Ok I referenced this earlier today. I am a commercial programmer in the real world. Health care mostly but I am an avid C# hobbyist as well.

I have written a tool I call Shadow Master. It's basically a GM Tool....with the following functionality:

1. A simple but beautiful grid system that tracks PC / NPC's Reaction, Initiative Passes, whose turn it is, and what actions they took for each pass.
2. 85% of all Charts and Look Up Graphs in all of the core books currently in print. This is the ultimate GM Screen. Included in that are listings for each weapon, vehicle, drone, and gear item.
3. Pavao's brilliantly done cheat sheets are referenced in a drop down list through a built in pdf browsing tool.
4. An NPC Manager which tracks NPC's by stats, powers, info in a hand drop down so you can find an NPC/Critter and pull it up with a colorful health tracking system.
5. Vehicle Tracking System, with all vehicle stats and condition monitor tracker.
6. A Runner Party Health Tracking System.
7. A Karma Log
8. A GM Journal
9. Built in Dice roller which tracks Hits, Glitches.
10. Matrix Manager with all Matrix charts and a Node Library...
11. A sprite/spirit manager which tracks summoned / compiled sprites, their services and stats, and health.
12. All data files are in xml and I included an XML editor page so you can update and add, change all XML for everything.

It is currently fully functional with one remaining defect as I'm trying to work out a Drone Manager similar to the Sprite / Spirit manager functionality.

Also under development is a Character Builder piece which allows you to not only build a PC but also track its growth over time... this is only currently about 30% done and I estimate 2 to 3 months before that piece is finished.

The Shadow Master tool is 95% done and I use it weekly for play testing my current 8 Runner Group...

So I want to give it to the community for free....but I'm worried about the data I use. Its the ultimate GM Screen it really does have 85% of every table and of course the limit there is data entry as I add more in ....

If I put that up here for free...as professional it has most bells and whistles from a programming standard...it needs a few more things..everything is save-able so you reload each game session, it needs a little more customization on the installation side to make sure it gets installed in every case or operating system but is currently tested on Windows XP and Windows 7.....

I wrote it like I would a retail ready program....of course with the intention of giving it away...here.

How much trouble is this going to cause me?

Contact Jason Hardy (he's a regular poster here). He'll be able to tell you what is allowed and what isn't, though you should be able to distribute it as freeware like the rest of the chargen/gm assistant/what-have-you projects posted here.

I personally can't see it causing you any trouble at all as long as you're not selling it. Until HeroLab releases their Shadowrun stuff, there isn't any commercial competition for tools like this.

Quick question: would this hook up to the Unreal Development Kit (UDK)?

Not currently though I will look into it.

Sharkman,

Did you get an answer about Shadow Master?

I am interested in beta testing or just playing with it myself and use it in my games.

Let me know.

I too am looking forward to this even if the laptop I used to run my own programs is currently broken.

WANT!

Sounds really good. Will have to give it a try.

If you want to avoid any serious legal ramifications, you can just let the program back-end the drop downs to a .txt file or whatever that loads tab delimited spreadsheets or whatever kinds of files you want. This way, you can avoid having a public use program that contains proprietary data but individual users can create their own private-use databases that get loaded into the program.

Go go loopholes.

The NSRCG was out for ages (and still available) and is a stand-alone program with just INSANE amounts of information. You can create a character for 3rd Edition using that and usually don't even have to crack open a book, no matter how weird of a character concept you're working on.

There have been allowed porjects that cover all that. Though not all in one place before and they have never had any trouble. If your aren't selling it or claiming ownership of the data in it it shoudl be allowed.



UDK I like it I love what I coudl do with it I just for soem reason hate its scripting language for no reason it's similar to the other I know and use.

Just wondering if there is any news on whether you can release Shadow Master to the masses?

I would use it for my game would like to give it a try.

This sounds great, I would love to give it a shot.

hero labd say they'll do nothing about fan made stuff and the old CGL stand point was if its not direct pirecy they don't mind so release should be fine.

I was attempting to do the same thing! In C# no less. I would love to see this, even use this in my current sessions.

K

Ok, now you've got me all anxious and excited....you shouldn't have teased me with this godsend!

I agree with Kevin Adams, it almost sounds too good to be true. this would allow GMs like me to have a look at everything relevant to us in an instant. I never used Computer while GMing before (mostly SR3), because there never were tools that summed up all that you promised in one program. This tool would simplifiy most GM work on tracking stats, initiative, NCSs, ect. I am really looking forward to being able to toss away all that confusing paperwork that i tend to pile up while trying to keep tack of things.

Good luck with the copyright laws,

Dhuul

I look forward to seeing it released.

Dhuul,

I've been trying to incorporate a laptop in my gaming for just about forever, never quite get it to be the tool i envision it to be.

Just want to support that project with my post°

Love to see it really quick...

wanna have it for my next run.....You could send it to me via some messanger. I will post or write you suggestions to make it better

I think that without sourcebooks you wil still be unable to understand game principles and universe. No matter what you will get from any SW asistant, GM and his link to the Shadowrun universe is critical. I think that there is no need to be afraid of publishing this tool for free. When you get ChargenSR4, you have not just rules for character creation with every table transcripted to this tool (including rules for weapons, cyberware, equipment...) and anyone had the problem with it? NO!

Im realy very interested in this project. Good luck.

To get a full image. I am Czech and only 4 players from 12 I am GMing are able to read and understand sourcebooks in English. I also work as a industry engineer and I am quite busy man. When we get to play, I need to do much more then simply sit down and begin gameemastering.
I need to translate every rule that is in use, explain things and give a lot of informations about the SR universe, that would English speaking players be able to read on their own. When we finaly get to the game, it is always about teling the story and pushing the tempo forward, and along with this I need to calculate a lot of things and keep an eye on some of my players because they need my help everytime they summon the spirit or simply fire a wide long burst or make a Called shot. They are getting better constantly, and we play for fun, not for rules, but your project...: When you are done... it should make my life much easier

I'm not sure if Sharkman is still around - his last login was about mid September ...

NNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! sigh.....

Frell.

FRACK!

Where would I find the link to the 3e NSRCG? My GM wants me to use it...