What, precisely, would you like to do with this software? Are you looking to sell this as a product, or is it more of a free tool to help people manage stuff? Note that for real campaign management, you're probably in competition with Realm Works, and should consider the effect of that on your efforts here.
If you're looking to sell the software or use Paizo's Intellectual Property in any way, I recommend sending a message to licensing@paizo.com, and they can work with you on that to see what the best setup would be. I don't think the Compatibility License applies to software products (except electronic books), so that's probably out, but you may be covered by the OGL if you're exclusively using open gaming content.
He can sell the software at a build your own world from scratch phase.
Lone Wolf, the producer of Herolabs already has software which does much, if not all of this... called Realmworks.
Not even they however have a license to use setting material with said program though.
Actually, they do. They're still working on the content market (which should be out soon, I think), but they got a Pathfinder license for Realm Works and I don't think that's expired or anything. XD The plan is, and I quote directly from a press release, "to produce and sell Adventure Paths, modules, campaign settings, player companions, and rulebooks from Paizo’s popular Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ product line" through Realm Works, as they're applicable to the software.
Actually, they do. They're still working on the content market (which should be out soon, I think), but they got a Pathfinder license for Realm Works and I don't think that's expired or anything. XD The plan is, and I quote directly from a press release, "to produce and sell Adventure Paths, modules, campaign settings, player companions, and rulebooks from Paizo’s popular Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ product line" through Realm Works, as they're applicable to the software.
As far as I know though, it's not been implemented, and may well be set back by 1.. the fact that the software isn't selling well, and 2. the shrinkage in staff.
Actually, they do. They're still working on the content market (which should be out soon, I think), but they got a Pathfinder license for Realm Works and I don't think that's expired or anything. XD The plan is, and I quote directly from a press release, "to produce and sell Adventure Paths, modules, campaign settings, player companions, and rulebooks from Paizo’s popular Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ product line" through Realm Works, as they're applicable to the software.As far as I know though, it's not been implemented, and may well be set back by 1.. the fact that the software isn't selling well, and 2. the shrinkage in staff.
Realmworks advised today that Paizo had changed the licencing agreement on how their digital products work, and its really annoyed a lot of people. See Link: http://www.wolflair.com/blog/2017/02/06/realm-works-content-market/
To be able to use Realmworks and a Paizo product, you must own the PDF copy of the product and then buy the package for Realmworks.
This has made a lot of people very unhappy, and I sincerely hope that this changes before final implementation, because as it stands (as I understand it), people will really think twice before having to buy the hardcover and the PDF and Realmworks. A case in point: Crimson Throne is $42 for the PDF (despite the fact that I already own the hard cover), and will need to buy a package for another $x (I am assuming it will be about $30... so that makes it a $70 purchase (as I understand the licence model right now...and it MAY change). This is only based on US dollars, and by the time you convert it to whatever currency you use (in my case AUD), it becomes an over $150 purchase).
I wouldn't mind too much if when you bought a hardcopy that it contained a single redeemable voucher to get the PDF as part of the purchase, as I do enjoy having the physical copy with me (plus its easier to read in bed than on a electronic device! :-) )
Unless it changes before go live, it will really really make me think about buying ANY hard cover AP.
Actually, they do. They're still working on the content market (which should be out soon, I think), but they got a Pathfinder license for Realm Works and I don't think that's expired or anything. XD The plan is, and I quote directly from a press release, "to produce and sell Adventure Paths, modules, campaign settings, player companions, and rulebooks from Paizo’s popular Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ product line" through Realm Works, as they're applicable to the software.As far as I know though, it's not been implemented, and may well be set back by 1.. the fact that the software isn't selling well, and 2. the shrinkage in staff.
I'm not sure where you're sourcing your "facts". You're definitely going to need to do your homework a bit better in the future. Apologies to the OP for talking about another product in this thread, but the assertions made here are so glaringly wrong that a correction is required.
As for nothing being implemented for Pathfinder, we've shown previews of official Pathfinder material for many months now - on our website, at GenCon, in videos, etc. The Realm Works Content Market itself is launching shortly, and it will include an array of Pathfinder material.
As for the product not selling well, there are very few digital tools across the tabletop gaming space that can boast of selling more than 10,000 copies. Lone Wolf Development has multiple such products.
As for shrinkage in staff, I can only assume that you've chosen to portray a temporary health issue for a key team member (me, actually) as "shrinkage". Since shrinkage is a term most people I know would interrupt as layoffs or similar, your assertion comes across as extremely disingenuous to me. Suffice to say, the team is intact, although I'm admittedly still working back to 100% efficiency.
With the record set straight on those items, I'd like to welcome Phil to the digital tools community! New ideas and approaches are always a good thing, and there's such a diverse range of gaming styles that lots of very different tools can all find their niche. I was exactly where you are many years ago, and it's an exciting period. Bringing something from concept to reality is a LOT of work, but it's also quite gratifying. Best of luck in pursuing your vision!
