That’s right, our Kickstarter launched today! You can find it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/610004753/realm-works-streamlined-rpg- campaign-tools
From the creators of Hero Lab, Realm Works takes campaign management for RPGs to the next level, making it faster and easier to prepare for games, and greatly enhancing the actual game experience. GMs can create, manage, and share their world using a single tool, rather than trying to cobble things together with multiple, disconnected applications.
We're excited about this Kickstarter, as it will help us make Realm Works even more awesome than we're already planning! We have an array of rewards to offer backers, including the ability to get pre-release access to Realm Works, exclusive perks, and a whole lot more. We've also included some special options exclusively for Pathfinder players, so be sure to check those out!
For those of you who've been anxiously awaiting a peek at what Realm Works will offer, we encourage you to watch the Kickstarter video. We provide a glimpse of many key features in the video. So take a look at what's in store in just a few months’ time!
As we mentioned in the December newsletter, the primary features that will benefit most from the Kickstarter are the cloud server and community repository components. Each of these is detailed more fully within the Kickstarter and on our website. We'll also leverage your support to further refine the overall user experience and enhance the core Realm Works feature set. Check out the kickstarter page and video for more details!
If we exceed our funding goal, we have stretch goals that we’d love to deliver early. These include advanced functionality for GMs and players, plus some great new setting and adventure content from well-known creators, who are ready to take advantage of Realm Works’ time-saving capabilities.
Your support is instrumental in making this a successful Kickstarter and allowing us to deliver as much functionality as possible in the initial release. So please check out the project and spread the word to everyone you know. Thanks in advance for your support!
Very cool!
Cannot wait!
I'm in! I've been waiting for this.
Oh, must have!
Did you ever get Amazon to work for you, Rondor?
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Help me understand the use case for this, it seems to be that the real point of this software is to be used at a real game table where the GM has a laptop in front of him?
I assume this is meant for 100% digital play, since there is no mention for printing support and no print button on the menus.
It also seems to be purely PC / MAC aimed, and not web based so... aren't you worried about the shifting sands here towards tablets to fill this role?
Or is this mostly meant for online-only games?
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Help me understand the use case for this, it seems to be that the real point of this software is to be used at a real game table where the GM has a laptop in front of him?
I assume this is meant for 100% digital play, since there is no mention for printing support and no print button on the menus.
It also seems to be purely PC / MAC aimed, and not web based so... aren't you worried about the shifting sands here towards tablets to fill this role?
Or is this mostly meant for online-only games?
There are both short-term and long-term goals for Realm Works. In the short-term, there are many games being played where high-speed internet access is not reliably and inexpensively available. Cons are a prime example of this, as are venues like many schools, clubs, and libraries. But consider game preparation as well. How many people have constant internet access on the train, on the bus, at lunch during work? If you come up with an idea, you want to run with it then - not hours later.
Now consider the reliability factor. How often do people experience internet drops or slow-downs? What about server outages? What happens when you've only got a slow connection or the server goes down for even 5 minutes? It renders the game unplayable if you're 100% reliant on a high-speed connection to a server somewhere.
What if you're a GM who normally run games at home with full internet access but also wants to run games at GenCon or PaizoCon, where internet access is costly and slow? Do you want to have all these tools available at home and then have nothing at the Con? That's far from an ideal scenario.
The only way to address these issues is to provide a non-web-based solution that runs on a disconnected client. Always available. Guaranteed performance.
That's the short-term reality. So let's look at the long-term now.
As you point out, the sands are shifting. In the upcoming years, internet access will continue to become faster, cheaper, more widely accessible, and more reliable. At some point, it will become truly ubiquitous. When that day occurs, the client application will be of no value to anyone. But we're not there yet. We're living in a transitional period, so we need something that will work today and shift along with the sands.
Enter the cloud. The Realm Works cloud is NOT just storage. It's not Dropbox or GoogleDrive. It's the entire campaign fully operational on a server. Players can access it via a web-based interface from their tablets if they want. It's fully accessible between games. But nobody is reliant on the server in order to actually PLAY their game.
Over time, we'll be replicating all the functionality of the client application onto the server. The net result will be duplicate functionality with both a purely online interface and the client application, catering appropriately to anyone in any environment. At some point, the sands will have shifted enough that we leave the client application behind.
That's the evolution plan for Realm Works.
