# Programs to organize campaigns



## Mystery Man

I came across this program whilst looking for something other than word that was funtional as a campaign writing tool. They have a collapseable tree structure that's pretty handy.

Of course it costs money (natch). Treepad link. Then some more googling and I found this one more geared towards GM's directly Myinfo. Then I found one that operates like the shareware programs thats free. Keynote, granted it doesnt have all the bells and whistles that the other two have (its free) with Treepad being the "fanciest" however Treepad is the only one I found that has a Linux version without running Wine. 

Anyhoo, just thought I'd throw those out. Didn't know if they've been discussed before or not.


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## gravyboat

I was planning on posting a thread just like this.  I came across the programs you mentioned and many more and tried them all out.  After quite a bit of substantial testing as to which one of these programs would work the best for adventure writing and running I decided on GSNotes (Goldensection Notes) http://www.tgslabs.com/eng/gsnotes/

This seems to be the most solid and versitile of the PIM's (Personal Information Managers) I have tried.  I plan on writing up my whole next adventure in gsnotes and running it at the table on my laptop.  The beauty of this program is that all your information is highly organized and readily accessible.  You can insert hyperlinks to programs, online webpages, to different sections of your gsnotes file.  You can also insert pictures that are links.  The best part of this program that I am excited about is that I have a bunch of playlists compiled of great RPG music, which I will place links to in my adventure outline.  So the party comes accross an area of howling wind tunnels, I click on a link and howling wind sound effects begin to play.  If the party walks into a tavern, I quickly jump to my tavern writeup and right at the top is a link to the tavern music.

Here are some preliminary screenshots of how I'm setting up my adventure.  I still need to add a lot of folders, for NPC and Monster statblocks and other things.


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## Mystery Man

Sweet, I had not found that one. I'll try that one out too. I've been playing around with Treepad and I like that you can build tables and shizzle. Geeking out over here!


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## Ashrem Bayle

Thanks Gravyboat, I'm going to have to check that out!


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## Hand of Evil

I have been looking for something like this for a very long time and gave up on it!  

Thanks!


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## Ashrem Bayle

Anyone know what happens after 30 days and you don't register?

What I really want is a program for writing adventures. For example, I'd like it to promt me to enter a synopsis, background, flavor text, maps, room descriptions, monster stats and all that. Then, when it's done, you just hit "Format" and it takes all your data and formats it into an adventure that looks like it came straight from Wizards themselves.

That'd be sweet.


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## Hand of Evil

Ashrem Bayle said:
			
		

> Anyone know what happens after 30 days and you don't register?
> 
> What I really want is a program for writing adventures. For example, I'd like it to promt me to enter a synopsis, background, flavor text, maps, room descriptions, monster stats and all that. Then, when it's done, you just hit "Format" and it takes all your data and formats it into an adventure that looks like it came straight from Wizards themselves.
> 
> That'd be sweet.



Yes that would, I remember hoping that was what E-Tools was going to be!


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## Ashrem Bayle

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> Yes that would, I remember hoping that was what E-Tools was going to be!




Yeah, when they said it would do that, I got all excited. When they announced that feature's removal, I lost all interest.


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## gravyboat

I inserted the entire SRD into a gsnotes file (.gso) (see the screenshot below).  So if you want to check it out, you can download the whole thing at the following link

http://members.cox.net/theoremtank1/SRD.zip

It took me about 40 min. to to do this.  That's the beauty of this GSNotes program, you can put documents together pretty quickly.

The gsnotes program also has a useful search feature which allows you to search through the entire gso file or just through specific folders and notes.  This makes looking up rules in the SRD very quick.

I love the fact you can lauch any program you have on your computer with links you place in the document.  In my adventure I'm writing with GSNotes, I have links that instantly load up Jamis Buck's NPC Generator, a dicerolling program, excel spreadsheets, and numerous rpg pdf's.

By the way, I don't work for the company, I'm just stoked that this program works so well for what I want to do with my upcoming adventure.


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## Mystery Man

After playing around with all of them I think I've found Treepad to be the most functional. 

GSnotes is actually better than Myinfo I think and its free is it not?

I like Treepad enough to actually pay for it. Decisions, decisions....


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## DMFTodd

DM's Familiar has a basic tree-view tool in it as well - The Codex Tree. You can use it to write your adventure but you can also use it to drop in D&D specific things - rules, spells, monsters, etc. So you can have a note that has the text for your room, and a link you can click to open the monster that is there, and a link to open up the spell that is the monsters special ability, etc. Andit has a combat manager if you can get a laptop to your game table, et.c

Roleplaying Master has a tree-view tool init as well. 

Dunnjinni (or however they spell it) from Fluid is a mapper and writing tool combined. My understanding is that it is the part that was pulled from E:Tools.


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## soulcatcher

*GMGen has a notes system as well*

GMGen has a tree based notes system that is very capable. GMGen is a part of PCGen that gives the user a quickly broadening set of tools for gming.  Also note, PCGen/GMGen are Open Source, and completly free.

Everything you write is stored as HTML, you have most general word processing functions - and if you need better ones, you can edit the file in any other html editor (I had to do this for tables, a feature I will add some time soon)

But it does have undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, font resizing, bold, italics, undeline, color, lists, numbered lists, image embedding, and right-center-left justification.

You can also drag and drop files on a note to store and launch them from gmgen, including pcg (PCGen character files), and gmi (GMGen encounter files).  The Notes system is designed for world notes, as well as being a vehicle for creating modules, and using gmgen to run said module.

You can fetch gmgen at PCGen's Website When you do so, be sure to download the 5.6 full version (the partial version does not contain gmgen). Note, you do need Java 1.4 for PCGen/GMGen.

One final thing - if you find a problem with the notes system, or it does nto support a feature you would like, you can always contact me, or submit a bug on pcgen's bug submission/feature request site (on the webpage).  And I will do my best to get to it ASAP.

Devon Jones
GMGen Silverback
PCGen Board of Directors

Here are some screen shots:


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## Mystery Man

soulcatcher said:
			
		

> GMGen has a tree based notes system that is very capable. GMGen is a part of PCGen that gives the user a quickly broadening set of tools for gming. Also note, PCGen/GMGen are Open Source, and completly free.
> Here are some screen shots:



And its tabbed. Holy crap!  

One feature I noticed about Myinfo that I cant find in any of the others is being able to imbed other programs like Word, Excel etc.


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## DaveStebbins

I had been using the free version of MyInfo for several years. I upgraded to 1.9, which was the last freeware version, not too long ago but was not happy with the lack of features.

So, compared to what I already had, I am very impressed with Keynote. Formatting, hyperlinks, spell checker; I've got a new toy! It's also free, and only about 3 MB. I carry my campaign info and notes, as well as the MyInfo/Keynote program, on my three-year-old, 32 MB, USB thumb drive, so a smaller program is a plus. 

[old guy does the happy dance  ]

Thanks for the thread.
-Dave


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## Ashrem Bayle

Cool!

This is the first I've heard of GMGen. I'll be checking it out today.


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## AutoSponge

I started using GSNotes to input my campaign.  So far I really like it.  It has some limitations mostly with importing tables, but otherwise it handles the data very nicely.  Links are very easy to set up and stable, I only wish I could drag and drop within GSNotes (maybe I can, just don't know how yet).  I would have liked added functions like dice bags and combat matrix but I'm glad it wasn't programed in Java, so I'll keep it.


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## soulcatcher

Mystery Man said:
			
		

> And its tabbed. Holy crap!




Indeed.

I could really use some vocal users of the notes system to tell me what needs to be fixed 

I'm also open to hearing about feature suggestions.....

Devon


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## mafisto

Ashrem Bayle said:
			
		

> Anyone know what happens after 30 days and you don't register?
> 
> What I really want is a program for writing adventures. For example, I'd like it to promt me to enter a synopsis, background, flavor text, maps, room descriptions, monster stats and all that. Then, when it's done, you just hit "Format" and it takes all your data and formats it into an adventure that looks like it came straight from Wizards themselves.
> 
> That'd be sweet.




