Features

Note that there are a *lot* of features available. RPM is scaled so that you can use as much, or as little, as you want.
Use the "Guide" to keep you in the area of functionality you're interested in. As a player, you don't need to bump into all the DM features available. As a straight DM, you don't need to bump into all the campaign options and possible extensions.

If you're a player, you need...

• The best possible character generator and manager. RPM offers you:
• Guidance with calculations - critical when you first start out with 3rd Edition.
• Full options for building your character from any race, with any class, and even using any template.
• A huge database of all the spells, classes, skills, races, items, feats, and abilities to choose from.
• Instantaneous lookups on any list item, giving you the full detail, without having to thumb through multiple books.
• Full ability to level up your characters, including obtaining new feats, abilities and skill points to spend.
• Full ability to obtain and use the equipment available, easily adding magical effects, or creating your own equipment from scratch.
• Have a continuous calculated statblock, that adjusts to all the options you make, such as points spent on Power Attack or Expertise.
• Print out your character sheet for at the table-use, changing it to suit you if necessary.
• A flexible notes capability where you can even stick a picture of your character.

 
• Complete player in-game support:
• Do away with needing to reference books all the time. Click on any list item to get the full description.
• Keep track of what's going on. Cast spells and spell effects on yourself, or add any conditions, to see the calculated effect on your character.
• Change around your options, and have the statblock show your stats. For example, turn on your Barbarian Rage, and see all the benefits recalculated right down to your attacks and damage.
• Execute attacks, cast spells and make saves or skill checks - along with almost any action! RPM makes the description available to you, and things such as skill checks give you all the different DC options.
• Extending the basics:
• Go beyond the core rules, and apply your own campaign specifics to your characters. Easily add any special abilities.
• All the classes, races, spells, items, feats, skills (anything) can be changed, or added to.

If you're a DM, you need...

• Everything that a player needs, as above:

The 3rd edition rules aren't about playing "vanilla" monsters out of the manual anymore. Any encounter with a standard race could have all the flexibility of classes, templates and abilities that a party of players has.
• Sophisticated Encounter Generation:
• Quickly generate fully calculated encounters. You have options for random generation, fully-fledged Jamis NPC generators, statblock entry, or even the full player character wizard.
• Hand-tune anything you like from quickly generated creatures, even modifying the race, and adding and subtracting templates, until you're happy with the result!
• Generate random abilities (Str, Dex, etc) from a variety of dice rolling methods, and have RPM correctly apply the racial modifiers - even the special rules for low modifiers! Variable strength and dex in your standard monster races keeps your players guessing about their combat stats!
• Complete Adventure Building:
• Build adventures, complete with maps, locations, encounter groups, items and adventure notes.
• Use any map you have with the import facility (eg from Dungeon Crafter or CC2).
• Alternatively, use the built-in TileMapper available, using the "smart draw" to very qucikly create entire villages or dungeons.
• Have your Encounter Levels calculated for you, and add any necessary strategy notes to any creature, encounter group, or map.
• Use the BattleMap to click on your map and add encounter groups or location descriptions directly. Very good for quickly filling out a dungeon.
• Print out the entire adventure, or even save it as a browsable HTML file, where you can move to various maps, locations and creatures, using links!
• Use the Generators for generating all types of names for everything from creatures, to books, to taverns - or even for random plot ideas!

 

 
 
 

• Full In-Game (at-the-table) support:

This is where you get the very best of RPM, and where RPM can greatly simplify and speed up you game. Don't get bogged down in rules detail anymore!
• Run your adventure on-the-fly, or use a prepared adventure, as above.
• Have combat fully managed for you, starting with automatic initiative rolling - which you can edit.
• Keep full control over all dice rolls, allowing for manual edits at any and every stage.
• Try the following options for resolving attacks, saves, skill checks and other actions..
• Option 1: Play as you want, using RPM for statblock and information lookup.
• Option 2: Play with miniatures, using untargeted checks (you're told which AC, DC etc succeeds).
• Option 3: Play with miniatures, using RPM to select opponents from the list, and have RPM determine outcomes quickly, managing hp, health and conditions.
• Option 4: Play using the BattleMap to position and move creatures. Use untargeted checks (you're told which AC, DC etc succeeds).
• Option 5: Play using the BattleMap to position and move creatures. Have both the players and other creatures enetered into RPM, and use mouse targeting to fully resolve all outcomes. This is the best automation RPM can give you. Follow the example tutorial, to see how you can almost play out an entire encounter without really understanding 3rd edition rules!
• Have all spell effects, conditions, special abilities (like the Barbarian Rage) fully time managed, with RPM keeping track of the effects on all creatures, and keeping the statblock up to date.
• At the end of an encounter, have RPM work out and distribute the experience for you!

