Visual GM Tools

[Ehre]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have any good ideas, suggestions, tool suggestions, that I can use to show the relationship between all characters and NPCs?

I am GMing a campaign with my friends, but we can only meet up once every month or two due to scheduling, and because of all the NPCs in the campaign, then players tend to forget who is who between sessions. I was looking to create an organizational chart of sorts, but don't know where to start.

I was using a tool called yEd, but I'm not sure if it will do the trick. I was hoping to have a tool that visually connected multiple NPCs/PCs so that they each know who they have come in contact with. I plan to have them maintain it themselves afterwards, but I wanted to give them something as a springboard.

Any suggestions?

[Ari Kanen]

Well, a lot of folks use OneNote, but until Realmworks (from the makers of Hero Labs) comes out, I've been using Articy:draft from Steam. Pricy, but its awesome software.

[Ehre]

Ari Kanen wrote:

Well, a lot of folks use OneNote, but until Realmworks (from the makers of Hero Labs) comes out, I've been using Articy:draft from Steam. Pricy, but its awesome software.

That software does look INCREDIBLE, but I don't know if I can justify the price tag at this point in time. Thank you for your ideas!

[Laithoron]

I use a relationship-mapping tool called The Brain to diagram NPC relationships, plot paths, and even dungeon layouts. Their site has a number of videos that can acquaint someone with the concepts of relationship-mapping as well as how it's implemented in The Brain.

FWIW, I make use of this software every day in my IT work as well as in world-building and gamemastering. It is a very powerful technique and I'd liken it to a visual version of OneNote.

[JohnBear]

Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

is similar to TheBrain but free

I haven't had a chance to actually play with Brain yet.

Laithoron I may ping you over the next few days or so if you don't mind to chat about it

JB

[Laithoron]

JB: Thanks for the linkage, and feel free to ping me. :) BTW, it is possible to use The Brain for free, but some of the features (link types, cloud sync, etc.) deactivate after the 30-day trial is over.

BTW, in case anyone is curious about some possible uses of this technology, here are some examples...
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Pathfinder Template: Thought Types
This shows the various thought types I have defined for mapping out world regions, settlements, organizations, and adventures.

Faction Attitudes: Port Eldarion Economic Power Groups
The thickness and color of lines correspond to Attitudes between various factions.
Thick+Green=Helpful, Green=Friendly, Grey=Indifferent, Red=Unfriendly, Thick+Red=Hostile

World Map: Traditional Map | Relationship Map
The interconnecting lines show how each nation or area abuts adjacent areas.

Adventure Location: Encounter Links
Map locations are linked to each of their bordering areas. A specific event or encounter has (as its child thoughts) the locations, monsters, etc. that are relevant to it.