Is there a list of which of these features would have been included in e-tools anywhere?  Or a list of adventure requirements, like the list you've started but I'll assume is incomplete?  

It occurs to me that I'd like something like that as well, and it's certainly within my capability to create.  I just need a reference for whatever requirements would be necessary.


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## Hand of Evil

mafisto said:
			
		

> Is there a list of which of these features would have been included in e-tools anywhere?  Or a list of adventure requirements, like the list you've started but I'll assume is incomplete?
> 
> It occurs to me that I'd like something like that as well, and it's certainly within my capability to create.  I just need a reference for whatever requirements would be necessary.



Thougt I had one of the first promotes for E-Tools but have been unable to find it, too many years ago.  But it was to be a module designer, it was to use the game mapper for Arcana (sp) to produce 3d maps for viewing on a PC.  It was also to allow you to added notes DM and player, link it to and area, so when you published it was produced in a clean print format, much like what you see by Wizards.


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## Hand of Evil

Ashrem Bayle said:
			
		

> Anyone know what happens after 30 days and you don't register?




Looks like the program features will turn off but as you can save everything to be open again all you have to do is re-install.


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## crabclaw

I’m looking for a similar application. One that gives grammatical and vocabulary suggestions or ever has the ability to check for story logic and one that might even convert information from one speech tone to another speech tone – any thing out there that could help with these sorts of things?


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## wombatmaster

For my D&D content management I use a program called The Journal.

 Like the other programs already mentioned, it provides hyperlinks to locations internally as well as other files or web pages. It has a spell checker and thesaurus as well as powerful formatting options (even supporting styles) but, for me, its killer feature is its support for templates. This can be used for simply inserting boilerplate text or something quite complex as it supports scripting.

 Also, the website has a section on incorporating the program into roleplaying sessions.

 It's not free though ($US39.95), but worth the money in my mind.

 Regards

 Wombatmaster


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## Ashrem Bayle

mafisto said:
			
		

> Is there a list of which of these features would have been included in e-tools anywhere?  Or a list of adventure requirements, like the list you've started but I'll assume is incomplete?
> 
> It occurs to me that I'd like something like that as well, and it's certainly within my capability to create.  I just need a reference for whatever requirements would be necessary.




Simple. Just take a look at any WOTC adventure (e.g. The Sunless Citadel) or maybe even their free downloadable adventures.

If you do put something together, make sure you let us know!


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## Mystery Man

wombatmaster said:
			
		

> For my D&D content management I use a program called The Journal.
> 
> Like the other programs already mentioned, it provides hyperlinks to locations internally as well as other files or web pages. It has a spell checker and thesaurus as well as powerful formatting options (even supporting styles) but, for me, its killer feature is its support for templates. This can be used for simply inserting boilerplate text or something quite complex as it supports scripting.
> 
> Also, the website has a section on incorporating the program into roleplaying sessions.
> 
> It's not free though ($US39.95), but worth the money in my mind.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Wombatmaster



This is a nice program. Glad I haven't cut a check to anyone yet.  Thanks for the 4-1-1.


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## barsoomcore

I use ProjectBuilder, the Macintosh development environment. It does basically what all those tools do (though less pretty) with the benefit of saving everything in straightforward text or rtf files. I can include images, too, and html. Downside is that of course it includes about a zillion features I will NEVER use (hm, "Define Class" just doesn't mean what I think it should), and it's kinda ugly, and it doesn't do text styling very well.

GMGen looks okay but my primary experience with PCGen is SSSSLLLLLOOOOWWWW. Oh, and incredibly ugly. I looked at GMGen but it seemed to be more of an in-game tool which I have no use for. But those screenshots have piqued my interest.

The tool I really want is not very complicated -- it lets me create rtf, txt and html files at will, keeps them neatly organized and does multi-file searches, allows me to open multiple panes so I can view two files at once. Supporting styles would be great, as well.


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## PugioilAudacio

Could someone provide a list of features they would like in these programs? I've read people toting various programs, but I'm not sure what they are really looking for in these programs. To my mind, I can use almost any program to create a campaign and I am wondering what it is that makes these programs especially useful.

Thanks,
Pugio


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## DaveStebbins

PugioilAudacio said:
			
		

> Could someone provide a list of features they would like in these programs? I've read people toting various programs, but I'm not sure what they are really looking for in these programs. To my mind, I can use almost any program to create a campaign and I am wondering what it is that makes these programs especially useful.



What attracts me to my campaign information tool (was MyInfo, now KeyNote) is the drill-down tree structure. The lefthand pane has a tree structure, almost like Windows Explorer with one-click drill-down capability. Each page then has it's material in the larger, right-hand pane. This structure makes it easy for me to find, organize and add to my notes. 

When there are so many varied topics and inventive, knowledgeable and imaginative people on these boards, I will often find someone mention some bit and quickly be able to move to a specific page in my campaign notes to add that bit or whatever bits it inspired in me. 

It's just very handy, very portable (inspiration strikes at work sometimes), and, to my thinking, very elegant.


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## TheAuldGrump

What I look for is output - how does the finished adventure look. I use a word processer (Word Perfect 10) for most things, and a database for critter, common traps, etc. I also like having a decent mapper, and have several programs that I use to handle this part of the mess,, erm... I mean creative process.

Role Playing Master now creates some decent output, and includes a simple but fully functional word processer, but my habits, I think, have become too ingrained. (That and I really like WP10...)

The Auld Grump


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## gravyboat

What I think makes an ideal adventure writing utility from the available Personal Information Manager (PMIs) programs out there...
1.) A customizable tree structure pane.
2.) A rich text editor with the ability to insert pictures and hyperlinks.
The hyperlinks should be able to link to websites, local executable files, or other documents within the program.  Also, pictures that can be made into hyperlinks also.
3.) A search feature, idealy with both find and replace functionality.  A feature I have not found but would like to see in these programs is the ability to find a particular word in a document and replace it with hyperlink code.  This way I could link every occurance of a particular spell to its description located on some other note.

The following features I have not found in any of the PIM programs but would like to see.
4.) The option of having an HTML page to act as a note instead of just an rtf document.  Of course the HTML page would need a side tab for editing the coded and a tab for viewing the results.  This would be great because then adventure maps could be inserted in the notes that could also have image maps attached to them.  THis way you could click on a portion of the adventure map and it would take you to a note with the description of the area.  The HTML would be great also for the reason that you could run javascript programs right off the page you were viewing.  For instance you could have an HTML page with an encounter description that contains javascripted controls for rolling dice, calculating jump distances, or various other rules helping programs.

By the way, I believe Keynote is planning this option for their upcoming version 2.0 rewrite of the program.  There is a program called ideaspad that almost pulls this off but lacks a lot of functionality that other programs have.

5.) customizable toolbar buttons for loading various outside programs.


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## Mystery Man

I've been using "The Journal" now for a couple days. I really like the tabbed view, and being able to assign different tasks to them. One tab is a dated journal where you can throw down random thoughts for use on another tab where you actually have your campaign organized. You can build templates that you can right click into another project your working on. For instance I've made Orc warrior and barbarian templates from 1st - 10th and I can just add them to a particular encounter that I'm building with just a right click. Very handy. I'm building another separate tab that will hold the SRD for quick lookups if I'm not on the web. You can't build tables that I've found, however you can insert objects like spreadsheets and other things. All in all a very nicely done ultility.


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## wombatmaster

Another type of program that I find useful, especially in the development phase, is mind-mapping software. It's a great way to visually brainstorm ideas and develop links between them. It gives a greater dimensional representation of info as compared to the more traditional hierarchal view.

MindManager (commercial)
FreeMind (freeware)

 Regards

 Wombatmaster


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## Hand of Evil

I went with GS Notes, tab databases, selectable databases, tree structure, import of pics and text, drag and drop freatures, hyperlinks, tables, template printing (have to find out if I can create a template) .  I am still looking at a couple of the others and now that mind-mapping.


