Aristotle's Pathfinder Modules

[Aristotle]

This is my first attempt at writing Fantasy Ground II modules. Please remember that I am brand new to Fantasy Grounds II and to writing modules. I realize that this duplicates some work that has already been done, possibly better, by others. I wanted to learn how to build modules with a game that I am already familiar with, and work with a well supported ruleset (3.5E being a core ruleset).

[Aristotle]

Pathfinder Spellbook (version 1.0)

This module contains the 1206 unique Paizo published spells found on WWW.d20PFSRD.COM. This includes spells from the core rules, advanced player's guide, and ultimate magic; as well as other Paizo sources. Duplicate entries were removed and third party products are not included at this time.

The module only contains spells. It may include some additional magic specific rules and reference material later, but I haven't decided what will be included here and what will go into my core rules module yet. Additional material may be added at a later date.

The spells are presented 'as is' from the d20PFSRD database file. I have not edited the text or formatting, or verified that the stats (i.e. SR, Saves, Range, etc..) are correct for every spell. I hope to perform a comprehensive sweep of the data at a later date. What I have done so far is...
Modified formatted text tags to comply with the strict requirements of XML and the Fantasy Grounds specific limitations. Tables and Lists were converted, and a lot of <i> tags were removed or altered as they were a mess (likely the result of find and replace editing).
Basic tables were added for the core summoning spells, though I may have a better way of handling these in a future update.
Unsupported fields (i.e. target and area) were merged into other fields, which in some cases required the editing of spell description text.The spell list is one massive listing and not sorted out into individual spell lists for classes. The intention is for character creation and management to occur via a third party application (i.e. Hero Lab). My assumption is that you'll pick your spells from spell lists there and just use the search functionality in the module to find the spells you chose and place them on your character. The spreadsheet I generated to do this work does, however, make it a fairly trivial task to make class lists (cleric domains and other secondary lists would take a little more time to piece together); so my plan is to build separate class list modules for each class that reference the spells in this module (rather than duplicating them). This way individual players would only need to open this module and the one(s) for their class(es) if they want/need the spells listed by level within the virtual table interface. I'll release those here if/when I build them.

Comments are welcome. I'd like to know if I'm on the right path before I go build modules for rules, feats, etc..

Corrections or editing suggestions for this module should be sent to me privately so that I can compile them into a list and consider implementation when I update the module.

[wbcreighton]

Pathfinder modules are always appreciated. Have downloaded it and will mention it to the players in my PF campaign to do the same and see how it looks.

Will it work with the d20_JPG ruleset and the PathfinderVer8.3 extension ? These are the rulesets, and extension I currently use to run my campaign.

[Leonal]

@wbcreighton: I checked and it is currently set to use 3.5E. You can just edit the definition.xml within the module to accept d20_JPG too, though.

Great work Aristotle! Good library layout with all the spells in one place, and easy to see license texts! (I prefer this to divided by class etc, because I don't use FG to check spell lists, but just what a spell does.

I notice the spell text for Age Resistance/lesser/greater is not correct according to the spell name. (e.g. it shows the text for the 'Greater' spell in the spell named 'Lesser').

[wbcreighton]

Perhaps someone with greater knowledge and skill than i could edit the file and upload it so that it is available to all. :)

[Zeus]

@wbcreighton: Crack open the module archive using WinZIP and open and edit the definition.xml file.

Add the following tag under the existing <ruleset> tag.


<ruleset>d20_JPG</ruleset>

Re-Zip the .mod file. That should enable it to work with JPG's d20 ruleset.

[Leonal]

Ah, sorry wbcreighton, I should've included the info in DrZeuss' post.

[Aristotle]

I didn't know you could support multiple rulesets like that. I'll go ahead and add that to my package, for backward compatibility, when I update later today/tonight.

[Aristotle]

Pathfinder Spellbook (version 1.1) Age Resistance text should be fixed.
downgraded the ruleset to d20_JPG. The 3.5E ruleset seems to be fine with modules for older rulesets for now. I'll upgrade it back to 3.5E once 2.8 goes live.Not really enough for a version upgrade, but I wanted to get the ruleset stuff straigtened out.

The package in the first post has been updated.

[wbcreighton]

Thanks :)

[drahkar]

Aristotle -

Do you mind if I put this up on the FGWiki?

[Aristotle]

Can I get back to you? This was meant to be more of a soft release to make sure I was on the right track. I'm working on additional modules, and have some pretty big plans... But I'd prefer to control the availability of my work for the time being.

[Moon Wizard]

Aristotle,

Make sure to check out the PF mode in the latest test release of Fantasy Grounds v2.8.

Specifically, I added Aura and Senses fields to the NPC data. The other data (weapons, spells, etc.) should be the same as 3.5E.

Regards,
JPG

[drahkar]

Can I get back to you? This was meant to be more of a soft release to make sure I was on the right track. I'm working on additional modules, and have some pretty big plans... But I'd prefer to control the availability of my work for the time being.

