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Different paper sizes? Letter is common in NA, but Europe uses A4. They are *almost* identical, but not quite.
Will the character builder include mounts?
Do you use Iplay4e and InCombat for inspiration on character sheet wrangling layout and functionality? For me and my group (about 6 other subscribers) those are close to ideal, with the exception of more flexibility for wizard style classes where you want to be able to "hide" certain powers like wizard inactive spells in their spellbook. But aside from that one piece of funtionality they have mobile web supported formats, agile layout for deciding what to do on any given round and tracking all of the math, conditions and such is a sinch with InCombat. CB char sheets have always been far too lengthy to be practical at the table. Many of the folks in my group only keep their subscriptions to keep those two independent tools fully functional.
For that matter, how locked in are the magic items and boons to specific campaigns? If a Magic Item appears in the Dark Sun campaign guide, for instance, will it be available to non Dark Sun Characters?
What do the power cards look like?
People definitely could live with announced and regular downtimes, but just saying: "nah, it won't be an issue" is nothing to hold them against. a definitive SLA like: generally available, except for thursday 10-12 would go a long way in increasing trust or making paybacks for service outages a lot easier to handle. EVERY reliable software company has some form of SLA if they offer a service, that's what it's all about anyway.
Is there a limit to how many characters we can have stored online?
- Are rituals and martial practices accessible for all characters?
- I know that HotFK content will not be included in the Nov 16th delivery but is the DM kit content going to be included?
- Have you been given information from dev that reclassifies old magic items into the new common/uncommon/rare system or is everything old still just uncommon in CB/Compendium?
- Will Essentials classed characters have access to the full gamut of options from 4e?
- I am assuming (read: hoping) that an Essentials rogue/thief will be able to take the Backstab feat from PHB1 and Martial Practices from MP2 if he/she wants to. Is that right?
- It also sounds like if that character wasn't made in the Eberron campaign setting, for example, then he/she won't have access to dragonmarks, i.e. the only options you won't have access to are campaign specific. Is that correct?
- Speaking of (possible) campaign specific options, are the feats and paragon paths from the FRPG available to any swordmage made in any of the other settings?
one of the great things about the original CB was that it had full functionality for the first 3 levels so you could show the demo to new players and allow them to learn a bit about the game.
Will the new online character builder have the same journal function? I use the old character builder journal to track my LFR character's past adventures, gold, xp, story awards, and found items.
Will the online CB have the concept of "folders" for organising your PCs? If not, please can this be bumped up the priority list too?
Does this mean I will have to print out the character picture on every character sheet, for example. Or the rituals section or... and so forth? Moving things around is one thing, being forced to print sections I don't want is another (it's not a deal breaker, just a very mild irritation).
IOW, can we pick and choose not only where things show up on the sheet, but whether we can remove entire sections?
(Forgive me if this is an incorrect interpretation of your question.)
(more info on this question provided by Alphastream, in post #95, quoted below:
In line with what BoroGamer wrote, I would like to retain the existing CB functionality to enable and disable various aspects of the character sheet. Being able to turn off certain weapon attacks, select a weapon/implement to print or not print, choose whether a basic attack would print, etc. was a big reason why the CB character sheet was tolerable to good.
Similarly, I would like to be able to control things like the size of a field. On the current CB, you can give an area like the feats list more space and have it print more information or give it less space and you just see one line of text for each feet. That basic level of control was important.
On the subject of power cards, I would like to see at a later time the ability to define custom cards. This would include some decision as to what to print (for example, whether to include flavor text, whether to include actual numbers within the power text or have a summary line that provides actual numbers, whether to mention the item being wielded, etc.). Finally, I would like to see the ability to specify a background for the power card. This would allow me to make, within the CB, something like what I currently make in Magic Set Editor:Example power cards I made with MSE:
The template is by Daniel Rivera. The image is one specific to my PC. The flavor text is of my own choosing. The numbers are here left blank so I can pencil them in and use the card many times as I level.
I sometimes replace the "(__)" blanks with actual numbers. Usually I just write them in the two spaces below or pencil them in.
