Character Generator & Printing

[jstgtpaid]

I know it has been stated that Chartool is not a character generator. But is it possible to have it generate characters in the future? I must admit I initially thought this was a character generator. Looking through the forum comments and code it appears that it is certainly doable to have character generation capabilities. I would be more than willing to assist in the coding part, if it making the character generation components is not a priority.

Another suggestion would be to provide an interface to input game rule information. Editing the xml files and such is naturally an option, but I wonder if creating an Abeille form for various game inputs would be more helpful. For example, a screen to input powers and what not from 4e would be fantastic; maybe another for races and classes. The forms could be created in a generic way to foster the creation of monster data too. I only heard about rptools within the past few days so I don't even know if there is a monster data section in the rptools architecture.

Another character related element that I am seeing that is very appealing are cards that display powers. I have seen several types available and from my noob perspective it would be easy to implement with an Abeille form if the data was in chartool. My kids are stoked about cards with their at will/encounter and daily powers. Though they are young (9 and cards are useful (and could be implented as an electronic visual aid too)

If the character generator was an option and the data for powers and what not was present in Chartool, then a wizard to assist in character creation would be a cool thing.

I am going to play with the tools some more and see how they all interact but one 4e issue that is a pain is that powers have a wide variety of attack and defense sources. The constant question is what defense are you attacking (will, reflex, AC, etc) I don't know if the current tool mechanics resolve that issue, but it would be nice if a player (or DM) attack initiates a visual cue for the defense type...

Anyway, I love this product so far. I am starting to pour through the code which is another huge plus! Great work so far guys!!

<EDIT> I just noticed I didn't say anything about printing... Yeah, it would be nice to print too..


Steven

[jay]

I know it has been stated that Chartool is not a character generator. But is it possible to have it generate characters in the future? I must admit I initially thought this was a character generator. Looking through the forum comments and code it appears that it is certainly doable to have character generation capabilities. I would be more than willing to assist in the coding part, if it making the character generation components is not a priority.

There is a lot of support in the 4e file for building your character, it just isn't in a wizard as someone suggested earlier (I think it was you ) I have a drop down list of available classes that the user can select. Once selected it provides the character sheet with bonuses to defense. The same thing is true with race. When selected that provides all of the racial bonuses to the character sheet. For powers you can press a button and an entire list of all powers is displayed for your selection. What it doesn't do is limit the list of powers you can select by your current class.

Another suggestion would be to provide an interface to input game rule information. Editing the xml files and such is naturally an option, but I wonder if creating an Abeille form for various game inputs would be more helpful. For example, a screen to input powers and what not from 4e would be fantastic; maybe another for races and classes. The forms could be created in a generic way to foster the creation of monster data too. I only heard about rptools within the past few days so I don't even know if there is a monster data section in the rptools architecture.

I'm planning on allowing the game settings file editors provide forms for editing data like powers and races, but it isn't available yet. That is going into the editor for game settings files that I've been working on. Init Tool has the concept of a monster lookup database which it uses for 3.5, but I'm not sure how that translates to 4e because I don't have the monster manual. I'm assuming that it can be made to work though.

Another character related element that I am seeing that is very appealing are cards that display powers. I have seen several types available and from my noob perspective it would be easy to implement with an Abeille form if the data was in chartool. My kids are stoked about cards with their at will/encounter and daily powers. Though they are young (9 and cards are useful (and could be implented as an electronic visual aid too)

The table that contains the available list of powers has a view button that shows the power like it does in the PHB. I think that will give you what you are asking for.

If the character generator was an option and the data for powers and what not was present in Chartool, then a wizard to assist in character creation would be a cool thing.

The idea is to get as much data as we can into the tool so that you can play the character. Powers will definitely be there as you execute one or more every round. I even plan to keep track of the actions that you have used in a round and then mark powers unavailable when the required action is used up (including the action substitutions).

I am going to play with the tools some more and see how they all interact but one 4e issue that is a pain is that powers have a wide variety of attack and defense sources. The constant question is what defense are you attacking (will, reflex, AC, etc) I don't know if the current tool mechanics resolve that issue, but it would be nice if a player (or DM) attack initiates a visual cue for the defense type...

It is certainly possible to print out the attack & defense for the power used. I also want it to be able to make attack and damage rolls when executed. Any other effects of a power could also be posted to the message panel.

<EDIT> I just noticed I didn't say anything about printing... Yeah, it would be nice to print too..

Something will have to be done for printing. You can just print the Abeille form but it won't look right with scrollbars on it. You could also generate Abeille forms that could be printed easier. I might do something like PCGen does where the data for a character is used to fill in a template. That might be the best thing to do.

[Hawke]

I found a site that I think really does an almost-perfect job of creating printable sheets.

http://www.emass-web.com/index.php

If you go to create a power sheet (Dynamic Sheets->4E books->Powers->selectsome->Create) it looks really great. The downside though is that currently it does not automatically calculate everything it needs to to make it useable. If you go into the Character Manager you can select specifically which powers to use.

When we have the ability to print, an auto-calc version of this would be just what I'd want!

[jstgtpaid]

The sheets at that site do look nice, but I think the interface has a long way to go. There are tons of sheets out there. I personally think the best looking one is Mad Irishman's I just wish that the feat section was smaller and the attack section was larger. Oh and I wish that it would auto populate. Oh and the layers have got to go... LOL... I do like the look though, really...

Speaking of auto populating there are several character sheets that do the math. This site has an excel spreadsheet and also an ODF (open office) version... However, I don't have excel and the ODF version leaves a little to be desired.

I currently use an autocalculating PDF. It is the best that I have found so far... You can find that one and a bunch more here There are also links to power cards that are great.

I think that if someone makes an auto calculating version of Mad Irishman's and extends the attack section, it would be the winner hands down.