How do I input and then use custom NPCs as encounters?

[ScooterPA]

Hi all. New GM here. At least with FG. I tried to do the above with Hero Lab but it just imported it as a PC and I couldn't do anything with it. Is there a way to create a custom NPC to use like this? I am running Pathfinder Rappan Athuk and in one level there is a spectre with mage levels and I have no idea how to modify certain things about the spectre from the Bestiary to make it work in an automated fashion as per the tutorials. I have seen mention of the parser and I even downloaded it but deleted it being that I couldn't find any explanation as to how to use it.

For a product that has been around for as long as it has, and its pricey nature, you would think that it would come with a nice manual of some sort instead of just a few linked and somewhat outdated videos. My gaming group just dished out $150+ for the different licenses and we're all kind of scratching our heads.

Sorry for the minor rant but this is 15+ hours into getting ready for Sunday's get-together and i'm still feeling lost.

Thanks for any help.

[dulux-oz]

Not a direct answer to your question but...

I've done and am doing a series of Tutorial Videos witch cover the most up-to-date version of FG (ie v3.0.2) - at this stage the series is not complete (I'm actually working on the next one as I wright this - just taking a quick break) and it's focussed on the CoreRPG Ruleset, but you and your players should find them very useful - at least others keep telling me they have :)

As I explain in the first Video, I've started with the CoreRPG because, the way that SmiteWorks have designed things with v3 of FG, the CoreRPG forms the "base" of (soon to be, we hope) all other Rulesets. This is already true for D&D 3.5 and 4, plus Pathfinder and a bunch of others, so by learning to use FG with the CoreRPG Ruleset means that you will have learnt FG for.. what, 80% or more of all of the Rulesets.

Anyway, welcome to club - you'll find we're all really friendly and helpful here. Don't be ashamed of asking questions (I know I still do), and check on my Tutorial Videos (the links in my Sig).

Enjoy

There you go Nick, another of my shameless self-plugs :p

[Moon Wizard]

Currently, only PC import from Hero Lab is supported by the utility provided by SmiteWorks.

There is a tool written by one of our community members to import NPCs.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?15475-Pathfinder-Creature-Parser-Alpha-release

In addition to the tutorials, I usually recommend that new GMs start slowly adding FG features to their game as they go; in order to get the feel without getting overwhelmed trying to learn everything at once. There are a lot of features in FG, especially for the Pathfinder ruleset.

Regards,
JPG

[Willot]

in your windows /roaming/app dir thing where fantasy grounds is theres a folder called utilities. In that is a character converter for the file created by Hero labs.
If you cant change things in the NPC theres a little padlock in the top right corner. This needs to be clicked on to unlock it.

I would also advise to read the effects docs in the library as effects get used alot IE Atk: +1;AC: +2;STR: +3 etc Especially for spells. Use this effect mod here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?18006-Effects-library&p=153520&viewfull=1#post153520)
Put the Effects mod in the module folder in the roaming/app thing for fantasy ground.
Then In you library look in modules and open the ittle book
And it will preload a bunch of effects into you effect button (top right lot of buttons) for you
You drag those effects onto NPCS or pc as needed.
You also will find some effects already done for some spells.

Just keep pluging away. Play in a few games with more experenced Fantasy Grounds GMs and you will find yourself saying the word "AHHHHHH! THATS! how you do that!" quite often!

[ScooterPA]

Thanks all for the responses. I will do all that you recommend...tomorrow. :) My brain and my eyes want to punch me in the head for keeping at it for as long as I have today.

Again, much appreciated.

[Willot]

Oh and remember you can join your own game as a player. (Start FG as a Host GM, then start another instance of FG and Join the game you hosted (Address would be 127.0.0.1)
Now you can play with yourself....... (No! Stop that! ;) )

[Trenloe]

in your windows /roaming/app dir thing where fantasy grounds is theres a folder called utilities. In that is a character converter for the file created by Hero lab
That is for importing PCs only, not NPCs. Use the creature parser linked by Moon Wizard above.

