Using a PC as an NPC in a different campaign?

Dungeon_Master_Loki
Dungeon_Master_Loki

My cmapaign series is multigenerational so there is a lot of crossover of NPCs and sometimes player groups run into each other. I have a dim recollection of the ability to set a PC up so that it shows as an NPC on a separate campaign. Now this is pre-Reforge, much less current stuff so I guess I'm asking is "can this be done now"? 

Was it a late night fever dream? A moment of clarity? Or am I getting old? 

Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

Need a GM? Book me today!

Comments

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    I don't believe there is any cross campaign compatible stuff. You can create a hyperlink, but it would just be visiting the page of a different campaign.

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    Roger that. Fever Dream it was! I'm sure I'm part of vanishingly small niche that would want it. Even so, linking is easy! Thanks for the promt reply!

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • weasel0
    weasel0
    Posts: 435

    Well, could have been part of the Mandela Effect. 

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    It would be apropos in my campaigns. 

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    I've thrown the idea out as well @DungeonMasterLoki! There are a few of us who would actually be into it. I've pitched at least a sort of Notebook or GM binder where you can link things from one "Content Campaign" to others on your account. Not sure what it would look like though as far as design or aesthetic.

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    It was hyperlink to a specific page- one of the reasons many did not use it.  I do agree that there are more and more people doing multiple campaigns that link together- So this I think would be a good idea.

    Just trying to help out.

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    Huzzah! I'm not alone! I'd even suggest a simple clone tool, something you could use to create a copy of a PC, item, or wiki page and then designate which other campaign it gets assigned to. That would make my life a thousand times easier! 

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    Huzzah! I'm not alone! I'd even suggest a simple clone tool, something you could use to create a copy of a PC, item, or wiki page and then designate which other campaign it gets assigned to. That would make my life a thousand times easier! 

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006

    That "clone tool" sounds a good idea.

    smiley

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    I don't think the actual "cloning" part would be that hard.  Actually, I think it would be pretty straightforward.  The part I'm having trouble seeing is how it would be accessed and how you would choose the things to clone.  We have to make sure we add the features that help experienced Ascendants be as creative as they want to be, but also not have so many features cluttering things up that it makes things too hard to understand for the new Ascendants.  Usually that's done by "hiding" the more advanced features until a new user is experienced enough to go looking for them.

    Maybe a "Cloning Mode" that can be turned on and off (and is off by default) in the "cloned from" Campaign's Settings.  Then when it's "on" on the Edit screen of each clone-able thing, along with the Save button, there is a "Clone To" button with a dropdown listing all of the GMs Campaigns, so the GM can choose which Campaign to send that clone-able thing to.

    Thoughts on that idea?

     

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • weasel0
    weasel0
    Posts: 435

    What if in the campaign you want to clone to, when you create the new thing, there's a button for cloning that drops down or pops up the campaign list you can drill/search to the original item? Sort of how the show all wiki pages works with a search function. Lists out all the copyable things with the campaign listed as a keyword.

    And it could still have a toggle under advanced or simply be locked behind the paywall as Ascendants are most likely to use it with unlimited campaign capabilities and free only having a two campaign limit. 

    Though it would be useful for a free account to move things from 1 campaign to a new campaign before deleting the old one as a cost saving measure.

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    That does sound like the better UI experience for this particular feature.  But if we have to build a new search screen that is only applicable to this specific feature, it's unlikely this feature will make it to the top of the dev list.

    From what I'm understanding, this isn't likely to be a feature that many GMs will ever use (feel free to say if you think that's wrong).  So any dev time we put into this feature is basically siphoning that dev time away from the GMs who would rather that dev time go to other more broadly used features.  And developing a new search screen would be a chunk of dev time.

    Also, this feature doesn't directly contribute to "helping GMs to engage their players", which is our current focus.  So it already has a headwind getting to the top of the dev list.

    My "compromise" suggestion was basically trying to use the existing menus as the "search screen", so it would only need minimal dev time to be implemented.

    Feel free to push back on any of the things I've said here.  I'm happy to clarify or discuss further.

     

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006

    I just had a thought - would this cloning thing work on DSTs as well as other non-DST character pages?

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006

    I will agree with Thaen that it is not something I as GM would be likely to use very much, although I have wanted to do it in the past, so I can imagine some people with many campaigns finding it more appealing than I do.

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    @twiggyleaf, yep, the cloning would work on DST characters as well as non-DST characters.  I imagine a DST character is where it would be most useful actually.  On a non-DST character, there are only a few fields that you'd need to copy/paste.  But on a DST character, you have to enter every field again, so I could definitely see this saving some time there.  But it seems like something that wouldn't be done very often, even in the campaigns that use it.

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    My thoughts: 

    How about just a simple pull down on any page? Copy to XXX Campaign. Select it and a copy of the file, content included is added to the target campaign. 

    This would not only be super useful for moving wiki pages and data around, but also for PCs that are jumping from campaign to campaign as storylines cross. (At the moment I have three PCs doing this between three campaigns) 

    The single most useful place is with DST based characters. Most a anything else you can cut and paste, but those are bloody drudgery at best. 

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • DragonsBay
    DragonsBay
    Posts: 13

    One thing you CAN do.. Export the old campaign.  This creates an XML document.  You can then copy and paste the Characters to the new campaign.    I mean you can do that with multiple browsers.. so it's not a huge difference.  

     

    But if you are not a paid member you mey need to do it to make space for the current campaign you want to run.

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    Easier to just cut and paste directly from the other entries honestly. And I'm a paid member because I use a lot of space. Thanks though! 

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

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