Now couple that with the ability to find pre-made content like settings, adventures, and NPCs in the community repository. Instead of having different books/PDFs with Post-Its and scribbled notes to cobble them together, everything is integrated into one unified environment. You can rename locations and NPCs to place them into your world. You can establish links to put the Dungeon of Doom from PublisherX into a setting from PublisherY that you've already woven into your own campaign. No more flipping between different resources during games. And it's all available to the players as well - the pieces you've revealed, at least.
That's the overall vision, and I hope that explanation addresses your concerns regarding where we're focusing with Realm Works. It's not just for either online or offline play. It's a solution that will be equally suited to both purposes while further immersing players and GMs into the game.
Oh, and to address your question about printing. Yes, printing support will be included, since some GMs will use Realm Works solely for their own preparation and not at the actual table during play. It's not in any of the screenshots or video because its location is within the "application" menu, just like where you'll find it in products like Microsoft Word and Excel. :)
Hope this helps!
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I see your program existing in a similar space to things like Obsidian Portal. The main things I see as separating you from OP are:
- Immediate hyperlinking rather than having to manually add Wiki-style links.
- More easily sharing information with players while withholding other things.
- Offline usage.
- Eventually being able to download pre-made campaigns.
What else do you offer that separates you from other similar campaign management programs/sites?
Is there a limit on how many computers you can install Realm Works? Can I have it on both my desktop and my laptop? Are there plans to develop a mobile app version for GMs to use on their tablets and phones?
As you can tell, the portability of such an application is of high importance to me. Not having a web-based interface from the get-go is a pretty big problem at that. I would prefer a system like Evernote's, personally, where you can work offline, sync when you're online, and also work from a web interface when installing the software isn't feasible.
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I keep trying to be excited by this. But when I look at it all I see it an increase in my work as GM so the players can access my files in a cloud enviroment?
What are we looking at cost wise for a month of cloud time?
Each player will need to buy the software as well, yes?
I see your program existing in a similar space to things like Obsidian Portal. The main things I see as separating you from OP are:
- Immediate hyperlinking rather than having to manually add Wiki-style links.
- More easily sharing information with players while withholding other things.
- Offline usage.
- Eventually being able to download pre-made campaigns.What else do you offer that separates you from other similar campaign management programs/sites?
In addition to the items you cite above, we think there are many additional features that separate Realm Works from other existing tools. For example:
* Visual creation of the plots and stories, with the ability to weave all the content into them
* Incremental reveal of maps, which is an important distinction from the reveal of text-based content
* Placing pins on maps that are tied to content, allowing the use of maps for content navigation - with pins being individually revealable to players
* Integration of widely varied content types, including pictures, audio, video, statblocks, and a whole bunch more - all with complete reveal control
* Full-text search indexing of everything for instant search
* Content tagging for efficient filtering and retrieval
* Relationship management with full diagramming, such as family trees - this also includes tracking of attitudes
* The reveal history should make it faster and easier to reacquire context at the start of new game sessions, as well as making it easy to bring players up to speed when they miss a session
* Custom calendars will be incredibly valuable to many GMs, especially the ability to overlap multiple calendars - such as the multiple calendars of Forgotten Realms or the calendars of Traveller
I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but that's a pretty good list to get started with. :)
Is there a limit on how many computers you can install Realm Works? Can I have it on both my desktop and my laptop? Are there plans to develop a mobile app version for GMs to use on their tablets and phones?
There is no limit on the computers, so yes and yes. The best analogy for the access model is probably Steam. It won't work exactly the same way, but it will be similar. You can be logged in on your desktop for game preparation, then switch to your laptop for running a game. Once we have mobile access in place, you'll be able to use you tablet to jot down notes and ideas, or maybe make some tweaks at work before a game that night.
As you can tell, the portability of such an application is of high importance to me. Not having a web-based interface from the get-go is a pretty big problem at that. I would prefer a system like Evernote's, personally, where you can work offline, sync when you're online, and also work from a web interface when installing the software isn't feasible.
The Evernote model is actually very similar to what we're working towards. I outlined this in more detail in my response to @Perram immediately above your post. We're starting with minimal web support for a variety of reasons that are outlined above and migrating towards a complete web-based model. The Kickstarter is actually targeted at accelerating our timetable for getting that functionality online.
