Personal 4E programming project

Still seeing 115?

2010-11-12T17:07:00.001-05:00

Use this updated link

Minor Release

2010-11-08T19:44:00.003-05:00

Added a link since some people seem to be having trouble.

Some minor fixes to correct some changes in items. Also added support for skill powers which suddenly appeared.

****************************Public Release: 11/8/2010 *****************

4.0.118
* General: Fixed the Familiar option to correctly toggle on and off based on the compendium

4.0.117
* Compendium: Fixed several issues with items that gained the useless "Published in " tag

4.0.116
* Compendium: Fixed Skill Power meta data

New Paser: 4.0.115

2010-11-06T14:03:00.003-04:00

You can download the new version here

Updates for Essentials, Psionic Power, and the new compendium items (backgrounds, familiars, etc).

Note 1:
I tested the PHB, Arcane Power, and Psionic Power but I didn't have time to regression test all the older books.

Note 2:
There's a new version of the lore extension which offers /ilore (send lore images only), /tlore (send lore text only), /lore (send both text and images). It may fix some issues other people were having. Get get image support you must reparse modules containing npcs with the 115 parser or greater. You can download it here

Version History:
Note: to use the NPC Database features the Microsoft Office or the ACE drivers are required.
ACE drivers can be downloaded at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7554f536-8c28-4598-9b72-ef94e038c891&displaylang=en

****************************Public Release: 11/6/2010 *****************

4.0.115
* Essentials: Increased support for powers that do not have levels

4.0.114
* Compendium: Support for familiars

4.0.113
* Powers: Cascade from Dynamic tags to Benefit enabled

4.0.112
* Compendium: Support for Fey Pacts that have a level number.
* Powers: Cascade from Prerequisite to Trigger enabled

4.0.111
* Compendium: Support for more complex backgrounds like those in FR

4.0.110
* Compendium: Initial handling of backgrounds

4.0.109
* Compendium: Handling of Features that contain the Augment tag

4.0.108
* Compendium: Adjustment to processing the Augment tag

4.0.107
* NPCs: Images parsed into a node for easy ruleset access

4.0.106
* ZLINK: Support for libnpc and libtrap
* Traps: Improved formatting of Additional Description

4.0.105
* ZLINK: Added support for map (same as image), template (npc template)

4.0.104
* AltPower: Now accepts MM3 format

It all looks so......

2010-10-18T20:30:00.005-04:00

Yay familiars

Can I see some references?

2010-10-17T16:05:00.002-04:00

A work in progress. I think they are almost finished. The original FR backgrounds use a different format which will take some adjusting, but Arcane Power, PHB3, and Psionic Power all look to be working correctly.

Essentially...it's crap

2010-10-16T18:30:00.004-04:00

I finally got Psionic Power working. The addition of a Paragon Path feature with an Augment tag in the middle of it, ended up being the last thing that needed fixing.

I'm not a fan of the new Essentials line. In fact the small paperbacks with HUGE type are the worst thing they've ever produced for 4E and that includes the PHB3 and Psionic Power which are both fonts of crap (Hybrids, Power Points).

However, maybe some of essential content would be useful in my campaigns. And the mechanical content doesn't seem that far off from Core content, so I decided to see how hard it would be to get the parser to work.

The biggest issue is the Utility and Attack powers without levels. But once I got that working, I got something usable. I'll need to do more auditing to be sure.

4E Lore Extension

2010-08-28T18:27:00.003-04:00

The last public release included the following note:

* NPCs: Lore parsed into non-formattedtext nodes for easy ruleset access

That's probably a little cryptic for those who aren't experienced with ruleset creation. Essentially, formattedtext is a great tool for displaying data, but you can't (without a lot of work) do anything else with it.

Enter one of the minor annoyances I have when running my own campaign. I have a vast amount of NPC lore available to me, but it's a hassle to deliver this information to my players. I have to open the various NPC sheets, check the player skills, then drag and drop the lore frames onto the correct characters. Usually while fielding questions about the map, placing tokens, and the usual pre-combat DM tasks.
From working with DrZeuss on traps, I knew the best way to fix this problem was to store the data in both the formattedtext nodes (so it could be displayed as always) and into other nodes (numbers, strings, etc) that could be easily accessed within the ruleset. Once that was done it's just a matter of entering a single command to push the lore to my players

And so the 4E Lore extension was born:
It's actually very simple to use, but it requires modules created with a parser version 103 or higher. No file changes are required so if you have the source files for older modules, you just need to run them through the parser again. This will populate the lore nodes the extension uses.

Usage:

/lore = Displays lore data for all npcs in the tracker that are set as visible

/lore {name} = Displays lore for just the npc in the tracker who's name begins with {name}.
For example:
"/lore Goblin" would display lore for any npcs on tracker with names that begin with goblin (Goblin Hexer, Goblin Blackblade, Goblin Sharpshooter, etc)

Anyhow an example of it working:

Consider the following NPCs from MM1. You can see each one focuses on a different skill (Religion, Arcana and Nature).

The results as seen by my clients:
Tak has a high nature score +8 (and he has an effect that gives him another +4) So you can see he gets multiple pieces of data on the Sahuagin Priest (nature) but no data on the Bloodfire Harpy (Arcana) or the Angel of Valor (Religion).

Khem on the other hand has decent bonuses in all three skills. He gets some data on the Sahuagin Priest (but less than Tak), A fair amount of data on the Angel of Valor (Religion) and a little on the Bloodfire Harpy (Arcana).

Anyhow you can download a copy of it here:

Download the Extension

Public Release

2010-08-06T22:41:00.003-04:00

You can get the latest version here:
http://tenian.eugenez.net/Parser/4EParser_4_0_103.msi

I know it works with the MM3. I also ran tests on the original MM, the compendium updated a mass of data in the original MM. Much of it related to the origin/type/keywords of NPCs...and a lot of it seems wrong. Nothing I can do, WOTC needs to fix it.

Version History:
Note: to use the NPC Database features the Microsoft Office or the ACE drivers are required.
ACE drivers can be downloaded at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7554f536-8c28-4598-9b72-ef94e038c891&displaylang=en

****************************Public Release: 8/6/2010 *****************
4.0.103
* NPCs: Lore parsed into non-formattedtext nodes for easy ruleset access

4.0.102
* NPCs: Changed output of MM3 style auras

4.0.101
* Compendium: Repair original MM data involving changes to the flavor, flavoralt and flavorIndent classes

4.0.100
* Compendium: Remove more of the silly "Update/Revision/Deleted/Addition" history tags in npcs

4.0.99
* Compendium: Fixed problem where Derro "Strength of Mind" was incorrectly detected as the start of the Str stat

4.0.98
* NPCs: Support for the mr power tag (new in MM3)

4.0.97
* Compendium: Fixed missing description data in all npc formats

4.0.96
* Compendium: Fixed missing equipment data in all npc formats

4.0.95
* Powers: Fixed an issue with Granted paragon path powers where the name of the path was in the power. Primal Power Wardens

4.0.94
* Compendium: Fixed Language in MM3 format

4.0.93
* Compendium: Handle some exceptions like the Great Ape

4.0.92
* Compendium: Initial Code to handle new MM3 format data

4.0.91
* Compendium: Remove more of the silly "Update/Revision/Deleted/Addition" history tags in powers/feats

4.0.90
* Compendium: Added code to remove the ", page " data from feats and powers

Made a dent

2010-07-25T19:39:00.003-04:00

I spent some time decoding the new NPC format and managed to get everything working. I also found and fixed some errors in older data sets (equipment wasn't showing up, historical notes were not being suppressed).

Now it's to the audit part of the process. Everything looks correct so far but the MM3 adds a pretty significant number of npcs. Also the update made major changes to the old data, particularly the keywords / origins changed significantly (check out the fire bat).

Also I was alerted to an error in some PHB2 powers, particularly the stupid Warden Wonder Twin powers where the paragon path name is included in the power name. I fixed this.

Fonts again...

2010-07-23T20:13:00.004-04:00

I did some more work and locked speaking in languages to languages that the players have listed on their sheets.

I also did a quick search and replaced all the fonts with ones that I believe are freely distributable. I added a source file that lists where I got the font from and in most cases I included the zip file that contains the font.

Download the extension here.

To switch the fonts it's a three step process:

1) Convert a .ttf file into a .fgf file using the FGFontGenerator (available from Smiteworks).
2) Copy the .fgf file into the extensions fonts directory.
3) Edit the extension.xml and change the fgffile name="fonts/{your fgf filename here}.fgf" for the language you wish to alter. Adding additional languages is just a matter of adding a new font block and adding the proper entries to the character sheets.