Perfectly fair. :)

[Aristotle]

Make sure to check out the PF mode in the latest test release of Fantasy Grounds v2.8.I'm following very closely. Pathfinder support built into 3.5E is *awesome*. I chose to get into the pathfinder module business at the right time! :)

[Aristotle]

I'm working on a gear/magic items module now. Should be done this weekend or early next week. I'd probably have a working 1.0 already but I'm going through and tagging in the stats for various magical arms and armor.

It looks like most other magic items are really just description text, unless I'm mistaken (this is where the 'new to Fantasy Grounds' comes in), so I should have basic text in place quickly. It can be formatted cleaner/prettier later.

Maybe this has already been discussed elsewhere, but while working with items, I got the idea that it'd be cool if items with special abilities or spells could be added to the Actions tab. It would use a (maybe) simplified version of the casting class model. Items with spells that are used X/day would have pips to be checked off like a wizard/sorcerer, and items with charges would use point based casting to track charges. Single use items like scrolls and potions could have their own subsystem, or just use the charge system (with multiple charges indicating multiple items). Just a thought. No idea how hard it might be to implement. I really gotta learn to program. :)

I'll check back in with the items module soon. Rules and Bestiary modules will follow.

[Blackfoot]

You do realize that there are a bunch of existing PF modules right? They are really quite good and make a great starting place... they are somewhat incomplete in places and could use some work.. but..

[Aristotle]

I wanted to see if I could write modules. I wanted to work with a game system that I know, and that had an established ruleset. Pathfinder fit the bill. I just thought it might be nice to share my work.

My spellbook covers a lot more spells than the other modules (I think), It updates the spell level text of older spells to include newer classes with access to them, etc.

My intent is for my other modules to likewise add value by increasing the amount of game material that they cover.

Are choices a bad thing?

[Blackfoot]

Are choices a bad thing?
Not a bad thing. Just thought it would probably helpful to have a starting place and make use of the work that folks had already put into it.

[Aristotle]

Gotcha. I actually started that way, but I abandoned the work after about a week. I had edits I wanted to make to the original content that would have been laborious to enter manually for every entry via text editor. It was much easier to start from scratch -- given that I already had the data parsed into a spreadsheet where I could manipulate it and generate the XML on the fly.

[Trenloe]

I've been playing the Pathfinder Carrion Crown advenure path with the d20_JPG ruleset and madman's excellent Pathfinder V8.3 extension, and the various .MODs knocking around and have had no issues with them at all.

It's all looking good for Pathfinder in Fantasy Grounds in general! I'm interested to see what V2.8 brings us and how we can all contribute to Pathfinder in Fantasy Grounds and move it all forwards to make it a great experience for all FG Pathfinderites! :)

[EyeBall]

Am I missing something? I have done a search for Pathfinder v8.3, and several other spellings, but the only thing I can find is in this post. How does one go about acquiring the Pathfinder Mod for FG? Thanks.

[Blackfoot]

You can find at least 'some' of them here.. There is another one elsewhere too... but these are very handy.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13878&page=7

[drahkar]

The 8.3 Ruleset is here: https://oberoten.dyndns.org/fgwiki/index.php/Pathfinder

You need D20_JPG to run it. Links for that is in the same location.

Also Pathfinder has been integrated into 2.8, so there will be some changes when that comes out.

[PoisonAlchemist]

Really good work Aristotle! Is there some way you could divide up the spells into class sections? These are the modules I am currently using if you want to take a look at how they are set up. It has both APG and Core, but no other sources. I kinda like the sources separate so if a game does not use one you can just close the module.

[Aristotle]

Really good work Aristotle!
Thanks!


Is there some way you could divide up the spells into class sections? These are the modules I am currently using if you want to take a look at how they are set up.
I'm familiar with those. I have no plans to include spell lists for classes in *this* module. It would increase the file size which I am trying to limit to retain the ability to add additional resources as Paizo releases them.

I don't feel the intention of Fantasy Grounds is to replace the need for books or other resources, rather than to provide reference material and (sometimes) automation during actual play. Many classes have a spellbook or list of spells known. These would be chosen offline via books, or in a character generator like Hero Lab, and then searched via the search feature in this module and appended to the character sheet within Fantasy Grounds.

Only classes that have access to their full class list (i.e. Priest) all the time have real need for class lists within Fantasy Grounds. I have considered doing class list modules for specific classes to cover them, or just doing a separate (optional) addon with all of the class lists for all of the classes. Either way the proposed modules would be empty indexes. They'd pull the actual spell data from this central spell module which would have to be open to use them.


I kinda like the sources separate so if a game does not use one you can just close the module.
I really do not want to break the module into separate modules by source. I've considered setting up spell lists within the module to index the various sources, but that becomes a headache when it compounds with class lists in index modules. I don't like that. I'll have to think about it some more.

[Moon Wizard]

This is the challenge that the 4E parser folks have had with the power lists in 4E. Essentially, people want to be able to filter by book and/or class/level.

For 4E, they have provided data modules separated by source, with power lists for each class. Also, they built a "catalog" module listing all spells, without class/level considerations, that points to the spell details in the other modules.

Cheers,
JPG