I keep trying to be excited by this. But when I look at it all I see it an increase in my work as GM so the players can access my files in a cloud enviroment?
That's not been the feedback of the 100+ GMs we've had using the product for the past year and providing input. We've been working with a pilot testing team since early last year and refining features that weren't viewed as a big benefit. In some cases, we threw out our original design and started over. The goal with Realm Works is to vastly improve the life of a GM and also empower the players much more than is typically possible with existing tools.
If you take a look at the list of features in my post above, I'd be stunned if you didn't find at least some of those beneficial to your game. :)
What are we looking at cost wise for a month of cloud time?
That's still TBD, since we really need to do more testing and usage profiling in this area. We expect to have multiple tiers to suit the varying storage and bandwidth needs of different GMs. Our guarantee to anyone backing the Kickstarter is that they will be automatically slotted in at a tier that provides at LEAST as much value as what they're contributing. For example, if we end up with tiers at $10 and $20 (numbers randomly chosen for illustration only), someone who backs us with $15 would be upgraded to the $20 tier.
Each player will need to buy the software as well, yes?
No. There will be a web-based interface that all players can access for free. Initially, it won't be nearly as feature rich as the client application, but it will still do the job and be steadily enhanced as we migrate more fully to the web.
Our goal is to also allow players to utilize the client application as a viewer for free - or some very minimal cost. The issue here for us is that having 5 times the number of users of the client application introduces 5 times the support cost for us to manage. That has to be paid for somehow, and we're still figuring out the best way to handle that.
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Help me understand the use case for this, it seems to be that the real point of this software is to be used at a real game table where the GM has a laptop in front of him?
I assume this is meant for 100% digital play, since there is no mention for printing support and no print button on the menus.
It also seems to be purely PC / MAC aimed, and not web based so... aren't you worried about the shifting sands here towards tablets to fill this role?
Or is this mostly meant for online-only games?
There are both short-term and long-term goals for Realm Works. In the short-term, there are many games being played where high-speed internet access is not reliably and inexpensively available. Cons are a prime example of this, as are venues like many schools, clubs, and libraries. But consider game preparation as well. How many people have constant internet access on the train, on the bus, at lunch during work? If you come up with an idea, you want to run with it then - not hours later.
Now consider the reliability factor. How often do people experience internet drops or slow-downs? What about server outages? What happens when you've only got a slow connection or the server goes down for even 5 minutes? It renders the game unplayable if you're 100% reliant on a high-speed connection to a server somewhere.
What if you're a GM who normally run games at home with full internet access but also wants to run games at GenCon or PaizoCon, where internet access is costly and slow? Do you want to have all these tools available at home and then have nothing at the Con? That's far from an ideal scenario.
The only way to address these issues is to provide a non-web-based solution that runs on a disconnected client. Always available. Guaranteed performance.
That's the short-term reality. So let's look at the long-term now.
As you point out, the sands are shifting. In the upcoming years, internet access will continue to become faster, cheaper, more widely accessible, and more...
Thanks Rob! This helps me become a lot more excited about things. I guess I just wasn't 'getting it' yet. I've been hoping for software like this, and have seen many 'close but not right' options. Heck I even WROTE a piece of software like this. (No where NEAR as good, for heaven's sake, and long since abandoned. But it did get me an A in my Window's Programming class, at least!)
You've sold me on it, consider me a backer. :)
Thank You lonewolf-rob for responding to me and answering my questions. I will go back and re-look at the program. I just saw myself having to reenter everything into the program that I had already put into my laptop. Maybe I misunderstand how it will work.
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I also appreciate the answers, and your answers DEFINITELY make me consider backing. Hopefully you get about $1mil and thus can launch with the Evernote-esque system running. ;)
EDIT: Question... How many Hero Lab Add-ons are you planning on releasing in 2013? Debating whether it's worth my money to go in with that add-on.
I also appreciate the answers, and your answers DEFINITELY make me consider backing. Hopefully you get about $1mil and thus can launch with the Evernote-esque system running. ;)
Oh, the things we could accomplish with only HALF that amount...
Pinch me. I think I'm dreaming. :)
How many Hero Lab Add-ons are you planning on releasing in 2013? Debating whether it's worth my money to go in with that add-on.
