So I keep seeing a lot of random threads from people asking about digital tools. The discussions all seem to go like this....
-Hey guys, where are the digital tools for 5E?
-Dude, this is a table top role playing game. You don't need digitial tools.
-But wait, I wan't digital tools.
-Dude, you dont' need them.
In thinking about this divide, I'm wondering if the people who are more content just having the 3 core books have been playing more old school rpgs, or are coming back to the hobby after spending years away and, conversely, if the people wanting more information on digital tools are those people who've been playing more recent editions, particularly 4th edition, which was almost dependent on digital tools. I know for myself as someone who played AD&D but who also supported WOTC from the very first mention of 4th edition (check out this preview video from 2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyR2L-t87b4), when ads were promising a new D&D that would fuse traditional role playing with the ease and polish of technology, I can't help but be perplexed by the current silence on digital support. Where is the innovation? The integration of the rpg and technology? This was supposed to be where WOTC were taking the game. And, to some extent, they did take the game there with 4th edition. We had a character builder for players. A monster builder for DMs. A digital compendium of rules, monsters, and magic items. And we were supposed to have a fully functional tool for gaming over the internet, which unfortunately never fully materialized.
I totally get people saying that you don't need the digital stuff and, to some extent, I agree. But I wish WOTC would clarify their goals for those of us who have been following them all of these years. It's like "Dude, Where's My WOTC?"
Anyone feeling me?
mikeypea wrote:
mikeypea wrote:
I think there is a generation of people who started with 4e and found a character generator useful, so they want to go on doing what they have always done.
I think there is a generation of people who started before then, didn't have or need character generators and want to go on doing what they've always done,
Then there is everyone else.
I put myself in the "everyone else" category. I'm 68 and I, too, have been playing since Elf was a class. Now I'm playing 5e and having great fun. Do I feel the need for a character generator for 5e? Yes and no. ("Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes" - Tolkien)
I don't need a character generator to make characters to play 5e. The form-fillable pdfs are an improvement on using a manual typewriter, which is what I started with back in the 1970s, so that's great. But nevertheless, I wanted a program that would generate random-but-plausible characters in combinations that it wouldn't necessarily have occurred to me to try, because they can be fun to role- play. It stretches the mind. So I wrote my own program. I'm not going to publish it, because that would infringe WotC's copyright, but you can see a sample of what it generates here, if you are interested.
D&D 5th Edition Character Bundle 100 Basic Characters, Levels 1-5, Set I.pdf
Now, as to what WotC is doing, well, they let Trapdoor try, and it turned out to be beyond Trapdoor's capabilities. I looked at the Dungeonscape Beta and, frankly, it was awful. The concept was good, but the programming was rubbish. It was announced with great fanfare and then turned into vapourware. Not good for WotC's image. Intelligent people make lots of mistakes but don't make the same mistake twice, So, if WotC are getting someone else to make a character generator, they aren't going to announce it in advance this time. They will announce it suddenly, when it's good and ready.
My guess is that, within a few months, they will put up a character generator for the Basic game only, and that it will link across to the online Players Basic Rules for its explanatory text. I'm guessing that's what they will do, because that's what I would do. But they are not me, so my guess could easily be wrong.
We will all know, one way or another, soon enough. Within a year, perhaps. When you are old and look back, a year doesn't seem very long. Mind you, when you are old and look forwards, a year could be a lifetime, But it doesn't matter. D&D is just a game, a pleasant way to pass the time. If it didn't exist, I'd be doing something else and just as happy.
Summary: If you want a 5e character generator, either (a) wait, or (b) write your own (but don't publish it).
BoldItalic wrote:
thePsycher wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
mikeypea wrote:
Ranthalan wrote:
mikeypea wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Digital PC creation tools are not on my radar at all. I have always made my PCs using my books, including 4e (I prefer to make my own custom sheet).
What would be useful however is a fully fleshed out random NPC generator - including options to add class levels, spells prepared, random magic items, etc. That would be great.
If they make digital tools I will never play D&D again!!!
