Best Progam for CO character building???? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best Progam for CO character building???? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SpartanMD
12-09-05, 04:34 PM What is the best program for character building? I want to be able to incorportae many of the grat builds submitted on this board...

:)
Aramas
12-09-05, 04:37 PM Pencil + Paper
nihility
12-09-05, 04:40 PM Many people use spreadsheet programs to help keep track of things. I find them quite useful for tracking when I purchased ranks in various skills.
Basselope
12-09-05, 04:49 PM I use excel to track everything. It's easier to keep a view of the overall build and when you are assigning various skills and feats as well as meeting prereqs. My spreadsheets end up pretty sprawling right now, but I'm sure I'll end up creating an optimized sheet that will work for any build I do with just a minimal amount of tweaking.
Aramas
12-09-05, 04:56 PM I was being a bit facetious before.

I too use a custom Excel sheet as a character sheet. Mainly because if I wrote on a character sheet in pencil you wouldn't be able to read it because my handwriting is atrocious.

There are a lot of character building programs and character sheets out there. I prefer to use a blank sheet. I can add and subtract without the aid of a computer and extensive macros can cause a lot of issues with antivirus software.
batstek
12-09-05, 05:04 PM Notepad. Simple and effective.
Tempest Stormwind
12-09-05, 05:18 PM I use pencil/paper. Scraps of it help me when I'm doing rough work.

If I write a character up formally, I usually use a Mad Irishman (http://www.mad-irishman.net) sheet, particularily the newest version (allows customization for many UA houserules), or the First Edition Feel or Generic d20 ones. These sheets are the best I've seen -- compact, logical, and comprehensive.

If I'm lazy and want autocalcing, or if I'm playing on a game with my computer, I use the DarkSideProd sheet (http://www.ssa-x2.com/), which is outstanding in many ways (particularily for casters! Check the Populate options. And it gives equal love for psionics.), not only on fillouts but on actual use (again, I point you to the spellbook options).

Chances are, if I'm playing an online game, I'll have to use a different format. For IRC games, I use a text sheet I've seen used here before, but I seldom use IRC anymore. I prefer OpenRPG (http://www.openrpg.com), and I made my own macroed sheet for that. Takes a while to fill out but is hands-down the fastest for gameplay I've seen. I haven't updated it in a while (couldn't figure out a good automatic format for psionics), but if people are interested I'll post it.
nachtmeister
12-09-05, 05:36 PM the darkside sheet is very nice !!!
HalasterAteMyHamster
12-09-05, 05:51 PM I use Excel to keep track of things, and notepad + p/p for [really] rough ideas. I make extensive use of eTools (the CMP version, mind) for actually pulling together characters, and if I just want to mess around.
Tempest Stormwind
12-09-05, 06:00 PM Addendum: I forgot to mention SpellGen (http://d20spellbook.home.comcast.net/), an excellent program for spellbook generation and printing. Works for many, many different kind of spellcasters -- no psionics, sorry.

Essentially, you'll never need to remember all those spells off the top of your head -- their descriptions and pertinent information are all stored in this program, which also prints effective spellbook pages for them.
Zaxter
12-10-05, 11:18 AM I use 3E Profiler (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler) for virtually all of my characters now. Check it out, it's really useful. You have to sign up to use it, but that's not much of a hassle.
Timlagor
12-10-05, 02:46 PM Heroforge -look out for the new version coming soon.
HotSake
12-10-05, 10:59 PM Can you link your OpenRPG sheet, TS?
X-Codes
12-11-05, 02:02 AM Can you link your OpenRPG sheet, TS?

Yeesh, complex tabbers and lists and tables have got nothing on my good, old-fashioned multi-line text node!

All the information without any of the threat of crashing your computer.

Anyway, while Aramas was kidding, I'm serious. P&P = Character generation for me. Sometimes I use Word for the off chance I want to e-mail it to someone.
lostone
12-11-05, 09:39 AM Heroforge -look out for the new version coming soon.Where can this be found?
Tempest Stormwind
12-11-05, 11:30 AM If OpenRPG crashes due to your nodework, either you're using an older version or your computer needs an upgrade. ;)

(I like simplicity too, but I went for a tabbed approach on the node.)

Can you link your OpenRPG sheet, TS?
Right here (http://161.184.143.43:1984/Character.xml). I haven't upgraded it much in a few years, though. I'll patch it up and update later. Read the Manual tab if you need help.