Here is an example for my warlock where I used a background created by Daniel Rivera, typed in the power, and added the values directly into the sheet:
Finally, an example item card created with a set made by a different person. The image came from the WotC gallery, cropped and added into the template.
Will every sheet display a companion section? A familiar section? even when not needed?
How will it be decided what attacks to put on the character sheet? For instance, i can click into the attack workspace section now, and decide whether melee basic, ranged basic, at wills (some of which may be used as basics), or even more are displayed? Will it just be the default Basics?
How many pages does the standard character sheet run to? It looks as though there isn't loads of info in that screen shot adn youd need about 4 pages + powers for a character?
Will the DM be able to save and distribute a campain setting file as before, showing what content is and isn't allowed in the campain?
What house ruling facility will there be? Any? More than previously? Less than previously? none?
Can I say use a none standard stat distribution (say my DM allows a higher point buy for his campain)? Can I select non-standard powers?
ie. Will one data entry into a database push info to compendium and character builder so that multiple entries are eliminated thus reducing errors. If stealth rules change, the change in the database, would allow the compendium and character builder to have the text changed instantly and if the Monster Builder is designed right it would pull the same text as the character builder and compendium.
2. You've mentioned a list of priorities, what are they? What does the staff think needs to be added to CB?
3. I think the architecture that I have seen used with Compendium and Character Builder has the great potential to be built on. Are there future projects that will interconnect and how?
4. How many programmers do you have on this project and how long has the Online Character Builder been in the pipe?
5. What's next?
Can the online CB add, for example, an extra feat? I'm not talking about making a custom feat, I just want to add a feat to my character at level 1 (so I now have 2 or 3 if human) and then use that slot to take (Weapon/Implement/Heavy Blade/etc.) Expertise, and have it work correctly. The offline CB does this just fine. I don't care if it's legal in any organized play or not, I just want this feature.
IOW, can we pick and choose not only where things show up on the sheet, but whether we can remove entire sections?
(Forgive me if this is an incorrect interpretation of your question.)
That's a pretty good summary mudbunny. I understand not being able to move everything around initially. What I don't want to have to do is print character pictures or rituals on a fighter etc.
As an additional question:
What's the timeline on updates and will there be an issues tracker? By which I mean will we have any transparency on what is being worked on. Exporting of characters, house rules, new character sheets etc.
Thanks for this mudbunny.
What about houseruled feats / powers / paragon paths? Any way to add those, ideally via a campaign setting?
I'm curious about Essentials Magic items too, does this mean every plate +4 is automatically masterwork? In the rules compendium it lists the ACs of Plate and they include masterwork AC appropriate to their enchantment bonus by default. I'd be incredibly happy if enchant magic item from a +3 to a +4 item automatically includes the masterwork boost too.
A simple way to boost magic items +ses from +1 to +2, etc, would be great, instead of having to sell the old one and buy a new one. This isn't what happens in-game, and would be trivial to implement.
I'd also like to know if there are ways to modify your HP total as a houserule, e.g. for hybrid fractional HP. My DM allowed me to use 5.5 HP for my character, as meaning literally 5.5 and not 5.
Is there a way to do this like you can in the current builder? Because if you can't customize your character I don't really see myself using this tool.
I understand there will be no launch functionality for custom items; however, will we still have the ability to give things custom NAMES without altering their functionality?
Mock
What are the capabilities of houseruling that will bein the Online Character Builder on November 16th, 2010? Will it:
* Allow you to add a bonus feat to a character, for example Weapon Expertise?
* Allow you to add a generic "thing" (feat, power, item) with simply a name and a text description?
* Allow you to build a character with more than the rules-described point totals (for ability selection)?
* (on a related note) Allow you to build an Essentials-classed character without using one of the three ability arrays provided in Heroes of the Fallen Lands
In other words: does the new builder have the same houseruling capabilities as the old? Less? More? Or is that yet to come?
If a current character has a house ruled element and is imported into the online builder, how will it handle it? Remove the element? reject the character? how severe will the houseruled element have to be to get this response? A custom item? A higher points buy? An additional feat?
