OrcPub Is An Unofficial Online Character Generator for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

wow...so is this going to stay up or be C&Ded... any bets...

 

[red-orc]

Very nice! Still a bit rough, but I can see where this is going.

One thing I did find that's not working correctly. High elves get one wizard cantrip they can cast. This doesn't currently seem to be implemented.

Thanks Code Ronin, yep it is still very rough. It's mostly a rough draft that I hope to mold into a great app with time and the help of feedback from users. As far as the cantrip goes, I'm glad you mention it, I have racial spells near the top of my todo list, but I wasn't sure if anyone cared enough to make it a high priority. I'll resolve that soon.

 

[red-orc]

When I was a teenager, I had the time and the inclination to do all the prep work for the games I ran. Now that I'm NOT a teenager, I like a bit of help getting through the mundanity of prepping before a game. Rolling the hit points of 14 orcs is no longer a big thrill for me.

WotC is absolutely behind the curve on providing decent digital support around the base game. That doesn't mean the game should NEED that support, because it absolutely shouldn't, but wanting it as an option isn't wrong.

Agreed Nellisir, when I was young, crafting every single stat of every single encounter was a great pleasure for me, but as I've gotten older I have fallen into the camp of the 'lazy DM'. That said, I still appreciate precision in my preparation, which is what led to my frustration in the lack of app support for the awesome game that is D&D 5e. That (the desire for good DM tools, inspired by my laziness), ironically, led me to spend a large portion of my free time writing this app, .

 

[Iosue]

A couple minor things I noticed giving it a try just now.

The height and weight fields only allow numbers, but there's no way to indicate what those numbers mean. So "5 ft 11 in" is impossible, but so is "71 in" and "180 cm".

The sheet autofills personality traits, bonds, etc. based on the initial background, but these don't change if the background is changed.

Other than that, looks very clean, easy to use, and helpful!

 

[Yaarel]

If someone builds a new class, race, or spell. Is there a way to save the specs to use it for other characters in the future?

 

[red-orc]

A couple minor things I noticed giving it a try just now.

The height and weight fields only allow numbers, but there's no way to indicate what those numbers mean. So "5 ft 11 in" is impossible, but so is "71 in" and "180 cm".

The sheet autofills personality traits, bonds, etc. based on the initial background, but these don't change if the background is changed.

Other than that, looks very clean, easy to use, and helpful!

Nice catches Iosue, those issues are high on my priority list and should be fixed soon. Thank you much!

 

[red-orc]

If someone builds a new class, race, or spell. Is there a way to save the specs to use it for other characters in the future?

Yaarel, the app does save the data to your browser storage, which should keep it until you either remove it or it fills up. Newer browsers have a pretty big storage capacity so this shouldn't be a problem for most users. It does restrict your data to one device however. I do plan to add cloud storage, which would solve both the storage capacity and multi-device problems, but that is still a bit down the road. In the mean time I've thought about adding import/export functionality which would allow users to save their data to safer locations and transfer it between devices. Does that sound like it might be useful?

 

[red-orc]

For those who requested point buy for abilities, I added that. Now you can select from 'Random', 'Point Buy' and 'Free Form' options, 'Free Form' allowing users to just directly input existing characters' abilities.

 

[Deadshot]

This is a great app. We've been playing D&D for years and agree that WotC needs to embrace the digital aspect of things. I saw a report today that says that Netflix and other streaming services have greatly reduced Bittorrent in terms of online traffic. The idea being that its easier to access and use for the average person. While I am sure that RPG players are probably in general more tech savvy than the average tv watcher, the idea of ease of access and use is a valid point. If WotC offered this type of app with all its material available on a subscription model, would it justify itself in terms of cost? I know I'd subscribe to something like that if it was available.

In the meantime, I am glad that OrcPub is available and hope that it continues to improve.

 

[Morrus]

OrcPub Is An Unofficial Online Character Generator for Dungeons & Dragons 5th...

Of course, an official character app is the one foolproof way to kill off any third party player options. As in 4E, when everything you release is met by the question "Is it in the character builder?", an official app that's too good essentially locks out fan support on any reasonable scale.

That's why I'd rather see third party creations like this than a dominating official app. Not having an official one is - bizarrely - pro-community.

 

[lkj]

Of course, an official character app is the one foolproof way to kill off any third party player options. As in 4E, when everything you release is met by the question "Is it in the character builder?", an official app that's too good essentially locks out fan support on any reasonable scale.

That's why I'd rather see third party creations like this than a dominating official app. Not having an official one is - bizarrely - pro-community.

I agree that keeping it open to the community is great, and it will foster more options for us 'consumers'. The only tricky part is that I would like these apps to be able to add the data from new releases. Ideally, that means a suite of third party apps, all of whom somehow get permission to enter the new data (through a license presumably).

But I worry that last part would be intractable-- either because WotC would want to have a license with each vendor (either to make money or protect their IP) or because WotC lawyers would just say no because of the complications.

So if there isn't going to be a way for 3rd party apps to get the new data legally, then a second best choice might be a single 'official' app.

I don't know. I'm kind of torn on this.

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