Iport a 4E character into a VTT?

[Basalt77]

Are there any virtual table tops that can accept a character made using the WotC Character Builder?

I really want to support some of the groups that are coming out with their own VTTS but I couldn't code my way out of a paper bag. If the software could auto-create all of the macros and attacks for a char based on a complete import of a character file it would make my life a million times easier. It strikes me that this is a pretty big business opportunity that's just being left out there.

I noticed that d20pro (an existing vtt) is able to import from a Herolabs file. Has anyone tried this? How complete is the import?

I would love a system where my players could create a character as easily as with the WotC character builder and then just import that into the vtt software and be up and running with a new character in 20 minutes. I know that WotC won't allow the third party VTTs to contain their rule sets due to copyright but doesn't an import circumvent that? Maybe the character file doesn't include enough detail?

 

[Redrobes]

If you can export an image of the sheet from the app then you can almost surely import that image into a VTT. It wont have all the macros etc and thats unlikely to change from any VTT as you say from the reasoning that to use the macros for the attacks and damage would be an infringement.

I think the problem is basically that the character builder is not really designed to have its data reimported into anything which is not WotC. Although I speak with some confidence about VTTs, I cant speak with any about WotC's character builder.

If the character file is locked in any way - even the most flimsy of locks - then to break that or reverse engineer the file is not a legal option for a VTT dev.

If you want to transport and move about your data then you need to stick with files in a format that has that ability - prefereably ISO types like PNG, JPG etc or TXT / XML files. If the character builder has data in this format then its likely that it would be possible to import it.

 

[heruca]

I have zero experience with WotC's Character Builder, but I would imagine I could take a screenshot of a character sheet, import it into my Battlegrounds VT, and create all the dice macros on a figure token in about 10 minutes or less, without any scripting whatsoever.

If you want some sort of automatic import process (via XML or whatever) and a shared interactive character sheet, however, Battlegrounds doesn't have that, and probably never will.

 

[tdewitt274]

WotC's file is essentially an XML document. How it imports into other apps may depend on how they handle the document itself. If it's not in an appropriate format, it may not take.

I know nothing about VTTs, but I would guess that the VTT would require some kind of macro to import the information.

 

[LWDPressRelease]

I noticed that d20pro (an existing vtt) is able to import from a Herolabs file. Has anyone tried this? How complete is the import?

The import from Hero Lab to d20Pro is solid for d20 3.5. We're working on import capabilities for 4E right now and hope to be demoing it at DragonCon in a couple weeks. It still needs a bit of refinement, so I won't quote an official availability date yet, but "soon" is an appropriate timeframe.

Hero Lab offers a number of features that the Wizards tool lacks for 4E and d20Pro is an excellent VTT. Between them, you've got a pretty powerful set of tools for prepping and running your games. You can download both and take them for a testdrive for *free*, so you might find it worth your while to see how they perform with your own eyes.

 

[Basalt77]

Believe me, I'm only too happy to pay for a solution that will save me a pile of time over the time that I use it.

I asked this same question on another forum (Ars Technica) and got a response from one of your co-workers LWDPressRelease. I'm deffintely going to be trying out d20pro despite having several encounters (many hours of work) laid out in Maptools.

 

[azhrei_fje]

I'm deffintely going to be trying out d20pro despite having several encounters (many hours of work) laid out in Maptools.

And wil you stop by the RPTools forum and let us know what you like/don't like about d20pro? (I'm not using Windows so I find myself lacking the motivation to load up a virtual machine just to try a single software package. )

Thanks!

 

[LWDPressRelease]

And wil you stop by the RPTools forum and let us know what you like/don't like about d20pro? (I'm not using Windows so I find myself lacking the motivation to load up a virtual machine just to try a single software package. )

The d20Pro product is written in Java, so it should run on whatever platform you're using. Hero Lab, on the other hand, is currently Windows-only.

Since you've got ties to the MapTool team, we'd be happy to talk to them about feeding Hero Lab output into their tool as well. So please feel free to have them contact us if they're interested.

 

[Basalt77]

I have been enjoying using Maptoos for a while but other than the line of sight, fog of war and initiative tools I really don't use it to it's potential. I feel like I'm limited to using it just like a tabletop instead of a full game client. I've tried messing around with some of the frameworks that are available but I'm finding that it's painfully time consuming when you consider the time I'm already using up making maps. I'll grant that a lot of my wasted time is due to ineptitude but that doesn't change the fact.

Generally speaking I tend to play with everybody in the room and the map on a big TV but lately I've had a few requests to play from people that are remote (across the country). Obviously that means that you need to keep track of much more than just who's where.

I won't have much chance to try d20pro until the weekend but I'll let everyone know what I think.

 

[Basalt77]

Well, I tried it out a bit last nigth. I haven't really had a chance to try out the mechanics of the software in play but I've quickly discovered that it isn't the same calibre of mapping tool that Maptools is (go figure ).

I'm going to have to use maptools to create the maps and then import tthem into d20pro. If you want to use d20pro exclusively you'll either have to take advantage of WotC's map gallery or other free map resources or get used to whiteboard/graph papper style maps. There's nothing wrong with that but it's quite a jarring step back when you're used to using MapTools.