Best PC & NPC Generators?

elijah snow · 10th January 2009, 12:14 AM

I'm trying to find the absolute best 3.5 PC and NPC character generators.

A great PC generator is:
Javascript D&D 3.5 Character Generator

I just realized it does generate NPCs like warriors and adepts.

I tried installing PC Gen, which is so promising with its rulesets for Pathfinder and 3rd party sourcebooks, but it crashed on my Vista system.

Any suggestions - is there a way to get PC Gen to run better?

aboyd · 10th January 2009, 10:41 PM

To run PCGen on Vista, open Notepad in admin mode. I think you can do this by right-clicking the icon for Notepad, and select the "run as administrator" checkbox (or something like that).

Then, use Notepad to open the PCGen file that is used to start up. On my Vista system, this is:

Code:

"C:/Program Files (x86)/PCGen/PCGen5141/pcgen.bat"

Once in there, you need to change the Java command (which is probably just the word "java" right now). It needs to be the full path, in quotes. On my Vista system, the full path to Java is:

Code:

"C:/Program Files (x86)/Java/jre6/bin/java.exe"

...So that means the Java line in my PCGen file now looks like this:

Code:

"C:/Program Files (x86)/Java/jre6/bin/java.exe" -Dswing.aatext=true -Xms128m -Xmx256m -jar pcgen.jar

When you're done, save it. If it won't save, you didn't put Notepad into admin mode. You'll have to try again. If it does save, you're ready to use PCGen. Give it a shot.

azhrei_fje · 10th January 2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aboyd

Once in there, you need to change the Java command (which is probably just the word "java" right now). It needs to be the full path, in quotes. On my Vista system, the full path to Java is:

Code:

"C:/Program Files (x86)/Java/jre6/bin/java.exe"

This is a known issue in the Java installer. Sun insists that its installer is making the appropriate API calls and MS's retort is that if it were, the path would be updated correctly. Oh well.

I believe (but can't vouch for it) that Sun has updated their installer for Vista to work around the problem, so a recent update of Java (not the one that comes with Vista) should fix the path problem and not just for PCGen, but for other Java-based tools like MapTool.

Vascant · 11th January 2009, 08:49 AM

Depending on what you are looking for and what you need it to do...but for NPC Generation you might want to look at NPC Designer.

elijah snow · 11th January 2009, 01:18 PM

These replies are very helpful. I'll modify/update Java and try PC Gen again. I'll also look into NPC Designer. Thanks.

freyar · 11th January 2009, 07:06 PM

See if you can get Jamis Buck's NPC generator here. It only does base classes and doesn't do equipment, but it's fast and allows output to PCGen files, so you can customize via PCGen.

dingle · 30th April 2009, 01:46 AM

Try the monster generator at http://www.dinglesgames.com/ I've created it so you can quickly add levels to any monster. It will allocate skills in a logical way depending on a template you select. e.g. Rogue "Trap Expert" would concertrate on Disable Device, Search and trap making.

aboyd · 30th April 2009, 01:57 AM

Might as well also mention Hero Forge. Kinda silly to mention it since everyone knows it & uses it, but it hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet. So here goes:

Hero_Forge : HeroForge

You need Excel to use it. It can handle the classes & feats from most official books, including the Complete books. Have fun!

Ffaelfarrin · 30th April 2009, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aboyd

[...]Hero_Forge : HeroForge

You need Excel to use it. It can handle the classes & feats from most official books, including the Complete books. Have fun!

But keep in mind that it uses VBA and thus wont run without any further doing under Mac (including MS-Office for Mac!).
Aside from this, I use HF, too, since my Dm recommended it to me. Fast & easy.