Using Realm Works at the table

[salcor]

So over the last few weeks I have been using Realm Works to put together my episodic adventures for Star Wars Edge of the Empire, and I got it to the table the other night and was lost how to use it. During an encounter I had 4 different stats I was managing, and it was easier to open them in an image viewer than realm works because I couldn't view all the stats at once the wah realm works views external documents. I tired running from the story mode, but I still had to open each individual scene in world archive. Perhaps a tutorial on how to run a session would help.


Salcor

 

[wildfire142]

Been using Realm Works to run a RotRL Pathfinder games for couple of months now. A few tricks I've picked up along the way have been.

1) To have multiple tabs open for the areas the players are in and asking about.
2) not to be afraid to say hold on while I look this up.
3) probably won't help with you directly but I use hero lab for the combat so preload the ecounters with all the bad guys in one portfolio file and just launch that when combat starts. Maybe you could put all the expected bad guys in a single document and just open that for each combat?

4) I'm hoping to get hold of portable projector so I can start using the fog of war with maps and player view but not sure how it's going to pan out yet.

5)cross link and reference as much as you can for each area/encounter as clicking the links is a lot fast than searching for the required topics.

Not sure of any other tips I can think of right now but I'm sure others will be by to offer their tips as well.

 

[rob]

My first thought is to open up each of the statblocks in a separate tab. Then you can simply click the tab and have everything you need right there. Did you try that and it didn't work for you? Or were you struggling with trying to access them all within the same tab? The latter is definitely going to be annoying.

I'll talk to Joe about putting together another tutorial video on running an actual session with some assorted tips. He's our tutorial guru.

 

[salcor]

I'll be honest I didn't think about multiple tabs within Relam Works, so I will have to try that next time. I wish there was an EOTE data set for Hero works so I could use it. To bad there was not a way just to import an XML file into it for the data. I would also love a portable projector. That would be awesome. That also makes me wonder how the due screen support would work with Realm Works.

Thanks for looking into the tutorial.

Salcor

 

[thedarkelf007]

I use dual screen support for realm works in these games:
- Pathfinder - Curse of the Crimson Throne
- Pathfinder - Council of Thieves
- Pathfinder - Rappan Athuk (Frog God Games / Necromancer Games world)
- Shadowrun 5th Edition (Just transitioned from 4th)
- Star Wars Edge of the Empire / Age of Rebellion (was d6 star wars and still in the process of migrating characters)

What I use Realms Works for 90% of the time in game is maps. as this is what I display on the second screen, as well as a d20Pro layout that allows for positioning and some scripting.

What I have on the primary display are links to all the maps, some encounter information, and little with the stats of creatures, as I still refer to books for those even when I can have them in hero lab as I am running five games a fortnight, I tend to use a lot of pre-published adventures with slight tweaking to make them fit my games.

Between sessions I have campaign information to update, and character information as part of the session that I am about to run, or have just run. It makes it easier to plan the encounters when I can keep it up to date.

 

[pyremius]

I'm using a three-screen setup for Serpent's Skull.
First monitor is Realm Works, which I've been importing the AP into.
Second monitor is for Hero Lab, a spreadsheet I'm using to track party progress, XP, etc., as well as all of my source books (about 10, of which I reference 5-6 per session).
Third monitor is the one for Player View, so I can share information and images with the players.

I could cut down to two if I had to, but I like that the only things I'm bringing to the table are the computer and dice - no more stack of books too heavy for a backpack, stack of handout (in the wrong order, of course), paper, etc.

 

[Ashran]

I had my first experience using RW at the table last saturday.

I used a sub optimal way to used it, but it was a blast. I don't have a portable PC so I had one of my player bring his laptop with teamviewer installed on it, and took control of my main pc (in another room) over the lan. It works fine but I had the suprise to see that if you unplugged a cable from one monitor windows don't remember it has two screens usually (I had to use the cable for the second monitor plugged to the laptop). So I had to duplicate the screen to show the players what I saw, and switched off the screen each time I had to look at infos they did not need to know yet.
I used principaly the preview of player view when I had the switched on screen.
This is not a fault of the program, it's just a problem with windows and one screen, when I'll buy a new cable it will be totally solved.
I find the way to use it at the table really intuitive and way better than looking for info in multiple books/pdfs/files. The game really went smoothly after I found the little trick I used with the screens
This program is really a dream come true for computer savy GM's, and even one of my player, who usually don't like to have a computer at the table found it impressive and well thought out (he works as director of project at a big commercial web site shop in Belgium, so it's not he does not like computers, just not for a game). I think this little demonstration will result in new converts once the software is officially out

 

[lifer4700]

I'm glad things worked out for you, it sounds like your group had a good time, which is the whole point, after all.

...so it's not he does not like computers, just not for a game

I cannot fathom this. I've played pencil & paper RPGs since the 1970's, and there is no way, NO WAY!!!, I would ever return to tracking everything manually!

I started with my own personal spreadsheets as soon as computers were available (Apple ][e VisiCalc, then Lotus 1-2-3, then Excel), then moved to PCGen, then graduated to Hero Lab, and if I still ran Pathfinder, I will still be using Hero Lab for everything character and combat related.

However, now with the system I'm using, I'm back to PCGen*. But I will still never go back to pencil & paper.


