When I was wrapping up my review of World Anvil, I received word from those behind the service about an upcoming major release aimed at players and game-masters. While I'm not a RPG gamer (I've never played D&D in my life), I appreciate there's a lot of overlap. Writing a novel and playing a role-playing game are both storytelling, and world-building is an endeavour shared by both the novelist and the game-master.
To that end, a company like WorldAnvil is well-placed to cater for game-masters building their worlds - either from scratch or using some kind of pre-defined ruleset. But world-building is only half of the RPG experience, the other being running the actual game itself.
WorldAnvil has released an updated, called Heroes, that allows game-masters to run a campaign set in the world. As far as I'm aware, this is a unique feature of the service. Obviously, if you are a game-master there's a huge advantage in being able to utilise a single platform for both your world-building and gaming needs. As I understand it, the system even allows spectators as well as GMs and their players.
I'm not in the position to do a formal review of these features (I don't role-play), but I figured I might as well help spread the word, since I concluded in my review the app was a particularly good fit for gamers.
For GM's Heroes offers:
- A single, straightforward interface to manage game sessions.
- Compatible with any genre or system, including DIY systems.
- Quick and easy session prep.
- Access all world articles and blocks stored on WorldAnvil - and the ability to share them with players and audiences.
- Keep track of PCs and NPCs.
- Create parties and manage their quests and equipment.
While for players, Heroes offers:
- Mobile-friendly UI, so players can use their own smartphones or tablets on the table.
- One easy interface for every aspect of playing.
- Keep audiences updated.
- Take and complete quests.
- Level up, write journals and gain accolades.
So, while I can't comment directly on the features, I think this update is certainly worth exploring if you are GM in search of a solution to both create your world, and manage your gaming sessions.