Good info regarding effects, but if you are struggling as a new user to FG I would recommend NOT using them just yet - you'll be even more confused.

If you're looking for documentation on the product click the "free rulesets" link in the top of this page (or the library link from the home page) and click on the 3.5e user guide. Then as you navigate through this make sure to keep checking the left sidebar, lots of extra sub headings appear there.

[Trenloe]

I am running Pathfinder Rappan Athuk and in one level there is a spectre with mage levels and I have no idea how to modify certain things about the spectre from the Bestiary to make it work in an automated fashion as per the tutorials. I have seen mention of the parser and I even downloaded it but deleted it being that I couldn't find any explanation as to how to use it.
If you're referring to the creature parser Moon Wizard links above, then the first few posts give instructions on how to use it and the zip file includes a readme and some examples. A statblock output from Hero Lab needs some minor editing before running through the parser, this is also covered in the thread.

I'm out for the day, but will be around later today to help with parsing some NPCs if you need it.

[Willot]

That is for importing PCs only, not NPCs. Use the creature parser linked by Moon Wizard above.

oops YEP! right you are Trenloe!

[Trenloe]

I've just created a new thread with the new v2 Creature Parser (beta test) application: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20522-Pathfinder-Creature-Parser-V2-Beta-Version

The main addition to this is spell parsing. I've just use this to parse the creature ScooterPA mentions in post #1 (with the minor addition of the Stat block titles which is needed for Frog God Games NPC records, and multiple spells changing (x2) to (2), for example) and it parsed without issue and created all of the spell entries automatically. :)

[ScooterPA]

Hi all. Just getting back to it this morning and wanted to chirp in and say thank you once again. This is probably the most responsive forum I have ever posted on. I'll give the parser a shot. I thought I checked it out and didn't see anything as to how to install it etc. but it could have been just burn out. Had probably 6 or 7 screens open at any one time when trying to input tokens and linking them with campaigns and modules etc.

Thanks again.

[ScooterPA]

From my post on the other thread in regards to the parser:


Hey Tren. I just parsed the Nadroj character from Rappan Athhuk and this is the only error I got within the parser:

'Cannot find spell XML element with name <obscuringmistatwill> cannot parse this spell - skipping.'

It worked perfectly other than that!! Thanks a ton! Will save a ton of work and headache. So pumped!

Awesome stuff.

[ScooterPA]

One other question, Tren mentions and I have seen it in other threads, the Combat Manager mod. Is this something that is necessary? Does it replace the combat tracker found within FG and is it superior to that combat tracker?

Thanks.

[Trenloe]

One other question, Tren mentions and I have seen it in other threads, the Combat Manager mod. Is this something that is necessary? Does it replace the combat tracker found within FG and is it superior to that combat tracker?
Some GMs use Combat Manager to generate NPC statblocks with simple templates (advanced, young, etc.), so it is mentioned with details of how to use statblocks modified by Combat Manager with the creature parser. There is no need whatsoever to use Combat Manager during game time - the combat tracker in Fantasy Grounds should be what you're using and provides most of what you need.

EDIT: In case there is any confusion, Combat Manager is not a mod for Fantasy Grounds, it is a completely separate application that has no integration with Fantasy Grounds.

[ScooterPA]

Ahh ok thanks.

On a side note, I am trying to parse this mob:

