us. :)
 
FWIW, what I am looking for in this sort of product is not particularly system-specific, but something I can use to track events and people.

The key items for me:
-Fully customizable calendaring: The ability to set up customized weeks & months, as well as times that fall outside of those periods (festival weeks that are not part of any month, for example)
-Tracking of Lunar phases for several moons of varying periods
-Routing of NPCs ("In Early June, Grog the Mad can be found in Scarfhaven, Mid-June he takes the two-week Journey to his summer residence in Blicksburg, staying there until late September, etc, etc"). In the ideal, I could set a 'schedule for various NPCs, daily/weekly/monthly/yearly, so that at a given calendar date/time, I know who (of my tracked NPCs) is in the city of Nod's landing , and what they are doing.
-General Event Handling (with reminders) so that I can schedule important events and remain aware of them.
-General hyperlinked databasing, so if I can (for example) select a city, and choose from the list of NPCs (or Buildings, etc), and bring up the entry for that NPC.

Things I'd *like*, but can live without:
-Weather handling that is reasonably consistent (weather gets colder as seasons change, rain is preceded by overcast, that sort of thing) for perhaps 5 'Regions' (in a world spanning campaign they might be latitude bands, while in a smaller campaign I'd use 'Desert', 'Mountains', etc)
-Full interconnected linking of Data. (Grog was born in City A *link*, lives in City B *link*, and is currently in City C *link*. He is a member of The Brotherhood of Soap Merchants *link*...and if I Select City A, I see all of the people/orgs assoicated with it, and if I click on an Organization, I see all of the members of that organization) - the perfect example of this is an abandoned Corel Product, InfoCentral. I used to use this until I changed to Windows7, which won't run it :(
 
Like the others, I have been nothing but impressed with the Hero Lab program, it has been the best Player digital play aid that I have purchased since the old Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition E-tool.
Here are the items that I would like to see available for Mutants & Masterminds data file(both 2nd and the upcoming 3rd editions):

1) Campaign Outline/ Adventure Portfolio (the main interface): The main interface for the program listing adventures (past, present, and potential) much like the journal tab and/or dashboard viewfor the Hero Lab program where adventures of the campaign can be brought up.

2) Setting Planner (campaign and adventure): A place to flush out key locations for the entire campaign world and individual adventure settings (would love to see data items like the Freedom City sourcebooks and atlases incorporated in the program for/as “generic” templates).

3) NPC stat generator (low power level templates) : A miniature version of the Hero Lab program with the standard templates such as those found in the Core Rule Book Chapter 11 in the “supporting character” section.

4) Hero/Villain Import from Hero Lab: A more GM-Friendly tactical interface of Hero Lab portfolios for keeping track of how the Heroes and Villains are faring throughout the course of the adventure/campaign. Also would like to be able to save round by round results for player after action review and for future event twists (characters having flashback sequences and such)

5) Organization builder: Like the minions tab in the HL program, a subdirectory to flush out villainous/heroic/governmental organizations.

6) Printing options: Various ways of printing off the information inputted into the program such as standard adventure (w/ event text in highlighted areas), outline format, etc.

7) Event builder: An area to create events with possible outcomes as well as stat blocks and mechanics to be used when event is triggered (saves, skills, attacks, etc.)

I know that is a lot of things to read through and I don’t even know if any of them are feasible possibilities, but thank you for taking the time none the less!

I look forward to the beta.
 
Another idea would be to allow the inclusion of custom Google Maps.

World of Darkness games are based on "real" earth & being able to use the custom information features in Google Maps would be great.
 
Just my 2 cents, I would like to see the product be able to integrate with d20Pro. Also time tracking and weather tracking. Instantly being able to determine random encounters, complete with treasure.
 
I'd like a customizable calendar that can keep track of astronomical data (like moons phases or eclipses), months and days that exist outside of the standard months (like the 5 blank days of the Mayan calendar).

A way to manage random tables, like encounters, weather or treasure tables.

Setting detail tracker. A place to enter information about specific places in the world, custom maps, and the like.

Adventure logs, a place to keep track of what the characters have done, and how it affects those around them.
 
Will Golarion by chance be supported since Lone Wolf Development has the Paizo License now? :)

At least without having to manually type it all in ourselves?
 
Nikmal said:
Will Golarion by chance be supported since Lone Wolf Development has the Paizo License now? :)

At least without having to manually type it all in ourselves?
Click to expand...

The license with Paizo is specifically for Hero Lab. We provided Paizo with an early demo of Realm Works and we've begun discussions with them. However, I don't expect anything to become definite until we get much closer to having Realm Works ready for release. Based on the lengthy period involved to secure the license for Hero Lab, a decision from Paizo could easily come well after we release Realm Works. That being said, if anyone wants to lobby Paizo to support Realm Works, we certainly won't complain. :)
 
Any updates on this product? Last post was Feb. I think this would be a great product.
 
Last edited:
We should have a little more information in this month's newsletter, which should be out in the next few days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top