The Character Project

[Titanium Fox]

So, I've started a project I think you guys might be interested in when all is said and done. I've just gone ahead and copy-pasted my front post below, but really, just check out the page. I've been up working on this for about 16 hours, and I am way too tired to get descriptive.

http://the-character-project-4e.tumblr.com/


D&D is Awesome, we all know that. However, character management sucks. At least, in my opinion. All of the temporary bonuses, effects, and numbers to keep track of, and all on old fashioned pen and paper. Erasers can only do so much, then it’s off to chicken-scratch out a whole new character sheet.

Seriously. D&D was incredibly innovative back in 1974 when it was released. Why hasn’t it been able to keep up with the times? It’s 2013 now. There are these things called computers.

…Hmmm.

The Character Project 4.0 is a project with the express goal of creating a dynamic, automatic, functional and readable character sheet for D&D 4.0. All of D&D 4.0. Every race, class, feat, ability. Everything.


The sheet will be a single page, and will all fit on a 1440 x 900 monitor comfortably.
The sheet will automatically calculate everything based on a few simple inputs from the player.
It’s all built in a program that everyone already has, Excel. No program downloads, no crappy UIs. Just a character sheet that works.


Writing and erasing, and chewing through number 2 pencils like it’s test day isn’t the allure of D&D. It’s the gathering, the dice, the laughs, the stories. Let’s cut the clutter out, and allow the system to catch up to the times. Let’s let D&D continue to be D&D, and let technology do the busywork.

[VeliciaL]

I'll check it out, but I do have one quibble:


It’s all built in a program that everyone already has, Excel.

I beg to differ. :smallwink: Making sure it plays nice with OpenOffice/LibreOffice would be great, since I've had issues with that in the past.

[tcrudisi]

I'll check it out, but I do have one quibble:



I beg to differ. :smallwink: Making sure it plays nice with OpenOffice/LibreOffice would be great, since I've had issues with that in the past.

Agreed. I have OpenOffice, I don't have MS Office.

[Titanium Fox]

I'll check it out, but I do have one quibble:



I beg to differ. :smallwink: Making sure it plays nice with OpenOffice/LibreOffice would be great, since I've had issues with that in the past.

That'll be a version 1.X release. It's like porting to Chrome, right? :P

Nah. The only roadblock I'd have if anything is the fact I'm not sure if Open Office can support VB Macros.

[VeliciaL]

That'll be a version 1.X release. It's like porting to Chrome, right? :P

Nah. The only roadblock I'd have if anything is the fact I'm not sure if Open Office can support VB Macros.

That could be where other such projects I've found (not necessarily for 4E, but I've tried some spreadsheet-based character sheets) didn't work.

[Titanium Fox]

If that's the case, at the very least in the early stages and versions, it would be a slightly less robust version of the sheet, and I'd need a developer specifically for Open Office.

For now though, let's get something awesome started, and figure out what needs to be worked on. :P

[VeliciaL]

If that's the case, at the very least in the early stages and versions, it would be a slightly less robust version of the sheet, and I'd need a developer specifically for Open Office.

For now though, let's get something awesome started, and figure out what needs to be worked on. :P

That's fair. :smallsmile: As long as that's being taken into account, since it's not really true that all of us have Excel. :smalltongue:

[Titanium Fox]

That's fair. :smallsmile: As long as that's being taken into account, since it's not really true that all of us have Excel. :smalltongue:

Well, it's a lot more common than some obscure D&D tool, and a lot more stable than something I coded from scratch myself. (And a lot more convenient too.)

I will say, when I get to the stage of focusing on Open Office support, I'll also be looking into Google Drive support as well. THAT'S gonna be a fun one.

[VeliciaL]

Well, it's a lot more common than some obscure D&D tool, and a lot more stable than something I coded from scratch myself. (And a lot more convenient too.)

I will say, when I get to the stage of focusing on Open Office support, I'll also be looking into Google Drive support as well. THAT'S gonna be a fun one.

That could be really useful though, as it could be hosted and accessed through Google Docs, I'm presuming.

[Epinephrine]

Agreed. I have OpenOffice, I don't have MS Office.

Thirded (or more). Open Office or Google docs would be preferred.

[Tegu8788]

And Google gas the advantage of being free, with no need to download, used by all OS's, and usable on both mobile and desktop machines.

[Leewei]

So, I've started a project I think you guys might be interested in when all is said and done...

I'd like to congratulate you on this ambitious and useful work, Titanium Fox. As others have mentioned, some sort of platform independence is ideal for a project like this. Having said that, what you're doing is free to those asking for other platforms. They can feel free to create their own system if yours won't work for them for whatever reason.

Many years ago, I did something similar to this for RoleMaster using an Access database. It was a great exercise for me, and led into years of professional work with MS Access. Perhaps your experience with VBA/Excel can help you in the same way.

When working on my system, I contacted Iron Crown Enterprises to see what kind of concerns they might have with the character generator. The gist of the reply was that they did not want copyrighted material to be shown in the generator. Descriptions, Virtues (roughly equivalent to 4E Feats), and so on were not to be distributed. This may be a roadblock to you, since I can see WotC objecting to feats and powers as copyrighted material. Of course, if you provide a generic spreadsheet with other sheets or forms for users to enter this info, you'll probably be fine.

Cheers,

Leewei

[Titanium Fox]

I'd like to congratulate you on this ambitious and useful work, Titanium Fox. As others have mentioned, some sort of platform independence is ideal for a project like this. Having said that, what you're doing is free to those asking for other platforms. They can feel free to create their own system if yours won't work for them for whatever reason.

Many years ago, I did something similar to this for RoleMaster using an Access database. It was a great exercise for me, and led into years of professional work with MS Access. Perhaps your experience with VBA/Excel can help you in the same way.

When working on my system, I contacted Iron Crown Enterprises to see what kind of concerns they might have with the character generator. The gist of the reply was that they did not want copyrighted material to be shown in the generator. Descriptions, Virtues (roughly equivalent to 4E Feats), and so on were not to be distributed. This may be a roadblock to you, since I can see WotC objecting to feats and powers as copyrighted material. Of course, if you provide a generic spreadsheet with other sheets or forms for users to enter this info, you'll probably be fine.

Cheers,

Leewei

Thanks for the information on that one! Yeah, I realized that relatively recently. Honestly, if I'm not putting any of the moves or feats into the sheet, it's pretty much already done, which is more than a little disappointing.

I may however be able to work around it. Hmm... Welp, back to the drawing board!