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## gravyboat

Here is a sample of some of the PIMs (Personal Information Managers) I have come across on the internet.  This is by no means a full list as I have seen many more of these types of programs on the internet.

If anyone finds any creative ways to use these programs for their RPG adventures please post them here.

eNotebook
http://www.enotebook-home.com/index.asp

Nootex
http://www.smartgesture.com/

TreePad (various versions)
http://www.treepad.com/

TreeDBNotes
http://www.softviewer.com/treedbnotes/

Secure Notes Organizer
http://www.secureaction.com/notes/index2.shtml

GoldenSection Notes
http://www.tgslabs.com/

NotesTree
http://ex-code.com/treeedit/

AcuteNotes
www.acutenotes.com

Maple Professional
http://www.crystaloffice.com/mproinfo.html

Ideaspad
http://www.mindwarp-consultancy-software.com/ideaspad-sharewa

re-download.html

My Notes Center
www.mynotescenter.com

ActiveTreeNotes
www.windine.com/Software/ActiveTreeNotes/activetreenotes.html

AnyNotes
www.anynotes.com/index.htm

HyperClip
www.risksoftworks.com/products.html
NetPicker
www.fastbrowser.net/netpicker

ActionOutline
www.actionoutline.com

Info Angel
www.angelicsoftware.com/infoangel.html

Mybase
http://www.wjjsoft.com/download.html

Black Hole Organizer
www.lincolnbeach.com

The Journal
www.davidrm.com/thejournal

KeyNote
http://www.tranglos.com/free/theindex.html


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## barsoomcore

The killer for me is file format. I got burned once by a program that used a proprietary file format -- when the program went kablooie and I found out the company that made it was no more I was hosed -- and all my data went bye-bye.

Save it in text files, rtf files, html -- but don't pack it into some binary format that nobody else can read.

Word to the wise.

For features, I don't want "drill-down"  functionality, really. What I want is quick access to disparate items -- to be able to switch from my campaign calendar to my NPC description, or whatever. To be able to create and group items. To be able to print items out for reference at the game table.


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## CL

Before I ran across this thread, I had started work on WorldBuilder, a program in java used to organize the various entities of a D&D world.  Basically, it is a tree structure organizing specific nodes for planes, characters, etc, with specific data for each and the capability to randomly generate an entire plane.  Attached are some early screenshots of what's done.  I'm kinda glad that there seems to be intrest for this type of thing...


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## Mercule

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> For features, I don't want "drill-down" functionality, really. What I want is quick access to disparate items -- to be able to switch from my campaign calendar to my NPC description, or whatever. To be able to create and group items. To be able to print items out for reference at the game table.



As a software engineer, I'd be interested to hear what sort of interface you'd recommend in place of a drill-down.  Are you differentiating between a strict drill-down and one with a tree/folder structure?


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## omokage

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> quick access to disparate items



I think this is what the icon-based gui is all about.
Most of these organization programs aren't any more functional than your average filesystem with a gui interface (e.g.: Finder, Explorer, Nautilus, Konqeror)

However, on the other hand, I do really like TreePad's publish to HTML feature.


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## barsoomcore

Mercule said:
			
		

> As a software engineer, I'd be interested to hear what sort of interface you'd recommend in place of a drill-down.  Are you differentiating between a strict drill-down and one with a tree/folder structure?



 Yes, exactly. A folder structure is perfect -- AS LONG AS I can quickly switch from one item (in path foo/bar/hidyhoo) to another (in path tom/dick/harry). What I like about my ProjectBuilder is that as a development environment, it keeps track of files I've opened and builds up a pop-up menu with them all. Which does the trick admirably. It also provides "Back" and "Forward" buttons so I can flip between two files easily. And finally, it allows me to create a "split-screen" view so I can view two files simultaneously. Those final three features (the menu, the buttons and the split-screen) provide far more useful functionality than any "drill-down" would be. To me, anyway.

But see, for me, "Publish to HTML" is useless. When I want HTML, I write HTML. But I'm a bit of a cantankerous old coot when it comes to HTML.


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## gravyboat

One thing I noticed that most of these PIM programs don't have is an html note format.  I would like to see one of these programs with the ability to create an html note or an rtf note.  Where the html note needs both a source editing pane and a browser pane.  Of course links within either type of these notes should be able to jump to any other document wihtin the program.  I would like to be able to create an image map over one of my adventure maps and be able to link the areas description in another note within the program.  A standardized microsoft gui is always welcome also.


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## Hand of Evil

It will be interesting to see how MicroSoft's OneNote program works for a campaign organizer, the cost is high 100$ but intergration to all things MS and a very common format.


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## Vlos

*The Brain*

Ok, for all those wanting software to organinze your campaign/thoughts the software you are looking for is called "The Brain". http://www.thebrain.com/

The problem I have with most systems is I'm always changing the ways I want to store my information. In different formats, different programs. To link all these together in some sort of accessible fassion is the real trick.

The Brain is sort of like a personal web sever for your computer, but unlike a web server it is much more intuitive to navigate. Basically every link is organized into thoughts. Each thought can be a note, a word document, a image, powerpoint presentation, a text file, pdf, etc... You can link to any file located anywhere on your system, intranet or network pretty much regardless of the format. And each thought can be related to other thoughts. Thus you can create independant campaigns, encounters or adventures, and then link them as needed. 

Like said above, I try not to tie my adventures together in any linear fashion, thus when the PC move from one area to another you can quickly navigate to the desired information.

Check it out.

PS: It also has a cool interface.


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## PugioilAudacio

I don't think that I can test this - but I would be interested in what other people think of this program.


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## JohnnFour

I use MyInfo and find it awesome. I haven't used The Journal or the other PIMs mentioned in the thread, but these are some of the MyInfo features I like and some of the ways I use them:

* Templates for NPCs, places, etc. You just type up your stuff, lay it out, and then tell MyInfo it's a template. Then it's available any time in the menu.

* Copying nodes. I like to create a blank node tree for various things and then copy the whole thing each time I need a new instance of it. For example, I used to have a "Kingdom" tree with nodes for Politics, Art, Archecture, Ruling Agency, etc. Any time related information came to light (in-game or while planning) I'd just go to the appropriate node and add it in. Over time, the tree would slowly flesh out and become a great knowledge base. Whenever I created a new kingdom for my world, I'd just grab the blank node tree, copy it, and re-name it to my Kingdom's name and I had an instant skeleton to work with.

* HTML export. You can export nodes into HTML format and into entire web sites. This is how I created my last campaign web site. You can designate which nodes are non-exportable as well (i.e. so you don't publish GM only information).

* Hyperlinks. As mentioned before in this thread, an easy way to create links to pics, sound files, and other docs. 

* Node links. I also like the node links (i.e. shortcuts to other nodes), where you can drop a link to a node in any other node. This lets me organize my main tree by "objects", i.e. NPCs, Locations, Magic Items, etc. Then, when I refer to those objects in my other writing, I just create a shortcut to them.

This helps me centralize info so I'm only updating one copy and everything else links to that. Does that make sense? Probably not, I'm starting to confuse myself. 

For example, between each game I create a new node for the upcoming session. i.e. Session #45. Within that, I create nodes for each encounter I have planned. And, within each encounter I'll create shortcuts to the NPCs, critters, and locations involved.

I moved recently and lost my campaign data unfortunately, otherwise I'd just post my data file and quit my rambling. Here's a diagram instead:

+ Locations
...+ Grey Kingdom
......+ Castle Bleak
.........+ Throne Room
.........+ Alchemist's Room
............- description
............- shortcut to Alchemist NPC node
+ NPCs
...+ Alchemist
......- stats
......- description
......- shortcut to Alchemist's Room node
+ Sessions
...+ Session 45
......+ Confrontation with Alchemist
.........- encounter details
.........- shortcut to Alchemist NPC node
.........- shortcut to Alchemist's Room node


I've started using RoleplayingMaster. It's awesome too. It's definitely a gem in the rough, with GUI and documentation still being perfected. But custom HTML reporting (with variables and logic scripting), combined with pre-fab and custom table generators, 3.5 database, and wizards make it a long-term, open-ended D&D tool.


