NPC Equipment Generator, version 2.1

-authored by Jonathan Jacobs, jacobsjo@wam.umd.edu

Software Requirements

This software was written using the JAVA programming language. As such, it requires you to have a JAVA Virtual Machine installed on your computer in order to use the software. This has it's ups and downs... On one hand, the software can be run on Windows (95/98/ME/2000/NT), Linux, UN*X, and Mac OS 10.x. On the other hand, if you do not have a JVM, then you need to do so.

For Windows, Linux, or Solaris users, please download and install the Sun Microsystems Java 2, version 1.3.1 Java Run Time Environment, located at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/jre/ . It's about a 5 MB download.

For Mac users, OS 10.x comes with the JVM 1.3.1, so your OK. For Mac OS 9.x users, I don't know if the Mac Classic JVM included with OS 9.x will work (let me know if it does).

Running the Program

Once the JVM is installed and you have rebooted your computer (Windows only), you can run the program by double clicking on the NPCEQ.jar file. If that doesn't work, try typing "java -jar NPCEQ.jar" at a command prompt in the same directory. If that still doesn't work, then you probably didn't install the JVM correctly.

Donations

Many long hours have been put into the development of this software. It is freeware: free to use and free to redistribute. I do, however, greatly appreciate and accept donations for my efforts. If you like this software and want to help me stay motivated in producing more software like it, please make a donation. I'll accept any amount, even as little as one [US] dollar. You can make donations via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com, donate using my email address as the "account name"). If you would like to help me expand the number of source books included in the software, visit my Amazon.com wishlist and consider donating a book. Or, if you would rather contact me or donate by mail, please do:

Jonathan Jacobs
1611 Parkridge Circle #190
Crofton, MD 21114

Keeping Current

As you may have already noticed, the NPC Equipment Generator does not include everything that is available for the game system. I only have limited resources and funds (see above) and as such I cannot include everything because I don't own the necessary books. I will, however, add more material to the NPCEQ as I buy more source books. In the meantime, if you would like to be notified whenever a new version of the NPCEQ is released, please send an email to malakai@onebox.com with the subject line "JOIN NPCEQ MAILING LIST" and the first line of the email message should read "NPCEQ add your email@youremail.com". I'll send you a short email whenever I release a newer version.

Keeping Your Results

To keep your results, simply use your operating system's Copy&Paste keys (e.g. ctrl-c and ctrl-v for Windows). Printing and export functions are forth coming, as are a number of other features.

Source Code

If you are a developer and would like to look at the source code, simply email me and I will send it rihgt out to you.

Questions & Comments

Please email me if you have any questions or comments. As the questions come in, I will add them to a FAQ about the NPCEQ that will be included in future releases. Or please visit the D&D 3E News message boards (software section) at ENWORLD for ongoing and opinionated discussions.

Thanks for trying it out! Have fun!

--Jonathan Jacobs, jacobsjo@wam.umd.edu

 

VERSION HISTORY

version 2.1

  1. Fixed a bug that prevented high-level NPC's from carrying sheilds (especially bards and rangers). Now the presence of shields at high levels.depends more on chance.
  2. Added spells from Defenders of the Faith, Forgotten Realms (Core), Tome&Blood and Song&Silence that were [erroneously] left out in v 2.0.
  3. Added support for Intelligent items. It's a not perfect, but generally it will work. If you end up getting an item with a "Special Purpose" it probably will be so powerful anyway that you'll hand to hand craft it.
  4. Character size is now adjustable. Although anything larger than "Large" is basically treated the same becuase there are _very_ few items that are restricted to really big NPC's. This feature is included, however, mainly for people who are making "Small" characters and for future capabilities.
  5. Added equipment from Masters of The Wild.
  6. Added Schools of Magic, sub-schools, and spell types for every spell from all the sources.
  7. Added new magical item type, Infusions, from Masters of the Wild. Infusions will only be generated for Adepts, Rangers, and Druids in place of scrolls, and only if MOTW is being used as a data source. Otherwise, those classes will still get scrolls as usual.
  8. Added a File menu which allows you to "Save" a list or "Open" an old list. This is a very basic file chooser. It basically dumps any text file you pick into NPCEQ. There are no extension defaults, so name the files you save as anything you want.
  9. Added a much requested "Print" option.
  10. Moved the "Exit" button to the File menu.

