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Ran my first Realm Works session on the weekend

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Well I ran my first Realm Works Pathfinder adventure on the weekend. I ran a laptop with a usb monitor so that I could have Realm Works on one screen for GM content and Hero Lab on the USB screen so that I could manage monsters and NPCs. I would then put the player view up on a projector screen. I think a 50" TV would have worked just as well. 40" might have been to small considering how spread out we where around the room.

It went pretty well. The number 1 complaint of my players though was no interactive map. I had a case where they where facing 3 Alchemical Golems (apl 10) and they ran.....yes I could not believe it but after being hit by the 3 bombs they ran....so much for my munchkins...lol.

So they then split up in the dungeon and had the Golems chase them to lay their own trap. What followed was 30 minutes of pure chaos. Because there was no way for me to place Icons to track their movements and the monsters my players where constantly getting up and pointing out their movements on the projector screen or using laser pointers (if they had). I tried using pins to track their movement but since I could not change their icons my players and I where constantly confused about who was where as they were running around the map. It was their number one complaint about the whole process. It all worked out though as it was actually quite entertaining watching them try to setup their own trap using the map up on the screen. Splitting up the Golems and attacking them separately saved their butts.

Things that went well:
  1. Large map that I could reveal slowly. I like using large PreGen maps but it lets the PCs see the whole thing so it ruins some of the fun. Using the reveal tools was awesome if a little slow.
  2. Plot progression flow chart. Since sometimes we only get together every few months this helped my PCs a ton.
  3. Linking all of my content. No more digging through Notebooks! Huzzah!
  4. Displaying Monster images and then displaying stats when the players made their knowledge checks. This saved me time and headaches. My only grips here that I used Hero Lab to setup the encounters and I could not scroll the Hero lab generated stats pages for the player view. They just would not scroll. Which sucked as on Hero lab file might have 10 NPCs on it to build a CR 11 or 13 encounter.
  5. Using interactive pins and associated content to bring up Hero Lab monster encounters that I could use to run imitative, HP and Dice rolls from. Really helped simplify my life on the table. I only had to crack a book once to look up a player's concentration check.
  6. Running www.d20pfsrd.com links in my Realm Works campaign. I love my books but they really slow things down when I just need to look up a skill, feat, etc. because of an argument about how something should work.

What I missed.
I just read the pdf Guide and I did not know you could add audio files. I am so Implementing this for the continuation of my 4 level dungeon.
 
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I do a similar setup during my DMing, except that I use maptools (http://www.rptools.net/?page=maptool) to provide the interactive mapping with tokens, sightlines, etc. Then I just embed the link to the map within the encounter to start it. Not to add another app to your mix, but RW isn't a VTT. Programs like maptools or other VTT items might be more useful for what you're seeking mapwise.
 
one of the reasons i like MapTool over fantasy grounds is that is java, meaning no matter what my players use (when i was running a true virtual game) they could run it.
 
Tools aside it sounds like you did well with your first session. :)

And I use d20Pro as well, mainly because I have pre-created maps for one of my games that works with it, and you can import characters from Hero Lab :)

Besides that, the lighting and line of sight effects in Maptools is superior, and Fantasy battlegrounds has more polish. Besides that they are fairly much the same.
 
I've been using and LOVING Roll20. It's made encounters and combats for my games so much better.

If Realm Works, Roll20 and Inspiration Pad Pro birthed some sort of chimera child I would be in gamer heaven.

Just saying...
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences, sounds pretty cool.

I know a lot of people want EVERYTHING in one, but that's just unreasonable. Think of how much work Rob and the gang are putting in on 'just' the most amazing campaign management tool any of us have ever seen. Each of those other things would require equal amounts of time, or more, plus the headache of integration.

I'd much rather LWD focus on this, and incorporate new features relevant to ONLY campaign management (with maybe a couple minor exceptions where there isn't a viable tool elsewhere) and let people who have done similar work in mapping, VTTs, etc do their thing.

We're all going to be better off using RW and I think we'll also be better off with a small number of excellent tools instead of one mongo that isn't so excellent. Just my two copper.
 
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