Character builder blues

[Shag]

Hi!
I'm still somewhat new to 4E and I have been learning alot of stuff that I missed in my rule reading while using the charcter builder.
But this one is stumping me.

Building a human bard Str 10, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 18
I put him in chainmail with a light shield and this gives him in the builder an AC of 17, which I think is right but in the builder, in the break down it says base 10+6 armor,then it says misc+2 and then misc -1. Whats up with all those miscs? I have no feats that effect armor. Then on the reflex defense it says 13 which I think is wrong. It says base 10, then class 1, then misc +3 then misc -1. Once again what are all these miscs?

I have a similar problem with the monk, its not adding anything to the unarmed strike. I think its a programming fault where the builder switches to 'Monk Unarmed attack' for the monk but all the bonuses are aimed at a simple 'melee attack' wrong tag.

 

[dsolodow]

Well, the misc +1 to your Reflex/Fort/Will is because of the human racial bonus.
The totals do come up correctly, but I think it's reading a light shield incorrectly. Instead of doing +1 to AC/Ref it's doing +2 then -1.

It appears to do this with heavy shields too, so I think it's a CB bug. The totals come out right though so it's not too big a deal.

Also, I'd suggest redoing your stats. If you buy a 16 in both Con and Cha and put your racial +2 into Cha, you get the scores you already have and have 3 points left over to put elsewhere.

 

[Shag]

Yes, went back through it step by step, everything is normal until you add the light shield.


Anyone find it wierd that people pay real money for a program that probably would have been not only free, but better programed by a fan?

 

[Henry]

Yes, went back through it step by step, everything is normal until you add the light shield.


Anyone find it wierd that people pay real money for a program that probably would have been not only free, but better programed by a fan?

Doesn't bother me too much because for the $10 or less per month, I'm also getting:

Two magazines
A database
premium articles
and a monster builder

What DOES bother me? That fans can't legally make a better program that lights a proverbial fire under the programmers to do a better job. Open Source frequently kicks the butt of proprietary development, even if it has its own pitfalls on documentation and quality.

 

[Marauder_POV]

Well i'm not too pleased with the Charbuilder ATM as it took 2 points of bluff, intimidate and diplomacy for no reason.

Anyone else had that?

 

[Initiate]

If the character builder is as terrible as your saying it is you could do it the old fashioned way, using pen, paper and the books.

That way you can be certain all the numbers are there and add up.

 

[Mad Hamish]

If you think a paper sheet is a guarantee of things adding up you've played in massively different groups than I have.

 

[Dice4Hire]

If you think a paper sheet is a guarantee of things adding up you've played in massively different groups than I have.

If they don't then whose fault is it?

 

[Joshua Randall]

Be sure to report these bugs through the official bug reporting mechanisms. That's the only way Wizards is ever going to know to fix them.

 

[tyrlaan]

What DOES bother me? That fans can't legally make a better program that lights a proverbial fire under the programmers to do a better job. Open Source frequently kicks the butt of proprietary development, even if it has its own pitfalls on documentation and quality.

Sort of with you on this. Open Source is an unrealistic expectation just because WotC has no reason to pursue such a route. What we'd really benefit from is a healthy does of solid competition, but I think that would have to be at the ruleset level. Like, if Pathfinder put out a sweet CB that would turn into a selling point of Pathfinder. Or WW, or Savage Lands, etc.

Competition driving innovation and all that. But WotC isn't about to open the factory doors to see if someone can build a better car when theirs is the best selling model.