I admit, I'm curious to see how things go once the Content Market is fully implemented. XD For now, I suppose it's full steam ahead?
FWIW, neither this nor Realm Works does what I want in campaign management software. This is not a knock on either product, they may well work fine for most folks, but they don't fit my needs.
What do I want in Campaign Management software? (This is long...)
- Custom Calendaring - I want to be able to set up weeks/months/years that are custom length, with custom names. (10 days to the week, 3 weeks to the month, 2.75 weeks to the 'cycle', a very short renamed 'year', for example)...included here would be the ability to advance the campaign date by x days/weeks/years.
- Lunar tracking for up to 5 moons, each of which has it's own phases...I should be able to look up any given date, and know the phase each moon is in, as well as filtering for the next time several of the moons are in each phase.
- Tracking of other important dates, either one-shot or recurring
- NPC Tracking (system agnostic). Aside from basics about an NPC, I want to be able to document organizations they belong to, their friends, their enemies, their relatives, mentors, etc.
- Add the same ability for organizations, governments, religions, locations, etc.
- Creation of custom connections between the objects above. For example, I want to create a connection 'member of/member'. I apply that connection between an (N)PC and Organization, and now on the (N)PC I have a link 'member of <organization name> that goes to the organization...and on the entry for the Organization, I have a list of 'members' which links back to the (N)PCs with this connection.
--a further example, I may create a 'master/apprentice' or 'uncle/nephew' connection that can be applied between 2 (N)PCS, with the other descriptor applied to the second person...any given object should have the capacity for multiple connections, and two objects should have the ability to be connected more than once (for example, a Smith who has an Apprentice who is also his nephew).
- A Home and Current Location for any of these objects. Mostly these would apply to people, but a caravan or circus or theatre group might be in a different location than their 'Home'.
- Scheduling of location. If I have an NPC or Organization (such as a caravan) that has a regular route, I want to be able to set a start date and schedule (2 days in Location A, 4 days in transit, 1 week in location B, 2 days in transit, 1 day in Location C, 3 days in transit, Back to Location A and loop).
After all that, linking maps/sheets/other documents to any object or multiple objects is something I assume most current software already does.
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Ramarren,
I'm just a casual realm works user and not an official voice for them in any sense, but I can say that the software is able to do all the NPC/organization/relationship type of things you mentioned above and it functions pretty smoothly.
I make use of realm works for campaign planning for pathfinder, but where its really shined for me is as an NPC, location, ect codex for games like shadowrun or edge of the empire where I tend to have things a lot more RP and politic heavy so being able to keep close track of those kind of relationships and connections plays a much bigger part for me.
You can create both public and private relationships between objects(So how they act vs how they actually feel about them), create your own tags, and also link and sort them in a fair number of ways that works really well.
For me, the calendar/moon phase aspects are less important, but I know from their forums that its a pretty requested feature and they are intending to implement it. It sounds like they are intending to release something that will suit your needs pretty well, I recall a statement that they didn't want to release in game calendars until they could make them extremely flexible.
However, I am also pretty sure that has taken a bit of a back seat to getting the content market fully working, but with that just hitting launch, hopefully you'd be able to see what you need soon.
Ramarren,
I'm just a casual realm works user and not an official voice for them in any sense, but I can say that the software is able to do all the NPC/organization/relationship type of things you mentioned above and it functions pretty smoothly.
That's good to hear...and it means that their feature descriptions woefully undersell the abilities of the product.
Is there a user manual available that would allow a potential buyer to understand the full capabilities of the product, or just in-line help links?
You may find it helpful to watch the Tutorial Videos.
Having now looked at the connections video, it's pretty close to what I want, close enough to likely put in it the 'buy' category if/when calendaring is settled.
Honestly a 'content marketplace' leaves me pretty cold...I can usually find or make what I want. But I know it's important to a number of people.
The Content Marketplace is entirely optional. It's a way of reasonably cheaply getting stuff pre-made for you, but there's really nothing it's doing that you couldn't do yourself if you're willing to put in the time, and you probably won't care at all if you're busy making original stuff. Personally, I'm not planning to use it at all.
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Ramarren,
Have you considered using the donjon calendar tool to fill that part of your needs?
It's very quick and simple to make a custom calendar with lunar cycles.
https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/calendar/
As for a dedicated management suite, I currently use Aeon Timeline which has the option to make a custom calendar so might be of interest as an alternative.
It's a bit of a multi-purpose suite for writers, project managers and people who do a lot of event/meeting planning, so doesn't have dedicated features for gaming campaigns... I personally picked it up for storyboard work and planning for novel writing but I've started to use it for developing a customer world for D&D and have found it to work quite well.
Might be worth trying the free trial to have a little explore.
I'm unsure how it would compare to Realm Works as I've never used a gaming-specific tool like that, but at a brief glance it appears to share very similar features.