At this point, we don't honestly know any of the specifics associated with the books Paizo will be publishing in 2013, so we're taking our "best guess" here regarding exactly how much work those books will entail to implement in Hero Lab. If someone were to purchase all the new content we release for Pathfinder in 2013 as we release it, they might spend slightly less than the $60 add-on. However, based on the amount of “crunch” we're expecting in some of the new books Paizo will be releasing, it's also possible the $60 add-on will turn out to be a cheaper alternative.
All we can do is project the publishing schedule at this point. Our typical pricing hovers around $9.99 for a hardcover book, $4.99 for 3-ish Players Companion books and $4.99 for 4-ish Campaign Setting books. There are 3 hardcovers, 12 Players Companion books, and 12 Campaign Setting books in a typical year. So that likely comes out at roughly $65. So it's not intended as a huge savings so much as a "fair price" with maybe 10% savings that also provides the added convenience to users of just getting everything automatically. Our real focus is on the Kickstarter, and we don't want to cannibalize Hero Lab sales for the sake of Realm Works - it has to stand on its own as a product. So we're essentially giving users who already know they'll want to buy everything this year a chance to do so and also help the Kickstarter out. :)
The way the add-on is worded, Rob, it sounds like it would include the Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder (as no mention is made of limiting it to Paizo-sourced content). That's certainly a factor in my choosing to pledge with additional money for that add-on.
The way the add-on is worded, Rob, it sounds like it would include the Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder (as no mention is made of limiting it to Paizo-sourced content). That's certainly a factor in my choosing to pledge with additional money for that add-on.
Doh! Thanks for pointing this out! We completely overlooked that detail.
Unfortunately, add-ons released on behalf of third-party publishers are not developed by us, so we can't offer them as part of the "2013" option. All that we can include are add-ons for Paizo products, which we develop in-house.
We just clarified this on the KS project page and sent out an explicit notification to all backers that could have been inadvertently misled by our lack of detail on that option. So they will all have the chance to adjust their pledges based on the new information. If you've already pledged to include the extra funds for that option, you should have received a message yourself by now.
Thanks again for flagging this oversight to our attention! It's greatly appreciated!
The way the add-on is worded, Rob, it sounds like it would include the Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder (as no mention is made of limiting it to Paizo-sourced content). That's certainly a factor in my choosing to pledge with additional money for that add-on.Doh! Thanks for pointing this out! We completely overlooked that detail.
Unfortunately, add-ons released on behalf of third-party publishers are not developed by us, so we can't offer them as part of the "2013" option. All that we can include are add-ons for Paizo products, which we develop in-house.
We just clarified this on the KS project page and sent out an explicit notification to all backers that could have been inadvertently misled by our lack of detail on that option. So they will all have the chance to adjust their pledges based on the new information. If you've already pledged to include the extra funds for that option, you should have received a message yourself by now.
Thanks again for flagging this oversight to our attention! It's greatly appreciated!
Understandable.. and here I thought it was going to be a GREAT option, rather than just a GOOD option. :) Oh well, it means I won't have to wait when Tome of Horrors is finally released, anyway.
EDIT: dang typos
Really excited to see this product released. This combined with Ultimate Campaigns will hopefully make 2013 a great year for a new campaign.
From the amount of prep work I did last weekend I can certainly say that this program would have been massively helpful, looking forward to it!
For anyone interested in some additional info and insights into Realm Works, the gang at The d6 Generation podcast spent some time grilling us about it in the episode that just aired late last night. They explore a variety of aspects of the product. Some of the key areas include: how Realm Works will support both game preparation and during play; some of the pain points we're striving to solve with Realm Works; and how we envision the cloud and community repository will be leveraged.
The episode can be found at the link below:
http://www.thed6generation.com//d6g-ep-119-i-m-too-sexy-for-my-game-realm-w orks-interview
The interview with our very own Colen McAlister starts at around the 2:05 mark.
Note: If you haven't listened to The d6 Generation podcasts before, they're high-energy and always entertaining. So we heartily recommend you check out additional episodes!
Having had the chance to not only play around with the software, but also be a part of creating content for it, there aren't enough words of awesomeness to describe just how cool, and more importantly, useful Realm Works is.
Seriously folks, if you use any tech at the table or in your game prep, and this goes double if you use Hero Lab, you need Realm Works.
Just over 46% to the goal and 22 days to go!