Another thing I discovered recently was MS Word's outline view. If you already have MS Word, check that out.


I also use WeatherMaster. It allows you to generate custom game world calendars and weather charts. Once you set your world up, you can generate weather for years in advance. What I do is generate weather for one year and then re-use it for every other year. The players don't remember and it saves having to shuffle through reams of weather reports as the campaign advances. Just change-up the weather for special times of the year where the players would grow suspicious. i.e. "How come it always rains on harvest day!" http://www.milieusim.com/

The only thing about WeatherMaster, I feel, is that the GUI is backwards. Weather gets 90% of screen real estate, and the campaign log gets 10%. If it were the other way around it would be such a wonderful logging tool! The software already generates weather reports for different times of the day and remembers it in your campaign database. Being able to record IC and OOC events along with this would make it an awesome tool.


I think RoleplayingMaster's outline tool, crunchy bits tools, and mappping tool are going to take care of my design tasks from now on. What I need now is a time management tool. Something like WeatherMaster that lets me create a custom calendar to log past, present (in-game), and future events in it. Anyone know of any good game blog software that lets you create custom calendars to suit your game world's calendar to synch your logs to?


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## frugal

So far I have tried:

*GSNotes: * 

Too propriatory
Can not export to anything other than GSNote format. Been burnt that way too many times...

*Jreepad: * 

Pre alpha software.
Only works with plain text note, no linking

*MyInfo: * 

Propriatory format
Can import files, but only 1 at a time
Moving text between nodes looses all of the formatting information. 
Internal links to other nodes appear as "file::Bless#7" to link to a node called "Bless" which is just ugly. 
Export to HTML looses all of the link information and just displays the text "file::Bless#7" with no link...

*Treepad*

Propriatory format
Good import facility
HTML import ignores stylesheets
Moving data between nodes is easy
Good hyper linking facilities
Export to HTML refers to all hyperlinks as "nodeid://317" rather than converting them to href links
 Importing HTML that has been exported does not keep the "nodeid://317" link elements.
 Adding a link turns html into rtf.

*The Journal*

 Proriatory format
 no way to export to any other format.


What I am looking for is a way to have the whole of the SRD plus any other class / feat/ spell information I haev in one easily searched place.

Having everything as one big 2000 page doc file is a pain and I have never found a HTML system that is searchable over multiple files.

what I am looking for are the following features:


 Ability to import data from HTML files and keep the formatting (this includes stylesheets
 Ability to create a new html node from a stylesheet and template
 Ability to search over all of the nodes.
 Ability to link to nodes
 Ability to dump the whole lot as a set of HTML pages (including stylesheets and links)
 Abiltiy to move information around between nodes and not loose information (i.e. move the Bless spell from the SpellsA-B node into it's own node easily and retain formatting).
 Abiltiy to drag and drop selected text into a new node
 And most importantly: Auto hyper linking. I want any occurance of the word "bless" to be linked to the node "bless".

Treepad is close but it does not satisfy the stylesheet/template requirements and it handles links badly. If it did not convert html to rtf when I added a link I would consider writing some perl to add the links in for me


----------



## wombatmaster

frugal said:
			
		

> *The Journal*
> 
> Proriatory format
> no way to export to any other format.




 I've found that The Journal is able to export the following types of files: txt, rtf, htm, and jnx (its native format) and import txt, rtf, and jnx. It also offers batch import of these file formats as well as synchronizing journal files (i.e. only imported if a newer entry). Batch export is well served also: one can export by date, selected entries or selected categories. The exported data can be in one single file, a file for each category, or a file for each entry - so there's quite a degree of flexibility.


 Like another poster mentioned, I'd love to hear on more tips in using these types of PIMs to manage D&D sessions. I did try using DM Genie for a while (my favourite in the current crop of D&D game managers) but I didn't feel as in control as I'd like (and I missed rolling all those dice!). Johnn Four had a few excellent articles on this subject at www.roleplayingtips.com but I'd love to hear more (I'm greedy, what can i say? )


 Regards


 Wombatmaster


----------



## Hand of Evil

Has anyone used MS OneNote yet or even seen it, I have only read about it?  Still the cost is high but I have a feeling that it will replace MS Works as default MS application on a PC/laptop.


----------



## frugal

wombatmaster said:
			
		

> I've found that The Journal is able to export the following types of files: txt, rtf, htm, and jnx (its native format) and import txt, rtf, and jnx. It also offers batch import of these file formats as well as synchronizing journal files (i.e. only imported if a newer entry). Batch export is well served also: one can export by date, selected entries or selected categories. The exported data can be in one single file, a file for each category, or a file for each entry - so there's quite a degree of flexibility.




Are you are indeed right. Under "Entries" where I was not expecting it...

Nope, still broken  It will export to HTML, but if you try to use '\' as the path separator it hangs the program  and when you do give up and use '-' as the path separator so every file will be in the same directory all of the links are broken: They all get exported as: journal:Notebook[SpellsA-B.rtf\Bane] rather than a http: link.

Now I could cope with this using a bit of perl to rewrite the links after I exported it. I could even cope with it with a bit of perl to add new links in automatically. However


 You can not import HTML back into the journal program, only TXT, RTf and Journal files.
 If you move a node from one location in the tree to another loction in the tree it does not update any links pointing to the node... So after you do a move all of the links are broken






			
				wombatmaster said:
			
		

> Like another poster mentioned, I'd love to hear on more tips in using these types of PIMs to manage D&D sessions. I did try using DM Genie for a while (my favourite in the current crop of D&D game managers) but I didn't feel as in control as I'd like (and I missed rolling all those dice!). Johnn Four had a few excellent articles on this subject at www.roleplayingtips.com but I'd love to hear more (I'm greedy, what can i say? )




I shall have a look.

The more I think about it the more I feel the need for an auto linking feature: when a node is displayed it searches for any non linked word(s) that are the same as a node name and then dynamically inserts a link to that node. Just having the name of an NPC in the text would automatically cerate a link to the NPCs node. If you do it dynamically then you can mention the NPC, then create a node for him, then the next time you look at the node that mentioned him there would be a link already there for you.

All of the PIM systems are very limited by how you can move between the nodes. I can do most of what they do just with a series of HTML files in a directory structure.


----------



## frugal

Well, I have large amounts of egg on my face 

I did some more exploration with TreePad and it turns out that there are 2 kinds of tree pad files. by default it stores the nodes as RTF, but if you select the "htlhjt" file kind instead of the "hjt" file kind when you create the project all of the information is stored as HTML in the file.

I also found out what I was doing wrong with the export. If you export the subtree as a series of HTML files the links are not present. If you export the subtree to a "website" then it creates all of the same files (plus a couple of extra ones) but all of the links work fine....

The only wrinkle is that for some reason with the HTML projects you can not include images, but with the RTF ones you can (and you can export the images as part of the HTML export... Do I want to go a little bit further and parse RTF to do my automatic link insertion...

anyway I think I am going to have to get buy a full copy of TreePad. $40 is abuot £25 at the moment so that is not very expensive at all.


----------



## Mystery Man

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> Has anyone used MS OneNote yet or even seen it, I have only read about it? Still the cost is high but I have a feeling that it will replace MS Works as default MS application on a PC/laptop.



It's best when used with a TabletPC, which l do use.  However I'm not a big fan of the program. I have however, found that using a TabletPC to GM a game is absolutely invaluable.


----------



## DMFTodd

Interesting discussion.

I use DM's Familiar (since I wrote it). It has a tree view and notes - I use a 3rd party tool to do it and I'm not overly happy with it. It's not as powerful as some of these tools you guys are mentioning. But, I really like the combat manager and the reference library in DMF. They are worth more to me than the tree and my tree can is integrated with that stuff which is vital.

