Topic: Gametime Toolbox for GM's

[mightypawn]

Note:  The contents of this posting are for a program not yet approved by ICE, and is not endorsed by ICE.


I have been busily working on a program for keeping track of not only characters, but campaigns as well.  I have much work to do yet, but I would like to release some of the Game Time elements that are huge time savers.

This is the Splash screen.



Here is the Random Encounter Generator Screen


The Combat Screen


And a post Combat Report: These are generated for each player


I have sent a letter to Thom requesting information on how to get a gaming license from ICE that will allow me to distribute my work.

The program itself does not contain details on creatures, that must be supplied to the program by the user.  The Program only contains the names of the Creatures.

Other elements I intend to include are a Treasure Generator, and a Store Generator!  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to have an entire store ready for you at the click of a button?  And even have that store save so your party can return there in the future?  It's all on it's way....

But first I need permission from ICE of course...

And, feedback from you all about what else you may want in your Toolbox!  Keep in mind that specific game details will not be allowed by ICE.

[mightypawn]

You may notice that the stats on the Zombie in the screenshot do not match the stats from C&M.  That is because even tho I entered the Zombies stats from the book, the program modified those stats according to the rules. 

Yes, it does that for every encounter!  You just tell the program what monster, it's stats, and how many... the program does the rest!!!

[Nders]

It looks pretty neat

[markc]

I do not see any pictures so they must be waiting for approval from Thom.
MDC

[mightypawn]

The pictures show for me, and Nders evidently can see them... I wonder what's up???

The images are actually on FaceBook, and linked to this post...

You may view the images here if you are still having trouble:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/191199847615279/

[markc]

  I am not a FaceBook person for a few reasons the main one being security. I know I should get over it but as a computer tec it just seems a risk that is easy to avoid.
MDC

[yammahoper]

Very nice.  Looks very useful with or without pictures.

[mightypawn]

The whole Idea is to keep the game going and not letting it stall in the details and mechanics of the system.

That is objective #1 for the whole project.

[providence13]

Looks great! I hope it works out well for all of us. 

[Lord Garth]

Looks good. I've dabbled with the idea of coding something myself at times, but eventually I've always discarded it as I don't really want to do away with table and crit reading, which I consider an integral part of the fun.

And anyway, I've "outsourced" the part about writing down and keeping track of NPCs in combat to my players. Saves me time, and keeps them busy and thus a wee more into the game.

But again, good effort.

[GrumpyOldFart]

And anyway, I've "outsourced" the part about writing down and keeping track of NPCs in combat to my players. Saves me time, and keeps them busy and thus a wee more into the game.

I started that back in.... well, farther back than I care to remember. It was RM1, I can tell you that much.

The meat shield gets the most commonly used melee weapon attack table. The archer gets the bow, of course, the mage gets the magic crits of course. Archer gets Puncture crits, meat shield gets Krush and maybe Slash. They each look up all results for that table, including when the bad guys need a result from one of them.

It also increases the trust the players have that the GM is running an honest game. It may be nasty, we may get killed, but the attack and the crits the monsters get are the exact same ones, for the exact same reasons, that we get, and we prove that to ourselves with every attack they make. Makes it a lot easier to forestall the suspicion that the GM is going easy on his girlfriend, or being extra nasty to his little brother.

[mightypawn]

No weapons tables or crit tables in my program guys...

I want the game to stay at the table, not on the computer.

The sole function of the program is to keep the game going by eliminating the constant need to address the mechanics of the system. 

There are quick roll buttons at the top for D100, Open High, and Open High/Low.... these can get the GM a quick roll, or more importantly, a  discrete roll without the players knowing. 

Bottom line is, "Let's RolePlay, and have fun, leave the roll, check a chart, re-roll on another chart- followed by more charts...  tedium...  leave that for a computer that can handle it in a microsecond...  And let the game continue!"