Fun with my old font extension...

2010-07-17T07:26:00.002-04:00

Now with some translation and 2.7.0 chat bubbles.

New Parser - MM3 support (pre compendium)

2010-07-01T17:02:00.004-04:00

The 4.0.89 parser is out. It handles all the released MM3 content, but until the compendium gets updated and I can give it more MM3 data to process, I won't say MM3 is fully supported.

It can be found at the usual address
http://tenian.eugenez.net/Parser/

Version History:
Note: to use the NPC Database features the Microsoft Office or the ACE drivers are required.
ACE drivers can be downloaded at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7554f536-8c28-4598-9b72-ef94e038c891&displaylang=en

****************************Public Release: 7/1/2010 *****************
4.0.89
* General: Hopefully fixed an out of range exception when clearing some menu items

4.0.88
* Trap: Null perception check.

4.0.87
* MM3: Power style flag for ruleset formatting

4.0.86
* MM3: MM3 Action/Power format support

4.0.85
* MM3: Support for MM3 senses

4.0.84
* MM3: Support for different cascading caused by MM3 formatting

4.0.83
* Disease: Support for diseases based on skills other than Endurance

4.0.82
* MM3: Built MM3 style section of the fluff output routine to more closely match the MM3.

4.0.81
* NPC: Corrected a problem where an extra space was being stored with the stats when sending to the database.

4.0.80
* MM3: Support for ____ In Combat header of fluff. To be entered as Z ____ In Combat. For example Z Rot Grubs In Combat

4.0.79
* NPC: Fixed Power parse issue when a power includes range, but it isn't a range clause

4.0.78
* NPC: Allowed cascade from Origin to XP

4.0.77
* Scrape: Fixed Z4.gif image translation

4.0.76
* NPC Database: Compiled as DLL

4.0.75
* NPC Database: Fixed "Query too complex" error

4.0.74
* NPC Database: Added Encounter file Filter and processing

4.0.73
* NPC Database: Fixed Keyword search

4.0.72
* NPC Database: Added Filter settings for XP and Keywords

4.0.71
* NPC Database: Added Keywords and XP to NPC database

4.0.70
* NPC Database: Got Permutation function working

4.0.69
* NPC Database: Added GetAvailable

4.0.68
* NPC Database: Switched to access database

4.0.67
* NPC Database: First pass

4.0.66
* Trap: Zeph can't build trap files fix.

4.0.65
* Trap: Fixed traps where WOTC was sloppy and didn't include the expected fields.

4.0.64
* Trap: Countermeasures and triggers processed into different nodes. Trigger -> Initiative transistion allowed

4.0.63
* Catalog: Corrected bug created when feature only lists were added.

4.0.62
* PHB2: Requirement->Trigger cascade allowed

4.0.61
* Trap: Corrected a bug with multiple additional skills. Upgrade to Elite processed into different nodes.

4.0.60
* Powers: "Pact Boon" now recognized and functions the same as "Attack" and "Utility"

4.0.59
* Trap: Additional skill data processed into different nodes.

4.0.58
* Trap: Multiple Additional Skills fixed

4.0.57
* Trap: Perception data processed into different nodes.

MM3

2010-06-26T21:35:00.002-04:00

In addition to helping out with the Adventure workshop, I put some time into MM3 support. I haven't gotten around to handling the new mechanical format but I did get the Fluff format in place and support for Diseases that work on something other than Endurance (Meenlocks)

New Location

2010-04-14T17:52:00.002-04:00

EugeneZ was gracious enough to give me space to host the parser. The new home is:

http://tenian.eugenez.net/Parser/

You'll find the latest version (4.0.56) there in both ZIP and MSI format.

Changes since the last version (mostly PHB3 or Zeph extensions related)

****************************Public Release: 4/14/2010 *****************

4.0.56
* General: Catalog function updated to support classes that only have features (Hybrids) and to support the new class syntax (Skill Powers)

4.0.55
* PHB3: New class syntax that enables the Paragon Path: tag to be suppressed from power output

4.0.54
* PHB3: Superior implements Properties and Groups no longer trim as weapons do

4.0.53
* PHB3: Added default level for powers that don't have one (Aspect of the Cultivator)

4.0.52
* PHB3: Option to display power lists with only features in the library. This is for Hybrids.

4.0.51
* General: Fixed bracketed feat support so that feats without brackets are grouped by tier

4.0.50
* PHB3: Support for Ki Focus formatting

4.0.48
* PHB2/PHB3: Support for paragon paths with () in their name

4.0.48
* PHB3: Support for Superior implements

4.0.47
* Effects: Support for effect parsing

4.0.46
* ZLINK: Support for cross module links, Zeph tables, Treasure parcels

4.0.45
* Tables: Support for Zeph's Table Extension.

4.0.44
* Treasure Parcels: Support for Zeph's Treasure Parcel Extension.

4.0.43
* General: Combo box improvements: Flicker removed, focus set, autocomplete, drop down.

4.0.42
* General: Option to split Feats that contain []s in the name into groups. Such as the styles or runic feats.

4.0.41
* PHB3: Parse support for powers that use Augment

4.0.40
* PHB3: Scrape support for powers that use Augment

4.0.39
* PHB3: Support for Processing Monk powers with []'s out of the compendium

2010-03-30T20:14:00.001-04:00

Added in some parser support for Augmentable Psionic powers:

The easy part.....

2010-03-26T22:29:00.001-04:00

Monk crap:

Parser 4.0.38

2010-03-17T06:36:00.003-04:00

Is now available on FUM.

Discussion thread

Download Link

Enjoy

The agonizing grind........

2010-02-15T09:01:00.004-05:00

Now that 2.0 is in public testing I switched back to looking at the parser. There have been a number of posts about random pieces of compendium data which do not scrape correctly. I decided to investigate these by attempting to scrape every published book and seeing what breaks and why.

Since the compendium feature is a new component of the parser, I never went back and ran serious testing against all the modules I had completed. In fact I've only been using it on material published after Divine Power. Any publication that predates that I parsed using either a purchased pdf or OCR from my purchased printed copy. This means several of the "big" books (PHB, MM, etc) never got the full testing.

That's not say I ran no testing on them, but I typically ran a sampling, because extracting and processing something like the entire Adventurer's vault is a pain. It's even more of a pain when your extraction process is still a bit suspect and you know you're going to have to do it more than once.

Anyhow, I decided to bite the bullet and go through each and every book and note what's broken, what I can fix, and what's beyond my control. I've been going in alphabetical order (for lack of a better system) and I am currently on the Player's Handbook and Player's Handbook 2. Both had issues with certain rituals which I think are fixed. I still need to re-scrape/parse them both and make sure the issue is taken care of and I didn't break anything else along the way.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to complete the process this week.

Ruleset 2.0 is now available.

2010-01-29T06:40:00.002-05:00

A ton of work went into this thing, mostly from moon_wizard (all the effects, combat, etc) and Zeph (the new look).

Also my poor testing groups had to struggle through a few sessions where things just didn't work (locked tokens = map crash. insubstantial = 1.5 damage instead of 2.0 damage, etc).

To check it out you'll need the TestModeManager tool for FGII which can be found here

After that you should just update and it will download all the new stuff. I strongly recommend backing up your campaigns before doing any conversion, but I don't remember any upgrade issues (then again 1.5.1 was months ago for me and my testers).

You can find more details on the thread in the FGII forums. I recommend you clear time on your schedule to read the changes/readme files once the install completes. A lot of things have changed...for the better.

Dragonomicon: Metallic Dragons

2010-01-25T19:08:00.003-05:00

Great book. I love the Dragonomicon books but they are a LOT of work to make into FGII modules. Especially since PDFs have gone away. Hand correcting the OCR of the Lairs section took forever.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results. Thanks to Zeph for OCR help and EugeneZ for cleaning the tags off the maps.

I made a few minor parser changes to allow for a few more ZLINKs and the suppression of a few items from the library lists.

Limits?

