Introducing PathCompanion
PathCompanion.com is a web application similar in purpose to DnD Beyond, except it's for Pathfinder 1e and free to use under the Community Use Policy. If you're interested in supporting me in my development, please consider backing my Patreon account. It costs money to host the server, store character data, and feed my family, so I would really appreciate any help in that regard :)
I'm a UI software developer who really loves tabletop games. I decided to start this project for fun at first, but the project quickly grew in scope to the point where I now have thousands of feats, class features, traits, race options, weapons, effects, and more built into the web application. Given that, I would love other people to be using it. I've still got a ton to do, so don't be surprised if your favorite archetype isn't implemented yet, but the project is very usable at the moment, and I hope you play around with it.
If you're interested, head on over to my post on Patreon that goes over the layout in greater detail.
Card-based action system
The main part is the card layout system. Each of your actions are represented by cards in the Combat tab of the interface.
The cards are reminders that you can do something based on your character's abilities. If the card has a tangible effect that lasts an amount of time, they can be "activated" to apply the effect to yourself. For example, if you're a Barbarian and go into a Rage, your Str and Con update, and your HP, fortitude save, attack rolls and damage with each of your equipped weapons, and skill modifiers all recalculate immediately.
The card layout is a responsive CSS design. It's very light-weight so the package size for the web app is relatively small to download. I'm working with an artist to provide more embellishment for the cards.
The cards are organized into "Full-round actions", and then 4 columns of the various action types you can take. Sometimes cards will be duplicated between columns if they can be used in multiple ways.
All the info you need
The fact that so much data was crammed into an 8.5x11 page in a somewhat intuitive way is actually a monumental feat, and I commend whoever developed the first D&D 3.5e character sheet I first started playing with. But the interactivity of the web opened better options.
The application is divided into multiple tabs: Adventuring, Spell Management, Equipment, Maintenance, and Character Sheet
Adventuring
The Adventuring tab is where you spend most of your play time. This is where all the cards for your actions are, and you can view and cast your spells from this tab as well. Your HP, AC, Saves, and all the other info you might need can be found here. There's a skills tab that expands and collapses, and you can tap or hover on a skill row to see whatever situational bonuses you might have associated with that skill.
Spell Management
If your character is a spellcaster, this is where they can add spells to their spellbook or add known spells, and prepare spells for the day (if they do that kind of thing).
Equipment
The equipment tab is divided into 20(!) separate sections, each occupying a separate body slot, as well as additional tabs for weapons & shields, armor, slotless items, potions & poisons, wands, staves, and generic gear. You can add and equip weapons/armor here, apply bonuses to your items, manage item choices (such as which spell you gain when you own a page of spell knowledge), and even give custom names to your equipment. The equipment section is probably the most lacking at the moment. I've been focusing the most on feats and class features, and haven't had a ton of time to implement all the wondrous items in the game. Many of the basics are there, as well as some specific ones as-needed (we're currently play-testing the app by playing RotRL so some of the items from that AP are in there).
Maintenance
This is where you add levels, choose your class, choose class feature options such as rogue talents or oracle revelations, and many other things. You can also assign skill points to your skills.
Character Sheet
This is the general information about your character, as well as their ability scores. It contains "class-independent" information, meaning it's about who the character is as a person, rather than what they do. Underneath is a section where you can see how certain values are calculated (like, why is my AC only 17 right now? It'll show you the bonuses and penalties applied to help you understand how we got to that number).
A long road ahead
I'm one person implementing everything in every book. It's going to take a while, but you can be involved in the roadmap if you join my Patreon! If you need something implemented more urgently, you can put in a request in my Patreons-only Discord channel, and I'll bump it up the development roadmap. At my Patreon I also will post updates on the roadmap, run designs across the community to get feedback, and provide insight into my thought-process around development.
Please check it out! Hopefully you enjoy it and get a lot of use out of it!
