For the system selection, I'm trying out a couple different tools that offer slightly different features. The main thing is that I want for people to be able to vote for up to two systems with a ranking. So if someone really wants the system to be Pathfinder but think that Savage Worlds would also be good, they can rank Pathfinder a 1 and Savage Worlds a 2. Then when the system is calculating votes, it uses the instant runoff method to calculate the winner. By using this method of voting, people can potentially vote for their favorite - and perhaps weaker performing in terms of votes - but still put in their two cents on which of the leading systems they would prefer. The functionality for system selection is probably the simplest thing I am working on at the moment.

The setting construction is by far the more complex part of the project. I'm testing it out in a lot of ways, and there will likely be additional features that I add as I see how people use the system. The general idea is that there are different pieces of information that someone might wish to enter about characters, creatures, objects, places, events and organizations in the setting. Characters might have role-playing tips and histories, but places might have maps and descriptions. The powerful feature though will be in how these elements can link together. Each of these different types can be linked to the others to create a complex set of relationships. In addition, I want to be able to potentially label these relationships at a granular level.

Labeling the relationships describes the type of relationship between two items. Two characters might be labeled as "enemies" of each other. An event might have a character labeled as a "participant". A place could be the "city" within which another place exists such as a "region". The system needs to be pretty flexible to accommodate this feature, but it is certainly doable. The question is really whether I can have it working correct and in place before we start building the setting in about a month.

We shall see. If you're a PHP or Drupal programmer and want to help out, there is definitely room to get involved with the company. I'm still looking for a partner or two, and a Drupal programmer would be a perfect match. Besides these things, there is a lot of design fine-tuning that is needed.