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View Full Version : D&D 3.5 Monster, NPC and Random Encounter Generator, Advancer, Customizer



TheOverlord
2009-05-28, 09:23 AM
I write to express my support for the thriving 3.5 community via the recently released Monster Advancer (http://www.monsteradvancer.com).

This free compact suite of online applications allows for swift monster & npc generation, advancement and customization, all within the context of 3rd edition(3.5). What once took up to an hour of dungeon masters' time, now takes seconds. Large Fiendish, Half-Dragon Dire Wolves with 18 hit dice can now take their place of honor amongst the kraken and the hydra.

There are currently three applications worthy of note: There is a version made for massive customization (allowing templates, magical items and equipment, stat adjustments and feat selection), a version made for speed and simplicity, and another which can generate multiple creatures randomly based on the challenge rating or encounter level desired.

The entire project is completely free and available now. It is continuing to be enhanced frequently but is fully functional now. All OGL creatures will be entered eventually as I am furiously entering more and more. (If there are creatures you really want right now just let me know and I will move them up the list.)

My goal is to help foster and reinvigorate the 3.5 community by contributing to the tools that enhance the game by allowing time for creativity rather than crunching numbers.

I would love to hear what people think and what you want to make your game planning sessions easier.

Zeta Kai
2009-05-28, 09:45 AM
Well, I'll have to try it out before I give it my full endorsement, but you've already got an A for effort in my book.

TheOverlord
2009-05-28, 10:57 AM
I appreciate your initial support. I hope you enjoy it once you dig in. The Overlord's furnaces are fueled by the blood of...I mean, community support of course!

Once you have played please let me know what you love, what you think needs improvement or what might be lacking enough to cause people to turn away. I am spending enough time on data entry and feature edition now that I would love to know I am focusing on the right things at this point.

Cedrass
2009-05-28, 10:57 AM
Haven't had time to test it out like I would have liked to, but one thing I noticed is when you generate a random encounter, it really gives pretty much anything. I had a Centaur team up with 2 Ghast...

The monster advancement is awesome though! Only one little detail: When you give the monster spellcaster levels, you should ask up to select it's spells and such.

Overall, it's awesome keep working on it :smallbiggrin:

TheOverlord
2009-05-28, 11:14 AM
The Random Encounter Generator is indeed truly random right now. I will definitely be spicing that up soon to allow more customization of creature types or groups and a more logical grouping...for now it revels in its total randomness. It is the only generator around that wiil give you back a half-dragon fiendish centaur at all.

As for the class level additions....they are indeed still in their infancy. I don't want people to be turned off but what it can't quite do yet as I only released it now because I thought it had immediate value to the community but in a short time I aim for it to be amazing. I will make sure that spell-casting has the ability to customize what spells and such...most likely you will see this on the main application.

Keep advancing 'em.

TheOverlord
2009-05-28, 02:06 PM
There will be another update with more creatures this weekend so if you have requests post 'em.

TheOverlord
2009-05-29, 07:37 PM
Someone has recently been talking to me about what they would like the random encounter generator to do. Just so people are aware the random generator has been getting a lot of use so I am moving that up the design block for more functionality. Such as slightly more tailored encounters by creature type, environment and "themes." Just another heads up of things coming fairly soon.

crippledlord
2009-11-27, 10:13 PM
hay I love your monster generator, it lets me build my undead minions just the way I like them as I acquire them. the ability to add all the versatile templates is my favorite feature. keep up the good work.

TheOverlord
2009-12-03, 05:20 PM
I am glad you are enjoying it. It has been a while since I got any changes actually put out for public consumption but fear not I am continuing to get work done. I will post a full update when I do my next release.

pffh
2009-12-03, 06:56 PM
Just messed around with it, looks great. I haven't used it yet since I'm in the middle of my finals but I'll definitely use it to make some interesting encounter for my next session.

Quick question I didn't see any way to download any of the apps I'd love to have the them (especially the random encounter generator, a lifesaver for when the pc's go off my rails, damn pc's and them not doing what I expect them to do) on my non internet connected laptop that I use when I game.

jokey665
2009-12-03, 07:04 PM
This is awesome. I just made a 20HD half-black-dragon bulette, which is basically the coolest monster ever.

TheOverlord
2009-12-04, 03:13 PM
This is awesome. I just made a 20HD half-black-dragon bulette, which is basically the coolest monster ever.

If I can add even one 20HD half-black-dragon bulette to a D&D universe, I believe I have done my part.