Glancing at all of these programs mentioned, they are all stand-alone programs near as I can tell. Anyone know a good tool like this that can be incorporated into other programs (COM object, ActiveX control, etc.)?


----------



## omokage

Mystery Man said:
			
		

> I have however, found that using a TabletPC to GM a game is absolutely invaluable.



What are the advantages of a TabletPC over a laptop in this situation?


----------



## MaxKaladin

I may have to try Treepad.  I looked at GSNotes and a couple of others but I wasn't terribly impressed with most of them.  GSNotes isn't bad, but I'm a bit nervous about the proprietary format.  I've never been burned like that but I'd like to keep that record intact.  There are also enough nagging little issues with the user interfact that I'm not crazy about using it.  The others either had way too few features, a clunky interface, or lacked the important (to me) feature of tables (I like to use tables as an organizational tool).  

It looks like Treepad might address my concerns.  The only thing that leaps out at me as a potentital problem right now is only being able to have one database open at a time.  I like the idea of being able to have a database with, say, the SRD open in it while I'm working in a seperate database that has my campaign info in it.  It looks like you have to buy the $90 "Enterprise" version to get that.  

I'll have to take a look at it.


----------



## frugal

MaxKaladin said:
			
		

> It looks like Treepad might address my concerns.  The only thing that leaps out at me as a potentital problem right now is only being able to have one database open at a time.  I like the idea of being able to have a database with, say, the SRD open in it while I'm working in a seperate database that has my campaign info in it.  It looks like you have to buy the $90 "Enterprise" version to get that.




By "one database open at a time" what they mean is that "each instance of the program can only have one database open at one time". 

You can have a many copies of the program open at once, each with a different database, given that the executble is only 1Mb that is not a problem.

When you access the manual this is exactly what it does. It kicks off another copy of the program using the manual database.


----------



## Kaji

DMFTodd said:
			
		

> DM's Familiar has a basic tree-view tool in it as well - The Codex Tree. You can use it to write your adventure but you can also use it to drop in D&D specific things - rules, spells, monsters, etc. So you can have a note that has the text for your room, and a link you can click to open the monster that is there, and a link to open up the spell that is the monsters special ability, etc. Andit has a combat manager if you can get a laptop to your game table, et.c
> 
> Roleplaying Master has a tree-view tool init as well.
> 
> Dunnjinni (or however they spell it) from Fluid is a mapper and writing tool combined. My understanding is that it is the part that was pulled from E:Tools.




No disrespect inteded, but I tried to use DM's Familiar to organize my campaign, and I was pretty disappointed. While I'm sure it has many other cool features, this one worked out poorly me. I spent some time with Roleplaying Master's tree-view, and that was a little better, but not what I wanted. I'll have to check out all these other tools, i'm jazzed about that...


----------



## Mystery Man

omokage said:
			
		

> What are the advantages of a TabletPC over a laptop in this situation?



I could go on about it but one huge thing for me at least, I can draw maps and pictures like I'm drawing with pencil and paper and print them out. Or import them into my journal.  

I can record my thoughts and have them typed out for me with the voice to text program. 

Plus with my tablet I can flip the screen and it converts to a laptop.


----------



## gravyboat

frugal said:
			
		

> So far I have tried:
> 
> what I am looking for are the following features:
> 
> 
> Ability to import data from HTML files and keep the formatting (this includes stylesheets
> Ability to create a new html node from a stylesheet and template
> Ability to search over all of the nodes.
> Ability to link to nodes
> Ability to dump the whole lot as a set of HTML pages (including stylesheets and links)
> Abiltiy to move information around between nodes and not loose information (i.e. move the Bless spell from the SpellsA-B node into it's own node easily and retain formatting).
> Abiltiy to drag and drop selected text into a new node
> And most importantly: Auto hyper linking. I want any occurance of the word "bless" to be linked to the node "bless".




These are all items I would really like in a good adventure organizer program.  The ability to set up auto-hyperlinking would be a lifesaver.  It would be great to do a one time set-up for each NPC's name and thereafter everytime you type that name, you would get a link to the NPC's statblock and writeup.  The HTML nodes would be great also, as I would like to create image maps within my actual adventure maps so that when you click on a hot spot it would take you right to the node where that locations write-up, encounter, etc. is located.

I like the idea of a non-proprietary format, so that all rtf or html files within the program could be reused in separate programs.  Although I believe a good adventure organizer program would need to include its own rtf and html editor as well as the integrated browser for viewing the html nodes.  And above all, a simple, fast, and clean intuitive interface is a must.

I've got a stack of books at home on windows forms and gui programing in C#, and its been burning at me to attempt to write such a program.  But I really lack the time right now for such an undertaking as I've got a thesis in math to research.  Too bad they don't offer degrees in D&D


----------



## gravyboat

I agree a tablet PC would be great to have for gaming.  But I think if anyone were interested in bringing a computing device to the gaming table, an older laptop would work fine.  I only say this in regards to cost concerns.  This is why I believe a good campaign organizing tool should also not be a resource hog, so that older laptops could be used also.


----------



## Hand of Evil

Mystery Man said:
			
		

> I could go on about it but one huge thing for me at least, I can draw maps and pictures like I'm drawing with pencil and paper and print them out. Or import them into my journal.
> 
> I can record my thoughts and have them typed out for me with the voice to text program.
> 
> Plus with my tablet I can flip the screen and it converts to a laptop.



This is why I am wondering about MS OneNote, while it is made for the tablet it works both on laptop and desktop, allows you to draw and place sound files.


----------



## frugal

gravyboat said:
			
		

> I've got a stack of books at home on windows forms and gui programing in C#, and its been burning at me to attempt to write such a program.  But I really lack the time right now for such an undertaking as I've got a thesis in math to research.  Too bad they don't offer degrees in D&D




I think I am going to have a crack at a Treepad file reader in Java that will automatically add all the hyperlinks it can when you view a node.

When you read in the file you know all of the node names. then when you view a particular node you can scan the text for all of the node names and then replace the text with a hyperlink to the appropriate node. As individual nodes are not that big doing this on the fly should not be too slow, especially if you cache the results after you have done it.


----------



## omokage

gravyboat said:
			
		

> This is why I believe a good campaign organizing tool should also not be a resource hog, so that older laptops could be used also.



That's something I liked about Treepad. It's a very small program in spite of all it's features.


----------



## barsoomcore

As a cautionary tale, let me warn everyone away from organizing apps that use proprietary formats.

I've used a couple and I've got burned twice. Propietary binary formats are bad for this kind of work. If something goes wrong and your program is hosed, all your data is lost.

Let me say that again:

ALL YOUR DATA IS LOST

If you haven't experienced this, you don't know what pain is. I will never, never use a program that stores information in any sort of binary format ever again.

Plain text is best -- you can have HTML or XML or whatever. RTF is not bad. Anything more complicated than that and forget about it.

Don't find out the hard way. Your campaign data is precious and you need constant access to it. Consider what might happen if that neat little program suddenly went kablooie and the company that made it went bankrupt three weeks ago. Tears, tears of hot blood I tell you.

Tears of hot blood.

Okay, I'm still bitter.


----------



## TheAuldGrump

Heh, you should have heard me scream when my aging Amiga 500 died! All my game info was on floppies for a machine who's manufacturer had gone out out of business years ago...

I still miss that machine.

The Auld Grump


----------



## frugal

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Plain text is best -- you can have HTML or XML or whatever. RTF is not bad. Anything more complicated than that and forget about it.




That is another good point about Treepad, the data is in plain text and there is even a document detailing the structure of the file. Plus you can dump the whole lot to HTML if you so desire.

I managed to write a little java app that read in a treepad file into a nicely structured tree in 150 lines of code in about 30 minutes.