From [an] earlier reply, only themes are currently restricted like that.
I'd have assumed Dragonmarks, Spellscars also were... but [Paolo] didn't mention them.
My followup question is more about Inherent bonuses. Are they supported? Outside of Darksun?
(Can I add bonus feats? Powers? Can i override access rules for feats/powers/PPs? Can I edit the end numbers? Can I have not-22 point buy stats?)
What are the current options for printing?
It it just printing or can you make a PDF?
If you can make a PDF, can you use it to keep track of stuff (edit the HP/surges/ect)?
we KNOW they arent using the old one now, we need to know IF they will put the old one on there
Will we be able to upload custom portraits for our characters or will we be stuck using the WotC artwork?
Will you make the Magic item Rarity be a selectable feature?
Will the "Homebrew" setting still be a part of the CB? i.e. Increased Stats, add additional powers (beyond the standard 2 at-will / 4 encounters / 4 dailies), add additional feats, etc. above and beyond the official rules character progression.
So Wizards are confident their servers can handle the load. That they've got redundancy.
Given that this service relys on thier servers, are they willing to guarentee this?
Crap happens. Servers fall over, stuff gets bugged, bigger companies have fallen victims to DDOS attacks either aimed at them, or elsewhere taking them out as collateral damage, hacks happen.
WOW for one extends subscriptions when there is downtime. Automatically.
As we've seen with the recent situation wizards are unable to do this (due to their billing being outsourced?)
What would happen if there was an hours unscheduled downtime? A days? A weeks? A months?
Would subs be extended? Subscriptions refunded? Automatically? or will everyone have to write to cust. serv every time they can't access their character?
I suspect a lot of the answers to these will be "not at launch, but it's on our to do list"
In those cases some sort of aimed time frame (days,weeks, months, quarters, maybe one day?) would be greatly appreciated. "Soon" isn't much help, that could mean any of the above.
Also not a direct CB question, but when can we expect some Monster Builder functionality? Perhaps a quarter estimate?
so i can look it up and see...
what's in the pipe?
ah, lets see, the mb's not out yet, so no chance i can get the full integrated adventure tools before those points x,y,z are already finished. is there any plan to do so, at least with important features or even bug priorisation?
everyone understands if things are rescheduled - just noone wants to be left in the dark.
How will this be different from the policy you've been following up to this point? (Key points, tangible changes - not just "lessons have been learned" or "we'll be trying harder")
I would love to see what is being worked on, even if next to it is the sentence "it may be a while". I want to be excited about what's in our future. I realize that VTT et al has bit them in the butt but they can just admit that. Obfuscation is bad.
To keep this on track:
If we can use our own pictures/art on the character builder sheet, is that image saved to the database or does it know to access a folder on the computer? I would rather have the image embedded in the character sheet file, so who I send it to/give access to will see the pic to.
Why did WotC elect to not just tell the customers that the offline CB was going to be discontinued with no further updates and tell us that the new online tools was going to be a replacement for the old CB which will require an active DDI subscription to access.
ZaranBlack asks can we set our abilities randomly? manually? or are we forced to use point buy?
(he has other questions, but they are already on this thread)
GelatinousOctohedron asks: "How much bandwidth will it take to run? "
WhiteBaron asks:
Will there be any guarantees of service or regular downtimes?
A product like this should have an SLA stating when and how often it will be offline - will there be such a thing?
8. Will there be a Beta Test?
9. Will there be a demo available?
20. Are there plans to offer an API?
will there be any guarantees or statements on the permanence of service of the character builder?
currently, the ToS say that there will never be such a thing as a permanent application given by DDI, which would mean they could as well scrap the online CB at their leisure any time "soon".
Different paper sizes? Letter is common in NA, but Europe uses A4. They are *almost* identical, but not quite.
This should adjust to your page size. The print option links to your printer(s) and allows you to choose the preferences. I personally printed it out on a few different page sizes and it seemed to adjust just fine, but I didn’t have an A4 paper size to check this out on.