[mightypawn]

What it does do in combat:

Keep track of the order of combat: including initiative rolls for Creatures (optional for players)
Keeps track of damage (by whom, to whom)
Keeps track of Criticals (by whom, to whom)
keeps track of Bleed and stun(and what kind of stun)
keeps track of hits, and percentages for ob mods
Auto eliminates creatures when they are out of combat
Keeps track of who is attacking who

And when it's all over... it generates a nice report detailing the experience a player has gained and how.

[mightypawn]

On the other side:

The main application I'm developing will still not contain the weapons or crit charts, but will open your PDF to the correct page for whatever chart you are looking for...  A nice little feature that took me some time to learn as adobe is rather vague about their product, and don't make learning how to control their reader easy.  But the Information was out there, and it's very handy!

The app will do the same for spell lists of course!

[markc]

No weapons tables or crit tables in my program guys...

I want the game to stay at the table, not on the computer.

The sole function of the program is to keep the game going by eliminating the constant need to address the mechanics of the system. 

There are quick roll buttons at the top for D100, Open High, and Open High/Low.... these can get the GM a quick roll, or more importantly, a  discrete roll without the players knowing. 

Bottom line is, "Let's RolePlay, and have fun, leave the roll, check a chart, re-roll on another chart- followed by more charts...  tedium...  leave that for a computer that can handle it in a microsecond...  And let the game continue!"

 This IMHO is and should be the goal of every RPG game playing program.


 I also like the ability you have found out that opens PDF's. You might also look into Adobe's Classroom in a Book for Acrobat as I have found there class room book products to be great.
MDC

[mightypawn]

Update:

Treasure Generation is up to full speed!  I would estimate a week or two on the store generator, and I'll be close!  (again, no specifics on the Items, but the generated Items give the bonus, the material, what it is, whether it's a daily, constant, single use, or charged item, the spell/spells that are imbeded and keys are all generated!

Play testing is an unpredictable phase however....  trying to "break the program" is usually successful in the beginning, and some "bugs" will be undoubtedly hard to track....  but I am getting close folks!

Funniest thing generated by the program so far:

A potion of Stun Relief III with a negative key for Mentalism users!  (Ya gotta wonder why someone hated him!)

[intothatdarkness]

I started that back in.... well, farther back than I care to remember. It was RM1, I can tell you that much.

The meat shield gets the most commonly used melee weapon attack table. The archer gets the bow, of course, the mage gets the magic crits of course. Archer gets Puncture crits, meat shield gets Krush and maybe Slash. They each look up all results for that table, including when the bad guys need a result from one of them.

It also increases the trust the players have that the GM is running an honest game. It may be nasty, we may get killed, but the attack and the crits the monsters get are the exact same ones, for the exact same reasons, that we get, and we prove that to ourselves with every attack they make. Makes it a lot easier to forestall the suspicion that the GM is going easy on his girlfriend, or being extra nasty to his little brother.

I've always run mine that way as well. Each player has a copy of his/her own weapons tables and the crit charts for each. I've also farmed out NPCs on occasion as well so they can roll for them, too.

I got started doing this after a very annoying experience in my first RM campaign (as a player). We always seemed to die as soon as we hit 5th level, no matter which of the rotating three GMs happened to be running the game. There have also been times when I've allowed players to roll crits on themselves (so that when the bad guys hit them with a 22ES, they get to roll the E Slash).

[GrumpyOldFart]

I never used a screen either, you could always see my die rolls from anywhere at the table.

Of course, there's a fair chance you don't know what it means... there's even a fair chance it doesn't mean anything, I'm just rolling the dice to psych you.

 

It's fun to be able to make players paranoid by telling them the absolute truth.

"What was that roll for?"

"Nothing."   

[intothatdarkness]

I use a screen on occasion, but that's more to hide maps and such that the players really don't need to see. Otherwise my rolls tend to be quite open, and I often roll more than I need (just like you do) to keep them thinking.

I never saw the point in hiding dice rolls. I don't always tell players what mods are effecting those rolls, though. This is especially true for any Perception rolls.

[arakish]

It's fun to be able to make players paranoid by telling them the absolute truth.

"What was that roll for?"

"Nothing."   

My all-time favorite.  And I still use it in our SF game.

rmfr