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Da gibt's einen Dungeon Master Client. Der sieht folgendes Vor: (direkt aus der Website http://nwn.bioware.com/dms/dmclientintro1.html geholt)

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Basic Display

The display for the DM Client is very similar to the Single Player Client, with the exception of several buttons at the top of the main screen. You will see that you have a 'character' representing you as the DM; this is called the DM Avatar. The reason for this avatar is to give the DM something to focus on and does not have to be used unless you wish to cast spells, move to a specific door/chest/whatever or appear as a Non-playing Character (NPC) to the players. You will also notice your movement rate is about six times faster than Player Characters (PCs). The DM Avatar is normally invisible and intangible to all creatures and PCs in the game.

The buttons at the top are:

  1. Chooser- A menu of your module's contents including areas, creatures, triggers and waypoints. Note that items are not listed here.

  2. Creator- Allows the DM to create any monster, item, placeable object, trigger, generic trap or waypoint during play.

  3. Show Triggers/ Hide Triggers- It will indicate an area where a trigger of some kind exists. If set to 'Hide Trigger' all indicators will not be visible to the DM. A trigger is a trap or encounter that has been placed in the module. Triggers will remain invisible to PCs, unless detected in game, regardless of this setting.

  4. Appear/Disappear- The DM Avatar will become visible and tangible to PCs and anything else in the game. The DM Avatar is still invulnerable and retains all DM abilities even if visible to the players. 'Disappear' causes the DM to become invisible and intangible again. No PC or creature in the game can detect a DM through spells or special abilities when the DM is invisible and intangible.

  5. Pause/Unpause- Pauses game. DM, and all DM functions, are not paused.

  6. Difficulty Slider- Moving the slider to the left makes combat progressively easier (monsters are easier to kill, do less damage and so on) each increment the slider moves. Moving the slider to the right increases the difficulty each increment it is moved.

The Chooser and the Creator are the two big features of the DM Client and are discussed in detail next.

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Chooser

Clicking on the 'Chooser' bring up a window of buttons:

  1. Goto- Select a particular creature, location, encounter, NPC or PC and then click 'Goto'. The DM will be teleported to the selected thing or area.

  2. Kill- Kills whatever is selected- including PCs.

  3. Jump- Move target to a specified point. You select a creature press the jump button, and click on a place that is in your area. It is also used to bring creatures to you.

  4. Toggle A.I.- Shuts off creature A.I. The creature will simply stand there and not respond to anything.

  5. Heal- Heals whatever creature/NPC/PC selected.

  6. Take Control (Possess)- DM inhabits a creature or NPC with no additional DM abilities apart from the DM buttons available at the top. That means the possessed creature is not invincible, and does not have access to all spells in the game. If the creature is killed, the DM's Avatar appears (but is still invisible and intangible to all creatures and PCs).

The ability to possess creatures allows the DM to fight the PC as an enemy creature, hold a conversation through a NPC and force a creature to act in a certain way.

  1. Rest- Forces creature to rest.

  2. Limbo- Sends selected target to an inescapable location away from all seeable maps.

  3. Examine- Gives description of selected thing. This is exactly like a PC examining something in game.

  4. Take Control Full Powers (DM Possession)- DM inhabits the body of a creature or NPC but retains full DM powers. The DM will appear as that creature but be invulnerable and have the ability to cast all spells.

  5. Toggle Invulnerability- Makes creature invincible to all damage.

  6. Search by First Name- If you know the first name of the thing you are looking for, you can type it in here, and it will take you to it on the list. It's very similar to the find command for Word documents

  7. Find Next- Chooser moves to next similar item on list.

Below this list of buttons is a tree-style window that will display everything in the game that is selectable.

Area (Note: The word 'Area' is replaced by the actual names of the different module areas.) Under each Area, several categories appear that refer to its contents. Each of these things can be highlighted and, if appropriate, can be used with the relevant action buttons above. Note that items are not listed here.

Creatures- All monsters and NPCs in this particular area. Encounters Triggers and Traps Waypoints

Limbo This is treated like a special area that appears in all modules. There is nothing here except what is placed by the DM during play.

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Example of How to Select Something in Chooser

In this example, I have three areas in the module I have created. Each area has a different name. I made these maps within the Toolset prior to running this module with players. You will notice that a '+' sign is used to indicate that more content lies within that category. A '-' sign is used to indicate that category is fully expanded out.

I wish to find a creature called a Balor within my module. I click on Chooser-> Map1_Church-> Creatures and find him listed under the other creatures, or NPCs, in the Church. I highlight the Balor and now can click on one of my commands such as Goto, Kill, Heal etc. to perform an action on that selected Balor.