----------



## rob_nz

gravyboat said:
			
		

> These are all items I would really like in a good adventure organizer program.  The ability to set up auto-hyperlinking would be a lifesaver.  It would be great to do a one time set-up for each NPC's name and thereafter everytime you type that name, you would get a link to the NPC's statblock and writeup.  The HTML nodes would be great also, as I would like to create image maps within my actual adventure maps so that when you click on a hot spot it would take you right to the node where that locations write-up, encounter, etc. is located.
> 
> I like the idea of a non-proprietary format, so that all rtf or html files within the program could be reused in separate programs.  Although I believe a good adventure organizer program would need to include its own rtf and html editor as well as the integrated browser for viewing the html nodes.  And above all, a simple, fast, and clean intuitive interface is a must.




I use DM Genie. It is a full blown Campaign manager like RPM or DMF; but pretty cheap.

It has almost all of the above, including treeviews, hyperlinks, RTF output, html character sheets, data from the whole SRD, combat manager, feat scripting, map hotspots, random encounters....and a really friendly developer and great community. 

Not to mention it's only $29.95

You can get a 60 day trial for free from www.dmgenie.com


----------



## evildmguy

TheAuldGrump said:
			
		

> Heh, you should have heard me scream when my aging Amiga 500 died! All my game info was on floppies for a machine who's manufacturer had gone out out of business years ago...
> 
> I still miss that machine.
> 
> The Auld Grump




I am with you on that one!  I really wanted to buy the 3000 when my 500 died.  However, I did the research and seeing that it was only in use on the coasts, I am in the midwest, and in Europe, and I went IBM clone.  

I really miss how sweet that computer was.  Ah, the good old days!  

Thanks for the memories!  Have a good one!

edg


----------



## MaxKaladin

Well, I've tried Treepad (Business Edition) and its been the best one I've tried so far.  I'm still not completely happy with it but I like it better than GSNotes.  

I'm having some interface issues with it.  For instance, I cut and pasted a table from GSNotes into Treepad and it ran off the right side of the screen, but no horizontal scrollbar appeared and I couldn't find any way to get over to move the right end.  Perhaps there is a properties screen that will let me manually edit the size of the table but I really can't understand why it didn't just give me a scrollbar.  

One other thing I've noticed is that it doesn't seem to reproduce webpages quite as well as GSNotes did.  One of the things I want to do with it is copy in webpages and parts of webpages as a way of keeping track of things I looked up on the web for my campaign.  It does this fine except they don't seem to look quite the same.  I'll have to try saving in the html format it has instead of the "regular" treepad format and see how that works.  

I also can't find a way to edit the toolbars.  I'd like to add a command to one of the toolbars, which GSNotes let me do but Treepad won't.  In general, I find a number of things in both programs that don't really function intitively (which is unusual as I generally find most applications pretty intuitive).  

Treepad wins mostly because it has a more "open" format.  That is important for the reasons barsoomcore mentions above.  It will let me get my data out more easily even without the program.  That's important.  I also find it seems to work a bit better than GSNotes in some ways and is a bit less annoying in the quirks of its interface.  

I'm still open to other options though.  I haven't found a program I'm completely happy with yet.


----------



## GentleGiant

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> As a cautionary tale, let me warn everyone away from organizing apps that use proprietary formats.
> 
> I've used a couple and I've got burned twice. Propietary binary formats are bad for this kind of work. If something goes wrong and your program is hosed, all your data is lost.
> 
> Let me say that again:
> 
> ALL YOUR DATA IS LOST
> 
> If you haven't experienced this, you don't know what pain is. I will never, never use a program that stores information in any sort of binary format ever again.
> 
> Plain text is best -- you can have HTML or XML or whatever. RTF is not bad. Anything more complicated than that and forget about it.
> 
> Don't find out the hard way. Your campaign data is precious and you need constant access to it. Consider what might happen if that neat little program suddenly went kablooie and the company that made it went bankrupt three weeks ago. Tears, tears of hot blood I tell you.
> 
> Tears of hot blood.
> 
> Okay, I'm still bitter.





A question for barsoomcore. How does a program go "kablooie" or become "hosed" and thus become beyond repair?
If you have a program installed, let's take GSNotes as an example since it uses a proprietary format, and say a virus infects the program and screws up some of the program files. What do you do? I remove the virus, remove the entire program and re-install it. I always keep the installation files separate from my running programs (usually backed up on a CD). That way I can always re-install any programs if necessary (also handy if you have to re-install your OS). It doesn't matter if the original owners/makers of a given program goes bye-bye, you still have all you need to re-install the program again.
Since the actual information files are separate files (.gso in this case) they shouldn't be affected by any problems with the program proper. So no data is lost.
Of course, you can lose the .gso files themselves e.g. due to bad sectors on your harddrive, but neither plain text nor html files are exempt from such happenstances either.
Granted, if a program ONLY uses plain text or html, then you have the option of opening those files up in other programs, but most of the programs mentioned in this thread can export to .txt or .html files.

On to the rest of you guys (gals?).
It would be really nifty if those of you who have organized your campaign(s) using various programs could put up some screen shots of various pages/trees/configurations/templates/etc. that you use. That would make it easier to gain a better insight into how the various programs can be used when organizing a campaign. Some have already done so, but it would be nifty if more different programs were represented or even the same programs if someone has done it differently than what has already been shown.
What say you? Anyone willing to share?


----------



## Tanager

wombatmaster said:
			
		

> Another type of program that I find useful, especially in the development phase, is mind-mapping software. It's a great way to visually brainstorm ideas and develop links between them. It gives a greater dimensional representation of info as compared to the more traditional hierarchal view.
> 
> MindManager (commercial)
> FreeMind (freeware)
> 
> Regards
> 
> Wombatmaster




Big Mind Manager user here, thanks to my boss. Its got its quirks though. Big bonuses with it though are its ability to export to and import (and map from) MS Word docs and its direct html export, while lackluster in terms of graphic design, is wonderfully useful.

I'm just waiting for it to read from and export to XML.


----------



## Mystery Man

GentleGiant said:
			
		

> A question for barsoomcore. How does a program go "kablooie" or become "hosed" and thus become beyond repair?



At the drop off hat, at the whim of the gods at any given time without any warning whatsoever.  

I too have shed those "tears of hot blood"  . which is why I make backups of the backups and beep them on a different machine saved in different formats. 
Oh yes, burn me once....


----------



## Wrathamon

Well lets say you want to upgrade your campaign to a new program... 

having it in a more open format would let you switch programs no?


My question is on Output... do these programs print out easily?

I want to print parts of my campaign out as handouts easily. Do these programs have good page layout tools?

What if I wanted to make my campaign a website... will I have to redo a lot of the work?


----------



## soulcatcher

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> GMGen looks okay but my primary experience with PCGen is SSSSLLLLLOOOOWWWW. Oh, and incredibly ugly. I looked at GMGen but it seemed to be more of an in-game tool which I have no use for. But those screenshots have piqued my interest.




PCGen is slow whenyou deal with the cahracter side of things.  GMGen's code is actually pretty small and lightweight, and really, unless you are using a pcg on the gmgen side (which some of the plugins handle) it's generally pretty fast.  GMGen is intended to provide a plugin architecture for all GM needs - both in game as well as campaign planning.

Alos, I'm trying to make gmgen prettier then pcgen ;-)



			
				barsoomcore said:
			
		

> The tool I really want is not very complicated -- it lets me create rtf, txt and html files at will, keeps them neatly organized and does multi-file searches, allows me to open multiple panes so I can view two files at once. Supporting styles would be great, as well.




ok, GMGen's note system currently stores all the files as html.  Every branch on the tree represents a directory on the file system - and the note for that branch will be an html file.  I could in the future add rtf editing, as the panes in java can switch between html and rtf - but in this case I chose html, because it was a good enough format for the editor, and it can be converted via other programs to well..... anything.

Styles I'll look into, I do have at least some support for them.  Two panes can't be viewed at the same time, but switchign is a snap - and if you are switchign back and forth between two, it caches them, so it becomes faster over time.

Devon Jones


----------



## Wrathamon

bump


----------



## Host of Angels

OK now I am very confussed! There seem to be so many options. Maybe you guys could give me the benefit of your vast experience...