Copy To Clipboard/Import from Clipboard have been very useful to me for discussing characters. Is this functionality still going to be available?
The web-based CB allows you to copy and paste text into text fields that you could normally type into, but it does not allow you to copy the text of other areas of the builder or character sheet.
I have a lot of characters at any given time – How many characters can I save to the web-based Character Builder?
Currently, the limit for saved characters is set to 20. This is something we may increase in the future.
How much can I house rule my character?
Currently you can set your stats beyond the normal point buy thresholds like you could in the older versions of the character builder, so you can have alternate point buys. However, you’re not able to add or create additional feats, create magic items or new powers, or add more trained skills. We’ll be adding this level of customization in future updates.
Can we add and buy uncommon and rare items from the Character Builder? This functionality isn’t in the current version of the CB, but it should be in the CB if the DM wants to allow it.
You can add an uncommon item to a characters inventory or you can buy it and have it placed in the inventory. Currently there are no rare items in the CB or the Compendium, but when they are added, you should be able to add and purchase them as well.
I'll bring some more answers/questions as I get them, and I'm also putting together a larger post that focuses on the two different character sheet options in the updated CB, and some other cool features.
Definitely going to need more then 20 slots if I can't export and save to my hard drive.
So does that mean I can't have a save of my character at every level?
I have a lot of characters at any given time – How many characters can I save to the web-based Character Builder?
Currently, the limit for saved characters is set to 20. This is something we may increase in the future.
That's terribly low. I don't have many stored and even I'm going to hit that quickly. Any idea of a time scale?
How much can I house rule my character?Currently you can set your stats beyond the normal point buy thresholds like you could in the older versions of the character builder, so you can have alternate point buys. However, you’re not able to add or create additional feats, create magic items or new powers, or add more trained skills. We’ll be adding this level of customization in future updates.
Any idea of a time scale? I'm not being snarky here, honestly. I'm trying to figure out whether this product is something i want to sub to. This kind of thing (and exporting) might be a make or break feature for me or someone else, so I could do with knowing is this something we'll see in a couple of weeks after release? This quarter? Next quarter? Sometime eventually possibly?
Copy To Clipboard/Import from Clipboard have been very useful to me for discussing characters. Is this functionality still going to be available?
The web-based CB allows you to copy and paste text into text fields that you could normally type into, but it does not allow you to copy the text of other areas of the
Trevor, what's being referred to here is the "summary" feature on the current CB. Paolo has said that it's not currently available. I believe the question is whether or when it will be added back in.
I have a lot of characters at any given time – How many characters can I save to the web-based Character Builder?Currently, the limit for saved characters is set to 20. This is something we may increase in the future.
Is there any chance of this being increased now instead of in the future? That's a ridiculously low number. I have 3.5 times that many characters stored on my machine for less than 7 MB. I can get a free email account with enough storage space for over 70,000 characters. 20 is just unacceptable.
Currently, the limit for saved characters is set to 20. This is something we may increase in the future.
I have to agree with the other replies. This is absurdly low. And the fact that it's not a power of 2 means it's not a technical restriction. ;)
This should be increased before the application goes live. I don't want to delve or even dip into nerd rage or second guessing, but if a change that simple can't be made before release it gives me concern as to what kind of changes can be made to restore functionality lost from the transition to the online tool.
old character sheets are deadAnd the fact that it's not a power of 2 means it's not a technical restriction. ;)
Not necessarily true. It could be a storage space issue (which would be technical) since it's a character number restriction, not a storage space restriction. Unlikely though since it's only a couple of MBs.
Will it offer a service comparable to iplay4e.com? If not, will it continue to be be useable by said site?
Will this new online Character Builder accommodate iPhones or iPads? I.e. will it run on smartphones and tablets and have options designed to allow characters to be played directly online?
Will it offer a service comparable to iplay4e.com? If not, will it continue to be be useable by said site?
IIRC, Silverlight 4 won't run on the iPad/iPod touch/iPhone/Android - so no. It's also been mentioned that it won't have the "play" functionality that iPlay4e brings to the table, just the standard character sheet/power cards. They won't have the export to *.dnd4e file feature built in at launch, but they've said getting that working is a priority. Once that is up and running, it will work with iPlay4e again.
