Realm Works - Kickstarter

As a DM that has always needed help with organization in some form or another, anything out there that might help has drawn my interest though not always my commitment of funds.

I've done the index cards bit for initiative tracking, white board for initiative tracking, folders for character sheets, GameMastery/Pathfinder item and face cards for inventory/treasure and NPC recognition, and notebook after notebook/binder of campaign information. Even with all of that, I inevitably miss something important.

A recent example was during the Firefly/Traveller one-shot I was running for the weekly group. I forgot my layout notes for the building where the characters were conducting a heist and instead of a rip-roaring demolition of priceless antiques during a firefight, the characters had a somewhat anti-climactic shootout in a stairwell. The game moved at a decent pace, but I was left kicking myself for missing out on delivering that scene in a more dramatic and fun way.

Since I am planning to run another campaign in Monte Cook's Ptolus in the not too distant future I desperately need something to help make all the information much easier to use.

Mind, not all the organization in the world will prevent missing some things, but the older I get the more a tool that brings everything together in one place and aids in keeping track of plot lines, what info the characters know, special calendars for the campaign, linking of information at a glance, relationships between npcs, etc, certainly will help.

Thankfully it appears such a wondrous tool will be available very soon.

Check out the Realm Works Kickstarter. If you want something that should make your job of preparation and organization for play easier, this looks like the right tool for the job.

I jumped into it as a supporter a couple days ago and with several days remaining before the funding deadline on February 24th it still has a ways to go, but is moving toward the goal and might just make it. Even if it doesn't fund, the product will still launch a bit later and maybe a few features shorter, but I'm going to get this thing either way since it is already a functional, nearly complete thing and not just some one's wishful thinking.

Realm Works has numerous features I have been pining for as a DM so it easily fell into my must have category. I could list these things here, but the kickstarter page says and shows it all much better than I could.

Once I have the software and have had time to put a bunch of things in and test it out I will put up a review. There are already a few out there who have previewed Realm Works including the folks over at Gnome Stew.

I strongly urge DMs to take a good look at this kickstarter and hopefully you will decide to help fund it.