(says the guy on an interwebz forum)
...well someone on here has to take the extreme position or it wouldn't be a full d&d forum experience
Frankly, I think it is a horrible misstep by WotC/Hasbro to not release 5e with a digital tool set. Freaking 3E had a digital character creator, AND IT CAME ON A CD WITH THE BOOK. Granted, it wasn't very good, but we live in an era where technology is a regular part of our lives. To not even have a character display app on the Google/iTunes stores is downright offensive, because it means Hasbro doesn't care enough about the product to support it in the way they should.
Until WotC figures out that the digital aspect of the game is an absolutely necessary component in this day and age, D&D will never be as successful as it could be.
delroland wrote:
strider13x wrote:
delroland wrote:
"Yet the only difference between the two that I know of is that the 5E digital tool that failed was even less WotC's fault than the 3E failure, since they contracted an actual software company to get it done rather than trying to become a software company."
Incorrect. 3e's tools were released. The 5e tools didn't even make it past beta. 5e doesn't even have a character builder while 3e's e-tools had both a character generator and monster builder. 4e also had these things. At this point, the 4e's DDI tools would be welcomed as a major step forward.
JefferyKnight wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Happy to bring you up to speed.
JefferyKnight wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
delroland wrote:
delroland wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
delroland wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
OoftaMeg wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
OoftaMeg wrote:
That depends on the contract that was made up. If it was set to go live in seperate platforms at seperate times, then yes, the iOS version was ready to go live. If this was not the case and multiple platforms were supposed to launch at the same time, which seems more likely given this type of software, the product was not ready. Cudos on your iPad.
Shasarak wrote:
OoftaMeg wrote:
delroland wrote:
RCanine wrote:
delroland wrote:
Throg the Barbarian wiped the orc blood from his greataxe and remarked "I like a good hard fight. It's character-building." Then he nudged the dead orc with his boot and said "You can see why that one was called Eye-Pad. Never saw my reverse backswing coming."
"Tsk. The quality of monsters we get nowadays!" bemoaned his friend, lamso the Magnificent. "What next? One-legged giant centipedes?" Then his grew thoughtful and made a complex pass with his hands over the corpse. Then he checked his arcana and it was fine. "By the gods!" he cried suddenly, "This is the Eye-Pad of Vecna, lost since the XIXth age! Touch it not, for it is curséd !"
"Worth a bit, is it?" asked Throg. His grandmother was a rogue in Calimsham, and sharp as a double-ended needle. "Tell you what, let's take it home with us." And so saying, he heaved the entire corpse onto his shoulder and set off, with Iamso floating along behind him on his magical hammock..
delroland wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
JefferyKnight wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
delroland wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
I just have this to say. Where are the God-damn digital pdf books?!
I don't feel like reading all the unread replies since I last checked in but I can see now the benefit of the digital tools like hero labs for character generation. It does make it easier to roll up or create higher level characters if yours died in a campaign or maybe quick NPC villains of higher than first level. Hopefully they'll get us something or allow Herolabs to make us something.
RCanine wrote:
OoftaMeg wrote:
LAThompson wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
LAThompson wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
It depends on whether you consider a random person on the internet posting something potentially biased or false is more, or less likely a proposition than WOTC being incompetent or stubbornly uncooperative at something related to digital tools.
That's...that's pretty much a coin toss to me, really.
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
ChrisCarlson wrote:
LAThompson wrote:
Mistwell wrote:
You've signed an NDA with Trapdoor. I see.
Well, anyone who is doing something, such that it requires an NDA, has at least a passing interest in its success. I would think that's a given. So here you are pushing some mysterious agenda for a company you are clearly in league with. Or wish to see become successful.
Dispite that, everything you are saying is supposed to be taken as sterling fact.
Uh huh.
ChrisCarlson wrote:
LAThompson wrote:
OoftaMeg wrote:
I would very much like to see digital products come out for 5th edition, whether they are software, pdfs, other formats of ebooks, or whatnot. It's time.
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I would question the need for digital tools with a game like 5E since it is so simple, with a sparse release schedule. There is not alot to organize which is the main benefit of a digital tool. I guess the only thing that would be of value is a characer/monster/NPC creator and campaign creator. I have no hope for a virtual table top or even a decent map creator. PDFs on the other hand are useful.