That said, if you want a more comprehensive example, try a sample character I made (http://161.184.143.43:1984/kessen.xml[/url) a while back. (pay no heed to the extra mini -- that was planning for next level, when he would discover that his Spiritual Weapon spell manifests as a shovel. Gotta love clerics of no god that hate the undead... and my inspiration from the excellent Xombie (http://www.xombified.com) movie series). Note that you trim a lot of what you don't need for ease of use.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SpartanMD 12-09-05, 04:34 PM	What is the best program for character building? I want to be able to incorportae many of the grat builds submitted on this board... :)
Aramas 12-09-05, 04:37 PM	Pencil + Paper
nihility 12-09-05, 04:40 PM	Many people use spreadsheet programs to help keep track of things. I find them quite useful for tracking when I purchased ranks in various skills.
Basselope 12-09-05, 04:49 PM	I use excel to track everything. It's easier to keep a view of the overall build and when you are assigning various skills and feats as well as meeting prereqs. My spreadsheets end up pretty sprawling right now, but I'm sure I'll end up creating an optimized sheet that will work for any build I do with just a minimal amount of tweaking.
Aramas 12-09-05, 04:56 PM	I was being a bit facetious before. I too use a custom Excel sheet as a character sheet. Mainly because if I wrote on a character sheet in pencil you wouldn't be able to read it because my handwriting is atrocious. There are a lot of character building programs and character sheets out there. I prefer to use a blank sheet. I can add and subtract without the aid of a computer and extensive macros can cause a lot of issues with antivirus software.
batstek 12-09-05, 05:04 PM	Notepad. Simple and effective.
Tempest Stormwind 12-09-05, 05:18 PM	I use pencil/paper. Scraps of it help me when I'm doing rough work. If I write a character up formally, I usually use a Mad Irishman (http://www.mad-irishman.net) sheet, particularily the newest version (allows customization for many UA houserules), or the First Edition Feel or Generic d20 ones. These sheets are the best I've seen -- compact, logical, and comprehensive. If I'm lazy and want autocalcing, or if I'm playing on a game with my computer, I use the DarkSideProd sheet (http://www.ssa-x2.com/), which is outstanding in many ways (particularily for casters! Check the Populate options. And it gives equal love for psionics.), not only on fillouts but on actual use (again, I point you to the spellbook options). Chances are, if I'm playing an online game, I'll have to use a different format. For IRC games, I use a text sheet I've seen used here before, but I seldom use IRC anymore. I prefer OpenRPG (http://www.openrpg.com), and I made my own macroed sheet for that. Takes a while to fill out but is hands-down the fastest for gameplay I've seen. I haven't updated it in a while (couldn't figure out a good automatic format for psionics), but if people are interested I'll post it.
nachtmeister 12-09-05, 05:36 PM	the darkside sheet is very nice !!!
HalasterAteMyHamster 12-09-05, 05:51 PM	I use Excel to keep track of things, and notepad + p/p for [really] rough ideas. I make extensive use of eTools (the CMP version, mind) for actually pulling together characters, and if I just want to mess around.
Tempest Stormwind 12-09-05, 06:00 PM	Addendum: I forgot to mention SpellGen (http://d20spellbook.home.comcast.net/), an excellent program for spellbook generation and printing. Works for many, many different kind of spellcasters -- no psionics, sorry. Essentially, you'll never need to remember all those spells off the top of your head -- their descriptions and pertinent information are all stored in this program, which also prints effective spellbook pages for them.
Zaxter 12-10-05, 11:18 AM	I use 3E Profiler (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler) for virtually all of my characters now. Check it out, it's really useful. You have to sign up to use it, but that's not much of a hassle.
Timlagor 12-10-05, 02:46 PM	Heroforge -look out for the new version coming soon.
HotSake 12-10-05, 10:59 PM	Can you link your OpenRPG sheet, TS?
X-Codes 12-11-05, 02:02 AM	Can you link your OpenRPG sheet, TS? Yeesh, complex tabbers and lists and tables have got nothing on my good, old-fashioned multi-line text node! All the information without any of the threat of crashing your computer. Anyway, while Aramas was kidding, I'm serious. P&P = Character generation for me. Sometimes I use Word for the off chance I want to e-mail it to someone.
lostone 12-11-05, 09:39 AM	Heroforge -look out for the new version coming soon.Where can this be found?
Tempest Stormwind 12-11-05, 11:30 AM	If OpenRPG crashes due to your nodework, either you're using an older version or your computer needs an upgrade. ;) (I like simplicity too, but I went for a tabbed approach on the node.) Can you link your OpenRPG sheet, TS? Right here (http://161.184.143.43:1984/Character.xml). I haven't upgraded it much in a few years, though. I'll patch it up and update later. Read the Manual tab if you need help. That said, if you want a more comprehensive example, try a sample character I made (http://161.184.143.43:1984/kessen.xml[/url) a while back. (pay no heed to the extra mini -- that was planning for next level, when he would discover that his Spiritual Weapon spell manifests as a shovel. Gotta love clerics of no god that hate the undead... and my inspiration from the excellent Xombie (http://www.xombified.com) movie series). Note that you trim a lot of what you don't need for ease of use.