In addition, I will discontinue selling the Modern^20 Webbook and give access to that with purchase of Modern^20. For those that did purchase access, I don't want you to feel slighted, so contact me for a free book or credit towards a new purchase.
I may still play with the format and I would like to import all the Modern^20 supplements into the webbook, but only as time permits.
A very special thanks to Tyler Starke, Dj Gilcrease, and David Byron for all your hard work!
I'm hoping people will respond to this new format. For more on how this came about and its future please read on...
Sometime ago I started putting Modern20 into a database. I was doing this for a couple reasons: 1) to get the basic text into DB format to eventually make a character generation tool, and 2) to help facilitate creating a book importable to Amazon Kindle. If I had known I would get mixed results on #2 (due toKindle's limitations), I might not have done it. But I'm glad I did because along the way I started to create something different; something I now call a WebBook.
The WebBook is basically an online (or Web2.0 if you want to get fancy) version of the standard PDF, but in theory is a lot easier to use. At least I think so.
What is in a WebBook now
1) Quicker Navigation and drill down -The navigate tree (on the right) allows you to move like Bookmarks in the pdf. But unlike bookmarks, it allows you to drill down and only show the content you want. If you want to see the Tank class, just like on the tank node. If you want to see all the classes, click on the character class node.
2) Popup Rules - Some of the important rules (like feats, skills, etc..) will be highlighted so you can just click on them to see the rules in a popup. Makes it so you don't have to navigate to find feat X if it's referenced in a class or skill.
3) Printer Friendly HTML and PDF pages. - Once you drill down to the rules you want, you can export them to a printer friendly HTML page or PDF. Save a tree and only print the stuff you need printed.
The future of the WebBook
If people are receptive to the idea (and buy), I'll of course make new WebBooks and improve the interface.
1) Import the rest of Modern20 line - And if people are really receptive, I'll eventually do my entire catalog.
2) Keyword search - not sure this required right now with only 1 book, but as the catalog grows, and good way to search the text.
3) Custom Made PDFs - allow you to not only export a drill down to PDF, but actually allow you to flag certain rules (sections, feats, etc...) and build your own custom PDFs. For example, say you want to make a PDF just for Tank characters encompassing all the feats, skills, etc... for Tanks.
4) iPhone or mobile front end. Again, if people really support this new format, I'll look at creating other front ends such as a iPhone or Mobile version.
I've been using the WebBook to prep for my gaming sessions and it's much faster than using my books or PDFs. And I also use it to print handouts (such as a character class or a skill description).
I'm commited to giving Voyages of Discovery the same treatment, but beyond that it really depends on the response.
So if you like the idea of the WebBook, please support the idea by purchasing full access. If you already own Modern20, it's only $2.
I had hoped to integrated a forum system into my existing site, using the same login (I hate multiple logins!), but I don't know if I'll have the time to do that in the near future. That is still the long term plan, so eventually I'll merge the two user accounts Therefore, you should use the same email on the forums as you do on rpgobjects.com. That way your accounts can be easily merged when the time comes.
Thanks Dj Gilcrease!