2009-12-03T16:37:00.001-05:00

I'm sure there is some limit in FGII based on the size of structures. It's probably at the bare minimum...256 more likely...32768

But I did a test after doing the targeting....this was only 2 double clicks. The highest target number I saw was...73:
Campaign saved.
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 55] [23] [1d20+5 = 23]
[GM] Attack [23] -> [at Goblin Cutter 38] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 46] [16] [1d20+5 = 16]
[GM] Attack [16] -> [at Goblin Cutter 5] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 52] [12] [1d20+5 = 12]
[GM] Attack [12] -> [at Orc Drudge 122] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 57] [9] [1d20+5 = 9]
[GM] Attack [9] -> [at Orc Berserker 142] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 23] [21] [1d20+5 = 21]
[GM] Attack [21] -> [at Decrepit Skeleton 12] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 31] [7] [1d20+5 = 7]
[GM] Attack [7] -> [at Orc Drudge 12] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 56] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Goblin Cutter 20] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 3] [19] [1d20+5 = 19]
[GM] Attack [19] -> [at Kobold Minion 8] [HIT]
GM: [GM] Original attack = 20+5=25
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 69] [1d20 = 20]
[GM] Attack [25] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 23] [CRITICAL HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 13] [11] [1d20+5 = 11]
[GM] Attack [11] -> [at Bugbear Warrior] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 32] [21] [1d20+5 = 21]
[GM] Attack [21] -> [at Goblin Cutter 13] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 53] [8] [1d20+5 = 8]
[GM] Attack [8] -> [at Goblin Hexer] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 17] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at Goblin Cutter 11] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 30] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at White Dragon Wyrmling] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 70] [15] [1d20+5 = 15]
[GM] Attack [15] -> [at Gray Wolf 93] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 14] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at Orc Raider 104] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 29] [19] [1d20+5 = 19]
[GM] Attack [19] -> [at Goblin Sharpshooter 11] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 50] [15] [1d20+5 = 15]
[GM] Attack [15] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 29] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 59] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Goblin Cutter 36] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 11] [21] [1d20+5 = 21]
[GM] Attack [21] -> [at Goblin Underboss] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 12] [1d20 = 1]
[GM] Attack [6] -> [at Orc Drudge 7] [AUTOMATIC MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 27] [19] [1d20+5 = 19]
[GM] Attack [19] -> [at Orc Berserker 64] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 45] [22] [1d20+5 = 22]
[GM] Attack [22] -> [at Kobold Dragonshield 27] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 44] [22] [1d20+5 = 22]
[GM] Attack [22] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 8] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 47] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Kobold Skirmisher] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 68] [11] [1d20+5 = 11]
[GM] Attack [11] -> [at Goblin Sharpshooter 55] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 7] [17] [1d20+5 = 17]
[GM] Attack [17] -> [at Goblin Cutter 10] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 40] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Kobold Minion 13] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 16] [16] [1d20+5 = 16]
[GM] Attack [16] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 3] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 9] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Orc Drudge 98] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 35] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at Orc Drudge 17] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 4] [13] [1d20+5 = 13]
[GM] Attack [13] -> [at Goblin Cutter 15] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 24] [15] [1d20+5 = 15]
[GM] Attack [15] -> [at Kobold Slyblade 43] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 60] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 22] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 6] [23] [1d20+5 = 23]
[GM] Attack [23] -> [at Kobold Slinger 4] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 22] [1d20 = 1]
[GM] Attack [6] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 16] [AUTOMATIC MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 38] [16] [1d20+5 = 16]
[GM] Attack [16] -> [at Orc Chieftain] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 64] [11] [1d20+5 = 11]
[GM] Attack [11] -> [at Kobold Minion 3] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 15] [8] [1d20+5 = 8]
[GM] Attack [8] -> [at Orc Eye of Gruumsh] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 18] [9] [1d20+5 = 9]
[GM] Attack [9] -> [at Dire Wolf] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 54] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at Fire Beetle 17] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 63] [24] [1d20+5 = 24]
[GM] Attack [24] -> [at Kobold Minion 7] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 19] [9] [1d20+5 = 9]
[GM] Attack [9] -> [at Kobold Minion 11] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 25] [11] [1d20+5 = 11]
[GM] Attack [11] -> [at Decrepit Skeleton 4] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 39] [16] [1d20+5 = 16]
[GM] Attack [16] -> [at Decrepit Skeleton 42] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 66] [11] [1d20+5 = 11]
[GM] Attack [11] -> [at Kobold Minion 20] [MISS]
GM: [GM] Original attack = 20+5=25
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 74] [1d20 = 20]
[GM] Attack [25] -> [at Big Grigbad] [CRITICAL HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 58] [13] [1d20+5 = 13]
[GM] Attack [13] -> [at Goblin Cutter 51] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 2] [17] [1d20+5 = 17]
[GM] Attack [17] -> [at Orc Raider 86] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 1] [23] [1d20+5 = 23]
[GM] Attack [23] -> [at Orc Drudge 61] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 34] [14] [1d20+5 = 14]
[GM] Attack [14] -> [at Goblin Cutter 48] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 42] [13] [1d20+5 = 13]
[GM] Attack [13] -> [at Kobold Minion 23] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 62] [10] [1d20+5 = 10]
[GM] Attack [10] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 25] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 65] [24] [1d20+5 = 24]
[GM] Attack [24] -> [at Goblin Cutter 21] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 5] [14] [1d20+5 = 14]
[GM] Attack [14] -> [at Goblin Cutter 43] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 10] [23] [1d20+5 = 23]
[GM] Attack [23] -> [at Gray Wolf 47] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 21] [7] [1d20+5 = 7]
[GM] Attack [7] -> [at Kobold Dragonshield 16] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 73] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Orc Drudge 138] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 71] [21] [1d20+5 = 21]
[GM] Attack [21] -> [at Fire Beetle 36] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 72] [14] [1d20+5 = 14]
[GM] Attack [14] -> [at Orc Drudge 13] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 33] [18] [1d20+5 = 18]
[GM] Attack [18] -> [at Kobold Wyrmpriest] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 8] [8] [1d20+5 = 8]
[GM] Attack [8] -> [at Goblin Cutter 18] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 36] [16] [1d20+5 = 16]
[GM] Attack [16] -> [at Kobold Slinger 6] [HIT]
GM: [GM] Original attack = 20+5=25
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 43] [1d20 = 20]
[GM] Attack [25] -> [at Orc Drudge 104] [CRITICAL HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 49] [16] [1d20+5 = 16]
[GM] Attack [16] -> [at Goblin Sharpshooter 35] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 48] [17] [1d20+5 = 17]
[GM] Attack [17] -> [at Orc Berserker 84] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 26] [13] [1d20+5 = 13]
[GM] Attack [13] -> [at Orc Drudge 42] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 28] [7] [1d20+5 = 7]
[GM] Attack [7] -> [at Goblin Sharpshooter 54] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 51] [24] [1d20+5 = 24]
[GM] Attack [24] -> [at Kobold Minion 4] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 41] [20] [1d20+5 = 20]
[GM] Attack [20] -> [at Orc Raider 9] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 61] [18] [1d20+5 = 18]
[GM] Attack [18] -> [at Kobold Slinger 2] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 20] [18] [1d20+5 = 18]
[GM] Attack [18] -> [at Kobold Cleaver 40] [HIT]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 67] [15] [1d20+5 = 15]
[GM] Attack [15] -> [at Kobold Slyblade 51] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [ATTACK (M)] *Short Sword (vs. AC) [TARGET 37] [15] [1d20+5 = 15]
[GM] Attack [15] -> [at Kobold Dragonshield 19] [MISS]
[GM] Goblin Blackblade -> [DAMAGE (M)] *Short Sword [5] [1d6+2 = 5]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 13] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Raider 86]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Wyrmpriest]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Minion 8] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Slinger 6]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Drudge 138] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 10] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Minion 13] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Raider 9]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Drudge 98] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Gray Wolf 47]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Underboss]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Drudge 104] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Cleaver 8] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Cleaver 3] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 5] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Skirmisher]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Berserker 84]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Sharpshooter 35]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Cleaver 40] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Minion 4] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Decrepit Skeleton 12] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 38] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Cleaver 23] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 20] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Berserker 64]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 36] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Sharpshooter 11]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Goblin Cutter 21] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Orc Drudge 61] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Slinger 2]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Slinger 4]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Minion 7] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Fire Beetle 36]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Kobold Dragonshield 27]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Decrepit Skeleton 42] [DYING]
[GM] Damage [5] -> [to Big Grigbad]

Bug hunting

2009-12-03T07:23:00.002-05:00

Testing the revised multiple target system (all moon_wizard's work):
Above Vyhev targets 3 NPCs and triggers her armor's damage effect against them. Instead of dragging the damage to each NPC, it just takes one click once they are targeted. Note the CT displays her current targets on the CT.

Above Khem uses his Visions of Blood close area power against two of the panthers. Again you can see his targets on both the map and the CT. After targeting he double clicks the attack to determine the hits. Next he double clicks the damage and it applies it to any targets he hit. he could also click an effect if the power had one.