Lots of info on the comments page so check out there as well when you give this one a gander.
I have been very excited about Realm Works since I first got wind of it over a year ago. I have been eagerly awaiting the release since then, and can hardly wait to get my hands on it. I have been looking for this program ever since I started using a computer for game prep.
Pledged.
New update email from LWD gives a good breakdown of what the cloud service will be. Re-posting here both to give this thread a move back to the front but also to let others know about this as I know Kickstarter updates can be odd at times.
We've received quite a few questions regarding the role the cloud will play for Realm Works. Our goal with this update is to provide some additional clarity on the service and how you’ll be able to use it.
When people think of the "cloud", they often think of services like Dropbox and Google Drive, where they can conveniently store a bunch of files and retrieve them whenever they want. However, the Realm Works "cloud" is significantly different from services like those. If you're assuming that the Realm Works cloud will be nothing more than file storage, you're overlooking an incredible resource. There's a whole new world of possibilities available once your campaign enters the Realm Works cloud:
* It's every detail of your entire campaign individually managed and woven together for instant searching and filtering online.
* It's the ability to review your campaign via a web browser, using any device you own.
* It's making notes and jotting down new ideas for your campaign while you're at work, at school, or at a friend's house.
* It's enabling your players to have full access to everything they've learned through play, including the revealed areas of maps, at their convenience and with no additional work on your part.
* It's eliminating the need for separately created player handouts, as everything they know is readily available to them.
* It's allowing players who miss a session to get a full recap prior to the next session, instantly and automatically.
* It's sharing content you've created with others.
* It's having a wealth of pre-created NPCs, magic items, encounters, and more – fully searchable to locate and drop into your game whenever you need them.
* It's being able to find entire pre-created adventures and settings ready for use, with the ability to quickly import that content into your campaign and then seamlessly integrate it, however you deem appropriate for your game.
* It’s also a backup of your campaigns in the event of a computer failure, like simple cloud storage services.As you can see, the Realm Works cloud will offer far broader capabilities than simple data storage and backup.
While the cloud conveys all these benefits, Realm Works does not require you to utilize the cloud. You can still reveal material to players during the game, print what you need for handouts, and leverage the reveal history at the start of games. For some gaming groups, this will be more than sufficient, and no cloud support is necessary for this usage model.
The choice is entirely up to you. We just want to be sure you're fully informed when making your choice.
- The Lone Wolf Development Team
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As someone who has never used Hero Lab, and mainly only runs pre-made adventures (from Paizo, FGG and just recently purchased Way of the Wicked) at my place with my friends, can someone explain to me what the process would be to get say Curse of the Crimson Throne to work on this software?
I'm just not sure what it would all entail, but it seems like it would be more work for me to copy all the content from the AP line into this software than work directly out of the books.
I'm wondering about the cloud aspect of Realm Works when it comes to premade material. I'm currently running the Carrion Crown adventure path and once that's done, I'll be doing a Skull & Shackles/Razor Coast/Journeys to the West mashup. Realm Works seems like the ideal tool for me to keep track of everything in such a massive campaign. However, I wonder about the legalities of having such a campaign be in the cloud, considering it'll probably contain maps/artwork, stat blocks, blocks of text, etc. from published material.
So, my question is, will there be legal issues with running published material through Realm Works and its cloud service?
Good question, Heine. I'd like to hope that as long as you're not trying to make money off someone else's work, there would be no problem with uploading it for personal use. Distribution via the Community Repository is probably a no-no, though.
I can easily see this as a new channel for publishers to release material - can you imagine spending a few $$ on an AP and getting the background material and adventure detail in pre-packaged Realm Works format? How about the entire Golarion setting?
Good Lord, my bank are going to hate me when this happens. Or love me for my overdraft.
As someone who has never used Hero Lab, and mainly only runs pre-made adventures (from Paizo, FGG and just recently purchased Way of the Wicked) at my place with my friends, can someone explain to me what the process would be to get say Curse of the Crimson Throne to work on this software?
I'm just not sure what it would all entail, but it seems like it would be more work for me to copy all the content from the AP line into this software than work directly out of the books.
There are a few aspects of this to address...
If you only run pre-made adventures, exactly as written, then there would be a reasonable amount of work involved to copy it all out and use it in Realm Works. While we've designed the product to be highly efficient in this process, an entire AP is still a good chunk of material that will take some time to import. In that situation, you'd likely be better off only copying portions that you'll plan on sharing with the players and that you believe will facilitate your games.