Zovc
2009-12-04, 03:23 PM
This is not a tool, it's a work of art.

...and an incredibly useful tool!

Lord Thurlvin
2009-12-04, 03:25 PM
Thank you for linking to this website. Instant bookmark!

White Half-Dragon Ghost Fiendish Hydra, 9-headed, Barbarian 5 CR 19

I love template stacking.

TheOverlord
2009-12-04, 04:02 PM
Quick question I didn't see any way to download any of the apps I'd love to have the them (especially the random encounter generator, a lifesaver for when the pc's go off my rails, damn pc's and them not doing what I expect them to do) on my non internet connected laptop that I use when I game.

An offline version of all of my apps is in the pipeline for development. I will be honest though. It is currently a long pipeline. Suffice it to say that you are amongst many others who would like such an offering and it is something I have every intention of seeing accomplished. My focus right now is getting to 100% coverage of SRD creatures and we are very close. (I will put out a full announcement when that phase is complete).

TheOverlord
2009-12-04, 04:03 PM
This is not a tool, it's a work of art.

...and an incredibly useful tool!

You are far too kind...although I must say you have a keen eye for excellence! I am glad you enjoy it. I shall endeavor to continue to exceed your expectations.

flabort
2009-12-05, 03:13 PM
Bookmarked, and testing!

...................

I'm sorry to report, that the Main advancer does not work on my computer. It's a pity, because I'd really like to work with templates, which your quick advancer does not do. Of course, It's partly due to the fact that this computer is still a windows '95 opperating system. And, since the Quick advancer does not appear to have templates, I'm stuck without.

Just, in short, I'd like to see a version more compatible with older version that DOES allow templates.

TheOverlord
2009-12-05, 03:35 PM
And, since the Quick advancer does not appear to have templates, I'm stuck without.

I have been thinking of putting the templates on the Quickened version so I will try to get to that sooner rather than later just for you.

Currently, I believe I the site works on IE6 and greater, FireFox, Chrome 1.0+, Safari 3.0+, Opera at least 9...not sure, I have even seen Droid phones, ipod touch, and a number of other mobile browsers as well...so if moving to any of those is possible that is always an option as well.

If you send me an email ([email protected]) of what browser and version you are using (usually on the "About" entry in the menu) I can see if it is something I can make more backwards compatible.

Thanks for letting me know!

Rappy
2009-12-05, 10:16 PM
It's a wonderful tool. It exponentially increases the potential yield for a GM/DM/what have you in a pinch due to its simple controls and calculating capabilities. My only beef would be that you can't input any custom monsters or templates to go beyond the main threshold and into homebrew, but I imagine that's not something easy to program, so it's a minor beef.

maestro78
2009-12-06, 08:01 AM
This is an incredibly useful tool that I have been using for months now in my current campaign. Every DM should check this wonderful time saving device out.

You are definitely getting a donation from me this holiday season. :smallsmile:

TheOverlord
2009-12-10, 03:47 PM
I have been thinking of putting the templates on the Quickened version so I will try to get to that sooner rather than later just for you.

Just as a heads up I tested this functionality just yesterday as I was snowed in and had some nice free time on my hands. For the Quickened Advancer (http://www.monsteradvancer.com) This will allow a single template to be added to any creature with a simple drop down with a default of "No Template" for now but I plan on making it work nicely for more than one template fairly soon. It is still lightning fast and just as quick for anyone who doesn't use templates. I will let you know when I release it as it should be ready for public consumption in the next couple days.

RagnaroksChosen
2009-12-10, 04:36 PM
I like it. Although a standalone client would be nice as well.
Your javascript is pritty cleen. I like your hack job there. heh...


What where you thinking about writing the Standalone in?


Not to be a **** or any thing just some constructive crit.
I would expand your Recent creatures, templates, armour, shield and magic item fields by a little bit i think you won't loose to much realestate but you will get some better formatting in the lists.

PM if you want any help with the standalone.

shadow_archmagi
2009-12-10, 05:04 PM
This is an incredibly useful tool

I would appreciate it more if it calculated CR; at current my skeletal zombie fiendish orc is still rated as CR 1

I also noticed that a lot of templates were missing.

Also, yeah, the boxes that the lists are contained in could be larger

TheOverlord
2009-12-10, 10:48 PM
...my skeletal zombie fiendish orc is still rated as CR 1

The CR calculation works fairly well. If you start combining templates that basically break all the rules (such as a skeletal zombie you will start to see some problems) Since both the skeletal and zombie templates are designed as to have fixed CR based on HD this calculation tends to win out over my actual calculated CR.

