Christmas is finally over. For many parents this is the light at the end of the tunnel. Christmas was a blast for me, but getting to the day was an exercise in stress management. However, holidays being what they are, if you are reading this, you are more likely interested in something in the RPG area of subject. So, I hand you this, a hodgepodge of collected ramblings I fear to actually categorize.
Lets start off with testing the CRM. So far it seems to be going well. Initially one of my testers went about assaulting the program in an effort to just break it. He didn’t. However, he found 3 minor bugs which I fixed in due haste. While they diligently explore the CRM I continue finding minor little problems I am fixing and preparing to patch for them. Absolutely nothing in the program is game breaking. Furthermore, some minor features have been added by request as well, thus making the overall program run smoother.
Furthermore, I am bringing the CRM up to date to the Modern Sagas themed content. So a wizard for building vehicles and computer programs is in the works and getting ready for the final launch. The wizards operate smoothly, so I don’t fear a whole lot of testing required for these minor additions.
I have also started to build the Character generator. More and more I am considering adding a character management system into this, but there are no promises yet. Such an addition may be too large and may have to wait for a later release. If this is so, then it will have its own retail version. What may be included, and is far more likely than a full blown CMS is a simple little journal addition. A full blown CMS will require a campaign creator I think to develop the world as well as offline management options. For instance, allowing a player to purchase and sell items away from the table is an option with the CRM campaigns. However, there is not a way to management. Instead, a campaign world builder will have an offline character shop where you can buy and sell items restricted to this specific offline shop. You may not get the same value as doing the sales in game, but it will be a lot more convenient.
Anyways, these are the things I think about instead of sleeping. It may not make a whole lot of sense reading it, but I think it is something that will answer alot of questions GMs would have when it comes to letting their players manage characters from their campaigns.
Also, you may be thinking now that this is really a first mention of a Character Manager for DPnP with some hints to what it will do. Well, that is about as far as I will go. Yes, I am developing a Character Manager. It will do what the title suggests and let you spend experience, buy and sell equipment, etc. There are some ways in which this will be approached and Game Masters will set the rules in their CRM or Campaign Worlds which will also have a DPnP solution.
So there is another hint for you. There is a DPnP Campaign World Builder. What this does is let you build the explorable campaign world. The CRM builds the skeleton. The CWB lets you build the living and breathing world.
And just for giggles I’ll give you one more secret. My version of a Christmas present. There is also and adventure builder in design stages that will be instrumental in future productions with Ironwood and I will release it as a stand alone product for you to enjoy.
That’s it, that is all your getting out of me. Mind, this is rambling and no promise, but there you have an un-official release list of new products for DPnP.
Happy Gaming.
