D20 Pro versus RPtools

In summary what you are saying is that you are more comfortable and knowledgeable with MapTools than with d20Pro. That's great! You should always use the tools that are most comfortable for you. You may need to consider that there are people that feel differently than you and have similar skill with d20pro as you do with MapTools.

To give a bit of info to some of the issues you raised. There is a link to all monsters in the PF Bestiary in these forums for importing into d20Pro so you don't have to create them all.

If you aren't comfortable with Hero Lab as a PC generation tool that might be something best asked about on their forums. I used PCGen in the past and switched to Hero Lab not because of the stellar UI (and IHMO you are correct it sucks...or at least needs some work), but because I'm trying to run a virtual-game with all non-local players. Hero Lab made that easier because of it's ability to import into d20Pro and it's up to date source material (well more than the other character manager apps). There certainly was a learning curve to climb before I was any good at creating PCs/NPCs in it. I still have my issues with it as a character manager app (see my posts on Hero Labs forums). But if you are using d20Pro in a live-game environment I can totally see why you won't want to mess with the Hero Lab to d20Pro importing. In a live-game setting most people want to run their own dice and sheets.

From just reading your posts is it true that most of your stat blocks are scanned images in the VTT app (either MapTools or d20Pro)? You scan them and just use them as an image in the app? I'd love to see that kind of ability in d20Pro where a DM could transmit images to a player (I don't think I've seen that feature in d20Pro) like a handout. It would make PFS faction missions much easier. It doesn't help the automation aspect of d20Pro when it comes to attack rolls and such, but it would be faster for getting things setup and ready.

I don't want to imply that d20Pro, Hero Lab or any product is perfect, just that the experience with a product and expectations of what you need an app to accomplish will determine a user experience. That's why there are so many VTT products on the market. One app doesn't cover all the needs for every user.

Thanx,

Kizan

 

Hi there,

Checking back in, and I'm keeping the pressure on the Developers. Nicely.

I am a long term MapTools user for Pathfinder. In fact, I know Neofax from his posts in that community. It works for me. However it it is clunky, I do jump through a lot of hoops, and it is labor intensive. That's offset by the fact that I am extremely practiced with it. So it doesn't take me a long time, but I know damn well that is because I've been using it weekly for about two years.

Yeah, I like MapTools. I like it a lot, but I know it's limitations as well. I also know it can be a pain in the butt for no reason whatsoever. This Sunday I had a bad map that lagged like hell, and I have to move all the tokens, delete it, created another one from a JPG I had saved. I fixed the problem in about 10-15 minutes while the players chatted on Vent, but it was 10-15 minutes out of a 4 to 5 hour session. I could have done without that.

I also use macros. Lots and lots of them. They're wonderful... until they're not. That's the best way I can describe it. I think Paul Simon said it well (for me), in the song One-Trick Pony:

"It makes me think about
All of these extra movements I make
And all of this herky-jerky motion
And the bag of tricks it takes
To get me through my working day"

I am willing to try another product, and I am willing to pay for that product. My friends are willing to chip in and pay for that product too. d20 PRO COULD GET MY MONEY!!!!!! :lol: Honestly, I own all the HeroLab Pathfinder licenses. I don't mind paying.

But I absolutely need some kind of dynamic Fog-of-War. Non-negotiable. Actually I'd like Vision Blocking AND FOW and variable vision and light settings.... but I could settle for Dynamic FOW, if it gave me a smoother and more intuitive interface. Without that, there is no point for me to even download the free trial. I'm not saying that to troll this community (which seems awesome), I'm just being candid. And the reason I'm being frank, is I want to emphasize that I want to try the product and possibly buy it. However you need to get that done first.

And no player pointer? Jeez louise, that's an easier fix and needs to be done ASAP.

I created this account to post earlier this year. I checked in at PaizoCon. GEnCon has come and gone. I'm still waiting. No free trial or purchase till you get it done.

 

There is the difference in how we dm. I custom create allot of monsters so they are not the same old, same old. After i customize the npc, monster, etc. i simply export from herolab and import in d20pro. All attacks, skills and stuff is ready to rock n roll.

As for standard monsters, download the bestiary from this website, you dont need statblocks at all.

Herolab is hard? Seriously?

follow the instructions that herolab provides on screen, something maptools never has and never will do, give users clues as to what to do....

I have used both products, 1.5 years with maptools, 6 months now with d20pro.

No comparison in my eyes, as to speed of getting a game up and running. I bring in maps on the fly, and add npcs usually just before game starts. It is very simple.

Use them both for months or years and you will see.

But i still miss FoW.

To each their own.

 

MapTool as well has all of the Bestiary pre-made at iMarvin's website and he is working on Bestiary 2. Also, you don't need to have generic creatures as MapTool also incorporates the top templates for creatures (Fiendish/Celestial/Advanced/Young) that can be used to set the creature apart from the others. As for importing any statblock, MapTool can import any Pathfinder statblock from HeroLab, PC-Gen or the PDF and you have a token that is 90% correct. I agree with Kizan though that once you play around and "beat" the learning curve there is very few things that set the two programs apart. As far as multi-platform VTT's are concerned d20Pro and MapTool are the best of the best. I want both to succeed so that the competition drives innovation and we do not have stagnation or forced to accept mediocre support/updates.

 

Is there any plan for d20pro to be able to import a statblock for a monster (4e D&D)?

I just started testing the program, and really like it, but personally, having to manually make all the monsters will really be a burden. I was also testing MapTools, and found that feature (import statblock) pretty invaluable.

If there isn't a plan to incorporate this, then is there a alternative that other people are doing to ease monster creation?

Cheers!

 

Could someone please explain this "importing stat blocks" feature that is so all fired important?

How does this work in MapTool? How fussy is it?

I cannot personally conceive of how such a function would work and be reliable enough to be of actual use.

 

Basically, there is a user made macro that has been created that allows you to select a monster, press a defined macro key, and a window will pop up that you can paste the text contents of a stat block into.

This is the thread for it: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=16137

Let me know if you have any other questions.


Cheers!

EDIT: I created an adventure, and used it to create about 10 different monsters, and it worked for every one.

 

As others have said it's a GREAT feature and a huge time saver. Even if the VTT (Virtual Table Top like d20Pro or Maptools) doesn't support macros/scripts to help with combat just having the character sheet in the VTT is great so the players/dm can use it as reference.

I use Hero Lab to d20Pro and the import feature was one of my big items. My players (or me) would spend long periods of time getting the token stats correct every time they leveled. With an import feature they can at least start with the basics and work from there. I run an online Pathfinder Society game and with Hero Lab import it takes about 2 mins per token to tweak a few things.

Kizan

 

The import of statblock uses regular expressions to strip out the items the framework uses to run a token. So you just copy the statblock from any source (PDF, HeroLab text statblock, PC-GEN, HeroForge...), click on the macro and paste the text in the input box. The macro will then strip the statblock and add all of the properties to the token that is needed. You then only have to tweak minor things to make the token to your standards.