I will take a look at this to see if I can't make it a bit nicer and perhaps give a better guess at CR if you combine a fixed CR style calculation with something like fiendish which augments the CR based on HD.


I also noticed that a lot of templates were missing.
I work on new content nearly every day that I can squeeze in a few more creatures or a template or two. (These take a while to release as my releases are more spread out to minimize down-time). Keep watching I will get them in. If you have specifics you are missing just let me know and I can bump them up the priority list.

TheOverlord
2009-12-10, 10:55 PM
Your javascript is pritty cleen. I like your hack job there. heh....

Just minimizing page loading times by both minifying/concatenating all my javascript files into one file. (See Yahoo best practices for speeding up your website (http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html))


What where you thinking about writing the Standalone in?
A standalone is down the pipeline a ways but it is on my radar. My application is written in java and I plan on using some basic tools to make it into a basic standalone executable...but this is still far enough off I am not making any technology decisions now.

shadow_archmagi
2009-12-12, 10:21 AM
The CR calculation works fairly well.

Ah, okay then. I guess I just picked a bad thing to start with. I was under the impression there was none. Glad to hear everything is shipshape, keep up the great work, etc.

Eagerly awaiting the standalone version.

Tehnar
2009-12-12, 11:29 AM
I have to say this is really really great. It is bookmarked and on my firefox toolbar. Excellent work.

I have some bugs to report though:
1) the vampire template does not give the energy drain ability
2) the fire immunity gained from a half dragon template does not show up.

Also are the stat points gained from advancement already factored in; or do we add them ourselves?

RagnaroksChosen
2009-12-12, 12:57 PM
Just minimizing page loading times by both minifying/concatenating all my javascript files into one file. (See Yahoo best practices for speeding up your website (http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html))


A standalone is down the pipeline a ways but it is on my radar. My application is written in java and I plan on using some basic tools to make it into a basic standalone executable...but this is still far enough off I am not making any technology decisions now.

ya i've read the yahoo article...


O if it is written in java not java script then porting it should be easy. Depending on how much you rely on the extend or includes applet, it shouldn't be to much of a problem. I am a big fan of java. if you want help let me know.

TheOverlord
2009-12-13, 12:57 PM
I have to say this is really really great. It is bookmarked and on my firefox toolbar. Excellent work.

I have some bugs to report though:
1) the vampire template does not give the energy drain ability
2) the fire immunity gained from a half dragon template does not show up.

Also are the stat points gained from advancement already factored in; or do we add them ourselves?

I will add the energy drain to the vampire template and the energy immunity based on dragon type...these all appear to be oversights on my part as opposed to something that isn't working. Good catch though. As often as those templates are used I am surprised no one else has brought it to my attention.

TheOverlord
2009-12-15, 06:34 PM
...And, since the Quick advancer does not appear to have templates, I'm stuck without.

Just, in short, I'd like to see a version more compatible with older version that DOES allow templates.

Your wish has been granted by the Overlord. The Quickened Advancer now allows templates...or 1 template to be exact...but that is merely to get the functionality in there right away. I just need to decide a nice way to allow multiple templates to be selected swiftly and I will make it ever better.

(Also added a bunch of creatures for mounts as well as added a quick print preview function--mostly to highlight that the print version is always made print-friendly...and to make it a bit more Chrome friendly.)

Malsheem
2010-01-02, 06:30 AM
This monster advancer is a great program; I've been wanting something like this for a long time. It seems like u have made it as far as tyrannosaurus in the monster manual alphabetically. Is that correct or are you just going at it willy-nilly? Sadly I found this when looking for a quick way to advance the winter wolf pet of a frost giant lord in my campaign and...no winter wolf. Keep up the good work though, very cool.

TheOverlord
2010-01-02, 11:54 AM
This monster advancer is a great program; I've been wanting something like this for a long time. It seems like u have made it as far as tyrannosaurus in the monster manual alphabetically. Is that correct or are you just going at it willy-nilly? Sadly I found this when looking for a quick way to advance the winter wolf pet of a frost giant lord in my campaign and...no winter wolf. Keep up the good work though, very cool.

I am sorry your winter wolf was not yet complete...I am almost always working on more creatures...and while I would not describe any of my choices for what got in as "willy-nilly":smallsmile: it is not a straight alphabetical entry to be sure. In any case, I can enter the winter wolf right away as I have a master file of creatures I managed to parse out of a huge database that just need to be cleaned up before release in the application. If there are any others creatures you need just ask and I will bump them up the priority list.

