Once the layout is finalized---the project will move to the third and final phase of development---the collection of data to use when the user hits 'Generate' Several people have already make some excellent suggestions, but much more will be needed.

June 7, 2003

Interactive SRD-Equipment One

Expansion of the interactive version of the SRD continues this week with the addition of the first section of equipment items.  Generators for the following groups of items are included: trade goods, simple melee weapons, simple ranged weapons, martial melee weapons, martial ranged weapons, exotic melee weapons, exotic ranged weapons, asian melee weapons, asian ranged weapons, armor, shields, extras, specials, grenadelike weapons, and siege engines. 

NOTE TO GAME PUBLISHERS:  Making an interactive version of your product or a section of your product available is a great way to attract visitors to your website.  An interactive version of your product can be much, much more than simple automated tables.  Please check out the game statistics generator provided with 'Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures' for another example of an interactive product.  Programming fees are reasonable and turnaround time is fast.  Contact Jeffrey A. Mills, DVM, doctorjeff98@msn.com, for further information.

May 31, 2003

Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures

T-Rex, Velociraptor, and Brontosaurus...this online generator contains a set of historical facts for over 170 different prehistoric creatures combined with a set of randomly determined game statistics to add a little spice.  The fact-based information includes the creatures name, size, era, range, and what general type it is. 

The randomly determined game statistics are general enough to be applied to many different systems; however, they were designed to fit best with some of the most popular on the market.  Just choose a difficulty rating from 1 to 20 and click "Generate."  Statistics for any difficulty level can be created for any of the creatures. 

The list of statistics includes Hit Dice, Hit Points, Number Appearing, an Initiative Modifier, Armor Class, a list of attacks (e.g. Tongue Lash, Tail Slam, Trample), the dice to roll to determine the amount of damage caused by each attack, a field for the occasional to rare special ability (e.g. Poison, Fear, or Hypnotize), and a final field listing possible colorations and unique color patterns.

In all, 17 different types of regular attacks, 23 different types of special attacks, 11 basic colors in 5 different patterns spread out over 11 different body parts are provided.  This combined with over 170 different creatures and an unlimited variety to the numerical statistics should keep things interesting until...well, at least until the next ice age.

May 25, 2003

Microliths and Steam Engines: Introducing Starting Points-Inventions

The Starting Points series of RPG tools continues to grow at a steady pace.  This newest addition to the set includes basic information on 69 of the greatest historical inventions ever.  They have been divided into four eras (The Ancient Times, The Middle Ages, The Industrial Revolution, and The Recent Past), including everything from handheld axes, paper, and coins  to telescopes, internal combustion engines, and flying machines.

Pick an invention and do a little research to answer a few basic questions about how it might be used to enhance your current campaign. 

Has it been invented yet? Is it commonly available or relatively rare? Is its existence even known to the general population? If it requires a power source, where does the energy come from? Magic? Psychic? Conventional resources? What is it like to live in a world at a time when this invention was first introduced? Just prior to its introduction? In a 'modern' or 'alternate world' campaign, what if this invention never happened? What if it was invented at a seemingly illogical time e.g. a medieval society with a steam engine or a modern society lacking basic eyeglasses?  The list is never-ending.

This tool is temporarily available for free online use.

May 18, 2003

d20 Wondrous Items and Starting Points-Famous Battles

We are pleased to be able to bring you not one, not two, but three FREE RPG tools this week!  A Wondrous Items generator for the RPG Toolbox, the complete wondrous items section for the Interactive SRD, and last, but certainly not least for fans of the series, Starting Points-Famous Battles is now available.

Gauntlets of Ogre Power, the Cloak of Elvenkind, and the Cubic Gate---they're all included.  All of the minor, medium, and major items from the SRD wondrous items section can be found in this exciting new d20 Treasure Generator.  With the click of a button you can randomly choose one of nearly 300 different items.  This weeks addition to the RPG Toolbox will hopefully be very useful to d20 GM's.