ACOLYTE OF ORCUS CR 2
XP 600
Male human disciple of Orcus 3
CE Medium humanoid (human)
Init–1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2
Defense
AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 shield, –1 Dex)
hp 14 (3d8)
Fort +3; Ref +0; Will +7
Defensive Abilities death’s embrace
Offense
Speed 20 ft. (30 ft. base)
Melee heavy mace +4 (1d8+1)
Special Attacks channel negative energy (3/day, DC 11,
2d6)
Spells Prepared (CL 3rd)
2nd—bull’s strength (DC 14), death knell (DC 14), hold
person (DC 14)
1st—bane (DC 13), doom (DC 13), hide from undead (DC
13), protection from good (DC 15)
At will—bleed (DC 12), create water, guidance, resistance
Domain spell Domain Undead
Statistics
Str 12, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 12
Feats Blind-Fight, Command Undead, Iron Will, Weapon
Focus (heavy mace)
Skills Heal +8, Knowledge (religion) +2, Linguistics+2,
Spellcraft +2
Languages Abyssal, Common
SQ undead lord’s proxy, variant channeler
Combat Gear 3 vials unholy water, 3 flasks of oil; Other Gear
chainmail, light steel shield, heavy mace, flint and steel, iron
unholy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch

and am getting this group of errors:

Error in ReadWriteFormattedCreature, Message:
System.IndexOutofRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
at PFRPGFGCreatureParser.Form1.ReadWriteFormattedCrea ture(StreamReader
reader, XmlWriter writer)

and another one mentioning readwrite formatted creature and then finally one that says:

Error in btnStartParse_Click, Message: System.InvalidOperationException: The Writer is closed or in error state. (along with 4 other lines of text)

I pulled up my successful parses and compared them to this one and couldn't find any divergence. I made sure that there weren't any spaces after each line also. Any suggestions? Thanks.

P.S. I have no idea how to screenshot the actual error boxes. Can't copy/paste them.

[Trenloe]

Init-1 needs a space: Init -1.

To track this down I opened the <textfilename>.fpf file in the same directory as the statblock. This one showed:

DESCRIPTION:
NAME:ACOLYTE OF ORCUS CR 2
XP:600
TYPE:Male human disciple of Orcus 3 CE Medium humanoid (human) Init-1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2 Defense AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 shield, -1 Dex) hp 14 (3d8) Fort +3; Ref +0; Will +7 Defensive Abilities death's embrace Offense Speed 20 ft. (30 ft. base) Melee heavy mace +4 (1d8+1) Special Attacks channel negative energy (3/day, DC 11, 2d6) Spells Prepared (CL 3rd) 2nd-bull's strength (DC 14), death knell (DC 14), hold person (DC 14) 1st-bane (DC 13), doom (DC 13), hide from undead (DC 13), protection from good (DC 15) At will-bleed (DC 12), create water, guidance, resistance Domain spell Domain Undead Statistics Str 12, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 15, Cha 10 Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 12 Feats Blind-Fight, Command Undead, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (heavy mace) Skills Heal +8, Knowledge (religion) +2, Linguistics+2, Spellcraft +2 Languages Abyssal, Common SQ undead lord's proxy, variant channeler Combat Gear 3 vials unholy water, 3 flasks of oil; Other Gear chainmail, light steel shield, heavy mace, flint and steel, iron unholy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch
INIT:unholy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch
AC:holy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch
HP:unholy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch
SAVES:unholy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch
DEFENSIVEABILITIES:unholy symbol of Orcus, spell component pouch
This is a file made from the parser going through the statblock and attempting to put the data into the correct fields.

The clue here is that "TYPE:" has most of the statblock data in it and the next heading is "INIT:", so this suggested to me that the parser couldn't find "Init XX" - which was indeed that case.

The .fpf file is a good place to look for the actual issue - the actual Windows errors that are raised by the parser are usually a result of this problem but that come up later when the module is being created and so usually don't have much bearing on the actual issue. I have "better error messages" on my development roadmap.

[ScooterPA]

Yay! Ok that worked for all of the ones in which I was getting that error. Strange. It's always the Init. What program did you use to open the fpf file?

[Trenloe]

It's always the Init.
What PDF reader are you using? I'm using Acrobat Reader X and it copies/pastes that creature OK - i.e. with the space.



What program did you use to open the fpf file?
It is a text file, so you can open it with Notepad. A lot of people here use Notepad++ - which is free, multi tabbed and is good for looking at FG customisation (if you ever get into that): https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

FYI - There is no need to remove spaces from the end of lines. I know one of the videos put together mentions that, but spaces on the end of a line don't cause any issues.

