Regarding Information Access

I don't think I am alone when I say that the most irritating part of trying to DM a game in D20 pro, or even in any game of D&D 3.5 in general, is accessing data. What does that spell do? What does that feat entail? What is the radius on that items effect? First off, what freaking book is that in? Second off, which of the 300 pages is it on?

I completely understand that the creators of this game cannot put any more information in to this game than the WotC SRD has out. However, I am also under the impression that the intent is for the Judge to be able to put his own data in to the game himself. So my question is, is there any intent to revamp the library and data management as a whole to improve information accessibility? Because I want to get to the point, after I put a ton of work in to it myself, that I won't have to go searching through a ton of books and 300 pages each book, to hunt down information. I want to be able to enter the info in to D20, and get it to the point that it can be used much like a databank. I need to know what a feat does, I search it in D20 and get the info. Item? Same thing. Spell? Same thing. If I could put info in to my game in that way, it would make D20pro hands down, the greatest thing to come to D&D since Mountain Dew.


-Item Library-
I feel like items should be similar to Characters and monsters. The main library window shows some of the most common ways one would want to sort items. Maybe set it up from left to right like
: Picture:Name:Quick Description:Type of item:Base Gold Cost:

Then with a double click on the item, it pulls up a window like the character window, where much more detailed information can be found and input. Here you could include things like hardness, HP, weight, etc. But some of the most important ones would be a Quick Description. Where the Judge can place whatever immediate quick info he wants. A Box for a more detailed description [such as the notes tab on Character sheets] , and a drop down box that lets you set the type of the item.
Item Types

• 
  Weapons
  Armor
  Wand
  Potion
  Scroll
  Container
  Hands
  feet
  Cloak
  Clothing
  Rings
  Necklaces
  Arms

For some further awesomeness, the item menu in the character screen should have some special optins. If you selected Armor or Weapon as the Item type, have another drop down box become available in the character window that allows you to select enchantments. When selected it would automatically add a prefix or suffix to the name of the item corresponding to the enchantment. So I select "Dwarven Waraxe" then add the enchantment "Masterwork" In the drop down, and it automatically changes the items name to "Masterwork Dwarven Waraxe". The character item window should also have a slot to put in how many of the item that person has with them, and a "where it is on their person" column.

-Spells and Feats-
I feel like there should be a library system for these as well. I know they are not objects, but they are individual pieces of important information that come up all the time during a game. And I know that I wouldn't be the only person Singing "HALLELUJAH" at the top of my lungs as I typed in "Leomunds Secure Shelter" and found the full description of the spell. No hunting through books, no Alt+tabbing to hit up google.


When all is said and done, if there was a way to make it so Players could peruse the Judges item, feat, and spell libraries, that would be amazing. Because after all, if you were playing a game of D&D at a table with friends, you would just pass them the book so they could look through it. Why shouldn't they be able to look through my Library? Plus, when I invent my own items, they are there on the list. So if they are shopping for their characters, bam. My item is on the list and they can look at all its info. If doing this would require some out of game maneuvering, like tossing them some of my files through an E-mail and having them replace some of theirs, that would be totally acceptable to me. I just want the functionality. But what would be best is if they could somehow retrieve the info directly in game.

Again, I want to emphasize that I am NOT asking for this information to come WITH D20pro. I simply want the program to come equipped with the tools to manage that info should I choose to take the time to enter it in myself. My campaign only meets once every other week. And we only have combat 1 out of 4 sessions. Sure the sorcerer casts fireball in every single fight. But I still don't recall EVERYTHING about it word for word. And I'm about to throw up if I have to look through a book for its information one more time. I want to enter ALL of it in to D20pro once and for all, so I can get to it quickly and easily.

Thank you for your time, and keep up the good work.

 

Thank you for the response Thraxxis,

I'm excited to hear you are already working on such things. I have already been making use of the handout system. It's pretty much one of the coolest things since sliced bread. It's just not as useful for searching out specific things. My campaign is such that the party has access to essentially any item in the book, so long as they have the money. So it is far easier to just let them try to look things up on their own. But I'm sure you can imagine how much they would love it if they could simply search my library by [costs xxxxg or less] or [type of item]. It would make things a lot easier on them. Some of them loooooove to RP but don't really want to take the time to root around in books when it comes down to numbers. XD So I end up having to help them pick things out.

Anyways, I'm just kind of rambling. The handout system is awesome, but I'm definitely looking forward to what you are working on.