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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 4:14PM
#1
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We’ve had a bit of time for the idea of Adventure Tools to settle in and I’ve heard and been involved in a lot of great conversations about what these tools could/should be. I wanted to take a few moments to give us all a better idea of where we are with this. Of these Adventure Tools, the first that we’ll be releasing is what I’m going to refer to as the Monster Builder. We should expect the name to change by release. I don’t have dates, screenshots or beta keys to give away, but I’ve had the chance to play around with the tool recently and I really wanted to share some of what I saw. To hit some highlights, here’s what this Monster Builder will be able to do:
- Search through and display monsters that appear in any of our books or magazines.
- Edit monsters so they fit into your planned encounter/campaign.
- Create, display, and print your own unique monsters in the official formatting style you see in our printed D&D material.
“But Trevor,” you ask, “You already have an Encounter Builder that helps me with my monsters. Why is this any better?” Simply put, the Monster Builder has a lot of features that the Encounter Builder doesn’t have. Besides the ability to easily create your own monster, one example of these new features is the ability to grab an existing attack/power from one monster and drop it into another. For a more colorful analogy, this Monster Builder tool would be eating its cornflakes, and not even notice that the Encounter Builder had landed in its milk. I've only had a little time to play around with this tool and I already find myself wishing I had it to manage my current campaigns. I believe the Monster Builder will change the way we put together encounters in much the same way that the Character Builder dramatically improved how easy and fun it is to make characters. That’s all I’ve got for now, but I hope to have more information for you next time. If we’re lucky, that next time will include screen shots and some more features about the Monster Tool. Thanks again for all the great feedback concerning D&D Insider and the Adventure Tools, and I’ll talk with you soon!
Trevor Kidd
D&D Community Manager
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 4:20PM
#2
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Is this new tool web based or a client program similar to CB? Edit monsters so they fit into your planned encounter/campaign.
Is there an autoleveling tool that just applies the basic rules for +/- level rules from the DMG/DMG2?
Other than that, awesome sauce!
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 4:21PM
#3
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OOO, that is something I was hoping would be in the Campaign Tools. Quite cool. I especially like the dragging of abilities around. One big thing I am wondering is if it will be able to tell difficulty. Like you combine so many abilities together it will say it averages out around a Level 10 monster. I imagine that be next to impossible to do, but be cool.
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:05PM
#4
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Is this new tool web based or a client program similar to CB?
Is there an autoleveling tool that just applies the basic rules for +/- level rules from the DMG/DMG2?
Other than that, awesome sauce!
It's always more fun to get answers directly from the source so I've pinged Mike Donais on this topic. He's the lead designer for these tools and he should be popping in this thread from time to time to share more tidbits with us.
Trevor Kidd
D&D Community Manager
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:10PM
#5
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It's always more fun to get answers directly from the source so I've pinged Mike Donais on this topic. He's the lead designer for these tools and he should be popping in this thread from time to time to share more tidbits with us.
Thanks Trevor, and thanks for telling us about this.
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:10PM
#6
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That’s all I’ve got for now, but I hope to have more information for you next time. If we’re lucky, that next time will include screen shots and some more features about the Monster Tool. Thanks again for all the great feedback concerning D&D Insider and the Campaign tools, and I’ll talk with you soon!
You really need to put this kind of information in a neatly formatted article on the DDI front page, just like the non-digital publishings are previewed.
just look at how "they" do it with e.g. the Eberron or Divine power previews:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20090629b
"You" need to do this as well with the DDI tools in order to generate greater interest in these tools, as well as keep information going towards your players asides from those forum-goers.
it's not important how often you update these - but it should be regularly. once a month a screenshot and little article from one of the devs? Not a big deal, but it could go so far in customer-satisfaction....
This new forum is terrible. Try again Wizards.
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:19PM
#7
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Is this new tool web based or a client program similar to CB?
Is there an autoleveling tool that just applies the basic rules for +/- level rules from the DMG/DMG2?
Other than that, awesome sauce!
The new tool is a client program very similar to D&D Character Builder. It is designed to contain the monster builder to start and be easily added to.
For example the graphics and UI elements can be used for any tool we include with this application. It also updates monthly in the same fashion as the D&D Character Builder.
You can level up and down monsters with the touch of a button and it does the math for you as per the DMG/DMG 2. Some things don't work out perfectly, like a monster's damage doesn't always fall into the chart in the DMG but things like attack bonus, hit points, defenses, etc it is all automatic.
Mike Donais.
Wizards of the Coast R&D
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:23PM
#8
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OOO, that is something I was hoping would be in the Campaign Tools. Quite cool. I especially like the dragging of abilities around. One big thing I am wondering is if it will be able to tell difficulty. Like you combine so many abilities together it will say it averages out around a Level 10 monster. I imagine that be next to impossible to do, but be cool.
Well a monster's level determines his stats and the attack bonus for his powers. His level isn't affected by him having a bunch of powers, so if you think he is harder than a normal monster of his level because he has more powers then you can just increase his experience point value.
Everything about a monster is easily editable so this shouldn't be a problem.
Mike Donais.
Wizards of the Coast R&D
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:24PM
#9
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You really need to put this kind of information in a neatly formatted article on the DDI front page, just like the non-digital publishings are previewed.
Although we are not very regular about it, I suspect you will see something about monster builder on our web page soon enough. I do absolutely agree with your statement though.
Mike Donais.
Wizards of the Coast R&D
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9 months ago ::
Jun 29, 2009 - 5:26PM
#10
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You really need to put this kind of information in a neatly formatted article on the DDI front page, just like the non-digital publishings are previewed.
That's the plan WB. In the near future we should have an article up with some screen shots and more information about the tool features.
Trevor Kidd
D&D Community Manager
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