TheOverlord
2010-02-05, 10:30 PM
This monster advancer is a great program; I've been wanting something like this for a long time. It seems like u have made it as far as tyrannosaurus in the monster manual alphabetically. Is that correct or are you just going at it willy-nilly? Sadly I found this when looking for a quick way to advance the winter wolf pet of a frost giant lord in my campaign and...no winter wolf. Keep up the good work though, very cool.

I just updated the Advancer today and I figured it would be worth letting you know that that winter wolf is in there now. (I forgot to list it on my new creatures list but it is there.) Perhaps a bit late for your purposes...but I do hope that late is better than never.

urbanpirate
2010-02-05, 11:02 PM
i would like to see more monsters as base creatures and templates perhaps a prestige class or two but so far i am impressed kinda makes me want to dm again. huge time saver.

DarkEternal
2010-02-22, 01:28 PM
Excellent job, just the sort of something I was looking for, considering I found a "random loot generator" for when you are really feeling too lazy.

Anyway, the only problem I saw so far is that when I selected "Icy environment" it came out with a javascript error.

Overshee
2010-02-22, 01:32 PM
Out of curiosity, how hard would it be to add XP per party member (a dialogue to select number of players and their levels) and random loot into the mix?

TheOverlord
2010-02-24, 10:03 AM
Excellent job, just the sort of something I was looking for, considering I found a "random loot generator" for when you are really feeling too lazy.

Anyway, the only problem I saw so far is that when I selected "Icy environment" it came out with a javascript error.

Thanks for your kind words. For errors if you send me an email letting me know what the error was I will fix them right away. The only known quirk to the random encounter generator has to do with tight restrictions and not being able to find a way to generate what you want. There aren't currently a lot of Icy environment creatures and b/c of that it is possible you will get the message that explains that your restrictions might be too tight. (This problem will eventually vanish as I continue to get more and more OGL creatures entered.)

If you ever have requests, feel free to send those my way too. I try very hard to cater to my vocal users.

Volthawk
2010-02-24, 04:04 PM
Can you add NPC classes?

TheOverlord
2010-02-25, 04:45 PM
Can you add NPC classes?

I can indeed. That is something I have been sitting on for a while and wouldn't really take that long. I will let you know when it is done and released.

golden pony
2010-03-17, 01:19 AM
I love you, you are my hero!

-Btw would it be possible to have different colour background settings to display? My eyes are bleeding =(...

-Also, I don't know if it has anything to do with your program, but the boxes sometimes go out of the screen on the customized generation page, so maybe allow the user to reshape em a la microsoft word or ppt style with boxes?

TheOverlord
2010-03-18, 09:35 AM
I appreciate the support.

I can certainly add some options for background color. I liked the black but my wife actually said from the beginning that black backgrounds cause some contrast issues for some people.

As far the boxes, I designed the page to work at 1024x768(15.4" laptop standard) and larger but I realize that I have users that have smaller viewable areas when viewing the site. With that said, I am in the process of designing a more wizard-style flow system that will work better overall. The other interface was done that way because I wanted the user to have access to all customizable elements in one spot...but that might not have been necessary. In any case, with the new interface you can switch through each element and the page is set up with an application-style layout which will fill whatever page size you have and has handles to drag certain areas larger or smaller or collapse them completely.

The new interface is probably a little ways out as I am swamped right now but I will keep you posted.

I hugely appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming.

the humanity
2010-03-18, 02:59 PM
could you add some of the more obscure classes? namely scout :P I'm having a scout heavy group of enemies and this would be really great for making some of those guys. it's understandable though if you don't want to at the moment.:smallbiggrin:

TheOverlord
2010-03-21, 12:54 PM
could you add some of the more obscure classes? namely scout :P I'm having a scout heavy group of enemies and this would be really great for making some of those guys. it's understandable though if you don't want to at the moment.:smallbiggrin:

Unfortunately, scout is not open game content as it appears in the Complete Adventurer which has no open game content at all. If you can find a published OGL compliant class that is similar enough to make you happy I will certainly put it in.

Volthawk
2010-03-21, 12:56 PM
What about NPC classes?

TheOverlord
2010-03-21, 01:17 PM
What about NPC classes?

Those are in the works my friend. They should be included with my next release...which should be fairly soon.

TheOverlord
2010-04-05, 12:47 PM
404 New creatures have been added. And NPC classes were released as well!

