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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
How I prepare for my tabletop RPG sessions has changed a lot over the last 12 years, and open source software has been a big part of those changes. It's now a vital part of every step in the process, from collecting and sketching out ideas, to dungeon map creation, to map keying, right through to the tools used during play.
When I first started gaming, around 1980, the idea of open source was just beginning to form. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D, 1st edition) was still very new and our tools were just paper and pencil. I didn't get to play very much back then because my closest friend lived several miles away.
I got back to it in 2005 when a coworker invited me to play in his game. Four years later he couldn't continue as the DM because Life Got Busy™ so I took over as DM.
Initially, I went back to the old pencil and paper tools, just like back in 1980, to prepare for gaming sessions. Quickly, though, my work as a sysadmin and open source user changed how I prepare and run my campaign, the series of play sessions run by a DM that create the world and the challenges the other player characters (PCs) confront in AD&D or the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea.
Guy had a few ideas I hadn't thought of yet. You lot care to add any of the tools you use to the list?
Source: OpenSource.com
(Score: 1) by ShadowSystems on Friday June 23 2017, @04:13AM
Ok, I just reread your post & it dawned on me that you weren't talking about an app or desktop program, you were talking about doing it *as a web page*.
That can make a HUGE difference!
No JS, no massive amount of fluffy cruft, just simple, plain, pure HTML.
A Text Entry Field (TEF) for the Name, Hair/Eye/Skin color, & another for "Personal Fluff".
Race could be chosen by a DropDownMenu (DDM) that's configured to NOT auto trigger on the first entry encountered (like what happens when you open the DDM with a mouse & then scroll to the entry you want) but only after you arrow down through the options & hit Enter to confirm the option choice.
That would then populate all the Racial bits through the rest of the form: Ability Score improvements/penalties, Size modifiers, Base Speed, etc.
Another series of DDM's to adjust the Ability Scores to any value from 3 to 30, or give a TEF so they can type in a larger value.
The form would then populate the Modifiers where they needed to go, in the exact same way my equation idea auto populated the whole sheet at once.
A DDM to pick the Class would then auto populate the various bits (BAB, Saves, HP/Level, Skill Points/Level, etc) & free you from having to do that either.
Another DDM to pick the Level (say 1 to 20 with a TEF for higher), then have the form calculate all the math for HP, Skill Points available, number of Feats you get, starting GP, etc.
Under the Equipment you could have a DDM listing all the various types of Armor, another for Shields, a third for Melee weapons, a 4th for Ranged weapons, & then a BIG DDM for adding Gear.
That (adding Gear) might require a bunch of check boxes for bulk actions (delete, resize, etc), but you could Select/Enter from the DDM to add an item (backpack, candle, canvas, pitons, etc), a TEF to list the quantity, and let the form keep track of the cost, weight, etc.
If you try to give a Monk armor or a shield for example, it would have to be able to tell you "This Class has no Armor Proficiency to cover that item. You need to take a Feat for that!"
A DDM of all the different Feats from all the different sources, so you could select the ones you wanted from the whole spectrum.
Again, the form would have to be smart enough to say "You're a Fighter. Are you sure you want to take the Improved Familiar Feat? You don't HAVE a Familiar so you don't need an improved one either. Not that you CAN'T, I'm just saying it's a really stupid idea."
*Cough*
The biggest issue I can think of is creating the database of all the various bits.
All the Feats from all the sources, rewritten into a purely math equation so the computer can act on it.
All the Spells turned into equations so it can calculate the effect it has on your character; this is optional if you merely have it LIST the Spells, not do any calculations on the spells themselves.
As in "You can cast a Fireball spell at X Level" rather than calculating Area Of Effect, Range, Casting Time, Components, Effects, etc.
It would be hard, it would take a long time to do right, but I think it COULD be done!
...
...
*Comical whiney kid stuck in the back seat during a long car ride tone of voice*
Are you done yet?
Are you done yet?
Are you done yet?
*Kicking the seat*
How about now?
How about now?
How about now?
I GOTTA PEE!
*Cough*
=-)p