Some time ago I wondered Why The Fuck Am I Reading RPG PDFs On My Computer?. This take got some cool responses and feedback, and I let this all percolate, as I am bound to do with ideas. Today, this got to the point of developing a first prototype.
Really, really big disclaimer: I'm not a developer. I used AI (Claude) to prototype this because I wanted to see if the idea could actually work. And I think it does! But this is very much a rough prototype - it'll probably break in weird ways, the code is probably a mess, and I have no idea what I'm doing half the time. If you're a real dev and this concept interests you, please take it and make it not-terrible. I'm just here to prove the idea isn't completely stupid.
So, the core approach: A universal format to write adventure modules in, so that a universal tool can take it and run with it.
For the ‘universal format’, I figured markdown would be a good approach. It’s how I write my stuff, as it allows me to completely focus on the text. So, the tool would have to be able to load markdown files, and recognize TTRPG specific features. A bit like an old school video game cartridge (imagery I am very nostalgic about).
Essentially: One markdown file is the complete adventure. It contains the core text, but also a section at the bottom that is ‘read’ by the tool, and used for referencing.
Early Features
- Mention goblin in the text in [[brackets]], the tool sees that and checks if there’s references for this in the file.
- There’s two types of data at the bottom of the markdown file:
- Entities (such as goblins) that can have a variety of stats (bars, with a current and a max value, static values, for things such as Armor Class, and dice values, for weapons).
- Lore, which can contain a description and references to other parts of the text.
- Dice notation automatically becomes clickable; just mentioning ‘3d6’ works with the dice roller.
- Tables get recognized and get a roll button, and the chosen entry automatically gets highlighted.
Check out the prototype here:
And the very, very rough markdown prototype file:
So, to be very clear:
- This is NOT a VTT. No maps, no tokens, no battle grid.
- It’s not persistent at all at this moment, but I can imagine it having options to track notes and certain pages.
- There’s minimal preparation required from the creator. It’s just prepping a markdown file with some minor notation.
- It’s all super early, bare-bones; I might continue working on this, I might not.