Volthawk
2010-04-05, 12:52 PM
Kobold doesn't incorporate how the CR is modified by using NPC classes.

This is what I mean. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/kobold.htm)



Challenge Rating
Kobolds with levels in NPC classes have a CR equal to their character level -3

Kelunas
2010-04-05, 01:03 PM
It's partly due to the fact that this computer is still a windows '95 opperating system.

Windows 95 :smallconfused: ! Wow... As for the software I've been using it to prepare some creatures for my games for a while now and I've gotta say I love it. I've used similar apps but they are often full of minor mistakes on certain creatures, never had a problem with yours.

I have to say though that I would love an offline version. It's great to create a creature on the fly and I don't always have net access where we game (I DM with my laptop).

Protecar
2010-04-05, 01:38 PM
Out of curiosity, how hard would it be to add XP per party member (a dialogue to select number of players and their levels) and random loot into the mix?

Seconded.

And while we are on the subject of amazing tools. (not to derail from what you got going), but are there a couple of other tools that you all might recommend? I'm a pretty lazy DM and would love a random loot generator, etc, to compliment this already robust system(it seems--admittedly I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I plan too later today after I'm off work though). :smallbiggrin:

Keep up the good work! I appreciate your dedication to the craft!

TheOverlord
2010-04-05, 07:47 PM
Kobold doesn't incorporate how the CR is modified by using NPC classes.

You got me there. I have not incorporated that rule. I will double check the CRs versus NPC classes in general...and make sure to include the fix for kobold CR as well.


And while we are on the subject of amazing tools. (not to derail from what you got going), but are there a couple of other tools that you all might recommend? I'm a pretty lazy DM and would love a random loot generator, etc, to compliment this already robust system(it seems--admittedly I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I plan too later today after I'm off work though).

As far as loot goes I have started some basic work on one of those. (Check out this treasure generator thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8116999) especially if you have some ideas about what you might want in a loot/treasure generator.

The experience wouldn't take too much work either and I will put some thought into how that might fit and when I might work into into my development plan.

Keep the feedback, discussion and thoughts coming, it is exciting to be able to participate this directly with the 3.5 community.

true_shinken
2010-04-05, 10:26 PM
Looks very interesting. Keep up the good work.

TheOverlord
2010-04-23, 08:50 AM
Kobold doesn't incorporate how the CR is modified by using NPC classes.

I have updated the CR calculations for NPC classes as well as the specific code for Kobolds. Since I am not currently handling 1/2 or 1/4 CRs the Kobold will remain at 0CR until they have at least 4 npc levels which will then equate to a CR of 1.

The general NPC CR calculation treats npc levels at +1/2 CR for each level up to the original HD. So a Lamia with 9HD has a starting CR of 6. If I add 4 levels of adept the CR becomes 8. If I added 9 levels of adept the CR becomes 10.5(or 10 since I don't handle 1/2s). If I added 11 levels of adept the CR becomes 12.5(12) since once I have 9 levels of an NPC class they start counting 1 for 1. (Fun programming there!)

Saph
2010-04-23, 12:45 PM
Hey, this is the same generator I've been using for the campaign in my sig. We've gotten some REALLY weird results from it, but it's entertaining!

cssmythe3
2010-04-23, 01:03 PM
Amazement! This is sooooo nice.

I'll chip in actually $$$ if you add the option for auto-feat selection when classes are added to a critter!

Honest! I will!

My least favorite thing as a GM is generating stats, skills, feats, and equipment for mid to high level NPCs...

TheOverlord
2010-04-23, 02:13 PM
Hey, this is the same generator I've been using for the campaign in my sig. We've gotten some REALLY weird results from it, but it's entertaining!

Those poor misunderstood Red Half-dragon, spell-warped, celestial 8-headed hydras with barbarian levels need everyone's support.

The tailored encounter generator (for slightly more predictable weirdness) and improvements to the random encounter generator (for more control over the weirdness) are in the works.


Amazement! This is sooooo nice.

I'll chip in actually $$$ if you add the option for auto-feat selection when classes are added to a critter!

Honest! I will!

My least favorite thing as a GM is generating stats, skills, feats, and equipment for mid to high level NPCs...

I am moving toward feat suggestions in the new interface. Also stats will be far more flexible while still being a breeze. You will also have choices between at least a couple skill assignment strategies if you don't like the one I am using now for everything. I glad you like it and I always appreciate donations to help pay for the hosting costs. As a Java application it is not as cheap as other web sites. I hope I can continue to impress you. Let me know if you have other requests.