New Skin

2009-11-12T12:08:00.003-05:00

Zeph created a "stone" themed skin for 4E_JPG that replaces the default "wood" theme of FGII. The original version was in extension form but because it changed a lot of positioning, I rolled the changes into the ruleset and submitted them. Of course some things will need to be changed (the center dragon for example), but here's some screen shots of the unapproved look:

Playtest 3

2009-10-29T06:28:00.004-04:00

Some more play test images from the most recent session:

This is some of my pre-session prep. I needed to introduce a new character so I modified the Smoke and Shadow encounter. Instead of creatures just bursting from a lava rift, I had the new character on the other side of the rift fighting npcs. I switched back and forth between the combat and the skill challenge and at the right point the lava plane (shown above) dumped into the Shadowfell....right on top of the rest of the party. The map shown here is actually part of Orcus's Lair from E3.

Anyhow, this shows the automatic effect creation when NPCs are dropped on the tracker. Effects are a huge part of 2.0. The actual processing of effects during combat is really the easier half of the problem. Parsing effects off NPC sheets/PC powers is where the real challenge was. Moon_wizard did in awesome job in making it all work. As someone who's spent a fair amount of time attempting to convert WOTC's data to a different format, I know just how daunting a task like this is.

An early round of the "Training Session" encounter. Not much is going on in this screenshot, other than me dropping an effect on Khem that doesn't belong and them him accidentially holding ctrl while picking up damage dice. That's what happens when the session runs late. Really I took this image more for the adventure log I keep on our obsidian portal page....oh well.

Updated Parser on FUM

2009-10-24T15:28:00.000-04:00

Version History:

4.0.14
* Disease: Support for -- comment marker.

4.0.13
* Scrape: Data error in Magnetic Armor is now detected and fixed automatically.
* Scrape: Fixed a crash when metadata scrape returned no dynamic tags.
* Powers: Backgrounds now respect the 1.5.1 flag
* Powers: Races can now be mutli word.

4.0.12
* Scrape: Second pass of MetaData. Dynamic tags added.
* Scrape: Overwrite warning added.

4.0.11
* Scrape: Rough pass of MetaData files (Race/Class) added.

4.0.10
* Scrape Feats: Addition and Deletion tags removed in a manner similar to Revision tag
* Traps: Attack description cleaned up
* Traps: Compendium multi-Perception handled
* Traps: () removed from the name of Elite attacks to make them clickable in the CT

4.0.9
* DMG 2: support for traps that have a Minion role
* PHB: Tactical/Inspiring Presence fixed
* Scrape Powers: Addition and Deletion tags removed in a manner similar to Revision tag

4.0.8
* DMG 2: Support for Boons
* Large Node validation added after well formed check to prevent FGII crashes
* PHB: Fixed bug where Uninitialized NPC structure caused fatal error during magic item scrape
* Correctly strip the * when it's used for the keyword marker in item powers.

2 images from Session 2 of 2.0 version 2

2009-10-22T06:43:00.005-04:00

That's a lot of 2's. The images might not display very large, blogger used to not like it when I sent huge images. I'll find somewhere else to host them later if this doesn't work.

You can only really appreciate the ruleset changes when you have a fight involving 6 different insubstantial vulnerable creatures with regen who throw weakened around.

The stuff I blacked out is plotty type stuff for the ongoing adventure.

The square portraits and modified link icon are actually extensions sent to me by Zeph. Everything else is 2.0 stock. I should have had the npc power screen open in one of the shots, but I forgot. Maybe next time.

Dynamic........

2009-10-15T19:48:00.003-04:00

A sample...complete with WoTCs typos:

Paragon;Stoneblessed;Paragon;Powers
Paragon;Turathi Highborn;Paragon;Powers
Paragon;Twilight Guardian;Paragon;Powers
Epic;Fatesinger;Epic;Spells
Epic;Glorious Spirit;Epic;Powers
Epic;Harbinger of Doom;Epic;Powers
Epic;Lorekeeper;Epic;Powers
Epic;Primal Avatar;Epic;Evocations
Epic;Revered One;Epic;Prayers
Dynamic;Aftereffect
Dynamic;First Failed Saving Throw
Dynamic;Virtue of Cunning
Dynamic;Virtue of Valor
Dynamic;Primal Guardian
Dynamic;Primal Predator
Dynamic;Covenant of Wrath
Dynamic;Covenant of Preservation
Dynamic;Censure of Retribution
Dynamic;Censure of Pursuit
Dynamic;Covenant of Perservation
Dynamic;Each Additional Failed Saving Throw
Dynamic;Dragon Magic
Dynamic;Wild Magic
Dynamic;Stalker Spirit
Dynamic;Protector Spirit
Dynamic;Rageblood Vigor
Dynamic;Thaneborn Triumph
Dynamic;Earthstrength
Dynamic;Wildblood
Dynamic;Second Failed Saving Throw
Dynamic;Rageblood vigor

2.0 Screenshots

2009-10-15T06:33:00.002-04:00

Some images from the latest 2.0 test session. Still some issues to be ironed out.
Here's the updated CT. Fonts, the improved highlighting, and the short effect list on both pc's and NPCs are all new.

And here you have some chat where Vyhev just unleashed a dragon breath on a bunch of targets. The bold purple messages are all new 2.0 features. They've changed quite a bit since the earlier 2.0 release.

Processing Meta Data

2009-10-10T20:21:00.002-04:00

Testing building the class and race files automatically. No dynamic tags are processed so the class file is only partial.....

Rough pass

2009-10-06T19:02:00.000-04:00

First run at the DMG2

Try not to hurt yourselves :)

2009-10-02T20:30:00.001-04:00

http://www.fouruglymonsters.com/community/community/groups/viewdiscussion/782-Parser+407?groupid=49

Finding bugs

2009-09-24T13:17:00.003-04:00

I added some code to the XML check program that now returns around 10 lines of text near any error. It should pull up 5 lines before the error, the error and then 4 lines. However if the error happens in the first 5 lines you get from the beginning of the file, the error and then 4 lines. Here's a sample error I induced. The *** marks the line of the error.

I also altered the results frame so it will remember it's size between parses. It will however reset to the defaults when you exit the program

Siege at Bordrin's Watch

2009-09-24T06:12:00.003-04:00

In other news my group finished Siege of Bordrin's Watch last night with a magnificent 20 round encounter. I had read about the final encounter on WOTC's community pages. Some groups claiming it went 40 rounds and hundreds of minions were killed. I'm not exactly sure why a DM would let it run that long, but 20 rounds was definitely a lot of fun.

I run with only 4 players so I had to adjust the encounter on the fly, using different waves to tailor the difficulty to keep my PCs challenged, but just barely keeping them from being overwhelmed. I think I managed to hit the difficulty just about right. With the exception of the ranger who killed minions by the dozen, everyone was at the very least bloodied and most of them had been one lucky hit away from making death saves at some point in the encounter. I probably should have thrown a bit more ranged damage at the ranger just to challenge him a little.

Since I knew it would be a long encounter and since numbers heavy encounters (i.e. ones featuring lots of weak npcs) are rough on an undersized group, I used the idea from the DMG 2 on Long Fights. I planned for one of two events to be a "turning point" in the battle. When the PCs completed the mini-skill challenge or when the PCs defeated the enemy leader they would be offered the choice of one of the following:

1) Regain 1 healing surge
2) Regain use of Second Wind
3) Gain an Action Point and be able to spend it, even if they had spent an AP this encounter
4) Regain use of an expended Encounter power

The party managed to kill the leader before doing the skill challenge, so that became the turning point. No one picked option 2, but every other choice was taken. Giving them that little extra boost of power really did turn the battle in their favor (although just barely). I'm not sure if the DMG 2 included the idea to let the player's pick or if that was something I thought up, but I feel it was key to making this idea work. There was really no single benefit from the list above that would have fit everyone.

It's not hard to see why many people rate Bordrin's Watch among the best adventures in the heroic tier. It borrows a lot from the LotR movies, is well paced, and unlike Rescue at Rivenroar has a final encounter that actually has that epic end of the movie feel to it. Definitely thumbs up for Siege of Bordrin's Watch and the DMG 2.

For those of you who are really interested, I'll do a write up with quotes, pictures, etc over on the groups Obsidian Portal adventure log .

Item sets powers

2009-09-23T17:03:00.001-04:00

In addition to supporting even more ZLINK options, the new version of the parser now supports "Item Set Power" in the same format as "Feature" or "Feat Power"

In parser news.....

2009-09-17T08:21:00.004-04:00

The new version (dubbed 4.0.0) is in testing. The biggest change is support for the compendium scrape (big surprise). I did add the "append" option and the ability to only extract certain types of information which were commonly requested during the SSPX Gen Con test.

