Evan Bailey
patreon
Improved Initiative 3.7: Library enhancements and fixes
🕑 Added 2023-06-29 03:56:25 +0000 UTCHello GMs,
Here's a small update for Improved Initiative. I added the ability to sort the Creatures library by recently used. It will start tracking your 100 most recently used StatBlocks, so you can quickly find your most common monsters.
I also fixed a few issues with how the grouping options work. Grouping by CR and Type will work more consistently, and the button now shows a tooltip to help orient you.
Video Tutorials
I've been teaching myself some basic video editing with the intent of making some tutorial videos for advanced features in Improved Initiative. It's slow going, video editing is tougher than I expected! I'd like to start with a video to explore the various advanced Encounter Commands and Combatant Commands. I'd like to hear if there are other parts of the app that you'd like a video explainer for. If you're a video professional, I'd also take your advice on resources or workflows for it!
AI-Generated Content
I've been following an interesting Patreon creator who is building AI-powered DMing tools. He recently launched a Monster Statblock Generator that can output directly into the Improved Initiative JSON format. While I don't have any immediate plans to incorporate AI tools into my apps, I wanted to re-share this since I bet you'll find it useful.
I know that AI-generated content is a controversial subject. As a programmer and game master, I've recently used tools like ChatGPT to help me brainstorm and problem solve in both domains. I'm also aware of the problems with AI models that are built on top of art and writing produced by actual humans. The original authors are uncredited, and the output is generally not fit to stand on its own. I'm excited about these emerging technologies, and I know there are good ways and bad ways to use them. At the end of the day, my goal is to provide tools that make a GM's job easier.
Anyways, as always, I'd love to hear your feedback.
Happy GMing!
-Evan
Comments
E Riewerts
Thanks for that StatBlock Gen reference and the updates to Improved Initiative!
Victor Navone
Thank you!
Bernie Fritts
I recommend using Divinci Resolve. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve. It may seem intimidating at first but it has a great workflow. Used by industry professionals. Best part… it is free. There is a pay version but that is only for the industry pros. If you have any questions, let me know.