Draw a random card from the Deck of Illusions or  determine the results from blowing a Horn of Valhalla.  The complete wondrous items section of the SRD has been outfitted with over 20 generators!  All available for free online use.  Converting the SRD is a monumental task, so if you enjoy this service, please let us know.

Finally, let Starting Points-Famous Battles jumpstart your brainstorming process when coming up with ideas for  epic campaigns.  History is full of intriguing people and events.  With this tool you can brief yourself on 23 different turning points in history, dating from the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. to the rise of the British East India Company circa 1757 A.D.  Find a battle that interests you, then research it to discover how it might fit into your future game sessions.

Enjoy!

May 10, 2003

What do gold pieces, platinum pieces, blue sapphires, ceremonial daggers, smokesticks, and alchemist's fire all have in common? First, they can all be found in the SRD treasure file. Better yet, they have all been added to the new interactive version of the SRD. ALL of the tables in the SRD-Treasure file have been outfitted with automatic generators. With just the touch of a button, you can determine treasure for levels one through twenty, values for gems, art, etc.

"By adding generators to all of the tables, the SRD suddenly becomes an extremely useful game accessory and not just a reference to be filed away," says Jeffrey A. Mills, DVM founder of Dimensions Game Software.

In addition to generating the appropriate coinage for up to level twenty treasures, the interactive version of the SRD can generate gem-types and values, select art objects and appraisals, choose from the list of mundane objects, generate magic bonuses for composite long and short bows, as well as choose minor, medium, or major magic item types. In all, the iSRD-Treasure section has 27 tables plus generators. In the future, users will be able to select specific magic items from tables in the sections dealing with rods, staffs, wands, etc. In all, the iSRD-Treasure section has 27 tables plus generators.

Twenty-four of the tables in the iSRD have been extracted and placed into a separate program, the d20 Treasure Generator, that will be added to the RPG toolbox.

May 3, 2003

INTRODUCING THE INTERACTIVE SRD AND A FREE STAR MAP MAKER

The SRD is full of tons of useful information for d20 game players.  Let the 'interactive' version of the SRD make it even more useful to you.  Each of the tables and lists will be fitted with a 'generator' allowing you to pick random items or make random decisions based on the contents of the table.  The first section to be completely converted is the 'Special Abilities' section.  All of the tables in this section have already been fitted with a generator.  Some of the more useful ones are the list of poisons, spell schools, and diseases.  If the public is interested, all of the sections will be converted one at a time in order of their popularity.

In addition to the interactive SRD, Dimensions Game Software is pleased to announce a free online mapping utility.  Joining the Catacomb Creator, the Islands Generator, and the Forest Path Generator, is the Star Map Maker.  These simple tools are great for allowing the increasing number of 'laptop' GM's to provide their players with some visual orientation during gameplay.  For example, the Star Map Maker could be used to show the positions of the planets in a simple solar system.

April 27, 2003

EXPEDITIONS AND EXPLORERS

Exploring the unknown, mapping trade routes, gathering scientific information, spreading religious beliefs, gathering military allies, the search for gold.  These are just some of the reasons behind the greatest adventures ever.  This weeks new addition to the RPG TOOLBOX, 'Starting Points-Explorers',  will help you add these exciting elements to your campaigns.

Consider the outcomes of the journeys of over 50 famous explorers.  Did they end in death?  Disease?  Starvation?  Military conquest?  What was encountered along the way?  Friendly natives?  Hostile environments? 

Decide who will be the explorers in your campaign.  The PC's?  Major NPC's looking to hire the players.  Travelling NPC's who happen to stumble across the players' homeland, thinking that they themselves have 'discovered' a new land in need of conquering.

The possibilities are endless....if you just know where to start!