If you run pre-made adventures but tailor them into your campaign world, Realm Works will be invaluable. All of the notes associated with integrating the material would be a thing of the past. Instead of having to make notes everywhere, you could make the changes directly to the affected material. In addition, everything from the adventure can be hooked conveniently into your world. If you're placing it somewhere different in your world, that's easy to hook in. Want to change a few NPCs to tie them into existing material in your world? Simple. Want to drop plot hooks to the adventure at various point in your world? Done. And it's all woven together into a unified whole instead of disconnected notes and books/PDFs.
The long-term vision is where we expect Realm Works to really transform most games. We expect many publishers to begin releasing their adventures through Realm Works. When that occurs, you would be able to purchase the adventure pre-built into Realm Works. Then you could leverage all of Realm Works' features immediately, without any need to input anything yourself.
We've talked at length with many of the prominent 3PPs, plus Paizo themselves, about publishing through Realm Works. Every one of them has been keenly interested in the product's potential. At this point, we already have a few officially signed on to publish their material through us. In fact, we'll be announcing some of them over the next week as we reveal some of our stretch goals. So stay tuned on that. I think you'll be keenly interested in at least one of them based on your post. :)
I'm wondering about the cloud aspect of Realm Works when it comes to premade material. I'm currently running the Carrion Crown adventure path and once that's done, I'll be doing a Skull & Shackles/Razor Coast/Journeys to the West mashup. Realm Works seems like the ideal tool for me to keep track of everything in such a massive campaign. However, I wonder about the legalities of having such a campaign be in the cloud, considering it'll probably contain maps/artwork, stat blocks, blocks of text, etc. from published material.
So, my question is, will there be legal issues with running published material through Realm Works and its cloud service?
The material within an adventure path or other settings/modules/etc is published with the express intent of it being shared within your gaming group through play. As such, there should be no legal issues with putting published material into Realm Works and leveraging the cloud service to disclose it to your players. That's the official opinion of our IP attorney, at least. :)
The key caveat to this model is that the published material can't be made public beyond your private gaming group. If it's revealed to and consumed by your players, it's being used as the publisher intended it in the first place. If you attempt to disclose it to a wider audience, then you'll run into problems. We'll have formal terms of service in place that users will have to abide by, and they will include common sense rules like this to ensure the protection of published material. If someone violates those rules, then we'll have to take action, and it will be similar to if you posted a PDF of a published product on a public site today.
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I can easily see this as a new channel for publishers to release material - can you imagine spending a few $$ on an AP and getting the background material and adventure detail in pre-packaged Realm Works format? How about the entire Golarion setting?
That's exactly the vision. :)
We'll be releasing Realm Works with a number of large examples of this. We commissioned the Isle of Kandril from Super Genius Games, which will be provided to all users for free. A few more will be available for free to backers of our Kickstarter and then available for sale to new users when the product launches. There are a few pretty big names on board already, and we're hoping to add one or two more before the KS completes. So stay tuned for their unveiling...
Hey rob,
Here are a couple of additional questions based on some stuff our group does.
1). Our current campaign is 8 people walk into a bar and throw down two sourcebooks each, d20 material all legal, and make a game of that. So way to share the materials and in such a system character creation and advancement rules.
2). When we can't meet we use forum posts on obsidian portal for in character discussions, what are character is doing in between adventures. Any facility for that type of interaction?
Thanks
P.s. I'm the only one in the group that currently uses hero lab too.
1). Our current campaign is 8 people walk into a bar and throw down two sourcebooks each, d20 material all legal, and make a game of that. So way to share the materials and in such a system character creation and advancement rules.
I'm having trouble parsing this question. Could you please re-phrase this for me?
2). When we can't meet we use forum posts on obsidian portal for in character discussions, what are character is doing in between adventures. Any facility for that type of interaction?
Yes, but with a big caveat. The timing for inclusion of this capability is dependent upon us reaching an as-yet-unannounced stretch goal for the Kickstarter. The feature has been fully outlined, but we haven't implemented it yet. The KS will determine exactly when this makes it into the product. If we fund and hit the stretch goal, we'll obviously have it much sooner than if we don't. It's targeted for inclusion into the product either way, but the KS will let us hire another developer, and the presence of that extra developer will significantly impact the timing of when this capability can be added.