I know to each their own. But wow.


* - I'm working through the Authoring Kit example so I can use HeroLab again!

 

[asw122]

I'm using a three-screen setup for Serpent's Skull.
First monitor is Realm Works, which I've been importing the AP into.
Second monitor is for Hero Lab, a spreadsheet I'm using to track party progress, XP, etc., as well as all of my source books (about 10, of which I reference 5-6 per session).
Third monitor is the one for Player View, so I can share information and images with the players.

I could cut down to two if I had to, but I like that the only things I'm bringing to the table are the computer and dice - no more stack of books too heavy for a backpack, stack of handout (in the wrong order, of course), paper, etc.

3 screen... show off (#totallynotjealousthatmysystemonlyhas2).

 

[liz]

Do any of you have pictures of your sessions with Realm Works? Many of our staff use Realm Works at the table, but we'd love to see it as use at other people's tables as well! If you have pictures you want to share, send them to marketing@wolflair.com, and please indicate whether I have your permission to share on Facebook/Twitter or one of our other platforms!

 

[Ashran]

We did not take any photographs, but I could send you screenshots of what I have entered in RW ...

 

[liz]

We did not take any photographs, but I could send you screenshots of what I have entered in RW ...

Ashran, right now I'm just looking for pictures of people at the table using Realm Works. Thanks for offering though!

 

[pyremius]

If everyone's willing I'll see what I can get this weekend. The big complication will be that the Player View is on the opposite side of the room from the rest of the computer - which part of the setup would you prefer?

 

[liz]

If everyone's willing I'll see what I can get this weekend. The big complication will be that the Player View is on the opposite side of the room from the rest of the computer - which part of the setup would you prefer?

What ever feels comfortable for you!

 

[gamemasterbob]

I use RW with a projector. The screen is 105 inches diag. (I display maps, for now, with another program because I can place tokens on it and move them like a game mat). My players use laser pointers to point where they want to move. We sit where we want in the room an watch the screen. The players use small TV tables for dice rolling - yes we roll dice - no virtual dice. We love it.

RW at my Game table (I GM)
- I use the NOTES feature to track session details.
- I use the search capabilities of RW to find details of my world/story in REAL time (most of them are already linked by RW and ready).
- I use the "ctr-q" feature to create quick links and add details later.
- I used the storyboard for my prepared encounters and ideas and refer to them.
- I use TABS a lot!
- The projection is mostly for maps from another program(see NOTE below).

RW is a serious tool for GMs who want to create and maintain in-depth, complex stories and not lose track of a single detail. It's a new game!

NOTE: RW needs the ability to add tokens and notes on the maps. Not functionality just movable, simple, numbered/named linkable color squares. I hope they do that. I posted this in the features wanted forum.

 

[rob]

RW needs the ability to add tokens and notes on the maps. Not functionality just movable, simple, numbered/named linkable color squares.

Something along these lines has been planned for a long time. We simply haven't had time to get it added yet. But it's been designed and is definitely on the todo list.

 

[salcor]

I use dual screen support for realm works in these games:
- Pathfinder - Curse of the Crimson Throne
- Pathfinder - Council of Thieves
- Pathfinder - Rappan Athuk (Frog God Games / Necromancer Games world)
- Shadowrun 5th Edition (Just transitioned from 4th)
- Star Wars Edge of the Empire / Age of Rebellion (was d6 star wars and still in the process of migrating characters)

What I use Realms Works for 90% of the time in game is maps. as this is what I display on the second screen, as well as a d20Pro layout that allows for positioning and some scripting.

What I have on the primary display are links to all the maps, some encounter information, and little with the stats of creatures, as I still refer to books for those even when I can have them in hero lab as I am running five games a fortnight, I tend to use a lot of pre-published adventures with slight tweaking to make them fit my games.

Between sessions I have campaign information to update, and character information as part of the session that I am about to run, or have just run. It makes it easier to plan the encounters when I can keep it up to date.

Wow that is an impressive amount of gaming! Did you happen to have any user files for EOTE you would be be willing to share?

Salcor

 

[liz]

I shared @pyremius's set-up on Facebook. Don't forget, you can share your awesome Realm Works set-up with the world. Just send pictures to marketing@wolflair.com.

 

[pyremius]

Now I'm really glad I painted the walls last month.

The room is freshly converted from miniatures gaming to RPGs so I'm still tweaking the layout. I'll probably look at taking the Christmas Tree's space in a couple weeks so I don't have a video cable running across the floor although the current layout works a bit better for hiding my information from the players.

Multi-monitor is amazing to work with. With Realm Works on one screen and Hero Lab on another, I don't even need to worry about notebooks or character sheets - just a keyboard, mouse, and some dice.

 

[Fox Lee]

Do any of you have pictures of your sessions with Realm Works? Many of our staff use Realm Works at the table, but we'd love to see it as use at other people's tables as well! If you have pictures you want to share, send them to marketing@wolflair.com, and please indicate whether I have your permission to share on Facebook/Twitter or one of our other platforms!

I could send you a shot of my group, using RW with the projector - it's a pretty sweet setup, thanks to our uni I assume that's okay even though I'm in beta, as long as it's only showing features that have been disclosed to everyone.