April 18, 2003

INTRODUCING THE 'STARTING POINTS' SERIES OF RPG TOOLS

Do you have the interest in doing a little research for your RPG's but don't quite no where to start? Did it used to be common for you to crack a few books during the week before your gaming session, but your list of ideas has run dry?

The 'Starting Points' series of RPG tools are here to help. They provide enough information to point you in the right direction, to aid the brainstorming process, to give you a few new 'keywords' for your internet search.

The first two members of this exciting new series are now available for FREE online use. They are 'Starting Points - Wars' and 'Starting Points - Civilizations'. Pick an ancient civilization (ever heard of the Ife society in Nigeria) or a real-life war...gather information...breathe life into your RPG campaign.

Future installments to be available soon will include religions, world explorers, famous battles, and astrology.

April 12, 2003

d20 SPECIAL EFFECTS GENERATOR

Dimensions Game Software is pleased to announce the newest addition to its expanding line of d20 web enhancements...a Special Effects Generator including all of the Extraordinary Abilities, Spell-Like Abilities, and Supernatural Abilities from the System Reference Document. The complete Special Abilities section of the SRD is provided for easy reference in HTML format.

'System Reference Document' Copyright 2000, Wizards of the coast, Inc.,

'd20 System' is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission.

April 7, 2003

FREE ONLINE RPG TOOLS

Dimensions Game Software is pleased to announce its ever-expanding set of FREE online tools for role-playing games. Twenty tools are currently available, including a Dice Roller, a highly-praised World Builder, a Creature Creator, many Item generators, a d20 System armor generator, and several mapping utilities.

"My goal is to have a large collection of high quality RPG tools that are designed to get players and DM's thinking, to breathe life into campaign settings," says Jeffrey A. Mills, DVM founder of Dimensions Game Software.

Currently in the works are a name generator with a database of over 5000 entries, an expanded line of d20 System generators, and more mapping utilities.

In addition to writing game software for the general gaming public, Dimensions Game Software can customize its generators or write original software for use by other game-related companies on their websites.

'd20 System' is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission.

April 2, 2003

INTRODUCING THE 'WORLD BUILDER'

Dimensions Game Software has finished a fairly comphrehensive 'World Builder' program that has been in the works for quite awhile. This is likely to be a program that is always being improved and upgraded, as a world can never be truly complete. If you have any interest in 'World Building', check it out and share any ideas that you have by emailing doctorjeff98@msn.com.

March 30, 2003

NEW RPG RESOURCES ADDED

A few more tools were added this weekendbringing the total up to 17! The newest are 'Islands Generator' , 'Forest Path Generator' (based on the catacomb creator), an 'Authentic Armor Generator' (which includes definitions for ALL of the archaic terms this time so that you will know that an 'epauliere' is a small shoulder plate, etc.) and a 'Weapons Generator' (now includes non-firearms).

March 22, 2003

NEW GM RESOURCES ADDED

After a very busy week, the new tools added include the 'Personality Generator', Treasure Generator-Jewelry, the 'Creature Creator', a 'Cryptic Word Generator', and an 'Obscure Prophecy Generator'.

March 15, 2003

NOW OFFERING JAVASCRIPT PROGRAMS

Dimensions Game Software is pleased to be able to offer custom designed Javascript programs and online RPG javascripts. In addition to being used by visitors to this site, these programs can be designed to be added to the website of other businesses to allow their visitors immediate access to playable demos...no need to wait for downloads! Please check out the many examples available. Send any comments or ideas to doctorjeff98@msn.com.

March 2, 2003

WELCOME TO DIMENSIONS GAME SOFTWARE

Jeffrey A. Mills DVM (a veterinarian who has avidly enjoyed role-playing games and computer programming for over twenty years) founded Dimensions Game Software in 2002 and joined the Game Publisher's Association in 2003. Main business goals are to provide FREE online games, FREE resources to enhance the role-playing experience, FREE print-n-play games, to further develop the NEAR FUTURE role-playing universe, and to write custom-designed games for other companies.