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We'll be releasing Realm Works with a number of large examples of this. We commissioned the Isle of Kandril from Super Genius Games, which will be provided to all users for free. A few more will be available for free to backers of our Kickstarter and then available for sale to new users when the product launches. There are a few pretty big names on board already, and we're hoping to add one or two more before the KS completes. So stay tuned for their unveiling...
I really hope Paizo is one of those available through RW =)
1). Our current campaign is 8 people walk into a bar and throw down two sourcebooks each, d20 material all legal, and make a game of that. So way to share the materials and in such a system character creation and advancement rules.I'm having trouble parsing this question. Could you please re-phrase this for me?
Sorry about that. Basically, our current campaign is everyone brings two sourcebooks, using them, build out the campaign setting. On Obsidian Portal, we documented the list of sourcebooks, the character creation guidelines, the advancement rules and the basic storyline. Realm Works, seemingly focuses on the world itself, which is fine, but just wanted to know if it allows for capturing the, for lack of a better word, the metagame elements.
Let me illustrate: Here's our current campaign we just started.
Pathfinder Core Rulebook (for “core rules” — skills, feats, combat, etc., but no Races, Classes, or Spells)
Midnight Campaign Setting (a cool campaign setting with a lot of good ideas)
Encyclopedia Magica (2nd edition collection of magic items) —
Volume 4 has awesome random magic item tables in the back…use them well.
Ultimate Magic (Pathfinder resource for spells, “word magic”, and Magus class)
Ponyfinder (Pathfinder My Little Pony races from Paizo) —
Tome of Battle (3 cool warrior classes) —
Monster Manual III (a good variety of critters and interesting variants on some traditional enemies) —
Dungeonscape (One cool class, some useful feats, lots of traps, doors, and other things to vex PCs with) —
Arcana Unearthed (A replacement for the Core Rulebooks) —
Spell Compendium (SPELLS! Lots of spells) —
Regarding classes and access to these spells:
Channelers have access to the spell-lists used by their focus (i.e. Wizard spell list for Hermetics or Druid spell list for Spiritualists)
Factotums can learn any spell from the Wizard spell list.
Magi use word-casting and generally cannot learn specific spells. Some magus arcana allow you to learn spells from other spell lists (in which case this book is available).
Legates have full access to the Cleric spell list.
Greenbonds, Mage Blades, Magisters, Rune Thanes, and Witches may learn any spell from this book by taking the Exotic Spell feat for the spell in question.
Tome of Magic (3 cool alternate caster classes and a lot of flavor) —
Incantations from the Other Side (rules for ritual magic that strongly compliment Binding and Truename magic) —
Complete Scoundrel (some feats, prestige classes, and “skill tricks”) —
Complete Warrior (excluding the Samurai class) —
Weapons of Legacy (alternate rules for awesome artifact-like magic items)
Complete Champion (rules for organizations and some prestige classes)
Campaign Themes
A “Dark Lord” rules everything
The Dark Lord killed the other gods and all that remains of them are Vestiges (see Binders)
The Dark Lord froze the moon in lockstep with the sun. The world is in a permanent state of solar eclipse.
The souls of the dead gods were shattered and reincarnated in mortal form, granting mortals the ability to cast spells (Maagister, Mageblade, Witch) or access the memories of the dead gods (Akashic).
Language has power. Literacy is outlawed. Those that can read can alter the world around them.
Characters are illiterate by default (unless Magus, Truenamer, or Runethane)
The Giants (Hu-Charad) have recently landed and established enclaves on the shores of the Dark Lords lands. They are nigh-undefeatable within their enclaves, but lose most of their powers outside of them. They are attempting to “civilize” the dark lands, using the native humans and ponies (and whatever) as soldiers and proxies…
The Enclaves have been established on the ruins of ancient cities in the Dark Lands.
The proxies of the giants are sent to reclaim the ruins of the cities and regions block by block, smashing the Black Mirrors that represent the Dark Lord’s power in the world to awaken the land and break the Dark Lord’s power.
