RPGist Blog

If you've read our post Spellcaster Helper 2.0: Everything Is Gonna Change! from 3 months ago, you already know what has changed. Otherwise, stay here and I'll explain it in detail.

In short: all proprietary content has been removed from the platform's databases, and we've included support for managing homebrew content that is stored in your browser.

Now the long version. And please read it to the end.

The Assistente do Conjurador project started in 2016, relatively shortly after the release of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, just for my personal use, my friends, and anyone who discovered its existence and found it useful. Over time, the site grew and ended up becoming one of the most used for its purposes, especially among those that provide content in Brazilian Portuguese. With this growth, also came the responsibility. We are not owners of the content we provide, we do not have the right to distribute it, and a WotC can request their removal from the site at any time, as I have seen happening with several others with similar proposals over the years.

Nobody benefits from the site being forcefully and suddenly taken down, so we chose to take action rather than wait for it to happen: all the proprietary content has been removed from our databases, and with that, also the character sheets and user spell lists as well. Some of the site's content is open-licensed though; what is included in the SRD is still available on the website.

If the story stopped there, however, the site would have become totally useless, and that's not what we want. To keep delivering value, in this same update we're also including a possibility to create and share Homebrew content. Users can create their own races, classes, and spells. These contents can be used on your character sheets and custom spell lists just like the official content. With a "little" more work, it's perfectly possible to recreate your characters sheets and spell lists you had, exactly as they were before, by creating the content that is not publicly available on the website as homebrew content.

Why remove content from the site then, if you can recreate it and keep using it? Because now the content is saved in your browser, not in our database. We are not the ones who distribute it publicly, it is you who create it privately. We don't even have control over what you create, use, and share. The content you create is invisible to third parties (with whom you haven't shared it) and even if an order comes for us to remove it, we can't do it.

Let's talk about the good news now then: how does Homebrew content management work?

In the "Creations" menu, the same where you can access "My Characters" and "My Spell Lists", you will also find the "Homebrew" option now.

Unlike these other two pages, you don't need to log into your account in order to create or use Homebrew content.

When you access the Homebrew page for the first time, you will find it empty. There is a "New..." button in the upper right corner, which offers options to create new Races, Classes, Specializations, and Spells. As explained above, the created contents are saved in your browser, so if you access the website from another browser, or from another device, the same content will not be available there automatically.

To transfer content between different browsers and/or devices, you will find the "Export" and "Import" buttons to the left of the "New ..." button. When you click on "Export", a text file in JSON format (programmer stuff) is created, containing all the content that is saved in your browser. You can save this file wherever you want, share it with friends, etc. Upon clicking on "Import", the site will ask for a content package, which would be exactly this text file that the site exports.

For now, it is only possible to do full exports and imports. The idea is, as soon as possible, to allow for more customization in the creation of content packages: like being able to choose which of the contents present in your browser will be included in the package to be exported, or which of the contents of the package being imported you want to ignore, and so on.

It is important to note that when you associate homebrew content to a character sheet or spell list, it will not be possible to access them in other browsers where this homebrew content is not present. A message will be shown in place of the content. Upon importing the homebrew content into the new browser, however, everything should go back to normal.

This is the first step towards creating a more robust and complete tool for everybody to enjoy. There is still a lot of work to do. If you have suggestions for new features or things that would work better differently, please get in touch through the site's Feedback tool, through our social networks, or by email at admin@rpgist.net.

Now that we don't have to fear the site being taken down at any moment anymore, there is already a list of ideas we would like to address, like creating an Android app, for example, and expanding the scope of what the site offers, such as including Feats, Warlock Invocations, a Bestiary, etc.

If you would like us to prioritize any of these things or anything else you have in mind, again, just send us a message.

And by the way, this is the largest update the site has ever received. Bugs are bound to happen. Please let me know as you find them so I can get them fixed as soon as possible.

We appreciate your understanding and good games!