How to answer this question? Is it a valued resource on a per page basis or something else? Resources is so broad a category too. I feel in some cases that I would be providing an apples vs. oranges debate. Pathfinder and 3.5 have so many resources, some have to be useful. I have to say the 5E digital resources are largely rubbish so I do not think I will be heading there. Is there an indie game that I feel does it better?
World support
I really love fleshing out new worlds and so most of my focus immediately leaps to products that help me do that. For the most part I use Realm Works which is a database system. Streamlined and intuitive I really love the way it organizes my material. But for it to be fully effective players need to be able to tap into that and they have to purchase software for that. I never make others buy stuff to be in my games so the product remains solely in use by me just as an organisational piece of software. That, plus it is RPG independent so not really a great answer for this.
Elthos – useful and a universal system
I reviewed a fledgling game a few years back called Elthos. It is a game system designed for a universal approach by the GM (i.e. any setting). It is also supported by an online system designed to assist all players in the understanding of the game. The person behind this system has been working hard over the past few years to update and refine this online tool into a really useful piece of kit. The online support (called the Mythos Machine) is in open beta at the moment too so it is a great time to check out how it all works.
I love a good Universal System and Elthos works solidly. It does have a bent toward Fantasy RPG language but you can use it in any imaginable way. Do yourself a favor and have a look at the system and sign on to the beta. The more people using it the better it will be and in a word, that is useful. Keep rolling!
Permalink
Wow! Thanks Mark!! I really appreciate that!
I want to just say that the Elthos RPG & it’s supporting web application are designed for Gamemasters who want to create their own Worlds. The Mythos Machine is built on the Elthos RPG Rules, which is a fairly light-weight and highly distilled traditionalist style RPG (with roots dating back to my 1978 homebrew of the same name). It has two basic aspects. The World Weaver’s Studio offers you a way to create a well organized World, filling it with the places and things of your own design, with your own internal rules that are specific to your World. The Gamemaster’s Toolbox is a Character Generation and Adventure Group Organization utility that also allows you to keep as detailed records of your games as you wish, and does all of the Elthos RPG rules number crunching for you in the process. The system is highly configurable, and designed to be flexible enough to support whatever genres you can imagine. You create the stuff of your World – which means that can be anything your imagination can come up with.
What I am looking for now, and really would love to have, are just a handful of people who see the utility of the Elthos platform (think of it like a new kind of Printing Press for RPGs), to create new Worlds and allow us to present them to other users as Proto-Worlds (templates you start with). The Proto-Worlds need to be genre specific examples that act as starter kits for new GMs on the system. So we currently have two – Fantasy and Wild West. We need about 20 more. I’m working on a Bushido World. I have a couple of friends working on a Modern World and another Fantasy World. If you think you’d be up for that, please let me know! I’d be happy to give you a VIP guided tour and give you instructions on how to do it, and … offer you “a deal” for your efforts. 🙂
I sincerely hope to make the Mythos Machine as useful to the RPG community as I can. So any feedback you can offer on it is also very much appreciated. Thank you!
Thanks again, Mark!! 😀
Permalink
I’m one of the first to take a dive into Elthos. I’ve been helping the Elthos Mark by working on a Proto-World and telling him my experience as well as letting him know about bugs or potential improvements. It’s a very useful system and web application, and I’m proud to be one of the first to dive in. To everyone out there: come join us!