So with the merger complete SSPX officially becomes dead. Alas, we barely knew you:

There are a few things I'd like to fix/adjust in the release beyond 4.0.0:

* Traps are still rough but the output is at least 80% of the way there. Getting that last 20% will take some effort and I don't want to hold it up for that as I feel extracting powers, monsters, feats, items, etc is worth a release.

* I skipped skills. It's one block of information from the PHB and the file format I use is crude to say the least (skills were the first formatted item I did).

* Classes were skipped as well. This is more a function of how the compendium lists the data and how I'd like it to be listed. The compendium lists everything by first appearance. So Fighter shows up in the PHB. As do all the fighter options like Battle Rager and Tempest. Really those should show up in Martial Power. I'm trying to figure out a good solution that doesn't involve scraping the entire class section every time.

* The selection method for combo items from the tree works poorly with a large number of choices (i.e. the source book selection) I'll have to rewrite that to use a context based combobox instead of just a context menu. The method provided is klunky but functional.

* Scraping requires you to enter your password before each scrape. This is so I don't have to store it, but it gets a bit annoying to key it in if you're going to scrape 50 different source books. (Believe me I know) Really after the initial release, I can't see people scraping more than 5 source books a month so it might be a non-issue.

* There are no scrape command files. I've considered this but at the moment I don't see a lot of need for anyone other than me to rescrape the same source book over and over. I've done it repeatedly for debugging purposes, but aside for errata or parser updates I can't see pulling the data over and over. For larger sets (like a PHB/AV/AV2) it's going to be way faster to change 4 or 5 powers by hand than to perform a complete rescrape. if you don't believe me, you will the first time you scrape the AV or AV2.

* I'd like to knock out bare bones class and race files based on the data scraped. It's unlikely it will include the dynamic keywords. I can probably add the Power name translations (i.e. powers with the Martial keyword are displayed as Exploits, Arcane as Spells, etc). It should be simple but my time is limited so it didn't make the cut.

I touched upon what I find to be an annoyance, but others may not care. Everything in the compendium is listed by source book that it was First Published in. I feel it should be listed under EVERY source book that contains it. If a monster appears in H2 and then was reprinted in the MM2, I feel it should show up if I tell the compendium I want to see the monsters in MM2. It doesn't. This is particularly annoying in modules/dungeon issues/RPGA adventures because you only get the "non-stock" NPCs.

If you're like me and want to build complete accurate representations of the source material, this will frustrate you. WOTC would have to change the way they organize the compendium. If this bothers you, I suggest you let them know.

Finally there is just no way for me to verify everything. Different source books sometimes have different underlying HTML formats (hell different powers in the same source book sometimes do). I think I've done most of the big books but I didn't extract every single issue of dungeon dragon, rpga adventure, etc. I certainly didn't sit there and verify every single stat block of the stuff I did extract and parse. It'd be foolish to expect them all to work without issue.

"Fun" with the integrated Parser and SSPX

2009-09-14T20:28:00.002-04:00

I needed some sample data so I decided to scrape all the RPGA entries.....at least I found a bug in the process.

SSPX vs AV2

2009-09-01T19:40:00.002-04:00

It took a few passes and some parser modifications but SSPX processed the AV2.

No manual file edits required:

Look out it's a ......

2009-08-31T12:53:00.003-04:00

I spent some time fiddling around with the compendium output for traps. My debug engine seems to be processing them fairly well. I haven't made the routines that output it to a file or added the required information to pull them from the compendium en mass but those are both pretty easy. The hard part looks to be done.

And that is the last major piece of compendium data. There's still a few other items (skills deities, classes, glossary) Classes are poorly organized (i.e. not by sourcebook). Deities and Glossary are more "reference" than "mechanical" So that leaves Skills as something I might look at, especially since the ruleset has a class designed for them.

Then it's the death of SSPX as I integrate it into the parser

Rituals

2009-08-25T12:58:00.003-04:00

After completing items, I started work on rituals. The big problem I see is there's no way to tell if it's a ritual or alchemy. That info just isn't present in the compendium. But I selected a random ritual (one that had a Prereq field) to test. I managed to write the functions required to handle this new data and the output looks pretty decent.
During lunch I updated the table header so it will be bold (not pictured) and modified the code to to mass scrape rituals from the compendium. I'll give it a try tonight and see what it outputs. Hopefully there is nothing odd in the ritual formatting across different books.

That will leave Traps, Skills, and possibly Classes to extract.

Items..items and more items

2009-08-24T13:30:00.003-04:00

I've been doing test runs using SSPX and the AV. I've finally got it producing something usable. A lot of the AV information isn't presented as neatly as the AV book is laid out. The mount table for example is missing. Also the compendium's "Item Query" returns multiple types of data so really getting this working was as hard as getting any three other types of compendium data working.

Finally, and this is the painful part, the compendium lists each item/level separately. Really that's the most useful way to present it. However that means each stat block in the printed AV is (on average) 4 entries in the compendium. In fact the compendium AV returns close to 2900 results.

Now as some of you who played with scraping things like the PHB/Divine Power/etc might have noticed, larger datasets can take some time to scrape. In the case of the AV...it takes somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half to scrape. A lot of this time is actually spent delaying.

SSPX has a designed delay inbetween each query. Mostly so it plays nice with the wizards webserver and doesn't attempt to pound it to pieces. For small sets this isn't bad. For something of the AV's scale....it becomes annoying. Really it's still faster than doing it by hand.

Just remember when you're frustrated...that I had to run it well over a dozen times finding and fixing bugs before I got a successful parse out of it.

In parser news, I added a 1.5.1 parse option which moves the flavor text back into the formatted text block so it can be displayed on legacy rulesets. I also altered the handling of the compendium Enhancment: tag. It now handles "+1 AC" by placing "+1" in the bonus field and "AC" in the enhancement field which is what the PDF based data did.

Items

2009-08-18T19:07:00.003-04:00

Well I finally got SSPX to handle Items. Items are unique in that there are 4 different types of data sets returned by the compendium: Equipment, Weapons, Armor, Magic items.

I tested with the Eberron Player's Guide and it all works except for a few errors. These are not parser/SSPX related....they are bad compendium data.

Check out:

http://www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/item.aspx?id=620
http://www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/item.aspx?id=4643
http://www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/item.aspx?id=4617

Anyhow if I fix those I get:

Release

2009-08-13T11:05:00.003-04:00

I released a Free Compendium Gen Con version of the SSPX. In addition I had to release a new version of the parser to support some compendium specific quirks (and Divine Power/Eberron Players' Guide, Eberron Campaign Guide).

You can get SSPX here

You can get the parser here

Report any errors/issues over on this thread

Here's the change log for the parser:

Version History:
3.5.30
****************************Public Release: 8/13/2009 *****************
* Support for syntax found in the compendium on NPCs in Eberron that have required
* Support for syntax found in the compendium on Eberron mounts
* Templates updated to use simpler ZLINK formatting

3.5.29
* Support for stange aura syntax found in the compendium on NPCs like the Mourner

3.5.28
* Unified ZLINK syntax. Supported in both Story and Reference.

3.5.27
* Divine Power: Alchemy rituals match items if the ritual begins with "Create"

3.5.26
* Divine Power: Domain/Divinity Feats output into own groups

3.5.25
* Changed the grouping titles for powers to more accurately match printed materials

3.5.24
* Added ZFEATUREEND support so EugeneZ stops whining.

3.5.23
* Changed the source of background benefits to be "Background".

3.5.22
* Fixed duplicated text in background benefits in new power display winodws.

3.5.21
* Magic item powers now handle Trigger:

3.5.20
* Magic item parsing changes to work better with compendium
* Requirements: parsing for eberron magic items

3.5.19
* Fixed problem where elixir's without level arrays were not displayed in lists.

3.5.18
* Added @ qualifiers to map pin short cuts.

3.5.17
* Added support for ZPB,ZPF,ZPI markup shortcuts in story files. See Parser doc for details.

3.5.16
* Added support for ZFEATURE for story files.

3.5.15
* Flavor text split off the formatted description and returned as it's own element. This puts it on the correct place of the new power sheet.

3.5.14
* UI changes: Module directory should auto-detect and default. Directory selection should start at the parent of the last choice.

3.5.13
* UI Changes for Catalog mode.

3.5.12
* UI Changes for Catalog mode.

3.5.11
* Racial/Paragon/Epic lists added

3.5.10
* Basic class list built

3.5.9
* Basic catalog output

3.5.8
* Module Decompression and extraction for catalog

3.5.7
* Upgraded the trap Perception formatting routine to key off DC ##: instead of DC ## (Pendulum Scythes DMG)
* Added ZBREAK within lore to create multiple paragraphs while dealing with frames.