If you intend on making new characters between now and when they implement the export functionality, you'll have to build it in the legacy builder.
First off, I expected and like the DDI change, it makes perfect fiscal sense, and I feel where 4e should have started on the digital front. (Though the no exporting is a bit annoying.)
But...
Why is Wizards developing this in Silverlight? Especially since now even microsoft is moving away from silverlight (except for phone apps) and towards HTML5? www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-o...
Why was there no effort to build towards a backwards compatible universal platform that pretty much everyone agrees is going to be the next standard?
I apologize if this comes across as a criticism, but it really feels like Wizards is constantly behind the technology curve. By now I feel I should have a character builder app on my smartphone that automatically updates facebook whenever I gain a level. I would pay $5 for it without batting a lash. And with Apple gaining share every year a cross platform solution should be a must.
4e was a great innovation in simplifying mechanics so anyone can pick up the system and be playing adeptly in a relatively short time span. Now we need the technology to support it. Playing D&D needs to go back to being a viable lunch time activity for High Schoolers, if there's any chance to stop the slow entropy all roleplaying is facing. And we won't get that when wizards is still innovating with the tech that is fading off. And it's been that way since the dragon magazine compendium. 4e was a good step forward.
Why is Wizards developing this in Silverlight? Especially since now even microsoft is moving away from silverlight (except for phone apps) and towards HTML5? www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-o...
Why was there no effort to build towards a backwards compatible universal platform that pretty much everyone agrees is going to be the next standard?
That has been discussed and discussed again, here is a short summary from my perspective:
While Microsoft is promoting HTML5+JavaScript over Silverlight for online services they are by no means abandonging Silverlight. Silverlight has another advantage, perhaps the major advantage, over HTML5+JavaScript (I say this as someone currently making my living doing PHP/JavaScript/XHTML work) that is spelled Authoring Tools. HTML tools are simply not as good as the studio available for Silverlight developers. You must also remember that the decision to go with Silverlight was taken at least half a year before Microsoft announced they were not going to go promote Silverlight as a web framework. Paolo et al are also experienced in .Net and going with .Net simply made sense from that perspective. I would love to have the character builder on my iPhone (or future tablet, I'll buy one soon) rather than my MacBook Pro but I grok why they did like they did.
Kudos for anyone at the Studio who will provide a Snapshot, Trevor, Paolo anyone etc.....
That is correct. Power cards got a little bit of a redesign as well.
what type of demo will you offer? will it be equivalent to the current CB with first 3 level functionality? or will it be a quick video demo or something with very limited options and functionality?
one of the great things about the original CB was that it had full functionality for the first 3 levels so you could show the demo to new players and allow them to learn a bit about the game.
According to Bill Slavicsek :
"So, if you’re a D&D Insider, check out the new Character Builder starting on Nov. 16. If you’re not a D&D Insider yet, there will be demonstration videos available to show you what the new Character Builder can do."
www.wizards.com/dnd/article.aspx?x=dnd/d...
We still don't have a date for the new MB. Will the MB as it exists (or better a rolled back less buggy version) be available until we do?
The new CB goes live 16th and the old CB won't be available after that.
We still don't have a date for the new MB. Will the MB as it exists (or better a rolled back less buggy version) be available until we do?
Clarification, the old CB won't be available for download after that - if you already have it, it won't go away unless you lose your PC. No more updates, but it shouldn't vanish.
As for the MB...no idea.
The new CB goes live 16th and the old CB won't be available after that.
We still don't have a date for the new MB. Will the MB as it exists (or better a rolled back less buggy version) be available until we do?
Clarification, the old CB won't be available for download after that - if you already have it, it won't go away unless you lose your PC. No more updates, but it shouldn't vanish.
As for the MB...no idea.
Somewhere they commented that they're bascially not commenting on the MB at this point. They won't confirm or deny that they're porting it to the web (you know they are). I fully expect it to get the same treatment as CB... broken and missing content for several more months until the web version is ready.
