D&D 4E 4e Character XML Schema

[generalhenry]

This is very nice work, but I can't help feeling like it's the nerdiest thing I've ever seen.

 

[ninjeff]

dragon_eater: I'm going ahead with your change to powers. It makes good sense.

banana and I have been communicating on MSN, but I wanted to post some responses here too so that everyone knows where we're going:

- Ability scores don't include racial bonuses, right?

Correct, this format only contains the data that the player chooses.

- I think that the root <character> element should be including the schema definition:
<character xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="4eCharacter.xsd">
Currently, my editor will load sheets that don't include it but won't be able to validate them against the schema for correctness.

Yep! Thanks, I was trying to figure out exactly how to do that.

- Why is <wealth> separate to <equipment>? <valuable> could be in the <equipment> section along with <item>. Also, <valuable> is kind of a clunky name.

This is another cosmetic thing. There's no reason we couldn't have valuables in equipment, but they were separated on the official character sheet so I went that way to begin with. Also, if you can think of a synonym for <valuable> that includes money, gems and art objects but not magic items or mundane equipment, I'd be happy to use it!

Here are some screenshots of opening the KotS character xml files:

This is exactly why I wanted to make this schema!

Thoughts on Humans: it's implied by being Human that you have a bonus feat. You don't need to specify it as a choice for your <race>! You can just go ahead and add an extra feat to the <feats> section. This applies to powers, skills and languages too.

Yes, I think this might actually be the better way to go. I think we should take extra care to note that this only applies for situations where you have a choice of feat, power, skill or language, though. For example, IMO the Dragonborn's racial power shouldn't go in the <powers> section, as it's mandatory. That means the <choice>s should stay in the <race> section.

On spellbooks: that seems like it might be a good idea. I agree that dividing by level isn't necessary, as that can be inferred from the power name (then again, so can its action type...).

I had a slightly different idea on this, actually... How about if we put all the Wizard's spellbook spells in his <powers> section, and only put his prepared spells in the <current> section? I think that fits the philosophy of the <current>/rest-of-the-file split.

I'll have a new .zip up with these changes soon. In the meantime, these are all the things we still need to decide on:

<class> section vs. separate <class>, <paragonPath>, <epicDestiny>. This is cosmetic (ideally a user will never have to look at the XML file), but we need to decide which we're going to go with.
separate <equipment>, <wealth> vs. combined <equipment>. This is also cosmetic. We can also include a new name for <valuable> in this, if anyone has any ideas.
Racial choices of feat, skill, language or power going in their relevant sections. I'm ready to go ahead with this as the standard, but I'm still open to arguments against it.
Spellbook stuff. Same again; I'm currently happy with my plan, but I'm open.

 

[ninjeff]

This is very nice work, but I can't help feeling like it's the nerdiest thing I've ever seen.

I'm glad we could make your high score list.

If we get a bit more stuff going on in the thread, I might edit the OP or make a new thread with a bit more structure and some FAQs about what we're doing, so people can see the benefits and it's not just a nerdzone.

 

[generalhenry]

some FAQs about what we're doing, so people can see the benefits and it's not just a nerdzone.

I don't see it as a problem, it is a nerdzone. Only developers who want interoperability have any use for it.

To make it clear all it takes is three screen shots. The character in XML form and in two different formatted sheets.

 

[ninjeff]

I don't see it as a problem, it is a nerdzone. Only developers who want interoperability have any use for it.

To make it clear all it takes is three screen shots. The character in XML form and in two different formatted sheets.

Good point. I'll probably restructure the OP once the thread gets unwieldy, anyway.

dragon_eater: I'm going through your wizard and making some changes to get him to match the latest schema. As a case study, I'll run through the changes in this post.

First of all, I've added a <languages> section (only to be used if the character has a choice of language from race, the Linguist feat or some other source!), and moved his bonus languages there. The ability score boost is still in the right place.

