- cross-posted to:
- dndnext@ttrpg.network
- cross-posted to:
- dndnext@ttrpg.network
Hello everyone!
My name is Casey Baggz and I’m the Founder & CEO of Nurl a new app that uses advance algorithms to deconstruct the rules, player sheets (and everything else that makes TTRPGs hard for players and GMs) and presents it in a holistic and conversational way. Likewise, we also add in realtime notes & chat (similar to Notion and Slack/Discord) and combine it with an extension library so you can have all the tools you need in one magical place.
I’ve been working hard to make sure we ship in less than 10 weeks and so far have received a perfect-score feedback from all players/gms we have user tested with ranging from 13-50 year olds who have played anywhere from “being curious” to 20 year vets.
Today, the waitlist is officially open and if you join you will get access to the app before the general public. I’m currently a GM and started as a player and built Nurl because I have yet to find a good solution for a tool that helps streamline the game in an elegant way that works with IRL/hybrid sessions (i.e. it’s not a VTT).
As a game master, there is so much time and improve you need to have to deliver great sessions. As a player (new or experienced) character sheets and rules can be extremely overwhelming, intimidating, and confusing.
Today, I can confidently say that Nurl will help remove that burden and enhance your games so you can spend more time focusing on the story vs. planning.
If you are interested, you can join the waitlist at https://nurl.website
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Can you give an example of what this actually does with “advanced algorithms”? Like what are some normal DM tasks that I would use this for? Is it an initiative tracker? Is it just for notes? Does it have monster statblocks?
Also does it support many systems? I’m primarily on PF2e.
Great question! So, we use our engine to do quite a few things for both DMs and players. As a DM, you can use the dashboard to add a bunch of utility extensions similar to what you see in the website screenshot (except that is for a player). This could include everything from your notes, to player stats, reminders, dice roller, location, etc. The extensions will be an open source library, so anyone should be able to eventually build their own and sell them in the app if they wanted to (or not). For DMs we also provide advanced features for the notes (like automagical player dictionaries which means it creates the character dictionary and context for you), encounters view (initiative tracker/encounter manager on steroids) and just be an overall hub for your group. Basically, it will help to streamline the group and game session in a way that hasn’t really been explored yet with the goal of just making playing and understanding the games easier.
Long term we will also create a line of physical smart products that will connect to the app - like GM tiles that create a map for you vs. you doing it or buying it, etc.
Ah, and there is also the raw engine itself in a conversational interface that you can use to help plan and execute your sessions. For example, I used to spend about 3 hours planning my sessions and now it only takes me on average about 15 minutes and we do about 4 hour sessions.
And it does support any TTRPG system. I test it every week and so far there is not a system I’ve found (outside of indie) that I can’t create players and run a game with. It’s pretty cool.
Interesting. And what sort of export would be available for the notes and other resources? I play on a VTT so I would probably want to dump things out and import them into other software.
Also can it do worldbuilding notes with map pins?
We won’t do exports to begin with, but I do have plans for integrations post release where we can. But, if we get enough feature requests to be able to export - we will 100% be happy to build that out.
Totally forgot to mention one of the extensions is a location tracker (which will update in real time on the player side - see website shot, top left side), and if you create a note that uses a location for the title, then the app will add some bonus features because it will know the party is in X location and you have a note related to that location (I’m personally excited about).
So I’m not sure about what you mean by world building notes with map pins, however, I’m very intrigued and interested in learning more. Would you be open to diving deeper in a 1:1 user testing conversation privately where I can understand and see if we can fit it into the release?
Map pins meaning like a fake Google maps type deal where you can pin a link to a notes page directly to a certain location on an image of a map. I believe worldanvil does this.
Edit: also yeah feel free to DM me
Ah, interesting. I feel that like it totally possible in a more “Nurl like” way since our location widget contains a place for you to upload a map - so by nature, our engine should be able to connect all those things and (theoretically) make the pins for you. Basically, with Nurl, you should have the option - but shouldn’t have to do the work if that makes sense?
I’m going to take note of that and just keep a pulse to see where that idea goes. Thanks so much for the details and stay tuned. 👀
@bionicjoey @that_nurl_d00d I’d be happy just to find out what “advance algorithms” are. ;)
It sounds from their site like a custom chatGPT is in the mix. Which normally I’m very skeptical of, but in the context of prepping/running ttrpgs specifically, I see a lot of value.
Any chance to support anything that isn’t D&D?
Great question and absolutely. Out of the box, Nurl supports any TTRPG (even Critical Role campaigns). We are just starting promotion focusing on D&D groups since it’s the largest audience and easiest to relate too.
