GMTool

by Flo 'I ain't dead yet' Schaetz - E-Mail

Download a very, very pre-alpha from Sourceforge.

(Oct. 1. 2012) Released pre-alpha 0.05.

(Sept. 30. 2012) Still working on build 0.05, which will support saving and loading scenarios from and to .zip files, which allows the gm to prepare a scenario and then export it to a .zip file, which he then can copy onto his laptop, for example. Additionally, error handling/logging will be enhanced, so that the user has at least a chance to see what went wrong.

The “Gamemaster Tool” (GMTool) is a simple tool, written in Java, to aid gamemasters in running their gaming sessions by managing their notes, handouts, player and non-player character, etc. It was specifically designed to work on a small notebook (like the EEE PC, which is small enough not to use up all space on the gaming table), but will work on most computers/notebooks.

Of course, there are already many tools out there, dice rollers for almost any system, combat trackers for many of them, etc. The basic idea here is not to provide another tool specifically for one system, but a platform in which different plugins can be integrated (including dice rollers and combat trackers) to form a all-in-one tool for gamemastering an rpg session.

See GMToolHowTo for a usage manual or GMToolCoding for a coding manual.

The really interesting pieces are, of course, the plugins, but the GMTool itself offers a reliable frame with some nice features:

• Programmed in Java, so it should work on most operation systems
• Add new plugins easily (simply put the files into the “plugins” folder)
• Create your own Plugin-Sets (combine various Plugins to use them toegether for a specific system or group)
• Save/Load scenarios (Add all the resources you need for your next gaming session and save it as a “Scenario”, so you can load it easily)

• Image Viewer (manages a list of images and shown them on a 2nd screen, for example a projector; Also has the capability of drawing onto a picture and move tokens around on it, especially usefull for maps, as it also includes the possibility of using a “fog of war” to hide the parts of an image/map that players should not yet see)
• Note Editor (manages a list of text files)
• Sound Player (manages a list of sound files, for example mp3s, and plays them with one click)
• Generic Character Manager (displays a list of characters in a tree view with a sumary to the right, can be used for any system and is available for PCs and NPCs)
• Video player (can play videos on a 2nd screen)
• Generic Dice roller (rolls dice)
• Campaign Journal (a journal, a little bit more comfortable than a simple text file, where you can read single entries and search for texts)

I started with some Shadowrun 4th Edition plugins, mainly because I need them, but also to have some plugins to show how it's done.

• Full Character Viewer (manages a list of characters and displays a pretty complete character sheet for each of them; available for pcs and npcs)
• Overview Character Viewer (like the full character viewer, it just doesn't use a complete character sheet, instead if shows an overview with the most important (configurable) skills, attributes, etc.)
• Combat Tracker (keeps track of combatants, health and initiative)
• NPC Generator (creates single npcs or groups of npcs based on templates, for example if you need to create a small gang on the fly)
• GM Tables (for starters, simply a list of tables for combat, etc. - later perhaps an interactive version that calculates modifiers)

After the Shadowrun plugins are done, I will probably write some GURPS plugins, obviously they will probably be like the Shadowrun plugins, just for GURPS

After the hell freezes over… Ok, perhaps a little bit earlier, when I'm done with the GURPS plugins, I will probably start working on some TDE plugins.

• The current version can be downloaded from Sourceforge
• OLD, deprecated Version 0.16 (completely different tool, but if you want…)

• SourceForge page (Sourcecode available via SVN)

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