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So I have had some major breakthroughs with DPnP in the past few weeks. Primarily, I have brought the XML back to it through some help from a friend of mine. I also had a huge epiphany in regards to handling Load Out management. Load outs were introduced with the Modern Sagas Beta. They basically came from the idea that a single static inventory sheet that listed only what I carried, but not when I carried it and what it did was more or less useless. What I decided to do was create inventory sheets that included all stats for equipped items and armor, as well as items kept in packs, worn on the body, etc. Furthermore, they are designed to be written for multiple loads. For instance, you have a light load out for travelling, which may include light armor, a lighter weapon, and a dagger or back up with everything else in a pack. However, you have a separate load out for heavy combat with heavier armor and weapons, perhaps a shield, and no packs for unnecessary weight. The difference is plain. When you are travelling you need to stay light, but also capable of quick variation. However, when you know you are going to engage in heavy fighting you pretty much know exactly what you need, and only those few things. Weapons and armor change based on situation. You can play with load out combinations, name them, and modify them away from the game. Then, when you come back to the game, you can easily and quickly pull up a load out sheet with your favorite configuration for that situation. Its all very easy to use on paper, but much more difficult to implement electronically. It has to have a very easy interface as well as provide a multitude of variations and information. As many PC and console gamers know, electronic inventory management is usually the most unlikeable aspects of most RPGs. Very few games have done this well, and fewer still would even work with my situation. I have designed and tried to code no less than six variations so far. I finally found one that worked.

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The end of 2009 brings some sadness for me. Yet again, DPnP is not released, and still has much development to do. It also means another new year without any significant Sagas releases. I am hoping that 2010 is the year of Ironwood’s big coming up, but that all remains to be seen. (more…)

This week I am coming off of a short little vacation, mostly of the mind. In essence, I needed to take a few steps back and look at some issues from a mind that was not dragged down with progress. I escaped from the constant grinding away at the code and design elements and did next to nothing for several days in regards to working on DPnP, or E-RPG as a whole. It paid off.

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The DPnP system so far is developed primarily for two purposes: creating and managing campaigns, and creating and managing characters. One of the first future expansions to the suite will be to create an adventure creator. However, I have found that DPnP is still quite useful in the creation of adventures out of the box (per say as there is no real box).

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I was hoping to have some good screen shots to show concerning this article. However, I spent the better part of last week engaged in a serious migraine battle that threatened to put me back in the hospital. I think we have the problem identified with this and should have it resolved this week. However, that slowed down some progress. However, the Digital GM Screen is a huge addition to the CRM. Its potential is immense. It not only handles basic information, but it also has tools to allow you to run some amazing scenarios that would just be too cumbersome to do without it.

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There is on element of DPnP’s success that is somewhat out of my control. That element is community involvement. Ironwood has a community forum that receives some lurker traffic but not much discussion. That forum is really just a placeholder. While all of the forum is a valid community forum, there are large sections that will be or is dedicated to growth through DPnP. The idea is simple, you create content, then you share it with the community. This is an important feature as it makes a potentially limitless library of content available for free. (more…)

Digital Pen n Paper’s Campaign Resource Manager was initially designed specifically as a content creation tool for project development. In essence, we created the CRM to build RPG books of varying types. So what does that mean for you?

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As promised in last week’s post I will be expanding on what you will be able to accomplish with DPnP. Today we start with the most obvious: Campaign Building. (more…)

There still seems to be some confusion about the exact roll DPnP will play in your gaming. I am going to try to lay that out quickly here. I will also be compiling a PDF on all of the features concerning the release products and the potential of the system.

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Regions!

Honestly, what is so great about that? Well, to be frank, it is the keystone of a campaign world. It is such a huge part of building and organizing a game world I am thinking of releasing it as a separate program. Read more to find out why.

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