version 2.0

  1. TOTAL REWORK of version 1.x.
    Some features were lost, but in the intrest of portability the whole program was re-written in JAVA. As my JAVA skills develop I will certainly be trying to add more features to the software and expand on the previous version's abilities.

version 1.3

  1. Corrected the problem with an NPC wielding a magical Javelin, Axe,
    Harpoon, Bolas, Yari, Dart, Halfling Skiprock, Shuriken, Orcish Shotput, or
    Fuki'Ma Bari from ending up owing more than the national debt.
    Thanks to Alan D. Kohler for the tip. ?
  2. Randomized the order in which non-weapon, non-armor magical gear is
    generated. This removes the preference for RSW's and "balances" the
    distribution of items across a population of NPC's.
  3. Added to the detailed print function the total price of items in each
    category.
  4. There is now the normal limit on "wearable" items as listed in the
    DMG on page 176. If two items of the same wearable type are
    generated, the second is simply thrown out and another wondrous
    item is generated. With rings, the limit is two.
  5. There are now limits to the number of "non-wearable", non-
    wondrous magical items possible [wands, staffs, rods, potions,
    scrolls, etc]. You can change these values in the setup.txt file.
  6. Magical Dart, Halfling Skiprock, Shuriken, Orcish Shotput, or Fuki'Ma Bari
    are now a little cheaper than before. This helps offset the cost of finding
    sets of these items which are magical [and thus WAY more expensive].
  7. Created additional weapon pricing categories up to 1.2 million gold pieces
    (pricey!). This prevents really loaded NPC's [someone edited the setup.txt
    file to let NPC's get millions of gold] to afford really expensive items.
  8. Corrected the annoying "Rod of Immovable" to "Immovable Rod". 2-5
    rods are also included.

version 1.21

  1. Added a "Print to File" button.
  2. Created a new parameter in the "setup.txt" file: Maximum Ammo Types.
    This parameter limits the number of different ammunitions that get
    generated for a given ranged weapon. This can be really helpful with high
    level characters who previously would get too many ammo types for one
    weapon. [like 5 different kinds of magical arrows for a longbow, etc.]
  3. Fixed a "blank item" bug for certain weapons and armor being generated
    for classes that don't have "specific weapons/armor" available to them.
    For example, the "specific_rogue.txt" file in the ranged magic weapons
    folder is blank, on purpose. This is because the only specific weapon, the
    Oathbow, is not available to rogues. This sort of thing no longer causes
    problems. ?
  4. The results now includes the printing class/level combinations you have
    selected.
  5. Corrected the value of platinum to 10 times the value of gold. It was set
    at 5 times the value of gold, as it was in 2nd edition.
  6. Warriors now get equipment. This was due to a missing carriage return
    in the setup.txt file, not the software. [Thanks to Steven Brengard]
  7. Adjusted the default DC for each magic item grade [masterwork 12,
    minor 18, medium 25, major 33]. The default spread helps lower level
    characters get a better chance to buy an item [ if the NPC can afford it]
    without bumping them up to a more powerful grade [and thus more
    expensive].

version 1.2

  1. Added seven new classes! Adept, Aristocrat, Expert, Warrior, Commoner,
    Psion, & Psychicwarrior!
  2. Added the new equipment found in the Psionics Handbook.
  3. Fix a couple of minor bugs.

version 1.01

  1. Corrected the statement "use Tk::TopLevel" to "use Tk::Toplevel".
  2. Removed an erroneous print statement that remained from the
    development stage.
  3. Changed the first line of the .pl script to #!/usr/bin/perl, that should help
    some Linux folks out a tiny bit. ?

version 1.0

  1. THE FIRST RELEASE!