Character Creation

[AWSullivan]

Hey all.

I was wondering if there is any other option out there for 3.5 character generation for import into Fantasy Grounds than HeroLab. Don't get me wrong. I love HeroLab, but I'm reluctant to ask my players to buy that as WELL as a license for Fantasy Grounds.

So far I've some up with nothing so I could really use some help.

Thanks!

Anthony

[Trenloe]

PCGen: https://pcgen.sourceforge.net/01_overview.php

It has it's foibles, but it's free.

Just always check how the character is actually built - it doesn't always do it as well as HL.

EDIT: Remember to deploy the PCGen Sheets from the FG Character Converter (PCGen Sheets menu in the converter). You will use these when you come to export from PCGen.

[Willot]

Often thought FGII should have a character Creature in it. But I guess that just a whole other kettle of aquatic Life. Would be cool but

[balrik]

just make the character most if not all of us have made characters with a pen and paper I dont get why hero labs is needed?? do people not take joy in making there characters anymore?? it's a wonder why people have to advertise for roleplay specific.

not directed at anyone just a personnel thought I always have

[AWSullivan]

Good points Balrik.

From what I can tell, and maybe it's my ignorance of FGII, the reason to not create a character on paper or without some software is having to manually enter all the data into FGII again.

Additionally, my players aren't real familiar with 3.5 so a piece of software makes it a smoother process. Once they (and I) get my head around everything in 3.5 it will be much more reasonable to think we could manually enter the character data without forgetting something.

I think one of the biggest values of FGII is that the ramp up time for play is minimized by not having to travel and setup. You just log in and play. Being able to smoothly import or create new characters can only go to further this value.

Thanks for the link Trenloe. I'll take a look at that.

[Crossfireue]

There is a built-in FG export option in PCGen, but wasn't there a separate FG2 character exporter that was built for PCGen, one that brought PCs from PCGen into FG2 more smoothly?

I used it for my players' Pathfinder characters and they came into FG2 like a dream. There is a minor DB error that pops up in FG2 when you first open the character sheet, but it doesn't seem to break anything.

[Blackfoot]

I'm pretty sure there are PCGen options in the Character Converter.
Try the program in the 'utilities' directory of your Application Data folder for FG2..

[Trenloe]

Sorry, I should have been more specific in my earlier post. The PCGen option is similar to HeroLab - in that you need to export your PC from PCGen and then load the exported data into the character converter. Steps to do this:

From the utilities direcory in the Fantasy Grounds Application Data Folder run CharacterConverter.exe
Click "PCGen Sheets" and "Install to defauly location" or save them to the PCGen directory\outputsheets\d20\fantasy\htmlxml
Start PCGen and design your character.
When complete go to File -> Export -> Standard and select the d20\fantasy\htmlxml\csheet_FantasyGrounds2_pc_3.5. xml and click "Export" - save the output XML in a location you can remember! Do not just use the csheet_FantasyGrounds.xml this is old and will not work. If you can't see csheet_FantasyGrounds2_pc_3.5.xml then step 2 has not installed it to the correct location.
Open the FG CharacterConverter and select the PFGen (.xml) input option and proceed as you would normally with the CharacterConverter.


Note - always check that your end character has been imported correctly into Fantasy Grounds - do not presume that the above process will bring everything across.

[Crossfireue]

Note - always check that your end character has been imported correctly into Fantasy Grounds - do not presume that the above process will bring everything across.

I've never had any issues with importing from the PCGen export file, but yeah, this is still a good idea.