Character Generators: What are people using?

[Gizzard]

What are people using these days to generate/track 3.5E characters?

I used PCGen under 3.0E, I've tried Redblade3.5E and HeroBuilder under 3.5E. Each one of them has some significant drawbacks (PCGen, java=slow, 3.5E compatibility=slow ; Redblade, many bugs ; HeroBuilder, 5MB character size makes it difficult for players to e-mail data, no items.)

I don't need anything fancy; our group plays core rules only, but I am having trouble finding something that fits my needs.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

What are people using these days to generate/track 3.5E characters?

<snip>

I don't need anything fancy; our group plays core rules only, but I am having trouble finding something that fits my needs.

Once one has had enough practice, nothing's faster than good ol' pencil & paper, IMHO. If I need to archive/email a character sheet, I just throw it into a Word character sheet and there it is. I have yet to see a character generator that does what it is supposed to yet is configurable to allow for the inevitable house rules, but YMMV.

 

[MJEggertson]

Since you mentioned email...for online type games, I wrote a little app just for sharing your characters (3EProfiler). The basic idea is you don't need to worry about emailing newer versions and what not, since your data is kept online. It's not a generator...but it does have alot of automatic calculations based on the 3.5 ruleset.

If you're looking for more of a universal book-keeping tool, I've heard great things about DMGenie and Campaign Suite in addition to what you already mentioned.

 

[Gizzard]

If you're looking for more of a universal book-keeping tool...

Yes, I should have been more clear. I need something for bookkeeping for me to DM with, but which is friendly enough for players to use to send me character sketches for approval. We game in RL, not e-mail, but e-mail is such a useful tool for talking over characters before they are finalized.

I will look into DMGenie and Campaign Suite.

 

[kingpaul]

Do you have eTools? I've been told the original version (which I never bought) was not very useful. However, Code Monkey Publishing has expanded on the code to add more functionality and they've been creating for sale datasets of the WotC supplements for both PCGen and eTools.

 

[pyk]

What I use

I use DM Genie. Good program, whips out NPC as fast as pen & paper (for me).

You can get it at www.dmgenie.com

 

[Zulithe]

Nothing but the best! PCGen

 

[mikebr99]

http://home.san.rr.com/blackbart/main.html


I'll recommend this!


Mike

 

[Mercule]

http://home.san.rr.com/blackbart/main.html


I'll recommend this!

And I'll second it. HeroForge is, hands down, the best overall character generator around, especially if you're running a more-or-less standard game.

Once you get the hang of it, modifying the classes, etc. isn't any more difficult than PCGen, either. Actually, IMHO, it's a lot easier. But, I've done quite a bit of work with Excel over the years.

 

[shadowlight]

Nothing but the best! PCGen

I'll also recommend PC Gen. Version 5.6.0 just came out and it's great! It's a lot faster, and has a ton of great GM tools. It also has GUIs for making new skills, feats, classes, races, etc. (but I still just code my own .lst files)