 
• Campaign and Source Extensions:
• Download supplements available from the website. Check out options like "D20 Modern".
• Build your own Source of classes, races, templates, skills, spells, feats, items, encyclopaedic information, magic (etc). and share it with others.
• Make use of the rich text wordprocessor capabilities to beautify your descriptions.
• Provide you with an open and extensible way of adding your own house rules, or campaign extensions?
• Give you the ability to export your data and share adventures, NPCs, or entire campaign/source settings (complete with races, skills, feats etc)

 
• Other:
• A flexible Diary/Calendar is available.
• Extend the generators with your own concoctions.

RPM understands the RPG rules, and how to  apply them effectively for you.

In essence, it is the premiere tool to help you from the starting point of creating and maintaining characters, through to building complete adventures, or even an entire campaign setting, and then actually playing out your encounters with the most comprehensive tool you can find!
The idea behind RPM is to enrich your roleplaying experience by having a program that understands the RPG rules, and do all the nuts and bolts calculation for you. This will cut down your game preparation time severely, and allow to easily manage the most complex of encounters!

A look at the screenshots is highly recommended to get a very good idea of what is available to you.

Check out the feedack of users here.
 

Here's a quick (non-exhaustive) list of RPM's capabilities:
 

Generate characters, NPCs and monsters quickly. You can: Start from scratch, building step by step. Type in a quick 1 liner, and have RPM flesh them out for you. Use the on-line, or an off-line "Jamis Generator".

Manage your characters/creatures, over time - keeping track of experience, items, and adventure notes. As a DM you can keep track of important NPCs that keep popping up.

Automatic calculation of stats and modifiers, incorporating racial traits, skills, feats, class features etc.

Customise RPM , showing the screens and options suited to your own particular needs.

Full database of all core classes, feats, spells, skills, items, races, etc

Fully expandable and modifiable, to suit your campaign. RPM is specifically designed to start with the core system, and be openly expandable. Any new classes, feats, spells, skills, items, races etc may be added.

Race Generator. This is built on the expandable database, mentioned above. You may create new monsters (or templates of existing monsters).

Build adventures, complete with maps, locations, NPCs/monsters. You can print out adventures, view them in HTML, or use RPM to play them at the table.

A comprehensive range of reports is available to print out everything from creature statblocks, to complete adventures, or spell lists. If you know HTML, you can modify existing reports, or create your own new ones. The report designer has access to the database and scripting capability of RPM.

Built in Tile Mapper! When you develop your adventures, you can import any bitmap you want, as a map. Alternatively, you can use the built-in tile mapper to quickly knock up a map. This is a multi-layer tile mapper with "smart mode" drawing that produces a quality finish in very quick time. You can also expand it with your own tilsets.

An in-game Battlemap! This lets you use any maps at the gaming table, allowing you to: Position all creatures on the map precisely, and move them around easily. Zoom in or out on maps of arbitrary size, wherever the action is. Choose options to label locations and creatures with colour-coding. Quick access to select targets (with automatic distance calculation), along with action selections etc. Quick access to player and DM descriptions for locations and equipment (booty).

A Combat Manager. This in-game facility allows you to: Build up an encounter, with flexible ways to add to the fray ( from the adventure list, by group etc). Keep track of initiative for everyone, from round to round. This includes action options (spell, attack, skill etc), flat-footedness etc. Process each creature in turn, including the success of their action attempts.

An Experience Calculator. This is tied-in with the combat manager, which keeps track of all defeated opponents. You may: Apply a DM total bonus (useful on it's own, to grant "story awards"). Judge opponents to be defeated, even if they're not necessarily dead. Modify the XP per party member, prior to allocation.

The powerful JavaScript language is available to extend the capabilities of RPM. This is integrated into the RPM database, allowing you to treat database fields as variables.

An ActiveX control. This allows you to: Use built-in networking capability (LAN or internet). Build your own game on top of RPM, using it as an RPG-engine. Access the underlying scripting capability.

You tell me!! New ideas are well-recieved!