New Paizo policy

[GM Rednal]

@H2Osw: A lot depends on how well you prepare for things, especially with storyboarding, different things players might do, and so on. My experience is that you get more out of it when you put more into it.

[Urath DM]

H2Osw wrote:

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 have used it to run a Play-by-post with mixed results.

Despite my giving my players' licenses, they refused to install it, so I have no real player-side feedback to offer.

At the table, some use dual monitors with some success. You can find discussions of that on the Lone Wolf Development forums.

[Chemlak]

I have had a fair amount of success with live play by sharing the player view window over Skype (my group play online currently). All of my players have player licenses, so they can check previously revealed stuff themselves (not that they do, and I have to keep reminding them, but that's the plan), and Player View covers the current session until I can sync when the session's over.

If I were trying to use it live at a table, I'd want a dual monitor set-up.

Web access is going to be the real advancement, here, since then players will be able to use tablets or smartphones at the table.

[Daplunk]

H2Osw wrote:

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.

[Jessex]

H2Osw wrote:

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 every week. Its great. I have no idea when the last time you tried or what you complaint is but you should take another look.

[TOZ]

I may be slightly jealous of that gaming room.

[Sundakan]

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

[TriOmegaZero]

I believe the fact that it isn't really a VTT, it's a wiki/campaign content management system.

[Chemlak]

Like TOZ says, don't think of it as a VTT. LWD have said they don't want to reinvent the wheel, and while there are certain parallels, RW is never going to have full VTT functionality.

What RW is, though, is all of your:

Rulebooks
Adventures/Modules/Scenarios/Encounters
Setting details
Maps
GM notes

all in one hyperlinked package.

Getting it to be all those things is no mean feat (I am seriously jealous of the people who've managed anything close) right now (hopefully subject to change in the not-too-distant future). I refuse to say that getting it to work to the level Daplunk does is easy, because it's not, it's a tough slog, since you're copying in huge swathes, cutting it up, arranging it, writing your own stuff, and basically re-learning how to write down even the most trivial information, but the payoff is phenomenal.

[Urath DM]

TriOmegaZero is correct.

Realm Works can be summarized as a private, self-linking, wiki. It does not, at this time, compete with VTTs. As such, it is mostly game-system-agnostic and does not implement any game rules internally.

Its main purposes are 1) to organize and manage the campaign details for the GM and 2) to provide reference information to the players.

GMs create a Realm for their campaign and invite the players to join. Players use their own copy of the software to access a local copy of the database. The players' copy shows them only what the GM has designated as revealed. The GM needs to send the updated content to the server, which is usually done after/between sessions. For display during a session, there is a "Player View" feature.

Maps have reveal masks, so the players can view maps that show only was much as they have explored between sessions.

If using a game system supported by HeroLab, HL portfolios can be added to encounters in Realm Works and launched to load the necessary monsters into a running copy of HeroLab.

It is quite usable as a GM's tool only, if the players are not interested in the player version.

Planned Future Features (no timeline on exactly when)

• Per-character control of revealing information (important: not per-player as one player may control multiple characters); currently, content is either revealed to all players, or none.
  
• Web client access (player initially, GM features to follow)
  
• Player notes
  
• Custom-designed calendars
  

[Daplunk]

Sundakan wrote:

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.