I'm looking for a campaign organising program that is really easy to use and looks good. Nothing too flash - just lots of good functionality. I don't need character generating software or combat trackers as the players don't want that to be done on a computer (luddites!). I only need the software to hold my GM notes and campaign ideas. It would be nice if whatever I chose had the SRD already available on it (or some kind person had input it themselves and was willing to share).

So - what advice can you give me.

Ta


----------



## kingpaul

Host of Angels said:
			
		

> I only need the software to hold my GM notes and campaign ideas. It would be nice if whatever I chose had the SRD already available on it



Well, if that's all you need, then a word processor and downloading the SRD will handle your requirements.


----------



## Host of Angels

Mmm - I was looking at using something that threaded my notes too. MSWord has the outline view - but I find it a tad clunky. I have been having a rootle about and sucked the free trial of MyInfo off the web (that at least one person described as awesome). I'm not sure I would go as far as awesome, need to play more and the GUI is a bit ugly.


----------



## Hand of Evil

kingpaul said:
			
		

> Well, if that's all you need, then a word processor and downloading the SRD will handle your requirements.



The SRD is in GSNote format and damn sweet too!


----------



## Host of Angels

Will give GSnote a try...

HAs anyone tried Maple? I only ask 'cos I found a version of the SRD in Maple format...


----------



## kingpaul

Host of Angels said:
			
		

> HAs anyone tried Maple? I only ask 'cos I found a version of the SRD in Maple format...



Maple? The only Maple software I'm familiar with is the math tool that I used in my Engineering courses in college. We're not talking about the same program are we?


----------



## Host of Angels

Um - probably not - check this out...

http://www.crystaloffice.com/mproinfo.html

I've been playing with Maple Profesional over lunch and it looks like it may do the business. The SRD by the way I found on systemreferencedocuments.org:

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/index.htm?35/sage.htm


----------



## soulcatcher

*snip*



			
				barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Plain text is best -- you can have HTML or XML or whatever. RTF is not bad. Anything more complicated than that and forget about it.
> 
> Don't find out the hard way. Your campaign data is precious and you need constant access to it. Consider what might happen if that neat little program suddenly went kablooie and the company that made it went bankrupt three weeks ago. Tears, tears of hot blood I tell you.
> 
> Tears of hot blood.
> 
> Okay, I'm still bitter.




Come, try GMGen - you have one very big, very different thing you can do with GMGen - you can use it, and then discuss with me and the other developers what is wrong with it, and you can pass your needs and ideas along to us for us to implement.  I realize this is in some ways perhaps more irritating - but it *does* mean you can eventualy get the result you want.

Participate in the process, give us your ideas, tell us about your bugs, and I am certain you will find it worth the trouble in the long run.

GMGen's files are all open, and non-proprietary.  The word procesor is reasonable, and the whole app is not only free - you can get the source and hack on it on your own if you want to.


----------



## Krug

Bumping. Good thread.  Thanks HoE!


----------



## Hand of Evil

Krug said:
			
		

> Bumping. Good thread.  Thanks HoE!



You are welcome.


----------



## JohnnFour

I use WikiPad for my game planning and note-taking these days.

http://www.jhorman.org/wikidPad/

30 day free trial. $12 to buy.

Once you get used to the idea of Wiki words, as opposed to tables of contents and tree views, it feels a bit liberating and becomes easy to use and reference with.

Output is to plain text files as well.


----------



## Twin Rose

I feel I'd be remiss in not pointing out our Campaign Suite program.  Of course it has tree-down dungeons, adventures, encounter tables - and everything has fully customizable editors (for the non technically inclined).  The second version of the software is coming out this week, which brings complete XML functionality to the program - furthering the customizability of both input and output.

Yes, I use it for managing my weekly game


----------



## Ranes

GentleGiant said:
			
		

> It would be really nifty if those of you who have organized your campaign(s) using various programs could put up some screen shots of various pages/trees/configurations/templates/etc. that you use... ...Anyone willing to share?



Happy to oblige. Here are some of my latest experiments in laptop-assisted game management. The screenshots below show DM Genie. The symbols on the map are hyperlinks to other tabs.

I also have RPM but I'm waiting for its author to resolve a few issues to do with calibrating maps so RPM can calculate distances. I've been keeping an eye on GM Gen, too. It seems to be getting there.


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## Hand of Evil

OneNotes: showing screen and tabs the other is the document published as a web page.  But OneNote cost and I think some of the other programs handle things better but it is not bad.


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## Agamon

Ranes said:
			
		

> Happy to oblige. Here are some of my latest experiments in laptop-assisted game management. The screenshots below show DM Genie. The symbols on the map are hyperlinks to other tabs.




Hey, Mad God's Key, fun mod.

Anyhoo, it looks like a breeze to use during play from the screenshot, but...that looks like a lot of info to enter, especially for a published mod, which looks a heck of a lot easier to prep the old-fashoined way.

How was the info entered?  Scanned?  Typed?  Typing it all in and hyperlinking it all sounds like it'd take longer than to actually play.  Looks like DM Genie would be better to use in a my homebrew game, where I create most of the stuff already, than in my GH game, where the party is just starting RttToEE.  I can't imagine putting that entire book into that program, my spare time is precious.


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## Ranes

Ah yes. I have to say that were it not for a very good scanner with optical character recognition, I would not have entered so much info. Even with said scanner and OCR software, I should also mention that a twenty-four year career as a writer and editor helps to speed things along. I corrected all the typos in the original module, cleaned up some of the scruffier sentences, changed the names of the gods to fit my homebrew and re-set the text for clarity. I added a lot more NPCs and random encounters in the city (which is the PCs' base in my campaign). All of which took twice as much time as I would normally spend on preparation. However, a lot of the extra work I did will be reusable for much of the new campaign. I hope.

Preparing the follow-up adventure took much less time. I'm now spending as long on preparation as I used to, before I used software assistance (ie about eight hours) but I'm getting a lot more done in that time.


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## Hand of Evil

Some databases have been created and just need to be imported.  

OneNotes has an intergration tool for IE that will allow you to capture web sites but is mostly drag and drop/cut and paste.


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## Twin Rose

Posting a link to what the final "Campaign Export" looks like within Campaign Suite Extended - this includes a 10 room dungeon and 5 overland encounters.

You should note that these aren't blocks of text formatted together, but all the numbers and variables - from the statblocks for characters and creatures to the treasures - all have their own editors and generators.

Notes are all 'tree-able', and you can select if a note is open content, boxed text, shaded, etc (without any messy code editting.. just a check box for each).

http://twinrose.net/previews/Example Campaign.HTML

Here's what it looks like in the campaign editor:
(Note the notes inserted inside other notes on the tree)
http://twinrose.net/images/ScreenShots/DungeonEditTreasure.jpg

Here's the creature editor, for helping make the statblocks in the dungeon:
http://twinrose.net/images/ScreenShots/CreatureEditor.jpg


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## Tashtego

*GM's Second Brain....*

I quite like 'GM's Second  Brain' - small and lightweight, good for lots of notes and freeform scenarios. It's java so it runs on all platforms, too!

http://fudge.phoenyx.net/guide/bin/view/Guide/SecondBrain


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## silvermane

gravyboat said:
			
		

> http://members.cox.net/theoremtank1/SRD.zip




404, unfortunately


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## calimedic911

mysteryman,

I have a tablet and am wanting to use it at the gaming table.  what programs do you usually use?  what would be your "ultimate gamer's tablet"

Sean


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## barsoomcore

GentleGiant said:
			
		

> A question for barsoomcore. How does a program go "kablooie" or become "hosed" and thus become beyond repair?
> 
> (SNIP -- lots of stuff about following proper backup procedures)



Obviously, if I followed proper backup procedures, my life would be much less interesting. Backups are for wimps!



soulcatcher: On my list of Things To Do When I Have Nothing Else To Do is "Spend a couple of days going through PCGen with a comb and sending a beautifully detailed bug list to the developers" -- I'll move "Doing the same with GMGen" up a notch on that list. I've been in software QA for many years and I know how valuable a good bug report can be.

