Storybook
Posted in Tools on May 20th, 2009
Tags:
Tags:
Just wanted to pass this along in case someone finds it useful.
Via freewaregenius, Storybook is some free, open source software specifically made for organizing plots. It has features to keep track of plot threads, characters, locations, who was where when, etc. Check out freewaregenius for a more in-depth review.
Seems like it would be useful for RPGs, too.
Wow! Amazing find! I’m downloading this right now to put my current campaign into it.
JeremySouthard’s last blog post..Episode 1 – Thunderheart Inc.
Cool, let me know how it works out for ya!
One problem I’ve already encountered is that dates must be entered in “real world” time. I’m currently working around by making the start date of my campaign the year 2000 and adjusting from there, but it’s irritating. Otherwise, I’m finding this thing to be useful.
Cory’s last blog post..Welcome Page, updated
Strange, given that it’s designed for novelists who very well may be writing fantasy or sci-fi with non-standard dates. But then again, since it does use those dates for sorting and stuff it’s an understandable technical limitation.
Bah, “understandable”. I’ll show you my python implementation of arbitrary time systems some time. It includes a parser, and sorting is trivial.
BTW, Storybook is really cool. I am busily filling in the details for my entire campaign world. Some newbie-pro tips:
1) Scenes are encounters. Duh. Chapters and parts are up to you.
2) Strands are super useful for keeping track of stuff the PCs can’t see. Basically each of those is a timeline of events which may be happening in parallel. The arch-villains plot to conquer the kingdom probably takes place in a strand, and his strand eventually meets up with the PCs with his big reveal.
3) Make a “PC” strand. You can use it to journal what happens to them, or plan their next encounter. This will be most useful if you run a campaign where the PCs are together most of the time, but that’s the typical setup.
Cory’s last blog post..Welcome Page, updated
Well, Cory, if it’s such a sticking point for you the program is open source…
Honestly, I haven’t even installed it. I don’t really tend to organize my plots that way, but hearing you talk about it I’m really tempted to give it a look now. LOL!
BTW, regarding chapters and parts… I’d say Chapters would be good analogs for adventures, and parts would be good analogs for either adventure arcs or tiers.