Any reflective surface might be or become a Black Mirror, so the common folk do not keep any reflective surfaces. Armor is lacquerred in dark colors, water is deliberately fouled, glass is never used, bowls and plates are always wood. Everypony has horrible coiffures…
Shadow Casters all carry mirrors, siphoning power from the Dark Lord. They tend to be feared and hated by both sides of the conflict…
Humans, Halflings, and Ponies are slaves of the Dark Lord. Fey creatures (Elves, Gnomes, Faen) have gone into hiding, but have come out under the protection of the Giants. Litorians and Sibeccai are servitors of the giants brought with them across the sea. Orcs, Dwarves, and Mojh (and pretty much anything else with darkvision) enforce the will of the Dark Lore.
Basic Adventure Layout
PCs head out to expand the territory encompassed by the Giant Enclaves. Each region (which may be as large as a county to as small as a city block) they attempt to expand into should be thematically keyed to one of the Vestiges and will usually include one or more settlements enslaved to the Dark Lord.
PCs are looking for 2 things:
(1) The Black Mirror that anchors the Dark Lord’s power for the given region.
(2) The remains (Vestiges) of the Spirit or Deity who once presided over that region. Which may take the form of a shrine, relic, monster, human incarnation, or whatever.
PCs use whatever means necessary (stealth, diplomacy, magic, force of arms) to find the Black Mirror.
When found, they must destroy it (means of destruction may vary).
As soon as they find it/attempt to destroy it, the Dark Lord becomes aware of their presence and all hell breaks loose (i.e. PCs must destroy it while fending over overwhelming and CR inappropriate numbers of monsters and evil henchman).
As soon as the mirror is destroyed the land changes hands and a whole Legion of Giants teleport in and clean up the remaining beasties (so the PCs should focus on staying alive and destroying the mirror, not attempt a nearly-impossible killing spree).
Once the monsters are dead, the giants immediately go into builder mode and the city literally “comes to the PCs” (so they have immediate access to healing, training facilities, shops to re-equip, etc.)
Destroying the mirror increases the amount of magic available in the world (i.e. destroying a mirror is the thing that lets you level up to the next level).
If the Vestige is found and restored (means may vary), then the PCs gain access to a Heroic Path (GMs choice but should be at least somewhat appropriate to the Vestige). They may take that path (if they don’t have one already), or change to the new path if they had already acquired one.
Plus much more about character creation which I didn't copy in here and addtional FAQ's that we've built out so we understand more about character creation, do we use traits, how Truename magic works, etc.
Does this help?
Sorry about that. Basically, our current campaign is everyone brings two sourcebooks, using them, build out the campaign setting. On Obsidian Portal, we documented the list of sourcebooks, the character creation guidelines, the advancement rules and the basic storyline. Realm Works, seemingly focuses on the world itself, which is fine, but just wanted to know if it allows for capturing the, for lack of a better word, the metagame elements.
Thanks for clarifying. That makes perfect sense. Yes, Realm Works has a couple different mechanisms you could leverage for this. Probably the most likely mechanism you would use is what we call "articles". They are similar to wiki pages in many ways and are ideally suited to things like house rules, campaign setting details known by all players (e.g. a players' guide), the list of sourcebooks allowed, etc. Everything in articles fully supports the automatic cross-linking, tagging, full-text search, etc. They are simply another content type that can be leveraged b the GM.
So I think you'll have exactly what you need available in Realm Works. :)
Sorry about that. Basically, our current campaign is everyone brings two sourcebooks, using them, build out the campaign setting. On Obsidian Portal, we documented the list of sourcebooks, the character creation guidelines, the advancement rules and the basic storyline. Realm Works, seemingly focuses on the world itself, which is fine, but just wanted to know if it allows for capturing the, for lack of a better word, the metagame elements.Thanks for clarifying. That makes perfect sense. Yes, Realm Works has a couple different mechanisms you could leverage for this. Probably the most likely mechanism you would use is what we call "articles". They are similar to wiki pages in many ways and are ideally suited to things like house rules, campaign setting details known by all players (e.g. a players' guide), the list of sourcebooks allowed, etc. Everything in articles fully supports the automatic cross-linking, tagging, full-text search, etc. They are simply another content type that can be leveraged b the GM.
So I think you'll have exactly what you need available in Realm Works. :)
Thanks. I appreciate the clarification.
Partnering with the Grand Temple of Jing is a fantastic way to promote both projects. Hope there are more who jump in on this, adds a fantastic value!
