Digital Initiative Character Builder: Data Validation?

[mattcolville]

What I want, and I know I'm not alone in this, is an online character generator and editor that will let me build legal characters using all the rules in the books and supplements.

I want my players to be able to make their characters online, update them after adventures, and access them anywhere they have internet. I want to be able to publish my NPCs to the GM community online, and download other GM's cool stuff. If I spend 20 minutes making a unique BugBear chieftain who's specialized in Whip, then no one else has to. They can just download mine.

They key to this, though, is data validation. It's no good using these tools if I still have to do all the work figuring out what's legal. I want the software to know the rules.

I'm afraid I'm going to get essentially a form-fillable PDF. In other words, I can enter my character's stats online, but the program will not tell me if it's legal. I could put "G" in for Strength, for instance.

One comment from WotC about the virtual game table was that you could move your guy around on the map, but it was up to you and the players to make sure the move was legal. The table wouldn't stop you at 6 squares if your movement was 30 feet.

That makes me afraid the character editor will do the same thing. Does anyone have any info on the details of this thing? Am I right to be concerned?

 

[Mercule]

While I don't really care about the sharing (I don't object, either), I'm with you on the validation. This is why HeroForge and PCGen have both been so popular in 3e.

The other thing that I want is the ability to validate and calculate house rules (which is part of why I don't care about sharing -- house rules differ). For example, I've got a player who had a warlock-y concept prior to Complete Arcane, and chose wizard rather than sorcerer for a variety of reasons. When CA came out, it was immediately obvious that warlock was a perfect fit, other than being charisma based, so I gave him a bye.

This was a piece of cake to do in HeroForge. I expect this sort of flexibility in any chargen tool I use.

 

[MerricB]

That makes me afraid the character editor will do the same thing. Does anyone have any info on the details of this thing? Am I right to be concerned?

There's a big difference between the game table and the character builder.

The game table is designed so that any game can be played on it. It just provides a way of (a) communicating with each other, and (b) showing where your figure is on a battlemap. That's it. It isn't D&D-only (although the figure-support may be like that at first). Conceivably, I could play Amber on that table!

The character builder is for building PCs/NPCs. I really, really doubt that it won't know the rules for that. Otherwise you basically would use Word. As part of the goal of 4e is to improve character creation (get rid of fiddly maths!), I expect it will be easier to program than (say) PCgen.

Cheers!

 

[mattcolville]

There's a big difference between the game table and the character builder.

The game table is designed so that any game can be played on it. It just provides a way of (a) communicating with each other, and (b) showing where your figure is on a battlemap. That's it. It isn't D&D-only (although the figure-support may be like that at first). Conceivably, I could play Amber on that table!

The character builder is for building PCs/NPCs. I really, really doubt that it won't know the rules for that. Otherwise you basically would use Word. As part of the goal of 4e is to improve character creation (get rid of fiddly maths!), I expect it will be easier to program than (say) PCgen.

Cheers!

No, I understand that you hope they do it, and it makes sense that they should do it, I'm asking: do we actually know if they ARE doing it?

 

[Snarls-at-Fleas]

No, we don't.

 

[Zaruthustran]

The character builder would be useless if it didn't follow the rules for character building. I mean, if it didn't have data validation it'd just be a character sheet.

I think it's safe to assume they'll create a character builder that is similar to the character builder in Neverwinter Knights and other CRPGs. You input your stats, race, class, and level, and it presents the various choices available (in terms of feats and whatnot) and then auto-calculates all your modifiers in a finished, printable sheet.

I'm really, really looking forward to such a tool.

 

[The Little Raven]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20071024a&authentic=true

The Game Table...

We are designing the D&D Game Table to be as flexible as we can make it, to accommodate even non-D&D games. The D&D Game Table will not adjudicate game rules any more than your kitchen table adjudicates rules for you. DMs and players decide what they can and can’t do. DMs and players can communicate their rules adjudication through voice interaction provided by the VOIP (Voice-Over Internet Protocol), the text chat window, and the DM's settings. We do plan to offer integrated functionalities from the VOIP to allow Dungeon Masters to manage their communications and channels with their players the way they want.

In the movie prototype, dice were shown rolling on the screen. There is a special connection between the gamers and their dice, and we all feel this connection is fully a part of the D&D experience. However, visible dice rolling is a feature that can be turned off. Random numbers can be generated without having to see the dice rolling, if that’s what you prefer. Lastly, DMs will be allowed to “fudge” dice rolls if they want to; players will not have this power, however.

The D&D Game Table allows DMs to decide for themselves how things will be done in their games. For example, some DMs allow players to draw on the game map, while others prefer to do so themselves. There is no "good" or "bad" approach to this; it will be handled by the DM’s settings. Another thing that DMs can set is the speed at which figures move on the game table. There’s the "slow" motion of the miniatures seen in the D&D Insider prototype movie, or the DM can speed things up so the miniatures are moving from location to location quickly.

And the Character Creator...

The Character Creator has two parts: the character visualizer and the character sheet. The character visualizer was demoed at Gen Con in its prototypical form, a DirectX 3D application that allows players to customize the visual aspect of their characters. Snapshots of portraits, full-screen wallpaper, and virtual miniatures of characters will also be made available to D&D Insider subscribers.

We want this tool to be as flexible as possible. Consequently, the 3D engine allows players to experiment with all sorts of tints, and lighting. They can personalize everything from a character’s build, face and pose, to the coloration and variations of their characters’ armor and weaponry.

The character sheet portion of the D&D Character Creator is a data-driven Windows rich client application designed to facilitate character sheet creation using the D&D 4th Edition rules. D&D Insider subscribers will be able to create characters using content from any published book. To get access to the full details of the relevant rules and mechanical elements, though, you will need to own the E-version of the physical book where these rules or mechanical elements were published. When you purchase the printed book, a code will grant access to the E-version of the book for a nominal fee. As a subscriber, ownership of the E-version gives you access, when you are online, to the rules content while you’re filling out or updating your character sheet. Without the E-version, however, the character sheet will give you only the barest information (such as the names of feats and such) and refer you to the appropriate published books.

 

[mattcolville]

The character builder would be useless if it didn't follow the rules for character building. I mean, if it didn't have data validation it'd just be a character sheet.

I think it's safe to assume they'll create a character builder that is similar to the character builder in Neverwinter Knights and other CRPGs. You input your stats, race, class, and level, and it presents the various choices available (in terms of feats and whatnot) and then auto-calculates all your modifiers in a finished, printable sheet.

I'm really, really looking forward to such a tool.

Having worked at WotC, I find I can make no assumptions about what they will or will not drop the ball on.

 

[Imban]

We've been told that the Character Creator will mark characters as RPGA valid or not, and if not, how they are in noncompliance. As such, there's going to be some sort of data validation.

 

[mattcolville]

We've been told that the Character Creator will mark characters as RPGA valid or not, and if not, how they are in noncompliance. As such, there's going to be some sort of data validation.

Ah, now *that's* useful info. Awesome!