D&D 4E Users of Hero Lab for 4e?

[SabreCat]

I recently built out a character using some third party content, and the whole exercise illustrated just how dependent I've become on the Character Builder. Putting somebody together by hand or with a form-fillable character sheet takes twice as long or more, with lots of opportunity for error... and if you want to use a custom class or race, that's your only option.

Trawling around for alternatives, I found Hero Lab, which claims to let you add your own powers, races, etc. Looks sweet, but the price is pretty steep for my purposes--I'm strapped for cash these days, usually unable to even buy the dead-tree books I want, so $30 is daunting. The strict, DRM-enforced limit of two computers per license also kinda puts me off. So I'm curious:

Is the product worth the price? How's its usability and output (power cards etc.) compared to the Character Builder?

How easy is it to add custom data? If I wanted to build out the Witch Doctor class, for instance (which is generally straightforward, but includes oddities like a new type of area-effect power), am I in for a bumpy road?

 

[darjr]

I've tried Hero Lab's demo product that they released for Free RPG Day a couple of years back. It seemed a little clunky but nice and functional. I believe they have a newer demo for download on their site.

Downloads - Hero Lab - Lone Wolf Development

I didn't have any technical problems with the demo and I think I've still got it installed somewhere.

It's from Lone Wolf, the makers of Army Builder.

 

[Odysseus]

I've purchased the full copy. And I like it, and prefer to the CB. I'm still learning how to enter custom stuff. Which seems easy enough ,once you've understood the format. You still need a wizards account to be able to download 4e content though. If someone were to start producing data files, for things like WotBS. I think my entire gaming group would switch over.

 

[Mort_Q]

So it can use all the WotC stuff, and I can add in my own? That sounds ideal.

 

[darjr]

I think I heard they are planning more game system support like Shadowrun.