3.5.6
* Fixed a bug where the range numbers were removed from granted power.

3.5.5
* Support for all multi icons (MR,CA,MC,MA,RA,RC,RM,CM,AM,AR,CR) (NOTE: AC is not supported because AC is used for Armor Class in so many other places)
* Support for Minor action Attacks for Traps

Features

2009-08-11T18:46:00.002-04:00

I rewrote one section of SSPX that was annoying me. Now it's easier to add new types of data to the program. I quickly knocked out the Paragon and Epic features. For tonight's test run I used the FR:Player's Guide. I did some spot checking and everything looks correct.

Racial

2009-08-10T20:37:00.003-04:00

I added support for races to SSPX. This includes the "non-power" racial powers like Stand Your Ground.

It's Divine!

2009-08-09T20:36:00.003-04:00

I added support for extracting feats. I ran a few tests on various issues of Dragon (during which I found more Compendium errors). Then I moved on to Divine Power. Divine power added the extra wrinkle of Feat Powers not to mention a much wider variety of data.

Anyhow the picture shows the results of a run against Divine Power. I still had to make a class and race file but the bulk of the work was done by SSPX.

Scrape Scrape Scrape

2009-08-08T14:20:00.004-04:00

I finished the NPC portion of compendium extraction. I verified all the results from the Eberron Campaign Guide (and found a few errors in the compendium). Then I moved on to the MM and MM2. There were a few minor issues to take care of in the MM/MM2 but the changes were very small.

To get complete support of the Eberron:CG in place I had to make changes to the parser, mostly involving mounts, and the fact that the requirements now appear to be listed in the ([action][;trigger][;recharge]) block of npc powers

Anyhow here's a sample of the output. To generate these I made no changes to the file extracted from the compendium. All I had to tell the parser was the module name, the location of the scrape file, the category, and what temp directory I wanted to use.

SSPX Phase Tango

2009-08-06T12:52:00.003-04:00

I took a specialized selection of NPCs and save the HTML from the compendiu, I then ran the HTML though my new npc converter routines, attempting to "parsify" them. Each NPC was selected for a particular reason:

1) Beholder: those eyebeam powers look like crap without the backslash r embedding. I wanted to see if I could do that from the HTML

2) Angel of Valor: Whatever Angelic Presence is . This one still isn't 100% as it's not dropping the ZZX in the right spot yet. Plus it has a power without an icon (Fiery Blades)

3) Fire Archon Emberguard: It's a tutorial monster. Plus it has an aura

4) Firbolg Master of the Wild Hunt: Multi icon power (Mortal Strike).

So far they all look correct (except for the angelic presence). I should have that fixed soon. The next step will be automatic extraction, unfortunately I can't do that on my lunch hour at work as I don't have unlimited internet access.

I hope to do some larger scale tests this weekend.

Super Secret Project X

2009-08-04T20:17:00.004-04:00

So I did a little digging and managed to create a tool that extracts all the power text for a given sourcebook (or issue of dragon) from the compendium. I used it for my DND Minis 2 module.

I also have done test runs on Divine Power and some other books. It's not ready for public consumption but soon......

Players Handbook Heroes 2

2009-08-04T19:28:00.002-04:00

This one was extremely easy. Just a smattering of the powers:

Marvel at the words of Hafgrim.....

2009-08-03T21:42:00.003-04:00

I had an idea while I was altering the magic item class. So I threw together a quick extension using some fonts from Zeph (elven and dwarven) and some from the web (draconic and goblin). I'm still messing with it. But at the moment the DM gets the translation, no one else does.

It's really just for fun.

Lunch time coding

2009-08-03T13:17:00.003-04:00

Ran out of time before I could tweak the spacing/ordering but it's pretty close for a reference magic item.

Back to reskinning

2009-08-02T21:23:00.004-04:00

Now that I finished Divine Power and prep work for my Scales of War campaign, I'm back to reskinning and something I call "Secret project X". But no images of that yet, just reskins:

Magic Item Lists, NPC lists, and I added the ripped top to story entries. I kept with the Dungeon color scheme but lightened it up some. It was too difficult to see the link icon in the official color.

2.0 in action

2009-07-29T22:53:00.003-04:00

My scales of war campaign continues as a test bed for 2.0. You can see some of the messages in chat, along with an error report, and the crazy movement paths that are common for Reggie.

Divine Power Update

2009-07-28T08:42:00.004-04:00

I finished all the mechanicals (powers, features, feats, rituals, backgrounds) a few days ago. I didn't find anything that looked incorrect or anything the parser should have had issues with. I made only 2 changes to the parser.

The first splits divinity and domain feats into separate lists.

The other ignores the word "Create" when trying to match a ritual/alchemy to an alchemical item. So "Create Holy Water" properly links to the Holy Water item.

I haven't gone over all the powers yet, I expect the problems to be more data related (typos/ocr) than true parsing engine errors. In fact divine power added the fewest dynamic tags of any book, I only recall "Powers" and "Censure of Unity".

The reference section has been beating me up for the last few days. I tried a variety of methods to clean up the reference portions of the text, but in the end I can only get it up to around 75% usable, that leaves me fixing 25% by hand. Good thing it's not a reference heavy book. I may finish chapter 4 today. I've already extracted it all, I just need to error check it and reformat it. It's all depending on how much work I do for my session tomorrow.

Tough choice...diabolical encounters to slay PCs or the completeness of Divine Power.

Oh Divine Power has also put my reskinning projects on hold. Only so many hours in the day and all that. I still have a list of a dozen things that need reskinning (about half of them are simple).

Divine Reskin

2009-07-25T12:21:00.002-04:00

Busy parsing Divine Power this weekend, but I did take a few minutes to reskin the catalog (not that the old version had been released). Mostly because I accidentally clicked on it and was sickened by the dated look.

Player CT

2009-07-23T22:14:00.001-04:00

See it's just a list of effects on each entry.

Another 2.0 screenshot

2009-07-23T06:07:00.006-04:00

All my reskinning is pretty, but the real 2.0 changes were done by moon_wizard, deep in the bowels of the effects system. You can see some of the effects on my CT as this fight slowly ground to a halt. I bet my players were quite sick of hearing "A skeleton rises!"

You can find a more story based summary of the night's events here The memorable moments will be loaded when I'm finished cutting up the chatlog.

Reskin 2

2009-07-21T17:58:00.001-04:00

Armor, Weapons, Equipment, Mounts. Well not the mount detail since that is really an NPC sheet.

More reskinning

2009-07-20T19:12:00.002-04:00

Just the power lists and the feat list. I modified the parser to change the output powerlist groups to more closely match the printed materials.

Improved look.

2009-07-19T18:35:00.001-04:00

Updated the look of some of the simpler 4E classes: Familiars, Rituals, Diseases.

Easy....

2009-07-18T21:03:00.001-04:00

Just a redesign of the poison display. Nothing difficult.

2.0 testing

2009-07-16T07:11:00.004-04:00

My Scales of War group got to play beta tester for the v2.0 ruleset this week. Everything seemed to work pretty well. There were a few minor issues that I noted and need to confirm as bugs. Nothing that stopped us from playing. If you're really interested you can read all about the session here. But it's mostly story and quotes, not anything terribly useful.

So I took a screenshot as one of the encounters was ending. From the chat/CT you can effects being applied and removed. As moon_wizard previously posted, effects have a lot more functionality in 2.0 I'll leave the details to him, but I will say they make both the DM and the Player's life easier.

Note that the right hand icons and the center desktop image (obscured) are part of an extension I made, they aren't part of the ruleset itself. They are based off DevinNight's original DND reskin (I never got the version with the encounter icon..doh!) and an image Zeph sent me. You can find Devin's Reskin in a thread buried deep the FUM group. I actually made an extension containing his entire reskin and sent it on for him to distribute if he wanted. Everything else appears as it does in the ruleset

(I split the image into 3 parts for better display)

Because sometimes you just need big blocks of text

2009-07-14T18:30:00.003-04:00

The reference manual now resizes. It's show above at it's maximum size. I adjusted some of the spacing while working on it too.

Why not do story entries too?

2009-07-12T20:06:00.001-04:00

Just a quick font swap...

Revised Manual

2009-07-12T17:36:00.003-04:00

I made a change to the reference manual so if a section had only a single item then it automatically expanded the article under it. Since I was in there and Zeph provided me with new and improved fonts, I decided to give it a 4E reskin.

Eberron

2009-07-09T19:10:00.004-04:00

Down to just the backgrounds and all the text which wasn't available in the Compendium.

