Querying DDI Compendium externally

[pdoconnell]

Does anyone have a way to query the Compendium easily? I'm hoping to be able to dump the complete list of monsters and all their stats/powers? I'm still working on my monster/encounter designer, and if I can figure out how to dump the complete compendium without having to manually re-enter every...single...monster...it would make life immensely easier. I have a subscription if anyone has a way that requires that (and all of them should). Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[James McMurray]

Get an html sniffer and see what queries the page sends when you do searches. Be prepared for cookie problems with the login. And if you release the designer to the public, be prepared for WotC's lawyers to jump all over you for copywrite infringement and possibly hacking.

WotC has an encounter designer and a monster designer already, and they'll only get better with time. I dropped my plans for an encounter designer when I heard that they'd be tying theirs into the monster database and monster creator eventually. And this was after spending days converting a pdf monster manual to html and then to xml so I could have the data.

 

[Malachi_rc]

Speaking of their encounter builder...

Is there currently an easy way to create an encounter and print out all the monsters with their stats?

 

[James McMurray]

Unfortunately, no. The best option I know of right now is to use Wotc's encounter builder and cut and paste stats from the compendium.

 

[wedgeski]

I think it's safe to say that WotC would never allow this. The Compendium is one of their most valuable USP's right now.