Mastodawn

So, question for any/all here who are #writing for #TTRPG purposes… What’re your tools of choice, and what does your workflow look like?

I ask because while I’ve gotten a fair bit of the writing that I want to get done, well, done, I find that I keep running into issues with my current tools, and spending time changing to other tools as a result.

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Fiction First Systems Apr 24

So far, my cycle has looked something like this:
• Start with #LibreOffice #Writer;
• Re-discover that I don’t like its indexing (no range of pages) and/or that its Master Documents do goofy, flaky things;
• Switch to #LaTeX and translate;
• Build out several useful macros to do various things (source book references);
• Re-discover that getting even the bare minimum production qualities I want (fonts and layout variations, mainly) out of LaTeX is complicated and time-consuming;

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Fiction First Systems

(continued)

• Switch to #Scribus for layout, and text or Markdown tools (#Obsidian, typically) for writing purposes and translate;
• Re-discover that text-only and Markdown writing doesn’t really flow well;
• Switch to #LibreOffice #Writer and translate;

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Fiction First Systems Apr 24

Generally, I have a strong preference for #OpenSource tools. I’m on a limited budget (or just a cheapskate, take your pick), running Linux Mint (Cinnamon) by preference. I’m not opposed to other/paid tools, but I’m not going to run Windows for various reasons, and I have no interest in subscribing to software-as-a-service options like #InDesign. I have a Mac available, and have some vague recollections from years back of being generally happy with #NisusWriter, so I'd consider that as an option.

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Fiction First Systems Apr 24

What I need, in order to pursue the #Fate (#FateCore or #FateAccelerated) and #MotW writing I want to do includes:

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Fiction First Systems Apr 24

• Font variants that aren’t easily managed in LaTeX;
• Multi-file long-form documents (think books) that Libre Office has issues with in combination with…
• Variations in page styles/geometry (chapter and section starting pages, even/odd pages and page components/frames, switching from portrait to landscape pages, sometimes combinations of several).
• Having the ability to do reasonably WYSIWYG editing that’s just painful in Scribus

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