I made some minor changes to item power parsing to better handle item powers that have triggers. I'm not sure if I just never noticed before or if it's new in Eberron.

Eberron Player's Guide

2009-07-08T13:31:00.004-04:00

With the compendium and character builder releases yesterday, I've managed to scrape together a barely acceptable Eberron module. It's lacking a lot of certain chapters (1 and 5 mainly with some odd bits missing along the way). I miss digital copies of the books. (and FYI I purchased all my PDFs) Oddly the stuff I can't get a hold of is the least useful for actual game play, if I wasn't such a perfectionist I wouldn't even need to buy the book since the compendium and character builder gives me everything I need to play (which seems like a questionable buisness decision...)

On my to do list for Eberron:
Magic items, which I bet will need a parser adjustment to accept compendium level/price/enhancement formatting
Mundane weapons
Backgrounds which I'll have to extract from the character builder (rapture)

On the already completed side:
Races, Classes, Powers, Paragon Paths (all 20+ of them), Epic Destinies, Feats, Rituals, Alchemy, Mundane Gear are all done.

I don't remember having to make any Eberron specific parser changes. I think everything handled okay using just Dynamic tags and my current parser build. There's still a way to go before I can stick a fork in it, so who knows.

Because I love color....

2009-06-23T19:42:00.003-04:00

Redesigned skill challenge display class and a button that adds it to the Skill Challenge Tracker

CC3 is a piece of crap

2009-06-22T13:08:00.001-04:00

It's the worst program I've ever had the misfortune of using. Rendering maps as ascii graphics would be better.

Twenty thumbs down.

Oh I forgot.....

2009-06-19T22:04:00.002-04:00

I mentioned new fonts but then realized I never made a post showing them off. Zaph provided me with some fonts that are closer to the 4E reference material. The exact font they use do not render well when converted to FGII. Anyhow here is what it looks like, you can compare it to the earlier post fo the same power:

I

Minor Stuff

2009-06-19T20:18:00.003-04:00

The group I DM has a few people with varying degrees of color blindness. Some of them have trouble determining the difference between the power colors. The colors are a match for the PHB. But with some help from Oberoten's wild west extension, I switched the daily power to be a lighter shade. It's pretty easy to make it any color you want. Oh I changed the font too.

Next I went into the regular character sheet and changed the powers to use the same white on color format I've used on the minisheet.

And finally since I was playing around with the character sheet, I did a little coding and added the option for a Short Rest + Milestone. The only difference is the milestone adds an action point. It appears in all the short rest spots (char sheet, mini sheet, ct menu).

Cleaned up

2009-06-16T20:31:00.001-04:00

So pretty....

Added some lines...tinkered with some spacing...etc

During my lunch hour....

2009-06-16T16:15:00.003-04:00

Okay the last frame I couldn't complete during my lunch hour. My laptops battery went critical before I got the white frame in.
There's also a minor parser change with the flavor text. Old modules are still supported, the flavor text just appears below the action line instead of at the top.

Color Madness!

2009-06-15T17:10:00.001-04:00

Just an experiment
Original on the Left, Experiment on the Right

The other piece of the puzzle....

2009-06-14T21:14:00.002-04:00

Some parser UI work to support the catalog option. It's functional but needs a little polishing.

More Improvements

2009-06-13T16:18:00.002-04:00

I played around with a few options for displaying the catalog. The massive expanding list pictured in the original post had some serious performance issues. I tried putting all the classes in the library and that worked...until I added paragon paths, then the library became a mess.

I did a little more work and adapted the manual class. The end result seems to perform quite well. I managed to get features and paragon powers working. The next phase will Epic Destinies and Racial Powers. But here's the updated look:

!!!!!

2009-06-12T20:28:00.005-04:00

So a parser generated catalog.....still needs some work (features are missing...no paragon paths...etc)

Looks pretty tho!

Ten Scales (Scales of War) screens

2009-06-11T06:04:00.003-04:00

I've been working on a 4E project which I'm pretty excited about. It should be a nice ease of use upgrade for players and GMs alike. Unfortunately right now it's just a pile of .NET code and XML. I'll post screen shots of it once it's usable in FGII.

In the meantime here are some screen shots from last night's session. More details can be found at the Obsidian Portal site for our campaign, once I get to updating it.

Because it annoyed me

2009-06-08T13:10:00.003-04:00

ZBREAK the new delimiter that can be placed inside formatted lore blocks and will properly break frames without the need to figure out the tags in play and the correct order to open/close them.

Cleaning up

2009-06-07T20:04:00.003-04:00

I found this while cleaning up my files. A screen cap from the first Scales of War session. Note my pro grid skill.

Parser 3.5.4 released and SoW

2009-06-02T20:00:00.003-04:00

First a screenshot from one of my redesigned SoW skill challenges....oh as a bonus you get to see Xorne's character (Tak) wishlist

You can get it on FUM:
3.5.4
****************************Public Release: 6/2/2009 *****************
* MM2 - Support for Multi-icon (MR/CA) powers
* Familiar ZToken tag is now ignores case.
* Split documentation into 2 files to avoid confusion
* Added documentation for Familiars

3.5.3
* MM2 - Handling of the "A" power icon for Templates greatly improved. Line wrapping should no longer be needed.
* MM2 - Lore formatter now understands a chain of knowledge skills separated by " or " (i.e "Arcana or Religion DC 15:")

3.5.2
* MM2 - Cascade from Speed to Saving Throws enabled
* MM2 - Dot removed from keywords

3.5.1
* Cleaned up documents shortcuts.
* Added XML validation

Updates

2009-06-01T21:40:00.002-04:00

In "Parsing of War" I mentioned I was going to be doing some DMing. I've run two sessions worth of the first Scales of War adventure (I've actually parsed the entire second adventure). You can follow my group's progress over on our Obsidian Portal site. It's mostly just background information I took from the Scales of War player's guide, and the adventure summaries. Maybe some time I'll get around to adding more content.

In other news, I "finished" the MM2 tonight. I'm sure there are still some data errors but I've got everything parsing correctly. I had to make some minor changes to handle the multiskill lore entries (Dungoneering or Nature DC 15:) and the new multi-icon powers. Well they aren't new but I think there were only 2 of them in the original MM. The MM2 has one NPC with 2 different multi-icon powers. Mutli-icons required some ruleset work and even me mauling some graphics. Hopefully we'll get something better in place for the final version:

As usual, I ended up doing more than I needed. I added all the stats, graphics, and fluff for the MM NPCs that were mentioned in MM2 encounters.

I do some ruleset work too....

2009-05-23T13:45:00.003-04:00

I decided to poke around with auras. I made it so if a power has an [Aura:#] block than that block will hover on highlight and will render the aura in blue. It wasn't very difficult but it might be handy.

The hard part is making the [Aura:#] show up when you drop the npc from a module. I haven't touched that yet

3.5.0 released

2009-05-19T13:24:00.002-04:00

Available on FUM

What's new
3.5.0
****************************Public Release: 5/19/2009 *****************
* Converted Parser to .NET (it was more difficult than it sounds)
* Changed resize behavior/UI
* Fixed cascade of Miss into Sustained
* Fixed auras so the last character was no longer being lost.
* Changed the way Dynamic elements work to correct some issues
* Allowed Regional data to cascade into Benefits
* Integrated SharpZip for internal compression. No need for WinZip/WinRar. No more batch file, no more compression engine flags!
* Tree Output changed/fixed.
* File defined as thumbnail is automatically renamed to thumbnail.png as part of the output process
* Handling of the "A" power icon for NPC powers greatly improved. Line wrapping should no longer be needed.

Documents:
The Parser should automatically install a shortcut to a Documents folder that contains samples, templates and documents. The Samples section has been revised so it has a Parse Instructions directory which can be used to build any of the sample modules.

And then it was on to building install packages....

2009-05-17T20:38:00.002-04:00

There are a few other differences (like auras no longer lose the last character, a familiar node is built even if not used, etc).

Now I get to see how building a .NET install package goes.....

Parse.NET

2009-05-17T16:31:00.003-04:00

So I think I've successfully migrated the parser from a VB6 application to a VB.NET application. The last stage was the XML result output window. Fortunately it's pretty easy to find vb.NET sample programs.

Onward to verification.

The saga continues

2009-05-14T19:42:00.003-04:00

I did some more work on the .NET conversion. I managed to get the functions that do the defaults values, and both loading old and new files working. It doesn't look much different than the 3.0.0 parser but it is slowly morphing into a .NET application!

