RPGenesis-- What are you looking for in a character generator?

Hi guys,

I've been working on my first project, a PC repository/generator and I'm wrapping up the first release:

RPGenesis

It's written in PHP with mySQL, so if there's anyone who has these software requirements and would like to test-drive the superduper-alpha, please let me know. It would be great to get some feedback.

I would like to know, as I go along creating this puppy, what sort of features people might be interested in. I'm sure there's a lot. It would help give me a better perspective of what might be a good idea to implement into the current version or in later versions.

I've attached a screenshot of the Stats screen. I've incorporated CSS into the design, so people can create "themes" for classes Shown is a female sorcerer. (I like flavor.)

Please remember this software isn't finished yet.

/johnny

Meow! I like the looks (not just the babe) of the user interface.

I like to see everything I need on one page, so I don't have to flip to another page to get skills, spells, equipment or something similar. Having separate screens for stats and such is nice for organization, but I don't like having to flip around for all the vitals.

Also, I like to have bunches of NPC/PC stats on one sheet to see, as I can quickly draw an idea of where they are at vs. one another. I want to create something challenging, but I may not want to overpower the grappling monk accidently.

Cool, feedback!

Hi Marauder,

MarauderX said:

Meow! I like the looks (not just the babe) of the user interface.

I like to see everything I need on one page, so I don't have to flip to another page to get skills, spells, equipment or something similar. Having separate screens for stats and such is nice for organization, but I don't like having to flip around for all the vitals.

Also, I like to have bunches of NPC/PC stats on one sheet to see, as I can quickly draw an idea of where they are at vs. one another. I want to create something challenging, but I may not want to overpower the grappling monk accidently.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply... are you talking about a list of players with all their stats summarized? That's the main screen (the list view). I've uploaded a screenshot, but note I haven't done any formatting yet because I'm not sure which stats to include. This was the first bit I wrote for the application so 1. it keeps changing, and 2. I just threw together the stats.

What sort of stats do you (or anyone else) think are a good idea to include in a summary? I was thinking of creating character "blocks" so it won't just be limited to one line of data.

As you might be able to tell from the screenshot, you can sort the data as well. You can edit the character, delete him/her, or lock the character (so you know when you've finished, basically).

Let me know, I'll be hacking at it this weekend. All feedback is welcomed.

/johnny

spiffy

It *looks* cool thus far. Here are things I'd like to see in a character generator app.

1. The ability to save a character as an xml document, to make transfering it into different apps easy. I really, really, really want to see this.

2. Obviously, a nice, spiffy printable character sheet. If I can't take it to the table, it does me no good.

3. The ability to generate "standard" stat blocks from charater data - like one would see in published adventures, for example.

4. I also like the idea of being able to put groups of characters onto one printable page. Perhaps just groups of stat blocks (see above) on one page would work.

5. I like the sortable list with info about the character. I create so many NPCs that I oftentimes forget who or what they are without opening up the file and taking a look. Having extra bits of data, like class, race, HD, or CR helps jog my memory. Perhaps you could even make that screen configurable, and let the user choose which fields to display.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses. My interest is definitely piqued.

Hi carpedavid,

carpedavid said:

It *looks* cool thus far.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

Here are things I'd like to see in a character generator app.
1. The ability to save a character as an xml document, to make transfering it into different apps easy. I really, really, really want to see this.

Click to expand...

This will definately be a feature. I use XML files now straight from the SRD to lookup information, so it won't be a problem. What sort of apps are people using that require data exchange?

2. Obviously, a nice, spiffy printable character sheet. If I can't take it to the table, it does me no good.

Click to expand...

Yes, the character sheet. I'm playing with the PDF library so all characters can be saved as PDFs--from there you can print them, email them to the DM to be printed, etc.

3. The ability to generate "standard" stat blocks from charater data - like one would see in published adventures, for example.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean here, do you have an example? I've attached another screenshot. Is this along the lines of what you're talking about?

4. I also like the idea of being able to put groups of characters onto one printable page. Perhaps just groups of stat blocks (see above) on one page would work.

Click to expand...

Yes, further down the line I will be adding a "filter" feature so that you can sort out groups of characters for specific adventures, etc.

5. I like the sortable list with info about the character. I create so many NPCs that I oftentimes forget who or what they are without opening up the file and taking a look. Having extra bits of data, like class, race, HD, or CR helps jog my memory. Perhaps you could even make that screen configurable, and let the user choose which fields to display.