Additional feats (e.g., free expertise) was a must-have feature for me, so for now I'll let my sub lapse (AND I'll have to go bug CS for ANOTHER refund). Let me know when you create a product that is at least as powerful as the previous one.
Somewhere they commented that they're bascially not commenting on the MB at this point. They won't confirm or deny that they're porting it to the web (you know they are). I fully expect it to get the same treatment as CB... broken and missing content for several more months until the web version is ready.
My worry is whether that "several months" is going to be one or two, or 6, or 15...
I have to second the idea that 20 characters is impossibly low. Don't go live with such a low amount.
I will add my voice in here.
I have hundreds of characters stored on my hard drive.
Part of the fun of the Character Builder for me is toying with new character ideas and tweaking old ones. If I have to worry about which character I need to delete in order to explore a new idea, then the Character Builder stops being "fun."
This needs to be addressed ASAP, either by lifting the storage limit, or by giving us a "Save to Your Hard Drive" option.
Removing the "fun" from Character Builder combined with lower quality Dungeon and Dragon content will lead to me cancelling my Insider subscription and demanding a refund for remaining time. After that, I will sub for one month out of every six, download the Dragon articles I want, and cancel.
I want to give Wizards my money, but I won't give Wizards that money for a Character Builder that I can't use just for fun whenever the mood strikes me.
quick question not sure if this is the right place or not but will the new online cb have the assassan class from dragon 379 or from 391 or from 393?
393 comes out on the 17th so im doubting it will be in the online cb, but of the other 2 what one will it have if any?
PaoloM said Power cards has been changed a little. I'd like to know just how ?
Kudos for anyone at the Studio who will provide a Snapshot, Trevor, Paolo anyone etc.....
Paolo posted a screenshot in reply to something else:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26182237/November_16th_Release_for_Web-based_Character_Builder_-_Discussion&post_num=1583#473119233
PaoloM said Power cards has been changed a little. I'd like to know just how ?
Kudos for anyone at the Studio who will provide a Snapshot, Trevor, Paolo anyone etc.....
Paolo posted a screenshot in reply to something else:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26182237/November_16th_Release_for_Web-based_Character_Builder_-_Discussion&post_num=1583#473119233
Thanks bss. Ku`s to you.
Looks neat ! This appears to be the preview window to Powers as we had to our left in the classic CB i`d guess but i imagine they`ll look similar.
Here fixed link: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
EDIT Ho wow Trevor just posted the new Power cards layout looks nice !!!
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
Cathak
Will the character builder include mounts?
I can't beleive that this question is so hard to get an answer on! I reported this back in March, then went to the forums in May, in July I asked Customer Service and they told me they would see to it. I know Paolo et al have seen this more than once. Why do they keep refusing to answer me?
I have a lot of characters at any given time – How many characters can I save to the web-based Character Builder?Currently, the limit for saved characters is set to 20. This is something we may increase in the future.
Just to add another voice that a limit of 20 characters is, at the very least, an order of magnitude too low. If I even have an idea for a character, I'll usually create 3 versions of it, at 1st, 11th and 21st level. If I like the look of it I'll see what its like at a few other levels and if I'm actually playing the character in a game its not uncommon for me to have a version of it at every level.
Why is there a limit at all? I can't believe its a storage space issue. 95% of subscribers will have a modest amount of characters slots (and from looking around at my game group thats <100) and those few who are rampant altoholics should be able to create as many as they like.
Also, when we are able to export characters, will the 20 character limit just be the number we can save on the server?
For example, could I save 20 characters and then export one, reducing the total to 19, thus freeing up one of my 20 slots? It would give me the chance to create more than 20 characters, as long as I exported them out of the cloud (and deleting the saved copy in the cloud) and giving me the opportunity to upload the character again later, as long as I am under the 20 character limit.
With my current group (8), I am the current character keeper. We are running 2 Campaigns, I have alternate build designs for about another 40 characters that I am interested in. I have 4 PlaybyForum games that I have characters for, and I have a couple of NPC's designed as PC's.
This 20 limit is not going to work.