Daplunk's page

https://www.reddit.com/r/starfinder_rpg/comments/1ekmi6n/no_hephaistos_upda te_today/

TomatoFettuccini wrote:

(I'll be honest, the fact that so many people never realized that, makes me doubt that the lore stuff is THAT important to the fan-made rule tools.

I think there's a big difference between player tools and DM tools in this regards. Players, who only use that single app and it provides everything they need means they dont need to worry about the difference in names.

As a DM... I knew from the start things were renamed in Pathbuilder. And I would never use a database that is renamed. The tools I use (Obsidian.md) is all around linking from my notes to other reference notes. Having linked things makes my job as a DM much easier as I never have to look anything up. If the database of notes has different names, then that process breaks immediately.

I would argue that these tools are essential not just to players, but to Paizo itself. I don't think they realize just how important they are now, or are else overestimating their popularity in their hubris. We've gone past critical mass; it is almost mandatory for an RPG system, particularly complex, crunchy ones like Pathfinder and Starfinder, to have community tools. If those tools aren't there, it makes it more difficult to get in to the game, and less community support will be forthcoming. Less community support means less buzz. Less buzz means less interest.

100% this. I pick the system I play based on the availability of the tools and availability of the data.

Pathfinder was an absolute breathe of fresh air for me. Coming from the 5e space where the data is available but hiding under a dark shelf. PF2e data was available in multiple places, available in multiple formats and unlocked some absolutely amazing potential.

I don't play the way I assume Paizo thinks I do though. I don't use the run of the mill tools though and don't want to. I use Obsidian.md to create my own internal wiki system that is completely customisable to how I play my game. I am however completely reliant on other popular tools for the data that enables me to create my notes.

I was afraid that Paizo had just turned the light off in a corner of the book shelf and was about to create a shaded area. The update posted above gives me hope that is not the case.

In terms of community made digital tools that people use to supplement the game... I think most people will agree, including Paizo, that renaming things, causes absolute confusion. The aim is to make the game easier to play and changing the names of things has the immediate opposite effect.

Personally I would love a situation where the community could...

- Release data files for digital tools on an agreed platform like Pathfinder Infinite/Starfinder Infinite.
- Be allowed within that platform, to release content using the Proper Nouns without change.
- To expand on this... have access to the API. Imagine a world where you could unlock the Adventure Module X content in Pathbuilder because you downloaded an access code from Infinite. Infinite api has confirmed the customer has already purchased that pdf and thus the community is allowed to release that content to that person within the community driven tool.
- My personal situation. I use Obsidian.md and having statblocks and adventures in markdown format already that I could download and use would be a massive win.

I'd love to hear from Paizo on their opinion on the digital tools and if they want them to exist.

The community is trying to make it easier to play the game. And the "official" tools are fantastic, they don't fill every niche. They are lots of other smaller niche tools that fill essential gaps for lots of people. Does Paizo want them to go away?

Really keen to see some clarity and direct attention to the digital tool space. I love to buy your books, I very rarely open them. I play physically at a real table rolling real dice, but we look up all those rules digitally. Every statblock has linked spells and rules and it's amazing.

Those tools are almost exclusively made by the community. Supported by the community. Passionately and with love to ensure we can all play PF2e easily.

Can we get a digital tool faq to clearly layout what can be used. Can the tools include copies of the spells, monster statblocks? Can only the monsters from the rule books be included? Or can statblocks from the adventures be included but the named npc statblocks cant be used?

It's really confusing since most people use AoN as a reference, but lots of people don't understand that they have a special license agreement in place.

So what does Realm Works offer that other (free-er) VTTs don't?

Yeah Realm Works is not a VTT. Yes it has some really cool map features (player version of maps can be layered over with the GM version of a map letting the GM reveal sections of the map using the fog system which will only display the player section to the player while the gm can see everything including the gm notes) but it was not designed to be used as a VTT. There are no tokens for example.

Think of this like a GM Binder. You put all the things you collect over the years into it. Rules, Adventures, Characters, Maps, Items, Monsters, etc.

Once you put something in under an article name (lets say you create an article called Orc with all the Orc information) you can then type the name of that article into any other snippets. Upon save that automatically creates a link to all of the articles it recognizes.

In the case above you have created Orc, you type Orc or even copy an adventure in that mentions Orc in the text. A link is automatically generated within the adventure text. Now at the table you can click that link to learn more about Orcs, see their stats, show the players a picture of an Orc, reveal information about Orcs to the players that they could then see in the player version, send the Orc stats to Hero Labs via the built in integration so the Orc can be used in the combat manager.

As mentioned above, putting all of this in used to be a massive slog. But that's all already changing. We can now import and export content and the content market is right around the corner. I've already tested out some of the content and it's incredible. A few minutes is all it takes to fill the tool with locations, people, items, rules, etc and it's all already linked, there are flow-charts for the adventure paths already functioning. Maps come with pins on them.

I think the major different between this and a VTT is the focus of a VTT is to enable you to run a game via a network. Realm Works focuses on making it easier for you to simply run your game. It gives you all of the tools you need to enable you to find the information you need very efficiently which ultimately speeds up your game and lets you focus on the story.

I should mention also that for anyone interested in world building... this tool is incredible. I can already take a map from a module and the npcs and simply drag them into a new location. Pin it to a new overland map. Move the NPC's into new homes and create new relationships. It's going to be fun watching what people make with it.

Anyway, I'm obviously at about a 12 on the Net Promoter Score scale. I just seriously recommend the Pathfinder community check it out. You have some serious support coming. A s*** load of modules that you can simply purchase and load in ready to run at the table. No more pile of books. No more delays while you figure out which book you need to check and the time it takes to flip through that book. Just simple easy efficient access to the information you need to be a better GM.

Not to go off topic but has anyone here actually tried using RW at the table during a session? It's not very good and unless I've missed a bunch of updates it was never really designed for that kind of use.

I use it religiously. I honestly struggle to run a game without it now. I don't understand how you can't see the benefits.

Being able to use a map of a dungeon as a navigation tool is brilliant IMO. Just click a room and read the content. Click the links within that content to get even further into the information.

Dungeon Example

Flow Chart Example

Overland Map Example

Having it work with Hero Labs has changed the way I play too. All my monsters in RW require a couple of clicks and they are loaded straight up into Hero Labs in the combat manager. I literally don't use books at my table anymore. Realm Works has taken over.

Granted i do have a dedicated room with a player facing monitor hanging over my DM station and a projector mirroring the maps onto the table.

Combat Manager

I must admit i think about the purpose of the tool as being my binder. I couldn't really care less if the players use it of not at this stage. I agree that web access will change that but right now it's no different from my players perspective. It's just a different way for me to manage the information i need at the table.

Lets be honest... its a good policy.

It's just unfortunate that it punishes the people who own the hard-back books. That's the crowd that are pissed and that is drowning out the noise for the people who will actually benefit from the decreased cost due to already owning the PDF.

Those people see themselves as already owning the license to use the content and I can understand their reaction to finding out they will have to purchase the PDF.

I think its a good idea poorly implemented. They could have gone with 2 options.

#1 - if you own the pdf you get a discount
#2 if you don't own the pdf you pay full price (the pdf still could have been provided meeting the original requirements)

From reading the Fantasy Grounds forums it appears that policy has already been adapted for that tool due to the restrictions placed on them by their distributor (Steam).

Realmworks also isn't entitled to their money, to be fair, which I believe is going to be a common response to this.

LWD (Realmworks) are entitled to their money as they need to cover the cost of data entry and hosting services. This is a new distribution platform which has associated costs for its use.