Click to expand...

Heh, a configurable screen, eh? I'll put that one on the feature request list, but it won't be a priority for a bit. But it's an interesting idea, and certainly user-friendly. I do like it.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses. My interest is definitely piqued.

Click to expand...

That's great, I appreciate your feedback. If you think of anything else, feel free to post comments here. It really helps motivate me to keep hacking when I get this sort of feedback from people.

/johnny

Looks great from what I've seen. The main thing I look for in any character generation is the ability to add my own info be it different races, feats, or equiptment. I use a lot of wierd stuff from other publishers books.

pezagent said:

This will definately be a feature. I use XML files now straight from the SRD to lookup information, so it won't be a problem. What sort of apps are people using that require data exchange?

Click to expand...

My own, actually. I put the info of the NPCs I create along with my players' character info on my website, and I currently have to type all of the info in manually. I just want the ability to whip up some XSL to translate the XML data into the format for my website directly from the source files.

pezagent said:

Yes, the character sheet. I'm playing with the PDF library so all characters can be saved as PDFs--from there you can print them, email them to the DM to be printed, etc.

Click to expand...

Excellent.

pezagent said:

I'm not sure what you mean here, do you have an example? I've attached another screenshot. Is this along the lines of what you're talking about?

Click to expand...

I was refering to the standard NPC stat block that looks something like this:

Gen. Talvyn of Arios: Male Human Aristocrat 5/Fighter 4; CR 11; Medium Humanoid; HD 9; hp 70; Init +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Init); Spd 20 ft.; AC 22 (+8 chainmail, +3 ring of protection, +1 Dex); Att +12/+7 melee (1d8+6 Keen Defending Longsword) or +11/+6 ranged (1d8+3 Lt. Crossbow); SQ ; AL LN; SV Fort 9, Ref 5, Will 11; Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 17

I'm quite looking forward to seeing your progress. Though I don't currently have PHP or MySQL installed on my machine (I'm an ASP and MS SQL Server programmer, myself), I'd be willing to wrangle something up to test it, once you get it to a testable stage.

Hmm, I would tell you to go to www.d20statblock.org to get a standard stat block, but they seem to be defunct now.

Nylanfs said:

Hmm, I would tell you to go to www.d20statblock.org to get a standard stat block, but they seem to be defunct now.

Click to expand...

Yes they do... perhaps another link someplace? I'm not concerned with NPCs right now in my development stage, however, they will be included.

/johnny

carpedavid said:

My own, actually. I put the info of the NPCs I create along with my players' character info on my website, and I currently have to type all of the info in manually. I just want the ability to whip up some XSL to translate the XML data into the format for my website directly from the source files.

Click to expand...

Okay. I was toying with the idea of a utility that could create an XSL template for transforming data to what people need, however, there's no way I can undertake such a thing right now! But there will be XML output so anyone with XSL knowledge can transform the data. We'll see how this evolves.

I was refering to the standard NPC stat block that looks something like this:

Gen. Talvyn of Arios: Male Human Aristocrat 5/Fighter 4; CR 11; Medium Humanoid; HD 9; hp 70; Init +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Init); Spd 20 ft.; AC 22 (+8 chainmail, +3 ring of protection, +1 Dex); Att +12/+7 melee (1d8+6 Keen Defending Longsword) or +11/+6 ranged (1d8+3 Lt. Crossbow); SQ ; AL LN; SV Fort 9, Ref 5, Will 11; Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 17

Click to expand...

Oh right, the shorthand. I suppose if people still want to read things in shorthand (and i'm sure experienced players don't mind) then that should be a formatting, view option. One of the benefits of writing this as a web application is that it's easy to format the data.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing your progress. Though I don't currently have PHP or MySQL installed on my machine (I'm an ASP and MS SQL Server programmer, myself), I'd be willing to wrangle something up to test it, once you get it to a testable stage.

Click to expand...

That's great. I'm glad to know there are a few eager souls out there. When I'm ready to release something for testing I will definately keep you and others updated. I've been busy rewriting code into classes [OOP, not D&D ] but the first release won't have the code revisions in it. I'll be working on this baby tonight, so I've decided to keep progress updates on this page. Helps keep me motivated.

Thanks for the feedback,

/johnny