Honestly, I'll get around to it someday. Some other day. For now, XCode is serving my needs.


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## barsoomcore

I found it. The program I've been looking for all my life. Holy crap is this ever cool:

VoodooPad

It's a personal Wiki editor. It's awesome.

Yes, it stores data in a binary format. But... but... it's so _cool_.

I am seduced. It happens to me so easily, I know.


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## Hand of Evil

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> I found it. The program I've been looking for all my life. Holy crap is this ever cool:
> 
> VoodooPad
> 
> It's a personal Wiki editor. It's awesome.
> 
> Yes, it stores data in a binary format. But... but... it's so _cool_.
> 
> I am seduced. It happens to me so easily, I know.



Kind of neat that it will send notes over to an iPod, meaning you players don't have to have it, or a MAC to run it on.


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## barsoomcore

Like I'd let somebody without a Mac into my gaming group...



But honestly, I keep a pretty clear separation between my notes and what I let my players see anyway, so being able to let them view it is not very important to me.


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## Ruined

First Crystal Ball  and now this.  

Cursed Mac Developers!!


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## barsoomcore

Check out the Mac Software Thread for even more reasons to curse them!


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## Mystery Man

calimedic911 said:
			
		

> mysteryman,
> 
> I have a tablet and am wanting to use it at the gaming table. what programs do you usually use? what would be your "ultimate gamer's tablet"
> 
> Sean



 Hey *calimedic911*  Sorry! I had no idea this thread was still going on! 

 I find myself using Microsoft's Onenote 2003 more and more. You can paste all kinds of crap in there plus you can go back and forth from pen to typing, turn you pen marks into tex etc. I can actually hand draw maps, jot down notes etc. The possibilities are limitless really.


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## Hand of Evil

Mystery Man said:
			
		

> Hey *calimedic911*  Sorry! I had no idea this thread was still going on!
> 
> I find myself using Microsoft's Onenote 2003 more and more. You can paste all kinds of crap in there plus you can go back and forth from pen to typing, turn you pen marks into tex etc. I can actually hand draw maps, jot down notes etc. The possibilities are limitless really.



It is a very good thread...  

May make archive!


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## Hand of Evil

A newer one to come across my desk.  Evernote: http://www.evernote.com/en/


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## Mystery Man

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> A newer one to come across my desk. Evernote: http://www.evernote.com/en/




Hey that's cool!


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## Lonely Tylenol

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> It will be interesting to see how MicroSoft's OneNote program works for a campaign organizer, the cost is high 100$ but intergration to all things MS and a very common format.




I have OneNote.  It's excellent for note-taking and note-keeping (I use it on my laptop at school), but I don't think I'd want to use it for data management in any way.  It is, essentially, just a bunch of folders with notepads in them.  It doesn't have any robust organization options, and I wouldn't want to try to (for example) put the SRD on it.

It's a good program, just not for this kind of task.


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## LordAnki

Hey CJ,

I really like the way your program is coming along. Can you keep me posted on updates?

Thanks for these programs. It should be better than hand wirting all my notes. Well it will be easier to manage I think.


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## talmar

Well, I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

I've been using One Note for a few months now, primariy because it came with my new laptop preinstalled.  It was nice, helped out quite a bit but there was also more than a handful of nitpicks I had using it.

I saw this thread and checked out a handful of the alternatives.

I have to say so far *The Journal* is my favorite.  I've organized my latest campaign, the tree view is great, linking is great especially with a local copy of the SRD, the tables are great, I'm loving it.

I have very little doubt as to whether I'll purchase it.  It's almost a sure thing.  I start DM'ing my games next week so we'll see how it works in game.  I'm looking forward to it.

The daily journal will come in handy for each gaming session.  I can take notes during my gaming sessions and it's tracked by the days and I can link my notes back into the campaign.


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## Lizard

*Ultimate Campaign Tool!*

a)Ability to cross-index data entries. The problem with most outliners is that I might want an NPC to appear under 'NPCS', 'Inhabitants of this room', and 'Characters for this adventure' -- but I don't want to enter him three times. Some sort of aliasing/shortcut system.

b)More data structure. I'd like to be able to create data templates (ideall with checkboxes, dropdowns, etc) and add 'records', as well as freeform text. (Each record should have the ability to have freeform text associated with it, of course!)

c)Integration with tools like PCGen -- for example, the ability to launch PCGen, create a character, and have the character automatically placed into the campaign tool via export. 

d)clickable image maps.

e)Ability to display multiple entries at once (screen space permitting...)

f)Easy hyperlinking. For example, click on a word, then draw a line to another node in the outline that the word links to. Even better, autolinking for some words -- as soon as you type the name of a character, city, magic item, yadda yadda in freeform text, if that name exists elsewhere, it's linked to. (This requires some clevernes -- if you have nodes name John, Smith, and John Smith, does typing 'John Smith' link to the first two nodes or the last one?)

g)Simple formulas which can be embedded in the pages, to update some numbers.

h)The SRD already converted into it. 

i)'Sticky notes' which can be attached to the pages.


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## Ebonyr

Arise old thread! IMHO, OneNote by MS is the One note program to rule them all. import/export, add pictures (maps, etc).


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## Aeolius

Here's another for the Mac - Journler . I found this one awhile back but have not tried it yet.


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## Trevalon Moonleirion

GAH. ENWorld ate a novel of a post.  It and Firefox are on my list for the evening. 

For the Mac user who keeps on hearing about how awesome OneNote is (or one who knows first hand from work or a friend), I bring you two OS X friendly alternatives.  As I've been using OneNote for a few months thanks to work, I've gotta say, neither one is a perfect match, and I *almost* would say that I like OneNote better than either of them...but they're better than other stuff that I've seen.

Circus Ponies NoteBook: Circus Ponies NoteBook - Award-Winning Mac Application - Organization for a Creative Mind

Zengobi Curio:  Zengobi - Curio - Mind Mapping, Brainstorming, and Project Management Software for Mac OS X

Both products have the merits and flaws, both provide ample free trials, and at the moment, I use both in concert to run my games.  (NoteBook stores information in a way that makes it a bit easier to find without fussing, but is best suited to text or images that you don't want to do much with; Curio is a great tool for brainstorming and OneNote style page layout, especially with images (can you say stat blocks?))


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## Mercule

I love OneNote, both for home and work.  My biggest problem is universal access.  I use Evernote for quite a few things because I can access it at home, at work, and on my Pre.  If OneNote had some way to "cloud" at least one notebook, I'd be giddy.


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## Vicente

Mercule said:


> I love OneNote, both for home and work.  My biggest problem is universal access.  I use Evernote for quite a few things because I can access it at home, at work, and on my Pre.  If OneNote had some way to "cloud" at least one notebook, I'd be giddy.




There is one way right now to "cloud" one notebook: putting it on a Sharepoint server. And soon MS will release Office Live and you will be able to put them on SkyDrive or using OneNote web


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## Ebonyr

There is one way right now to "cloud" one notebook: putting it on a Sharepoint server. And soon MS will release Office Live and you will be able to put them on SkyDrive or using OneNote web 

Vincente: Have you heard anymore about this?


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## Vicente

Yep, this will be released with the new Office (that I suppose will come pretty soon, but no idea).


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## Madmaxneo

I was directed to this thread when I asked about Realm Works in a thread I started. I was looking through the different programs and some of them look pretty cool. But I didn't see Realm Works listed I also was not patient enough to read through all 12 pages of posts, so forgive me if it's been mentioned already. Realm Works is a really great program for campaign management. It is made by the makers of Hero Lab and can work with that program for character management. Realm Works is a very comprehensive program it has just about everything you need, including the ability to add more. And they are adding more cool features as time goes on. The only bad part is the price, but even at $50 I am starting to think it is worth it. 

Bruce


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