D&D 3.5 Monster advancement, generation and customization

TheOverlord · May 14, 2009

I have just released a free tool in support of the thriving 3.5 community via the Monster Advancer (Monster Advancer 3.5).

This compact suite of applications allows for swift monster generation, advancement and customization, all within the context of 3rd edition(3.5). What once took up to an hour of dungeon masters' time, now takes seconds. Large Fiendish, Half-Dragon Dire Wolves with 18 hit dice can now take their place of honor amongst the kraken and the hydra.

There are currently three applications worthy of note: There is a version made for massive customization (allowing templates, magical items and equipment , stat adjustments and feat selection), a version made for speed and simplicity, and another which can generate multiple creatures randomly based on the challenge rating or encounter level desired.

The entire project is completely free and available now. It is continuing to be enhanced daily with the ability to add class levels coming by the end of the week.

My goal is to help foster and reinvigorate the 3.5 community by contributing to the tools that enhance the game by allowing time for creativity rather than crunching numbers.

the Jester · May 14, 2009

I think this is just fantastic.

Even though I'm not currently dming 3e, tools like these are awesome. Thank you for the hard work.

Qwillion · May 14, 2009

It would be nice if the skills were precalculated and had the option of customization or at the very least precaluclated the total # of skill points.

frankthedm · May 14, 2009

hey, that is niiice.

I was thinking the same thing Qwillion, but that would take a lot of work. though it would it be nice for the default feats and skills to be noted. i do wish there were notations on how many [4th HD] ability score point boosts the monster is supposed to have. i can completely understand not having those autocalc, but the interface should mention them.

Ability Score Improvement Treat monster Hit Dice the same as character level for determining ability score increases. This only applies to Hit Dice increases, monsters do not gain ability score increases for levels they "already reached" with their racial Hit Dice, since these adjustments are included in their basic ability scores.

TheOverlord · May 20, 2009

Monster Skills and bonus stat points

Qwillion said:
It would be nice if the skills were precalculated and had the option of customization or at the very least precaluclated the total # of skill points.

Fortunately, I already calculate skills points and bonus stat points from advancement but I am not currently displaying them. I will add them to the display in the next release (this week sometime)

I also already have code written to auto-assign skill points based on several different strategies but I will need to program in each monster's "class skills" - (A monster's class skills are whatever skills are listed in their basic stat blocks.) I have not yet done that. After that is done I will need to add support for class levels affecting class skill lists as well but obviously that can be done once the basic skill point selection and assignment is done. Needless to say, it is in the works but you are correct that I need to do something for skills. I have been ignoring them in favor of just getting monsters to the table. The npc aspect of it has been slightly less used but now that the application is out there for all to see there is a lot more call for npc-type features...and I will answer that call...

TheOverlord · Jun 13, 2009

Auto skill assignment

Hey just wanted to get back to you guys and let you know that the skill stuff in out there and working. The Overlord does not sleep and the Monster Advancer is ever-improving. It auto-assigns using a basic strategy right now that tries to max out class skills. I am going to make it a bit smarter over time but for now it is fairly useful. I hope the changes I have made meet with your approval.

I'm A Banana · Jun 13, 2009

Keen! This is a time-saver!

I've been tinkering with the random encounter generator, and I noticed it doesn't assign spells memorized.

Also, I noticed it's not generating NPC equipment.

Those are both pretty complicated, but also a pretty big part of the challenge a creature can present. Any chance we can get those added?

TheOverlord · Jun 14, 2009

Kamikaze Midget said:
I've been tinkering with the random encounter generator, and I noticed it doesn't assign spells memorized.

Also, I noticed it's not generating NPC equipment.

Those are both pretty complicated, but also a pretty big part of the challenge a creature can present. Any chance we can get those added?

Equipment and spells will definitely be in eventually. I am currently spending most of my time getting the rest of the Monster Manual OGL creatures into the system and adjusting for the current quirks in both the advancer portion and random encounter generator. But, fear not, your desires match up with what I would like to have happen and will let you know when it does.

I'm A Banana · Jun 14, 2009

TheOverlord said:
Equipment and spells will definitely be in eventually. I am currently spending most of my time getting the rest of the Monster Manual OGL creatures into the system and adjusting for the current quirks in both the advancer portion and random encounter generator. But, fear not, your desires match up with what I would like to have happen and will let you know when it does.

You win at life!

Castellan · Jun 15, 2009

This is very cool. I'm looking forward to trying it out for my next game session.

I see that you're using the Yahoo User Interface, so I don't know if it's possible, but do you have any plans for the future to allow a user to input monster stats and advance those as desired? I realize that the OGL wouldn't permit you to share anything not explicitly sharable, but what about allowing a user to advance something for him/herself?

That may be a lot to ask, but since you seem to be capable of nigh-impossible feats of skill, I figured it's worth asking. Either way, once I've had a chance to try this out for my game, there's going to be a PayPal donation coming your way.

I'm giving this 4 Girallon thumbs up!

D&D 3.5 Monster advancement, generation and customization

TheOverlord

First Post

the Jester

Legend

Qwillion

First Post

frankthedm

First Post

TheOverlord

First Post

TheOverlord

First Post

I'm A Banana

Potassium-Rich

TheOverlord

First Post

I'm A Banana

Potassium-Rich

Castellan

First Post

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