Rule Pack 1 for JH NameGen Released!

[Maraxle]

An add-on for JH NameGen has just been released. It is a rule pack that contains four new rule files - Gnomish Names, Halfling Names, Spells, and Towns & Cities.

Get it now at jhanson.com.

 

[annadobritt]

Cool! Just downloaded and installed the new rules.

Here's an idea, a generator for mercenary companies.

 

[Maraxle]

Oooh. That sounds like fun. Do you mean stuff like "Order of the Scarred Griffin" and things like that?

I was thinking of doing an organizations rule set, so maybe I can combine the two ideas.

Thanks!

 

[Fast Learner]

Very, very cool Most excellent work!

I have a few questions about rules files (planning on playing around with one): Do the numbers in parentheses increase the odds of that being selected, and does a lack of number equate to (1)? Is there a limit to how deep things can be nested, as in "<EYEDESC>-eyed"? How likely/when is the app going to use the square-bracketed info? Half the time? And lastly, is there a limit to the number of "parameters" (stuff in angle brackets) you can string together in the #generate section?

Again, very impressive, especially from a rules-file standpoint. Thank you!

 

[Maraxle]

Lots of great questions! I'll try to answer them.

Do the numbers in parentheses increase the odds of that being selected, and does a lack of number equate to (1)?

The numbers in parentheses do increase the odds of being selected. It works as a percentage, unless the numbers add up to over 100, at which time the program fudges the numbers and takes it out of whatever the total is. I think this is best explained with some examples.

Example:
#define myexample
first (50)
second (20)
third

In this example, first would be chosen 50% of the time, second 20%, and third, the remaining portion (30%).

Example2:
#define mysecondexample
abc (50)
def (50)
ghi (50)

In this example, since I went over 100% total, the program assumes that I meant to do that. It takes the total out of 150, so abc, def, and ghi each get picked 1/3 (33.3%) of the time.

Example3:
#define mythirdexample
jkl
mno (50)
pqr

In this final example, mno would be chosen 50% of the time. jkl and pqr would be 25% each.

Is there a limit to how deep things can be nested, as in "<EYEDESC>-eyed"?

Honestly, I have never tried to see how far it would go. I set no internal limit, so it would vary according to system resources. I generally don't go above 3 or 4, not because of resource issues, but because I haven't written a rule that requires it yet. I may impose an artificial limit in a future revision, simply to avoid throwing the program into a loop.

How likely/when is the app going to use the square-bracketed info? Half the time?

Yes, 50% of the time. Also, you can nest square-brackets. So you can say "[test [test2] ]test3". 50% of the time it will answer "test3". 25% of the time it will say "test test3". The other 25% it will say "test test2 test3".

And lastly, is there a limit to the number of "parameters" (stuff in angle brackets) you can string together in the #generate section?

The technical limit would be ~64,000 bytes long, which would be a lot of parameters. However, like the question about nesting, system resources are the limiting factor.

Again, very impressive, especially from a rules-file standpoint. Thank you!

No, thank you. And if you come up with any rules that you would like to share, let me know. Maybe I can include them in a future rule pack.

 

[annadobritt]

Oooh. That sounds like fun. Do you mean stuff like "Order of the Scarred Griffin" and things like that?

I was thinking of doing an organizations rule set, so maybe I can combine the two ideas.

Thanks!

Yep! The Black Gauntlets, The Silver Arrows, The Black Daggers, etc.

In fact, you could do another list like these that could be used for humanoid tribes for orcs, goblins, kobolds and gnolls.

 

[Chaz]

Yeah, now youre talking. Thats a great idea.
I downloaded the new pack, thanks Maraxle. Keep up the good work.

 

[Fast Learner]

Lots of great questions! I'll try to answer them.

Lots of awesome answers, and all exactly what I wanted to hear!

I'll absolutely send you any rule set that I find returns reasonable results!

Thanks again.

 

[Lazarus Smith]

Different Angle

Okay, I have yet to be able to get this generator, but check out this idea.

Instead of generating names with it, why not make it choose between physical features. Thus you could randomly generate not only the name of an NPC, but thier hair color, skin tone, scars, and whether they walk with a limp. No game stats, but just generic towns folk!

Lazarus

 

[Maraxle]

You can definitely do that.

Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that my website is giving me troubles. My web hosting provider decided to change my IP without telling me, so jhanson.com points to a blank page. You SHOULD be able to reach it with jhanson.org, but who knows with that bunch of idiots running my server. Sorry about the inconvenience.