RPG design programs

I just realised something recently, I think more people have read my blog now then seen the picture of me naked at Stonehenge (it was for a dare). My words are now better known then my arse. Part of me is joyful about this, part of me... feels a sense of loss.


Automated RPG design. It's a wonderful thing.

A few posts ago I mentioned my wish for there to be more Silhouette RPG programs for designing vehicles and characters. It would make it far easier, where you could just throw the numbers in, and the program did all the mathematical calculations for you. It sounds like I'm just trying to be lazy at first, right? Well, I sort of missed the point of being lazy. I've designed my OWN Excel sheet for Silhouette vehicle design. I won't put it up for download anywhere, since it's very rough, doesn't look fancy, and in alot of places I've just ad-libbed things. Still, for someone who pretty much failed maths in High School, I think putting together cells with formulas like the following is pretty impressive.

=((F4+F7)^2*(F4+F7)^2+(E5+F7)*E5^2)*F6
=(D11*D11)+((E21^2+E23^2+E25^2)-H25)*F27

Granted it's mostly just multiplication and addition, but still it looks pretty damn complex. And considering I did formulas of varying complexity for over 100 cells (at least) in accordance to the rules laid out over 20+ pages, I'm impressed with myself.


Professional work is much prettier, though. Take into account a new program I've downloaded recently because of my interest in the RPG "Mutants and Masterminds", it's like a simpler version of the HERO system, using D20 RPG rules as a base. First time I looked through it, it didn't grab me. However this time though I can see why it's celebrated as one of the better D20 systems. Plus it has around about the variability of HERO (probably just a bit less) without requiring as much over-the-top-detail. The Program is called "Hero Lab 3.0", and can be used for Mutants and Masterminds, 3.5 D20 OGL, and even World of Darkness. Sometimes simplicity is a strength in and of itself.

While I am immensely proud of my excel sheet, I prefer if someone else does the hard work for me.