Benefits of 4E Parser Made Adventures

[willquestion]

So I'm learning how to use the Tenian's 4E Parser and the coding for it. I'm wondering what the benefits of making adventure modules with that compared to entering the modules in the classic way. Also, does anyone have screen shots of what an adventure made this way looks like?
Thanks,
Will

[Zeus]

The main benefits I would say include:

1) Easier to deal with Bulk data i.e. large adventure modules like Revenge of the Giants for example are quicker and easier to compile.
2) Some 4E reference content like Skill Challenges, Conditions, Skills can only be entered via the 4EParser as FGII and the 4E_JPG ruleset do not always include methods for entering such data via the FGII interface (no book icons/lists for the above).
3) Leverage better automation: you can use the DDI scrape capability of the 4EParser to capture NPCs, items, traps, Magic Items etc from WotC adventure modules e.g. adventures in Dungeon, Revenge of the Giants, Keep on the Shadowfell saving you some effort in manually cutting n pasting and marking up.

I have developed methods (using XSLT) that allow me (with the use of Tenian's 4EParser) to extract/scrape and markup WotC Scales of War as well as RPGA modules in a fraction of the time it takes to manually create them in FGII. For most of my modules I

- use the 4EParser to scrape the functional rules content from modules - 10-20mins on average for a regular sized adventure module
- export the PDF adventure module to XML - 5 mins
- transform the reference/story/encounter text from the XML to XML for 4E_JPG - 5 mins

So for a basic module with no customisation, I've got a method that takes about 20-30mins (start-to-finish). Having said that I then typically expend a couple of evenings in customising the content but to me this is where you want to spend the time.

[DNH]

Zephp,
I would be interested in seeing more details of your process. I have been using the Parser to created (Scales of War) adventure modules for months now but have not been using the scrape facility. I have just been trying this out (using v4.0.20) and I am dubious as to just how much time I will be saving.

For example, I have just now tried to parse Dungeon #166 for 'Throne of the Stone-Skinned King' and find the following:

There are 36 individual monster/NPC entries in the adventure. The Parser finds and scrapes 12 of them, leaving 24 untouched. The Parser furthermore finds and scrapes an additional 10 entries from other adventures that I do not require.
I think I understand why the above is happening:

I am assuming that the Parser will only scrape entries that are "Published in Dungeon Magazine 166", which is why most of the other entries are left out (ie they first appeared elsewhere; go get them from there!). The Parser will scrape the whole document (Dungeon magazine) and not a single adventure or range of pages, so entries from other adventures will become included.
If I have to spend a deal of time post-processing the scrape results, deleting extraneous entries and copy-and-pasting the "missed" ones, then I doubt I am saving any time at all.

For the OP's sake, I should stress that I refer to the Parser's scrape facility here. Using the Parser itself for constructing adventure modules from published content is fundamental imo. Not sure how much you would benefit if you are using it with homebrewed adventures, though.

Thanks.

[Zeus]

DNH,

See this thread, and my post (#10) https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11274&highlight=Scales

Yes you are correct in that WotC organise the content of the Compendium by magazine issue and not by adventure, therefore you will not get the entire set of objects specific to the adventure. Post processing is still required unfortunatley.

However if you have scraped (as I have) just about everything from the Compendium or you already have parsed a number of the core rulebooks including MM1 and MM2 then its still quicker than manually copying and pasting text from the PDFs and manually marking up for Parser input. I'm simply copying existing entries from a vast catalogue of Parser source files 99% of the time and tweaking them occaisionally.

Any significant time I'm spending in post processing is more to do with the fact that I customise the content before playing it with my group.

Automating the scraping of the reference and encounter text from the magazine/adventure module + Compendium scraping is definitley faster for me. With XSLT I can churn out the text from modules in about 2-3 mins.

[Stitched]

Do you know if "Keep on the Shadowfell" is public domain since Wizard has released it for free on their own site? Meaning that modules created using their text, etc. for Fantasy Grounds 2, can be posted here?

[VenomousFiligree]

Do you know if "Keep on the Shadowfell" is public domain since Wizard has released it for free on their own site? Meaning that modules created using their text, etc. for Fantasy Grounds 2, can be posted here?
On page 2 of the pdf:

This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast LLC.
So I would think no, shame :(

[Stitched]

But Scales of War is fine? I don't get it...

Damn shame. I just finished building the whole module and was hoping to have people test it. Found some bugs related to formatting, using different "themes".

[VenomousFiligree]

But Scales of War is fine? I don't get it...

Can't comment on that I'm afraid, not seen the pdf's.

[Stitched]

Ah, never mind. Just realized you need a DDI subscription which means not "free".


Can't comment on that I'm afraid, not seen the pdf's.