Role Playing Database 3.1.3

Tutorial

# Creating a Template Bundle

To create information sheets for your game elements, you will need to create templates To create a template bundle, select "Create or edit a template file" from the Options menu:

This will display this dialog box:

And an empty template editor window

will be opened up. You can now start to create templates for your game system. We will create a simple Character class template. First, click on "Add Template". This will open up the "Add New Template" dialog box, as shown here:

Type "Player" in the name field, as shown here:

and click "Add". This will create an entry under the "Character" folder named "Player". Double click on this entry now. The template editor will will now look like this:

## Adding heading text to a container

At first, all that is in a sheet template is an empty toplevel container, named for the class of sheet (Character) in this case. The first thing you will want to do is add a heading for this container. Highlight the container name by clicking on it, then click the "Edit Continer Text" button on the tool bar. This will display the "Edit Container Text'' dialog box, as shown here:

Fill in the text field with "This is a player character". The dialog box will now look like this:

Click "Update". The template editor window will now look like

## Adding a field to a container

To add a field to the toplevel container, make sure the container name is highlighter (click on the name to be sure), and click on the "Add Field or Container". This will display the "Add New Field" dialog box, shown here:

Fill in the "Name" field with "Character Name", select "Word / Short Phrase" from the "Type" menu, and set "Updatable" to "no". The dialog box should now look like this:

Click the "Add" button on the dialog box. The template editor window should now look like this:

## Adding a container to a container

To add a container to the toplevel container, make sure the container name is highlighter (click on the name to be sure), and click on the "Add Field or Container". This will display the "Add New Field" dialog box, shown above. Fill in the "Name" field with "Attributes", select " Container" from the "Type" menu, and set "Updatable" to "yes". The dialog box should now look like this:

Click the "Add" button on the dialog box. The template editor window should now look like this:

# Creating a character sheet

To create a character sheet, we first need to be sure that there is an available template bundle. Go to the `Options` menu and select `Edit` `System` `Configuration`, as shown here:

Click on the file folder button to the right of the "Template File" field and navigate to the location of the `dnd.rpgtmpl` file included with the Role Playing Database System. Click "Open" on the file select dialog and then "OK" on the configuration editor window. You might want then go to the `Options` menu and select `Save` `System` `Configuration` to write out this configuration.

Next, click on the `Edit` `Character` button. This will open the "Open or Create Character" dialog box, shown here:

Click on the file folder button. This will open the "Select Template File" dialog, shown here:

Double click on "Player.xml". This will select the player template, rather than the default non-player character (NPC) template. Now click on the "Create" button on the "Open or Create Character" dialog box. You should now have an empty character sheet much like that shown in

You are now ready to create a player character sheet! The process is much like filling in a form. Each piece of information is filled into a labeled space. Numeric values have small up and down arrows at the right end of the field and you can either type in the numbers or use these arrows to increase or decrease the value in the field. Fields which take file names have a folder button at the right end. These buttons can be clicked on to open a file browser to select the file. Text areas will display a scroll bar once the amount of text grows to be long enough to need it. The sheet is broken up into sections. First there is the character's full name and his or her nickname(s). The next section is the character's basic attributes: Strength, Intellegence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. Then comes the character's demographics, which includes the characters race, class, gender, age, and alignment. Then the character's wealth and health: gold pieces, hit points, experience points, and level. Then comes the extra detail, which includes a picture, a short bio, and a full bio. Finally there is information about the player, including the player's name, address, phone number and E-Mail address. Some of these fields will be filled out with the help of your game master and some fields will be filled in from dice rolls.

# Creating a map

To create a map you need to click on the "Edit Map" button. A dialog box, shown will be displayed:

Click the "Create" button. You should now have an empty "Edit Map" window, as shown here:

You can now fill * in the basic map information, which includes the Name (enter "Test Map"), the Campaign (enter "None"), the Game Master (enter your name), and the Space Shape (select "Hexigonal"). You can leave the Short and Long Descriptions blank for now, but for a real map it is probably a good idea to write a paragraph or two for the Short Description, if only to remind you of what this map is for. The map editor should now look something like this:

## Creating a new level

To create a new level, click the "New Level" button on the map editor tool bar. This will display the "Create New Level" dialog box, shown here:

Enter "Ground Level" in the Selection entry and click "Open" twice. You should now have an empty "Edit Level" window, as shown here:

The level's basic information can be filled in. The depth is the depth below ground (when negative) or height above ground (when positive). A depth of zero is at ground level. The title can be a short name for the level and the description can be a longer description. A filled in example is shown here:

## Creating a space

To create a new space, click on the "New Space" button on the level editor window. This will display a "Create New Space" dialog box, shown here:

Fill in "Entry Meadow" as the filename, as shown here:

Now click "Create". This will open a new space editor window, as shown here:

You can now enter the space's basic information as show here:

You should now save things, by selecting the "Save" menu item on the "File" menu. We will come back to this space later. For now, we need to create a space on a different level in order to add the hidden stairs down to the underground stronghold. We will do this by creating a new level named "Stronghold first level", which will be at a depth of -1, then create a space at location 0,0 on this level named "Entry Room". We now have two additional windows, as shown here:

### Adding items and exits to a space

First we will add a set of spiral stairs leading down to the strongholds first level. We do this by clicking the "Add New Exit" button under the exit list. An "Add New Exit" dialog box is displayed. After filling in the values we want, it looks like this:

Clicking "Add" adds this exit. Next we will add the hillock by clicking the "Add New Item" button under the item list. A "Add New Item" dialog box is displayed. After filling in the values we want, it looks like this:

Clicking "Add" adds this item. After adding some bushes and some trees, the space map looks like this: