PC Gen data sets

[LoPaC]

Im really new to PC Gen, as in just downloaded it and took a half hour to figure out how to get to a character screen.... I'm very used to E-Tools being straight forward

Anyways, I'm willing to give it a try, but, I'm in need to data sets for the WotC books I own. I keep reading stuff about SRD materials being the only stuff allowed.

Does anyone know where I can find a nice little stock pile of data sets at? More so specifically for Eberron and FR books and The Complete series?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Not anymore. The WotC data sets are no longer legally available since they didn't renew CMP's license. There are still a few third-party datasets available from CMPs website.

 

[Mercule]

There is a Yahoo! Group for PCGen Listfiles. You won't find anything that's not open content explicitly spelled out, but it's great help to learn to do it yourself.

Unfortunately, if you're not into DYI, then you're SOL.

 

[Taurendil]

I used the cmp datasets until recently. Now I'm just learning to do it myself. They do come in handy as examples though.
Common things really arent't that hard. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you can concentrate on the things you really need in stead of having to buy a dataset for one or two feats.

 

[Graf]

Once a long time ago there were datasets for PCGen and they were availible under the fair use clause and everyone was happy.

Then Code Monkey decided it would be a great business and offered one Gen Con to take the whole operation private.

So then you only got to use PcGen for the books you'd bought if you paid Code Monkey a lot of money.
Needless to say most people didn't want to pay another 100 bucks and the business dried up.

After the business went away it was easy for WotC to just pull the plug.

So, you'd think that you could, in fact, use PcGen to make characters for DnD. But, unless you're just planing on using the core books, you really can't.
Which is a shame, but some people made money out of it so it's not all bad.

Give up now. The time it takes you to mess around with the config files is far greater than the time it would take you to just work it out on a piece of paper.

 

[jujutsunerd]

Once a long time ago there were datasets for PCGen and they were availible under the fair use clause and everyone was happy.

This post contains so many factual errors and misinterpretations that I just can't be bothered to point them out.

/Jonas, trying to post without feeding the troll, but probably failing. Trolls are after all omnivorous. Especially Gloranthan ones.

 

[kingpaul]

Once a long time ago there were datasets for PCGen and they were availible under the fair use clause and everyone was happy.

PCGen was working on this assumption, yes.

Then Code Monkey decided it would be a great business and offered one Gen Con to take the whole operation private.

Wrong. PCGen and WotC talked at GenCon '02 to discuss our assumption that we were operating under fair use. WotC informed us that we were infringing upon their IP. CMP was born later that year, and was granted the license in early '03.

So then you only got to use PcGen for the books you'd bought if you paid Code Monkey a lot of money.

You didn't have to own the book, that was never a requirement. And the prices ranged from ~$2-~$7/set, depending upon the complexity of the book in question. This was you paying someone else to do the dataset for you.

Needless to say most people didn't want to pay another 100 bucks and the business dried up.

It wasn't $100 for each dataset. The bundles got that expensive, but that was multiple datasets at a discount.

And the business is still going, but limping.

After the business went away it was easy for WotC to just pull the plug.

Their license expired and was not renewed. CMP is still in existence.

So, you'd think that you could, in fact, use PcGen to make characters for DnD. But, unless you're just planing on using the core books, you really can't.

Not true. PCGen comes bundled with numerous datasets, and that # goes up. And there's nothing stopping someone from doing what they need for their own use.

Give up now. The time it takes you to mess around with the config files is far greater than the time it would take you to just work it out on a piece of paper.

I disagree, but YMMV.

 

[Michael Morris]

Three letters Paul... XML

Until PCGen can handle that and stop using those temperamental custom text files from Hell I for one am not touching it.

 

[kingpaul]

Until PCGen can handle that and stop using those temperamental custom text files from Hell

And that's your opinion of them. I don't find them that dificult. Once again, YMMV.

 

[Mercule]

Three letters Paul... XML

Until PCGen can handle that and stop using those temperamental custom text files from Hell I for one am not touching it.

While I'd much prefer XML, you're exaggerating the annoyance factor of the lst files. For the most part, they're easy to use.

The major complication is that D&D is a game of exceptions and the PCGen coders haven't thought of a way to handle every exception. XML won't help if the tags aren't supported, dude.