I'm not sure what you did with ability scores, as they're pretty tough to reverse-engineer, so I gave you new ones. Feel free to change them back if I got it wrong. For reference, each ability score element's value should be your base score before racial modifiers and increases from levels. The racial modifiers are either determined by race or a choice relating to race, and so shouldn't be counted in this section. The increases attribute should count only increases from levels 4, 8, 14, 18, 24 and 28, not the automatic increases at levels 11 and 21. Forgive me if you'd already worked that out - like I said, ability scores are tough to reverse-engineer.

<feats> <!-- Should I put human feat here? -->

Yep.

The powers section is the big one. I've changed it so that all of your daily and utility spells in your spellbook are here, while the prepared spells use the new <preparedPower> element in the current section.

As for magic item levels, I was going to go with the names in the tables in the PHB - e.g. "Bloodthread Armor +6". I'm pretty sure they can all be distinguished that way, but if anyone spots a problem with this method, let me know.

Also, the above section reminded me that we need a <wornItem> element in the current section, so I've added that. I didn't set you as using the staff of fiery might, as apparently WotC Customer Service has been quoted as saying that a staff takes two hands to use.

 

[generalhenry]

that a staff takes two hands to use.

that's a tricky one.

It's a two handed weapon, but it's also a one handed implement.

 

[ninjeff]

that's a tricky one.

It's a two handed weapon, but it's also a one handed implement.

I agree that that's how it should be, but you can read the WotC Customer Service ruling in this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=231261

It's first posted on page 1, and discussion continues throughout the thread, including somebody noticing the logical but absurd conclusion that halfling wizards can't use staves.

 

[generalhenry]

WotC Customer Service is less reliable than the forum.

I don't know why they bother staffing it.

 

[dragon_eater]

I'm not sure what you did with ability scores, as they're pretty tough to reverse-engineer, so I gave you new ones. Feel free to change them back if I got it wrong. For reference, each ability score element's value should be your base score before racial modifiers and increases from levels. The racial modifiers are either determined by race or a choice relating to race, and so shouldn't be counted in this section. The increases attribute should count only increases from levels 4, 8, 14, 18, 24 and 28, not the automatic increases at levels 11 and 21. Forgive me if you'd already worked that out - like I said, ability scores are tough to reverse-engineer.

His attributes probably look funny because my brain is still in 3.5 mode and I only boosted one stat at levels 4,8,14,18,24, and 28. His stats should really be Int 24, Wis 18, Cha 12, Dex 10, Str 10. This doesn't include the bonuses from level 11 or 21, or his human bonus which should go to Int.

As for magic item levels, I was going to go with the names in the tables in the PHB - e.g. "Bloodthread Armor +6". I'm pretty sure they can all be distinguished that way, but if anyone spots a problem with this method, let me know.

I tried that at first too. Then I came upon Bracers of Defence (PH 244) which doesn't have a plus but has three different versions. I suppose we could put Bracers of Defence 10, Bracers of Defence 20, and Bracers of Defence 30 but if we do something different for each item that doesn't use standard pluses then parsing could get messy.

Also, the above section reminded me that we need a <wornItem> element in the current section, so I've added that. I didn't set you as using the staff of fiery might, as apparently WotC Customer Service has been quoted as saying that a staff takes two hands to use.

That's ok, I didn't design him to be an efficient character. I just wanted him to be a little complicated.

 

[jelmore]

Since we're talking about 4E and XML, this is a project that I'm working on.

It's not meant to be a character generator; it's more of a formatting project, as I have plans to leverage existing character generator utilities to generate the XML files. I'm developing it on Mac OS X but it uses ant as the build system, so it should be portable to other operating systems.

I have two build targets -- one for generating individual character sheets as HTML (when I know my XSLT better I plan to do XSL-FO in order to turn them into PDFs) and one for generating a party roster.

This is definitely a work in progress, and it's not documented very well, but I offer it in the hopes that it will spark inspiration in others. Included is a blank template file and an XML file for Erias, the pregen from DDXP.