The Evil Caves (name of the entire module)

Map1_Church

Creatures

Balor (110/110) Jinn (9/9) Dungeon Master Peasant1(12/12) Invulnerable Peasant2 (12/12) Invulnerable Priest (11/11) Invulnerable

Encounters Triggers and Traps Waypoints

Map2_Castle Map3_Underground Caverns

Note- The area names can be anything you wish. I could have labeled 'Map1_Church' something different based on how I want to organize things in my module such as Church, Area001, CHURCH, Timmy's Basement and so on.

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Using the Radial Dial Menus

Right click on any creature or NPC in the game and a radial dial will appear that gives you the following Chooser functions starting from the very top and moving clockwise:

Limbo Goto Heal Kill Take Control (leads to another radial menu of Take Control, Toggle AI and DM Control) Toggle Invulnerability Force Rest More Actions- This leads to a second radial dial menu with such standard actions as Cast Spell, Attack, Special Attack and so on. In addition to these standard actions you will also have the Give/Take option. The Give/Take option is used to give or take experience (XP), levels, and gold to creatures/NPCs/PCs.

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Creator

The other big feature of the DM Client is the Creator. This function basically allows the DM to insert whatever he or she wants (monsters, items, furniture etc.) directly into the game as play is happening.

A tree window will appear when you click the Creator button. The set-up is exactly the same as the Toolset tree layout. You will be given a list of things you can work with:

  1. Creatures- These are broken down by category the same as the Toolset.

  2. Items- Same as toolset.

  3. Encounters- The player has a choice of what level of difficulty to place on the encounter that is placed: Very Easy, Normal, Moderate, Hard and Impossible. After selecting the difficulty level, the DM opens another menu of a list of pre-made encounter themes to choose from. This will spawn in the group of creatures.

  4. Waypoints- These are markers used to indicate where a creator or NPC will travel to. For example, a guard will walk along a castle wall back and forth between two or more waypoints.

  5. Triggers and Traps- Only generic triggers and generic traps can be set on the fly while play is happening. Custom triggers and traps must be made in the toolset and added to the Custom menu before play has begun.

  6. Portals- Teleports creatures from one point to another.

  7. Placeable Objects- A list of objects direct from the toolset.

Important Note: You cannot create a new area within the DM Client during play. For example, you cannot create a new room within your castle module when you are in play. All areas must be available when you begin play. The areas can be left blank when created in the Toolset and can be filled with furniture, monsters etc. as play happens if the players wish to take an unplanned detour.

Example of How to Create Something in the Creator

I wish to place a +1 Greataxe in one of the rooms of the Map3_Underground Caverns area I created in the example module above. I place myself in the room I want by navigating through the Chooser. I then click on the Creator to bring up my list of choices in the tree-style menu to eventually find Greataxe +1. I click on the item and place it in the room.

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Specific Special Features of the DM Client

  1. Quickbar Use

The Quickbar is one of the most useful things a player can make use of during game play; this goes for the DM as well. With far more to keep track of than your average player the DM needs to be able to do things very quickly and easily. Most commands lend themselves to the Quickbar (Goto, Kill, Heal etc.) but another excellent use of the Quickbar is putting a Create creature into a quickbar slot. You would eliminate searching through multiple menus to do something simple like add a Bear to a forest adventure.

You can put a command in the Quickbar making the addition nearly seamless.

The art of being a great DM through the DM Client is more about planning instead of quick reflexes. If you are DMing a module that takes place in a forest – why not make an entire Quickbar of forest monsters? You have three levels of Quickbars to use (regular, holding the Ctrl key and holding the Shift key)- so use them. One bar for DM commands like Heal, Give/Take and Kill that you use all the time, one bar for spawning module specific creatures, and one bar for spells, plots items or special effect placeable objects like lights, flames and so on, is one way to map out those Quickbar slots. Plan out your Quickbar; it is one of the most valuable time-savers you have as the DM.

  1. Map Feature

The DM has several options for moving around his or her module areas. The first is simply running there using his or her DM Avatar. The second is selecting an area or particular creature in the Chooser and clicking Goto, and finally, the Map Feature. Click on the map icon in the upper right-hand corner will bring up a complete map of the current area you are in. Double-click on any point on the map and you will be teleported there.

  1. Jump All Players to Point

The DM has the ability to summon all players in the module to his or her avatar at once. This can be used at the start of the game when people are waiting for all players to arrive. Once all members are present, the DM can use the Jump All Players to Point command and all players will begin in the same place. Right click on any unoccupied floor space, bringing up a radial dial menu. The bottom menu item is 'Jump All Players to Point'. Choose a point and all PCs will teleport directly there.

  1. Player Portraits

Along the right-hand side of the DM's main screen he will see the selected portraits of all the players that are playing in the game. By right clicking on the specific portrait the DM is given a radial dial of commands that can be enacted upon, or concerning, that PC.

Bottomline ^

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Last edited May 6, 2003

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