Slow

2009-05-14T13:03:00.002-04:00

Just an FYI for anyone who might have missed it, the public version of 1.5 released this week. There's a lot of new features and some long standing wish list type requests. And once FGII takes 2.4.0 to production the long awaited token drops will work. You can find a copy over on FUM

I completed my Parsing of War and converted the first Scales of War adventure to FGII format. I then spent another 2 days building a version customized for the party I plan to send through it. I altered some of the questionable monster choices, added a bit of character, assigned wish list treasure, and rewrote the skill challenges to be more in line with the articles by Mike Mearls. I'm still a bit nervous about running them, but we'll see how it goes when my turn to DM comes around.

And finally, I worked some more on converting the parser to .NET I made some significant progress as it now renders the UI correctly. That might not seem like much but trust me the VB6 Treeview and the .NET Treeview are very different animals. I'm pretty sure the mechanical portion of the parser will function once I get the UI issues cleaned up.

Parsing of War!

2009-05-10T22:08:00.002-04:00

So I'm going to be trying my hand at DMing something longer than a one shot. There was interest in doing Scales of War, so on Wednesday I started work on the first adventure in the path. I finished it up today. I think it's pretty much done at this point.

I had to make a few tokens, but fortunately there were a lot of marker free maps available on the internet. I turned a few sections of the story into completely separate story entries so I could link to them from tactical encounters, maps, etc.

Unfortunately since we haven't actually played any of it yet, I can't post any images from it...stay tuned.

Link to the parser

2009-05-07T08:49:00.001-04:00

Newest version of the parser

3.0.0

2009-05-05T21:43:00.003-04:00

I've packaged it up and uploaded it to FUM, once it shows up as available for download I'll post a link to it. You should pretty much forget everything you knew about the existing parser UI, the 3.0.0 change is at least as significant as the 2.0.0 change.

Oh and it added support for arcane power stuff. Linked powers and arcane power specific items (like familiars) won't be live until the next ruleset update.

Version History:

3.0.0

* Arcane Power support. Familiars and other changes.
* Complete rewrite of the interface. Old files will still load and should save as
updated versions

General:
The tree uses graphics to indicate the type of input it will expect.
Optional items are indicated with the (Optional) tag
Clicking on an item will open the correct/window menu. These now use windows common controls

Context Menus:
Clear - Remove the data
Validate - Verify that all files/directories/values are specified
Process - This will parse the item and some top level items. The resulting XML is displayed in a simple XML browser for debugging.

Menus:
->File: Contains the file operations such as save/load/exit
->File->Save: This saves the current settings to a file.
->File->Load: This lodes the current settings from file.
->File->Exit: Ends the program

->Parse: Contains the parsing operations
->Parse->File Check: Verifies all the paths exist/all required information has been supplied
->Parse->Parse: Verifies all the paths exist/all required information has been supplied and then converts the raw data into FGII format.

Processing Results window:
This displays during a parse. It provides a wealth of information as to what the parser is doing and any errors it encounters. Some errors are not fatal (such as missing tokens) and the parse will complete. Fatal errors should be trapped and reported, at the very least you'll have a better idea what the parser was doing when it broke.

*************************************************
TOP LEVEL:
*************************************************
Name: This becomes both the file name of the module, and it's the name displayed in FGII
Thumbnail: This is the thumbnail to be displayed in the module
Category: The group this module appears in within the library.
Modestring: A unique internal identifier. This prevents the library/adventure objects for this module from conflicting with other modules.
Temporary Directory: The directory where the parser results are stored.
Output Format: Provides three options for output:
db.xml = Readable only by the host
common.xml = Readable by all, stored at the host. FGII Handles distribution. Slow.
client.xml = Readable by all, stored locally. Each user must have their own copy.
Output to Library: Determines if the module is displayed in the library. Normally it is only set to off for Adventure modules.
Module Directory: Determines where the final module is stored (see compression utility)

Compression Utility: The two options in this section take the place of the batch file.
Executable: Location of the compression exe (c:\program files\winRar\winrar.exe for example)
Flags: Any flags required for the compression for WinRAR use A -afzip -ep1
The resulting command is:
{executable} {flags} "{module directory}\{name}.mod" "{temporary directory}\*.*"

2.0.26

* Added the ability to parse map shortcuts (pins).

I've been here before it's all so.....

2009-04-29T20:29:00.005-04:00

...Familiar!

So I finished up Arcane Power today.....it was a lot faster with PDFs.

There are a few gotcha powers/feats/etc (as always) but nothing too major. Familiars were the only required ruleset change and they are just a simple display class. Of course there was some parser work as well....

Things I hate about Arcane power:

2009-04-27T13:07:00.003-04:00

Warlocks and their new stupid "Curse Stance" powers that require multiple new keywords.

The fact that every book comes with a new Warlock pact. I half expected Martial Power to have a warlock pact in it.

Summons which work different than the summons from PHB2 (i.e the wizard summons).

Dynamic Tags that escalate into other dynamic tags (Wyrm Form and Cloud of Flies)

WOTC's desire to create a seemingly endless array of Paragon paths.

Dancing Bolt because it grants the same action twice....once on a secondary target and once on a primary target.

And of course....

The lack of PDFs :(

Pins everywhere!

2009-04-23T13:08:00.005-04:00

Way way way back in the day (like August!) I did a parse of H3...just the monsters and traps. I thought it was pretty good at the time. Of course back then Traps were handled by the DMG parser and NPCs were handled by the MM parser. It was possible to manually merge the two, but it wasn't very straight forward. Flash forward a few months and you have....
A greatly enchanced version of my original H3 work. This now features npcs, traps, tokens, magic items, maps, map pins, tokens, encounters, story elements, etc etc. I think I just finished it today at lunch...I'll have to double check it.

H3 was a pretty good test of the 3.0 series parser, it contains a lot of elements and I discovered a few things building a module from scratch.

Oh and Elixirs because Namyra noticed that the parser wasn't building an output list for them:

Verified

2009-04-19T19:51:00.002-04:00

I added some minor features to the parser and fixed some usability issues today. But the major thing I did was reparse all the exisiting modules and compare the 3.0 output to the 2.0.x output to see what if any differences show up.

There were a few snags, but nothing major. Next up will be building an installer.

Views of the future....

2009-04-18T20:33:00.005-04:00

Some images from the 3.0 development builds. It's almost all UI work.

One...two.....T H R E E !!!

2009-04-12T21:22:00.003-04:00

I played around with the parser and added the ability to parse a file of map pins.

Form versus Function

2009-04-10T12:11:00.004-04:00

So despite claiming he'd be eternally happy, Eric the DM of Thursdays was actually only happy for 15 minutes. Shortly thereafter he asked if I could make the power names bold (despite the fact it highlights them on mouse over). I knew given the limitation of FGII when it comes to formattedtext, this wasn't possible.

So I took an idea that moon_wizard suggested...adding carriage returns after each power to put them on their own line. And moon_wizard...LOVES carriage returns....in that "I-love-you-so-now-I-have-to-kill-you" sort of way.

Anyhow I wasn't sure how it would end up looking so I gave it a try (it's 1 line of code to change it).So there it is. Of course ancient dragons are probably more of an extreme case, so I grabbed another monster at random:
That looks pretty reasonable and it only ends up being a line or two bigger than the other format.

2.0.25 Parser

2009-04-10T07:03:00.003-04:00

I released a PHB2 compatible parser today. It's actually been done for a while but there are some changes that will not work in the current publicly available version of the 4E_JPG ruleset (1.4.4) . The most notable is the way powers linked with other powers is handled (Channel Divinity feats, Warden powers, etc). I created a 1.4.4 compatible output so if a power has only a single linked power it is displayed using the old format. So older modules will not break. However some new features (multiple granted powers, ritual prereqs) will not go live until 1.5+ Sorry invokers/Warders, you'll just have to wait.

You can find it over on FourUglyMonsters.com (FUM) . As always feel free to report any errors/problems/questions to the 2.0.25 thread Oh and check out their FUMcon gaming convention for a wide array of Virtual Table Top games/demos/info/etc.

The Happiest Place in FGII....

2009-04-06T12:41:00.006-04:00

First I decided to switch the highlighting to names instead of the SD/SA/EFF which enables the feature for all powers instead of just those which are tagged with special effects. I think it's a great way to look up keywords/range/etc. Here you see it working on an aura.

And then, because my email contained the phrase: "Now all you have to do is figure out a way for me to mark when encounter powers are used by NPC’s and I’ll be happy forever!"

I decided to see if I couldn't do something with those [e]'s that follow limited usage powers. In the end I made them like [R:#] powers. If you double click on the [e] it toggles to [USED] if you roll/drag an attack clause with a [e], it also clicks to [USED]. The screen shots show examples.