[ScooterPA]

I use Sumatra for pdfs typically. It is MUCH faster to load and scroll than Adobe. Perhaps that's the issue though. Well at least I know now what to look for. Hopefully that's the last of my questions. I appreciate your time.

[ScooterPA]

I am having the same issues with this mob. I have checked and re-checked and then compared it to others that went through fine and I can't find any issues. I have included the .fpf also.

.txt
SARACEK THE FALLEN CR 10
XP 9,600
Male skeletal champion antipaladin 10 (Pathfinder
Roleplaying Game Bestiary, “Skeleton Champion,”
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Player’s Guide,
“Antipaladin”)
CE Medium undead
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
Aura cowardice (10 ft.), despair (10 ft.), evil, fear (30 ft., DC
19)
Defense
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 126 (10d10+2d8+48 plus 10)
Fort +15; Ref +12; Will +16
Defensive Abilities unholy resilience; DR 10/bludgeoning;
Immune channel energy, cold, disease, undead traits; SR 26
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 unholy wounding greatsword +20/+15 (2d6+11
plus 1 bleed plus 2d6 to good targets/17–20), or 2 claws +17
(1d4+6)
Special Attacks channel negative energy (7/day, 5d6, DC
19), cruelty (cursed as bestow curse CL10th, or shaken 10
rounds, or staggered 5 rounds, DC 19), smite good (4/day,
+4 to hit, +10/+20 damage, +4 AC), touch of corruption (9/
day, 5d6)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 10th)
At will—detect good, discern location (circlet only)
Spells Prepared (CL 7th)
3rd—magic circle against good
2nd—desecrate (x2)
1st—cause fear (DC 15), doom (DC 15), protection from
good
Statistics
Str 22, Dex 16, Con —, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 18
Base Atk +11; CMB +17; CMD 30
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Improved
Critical (greatsword), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes,
Power AttackB, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
Skills Climb +12, Diplomacy +12, Intimidate +14, Knowledge
(religion) +14, Linguistics +2, Perception +15, Ride +11, Sense
Motive +8, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +13, Survival +3; Racial
Modifiers +8 Intimidate, +6 Perception, +6 Sense Motive
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common
SQ fiendish boon (2/day, 10 minutes, +2 bonus), find target
Gear +2 unholy wounding greatsword, jeweled crown worth
250 gp (skeleton warrior’s circlet)

.fpf
DESCRIPTION:
NAME:SARACEK THE FALLEN CR 10
XP:9600
TYPE:Male skeletal champion antipaladin 10 (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary, “Skeleton Champion,” Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Player's Guide, “Antipaladin”) CE Medium undead
INIT:Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
AURA:Aura cowardice (10 ft.), despair (10 ft.), evil, fear (30 ft., DC 19)
AC:15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 natural)
HP:hp 126 (10d10+2d8+48 plus 10)
SAVES:Fort +15; Ref +12; Will +16
DEFENSIVEABILITIES:Defensive Abilities unholy resilience; DR 10/bludgeoning; Immune channel energy, cold, disease, undead traits; SR 26
SPEED:30 ft.
MELEE:+2 unholy wounding greatsword +20/+15 (2d6+11 plus 1 bleed plus 2d6 to good targets/17-20), or 2 claws +17 (1d4+6)
SPECIALATTACKS:channel negative energy (7/day, 5d6, DC 19), cruelty (cursed as bestow curse CL10th, or shaken 10 rounds, or staggered 5 rounds, DC 19), smite good (4/day, +4 to hit, +10/+20 damage, +4 AC), touch of corruption (9/ day, 5d6)
SPELLLIKEABILITIES:(CL 10th)</p><list><li><b>At will-</b>detect good, discern location (circlet only)</li></list>
SPELLSPREPARED:<p><b><u>Antipaladin Spells Prepared</u></b> (CL 7th)</p><list><li><b>3rd-</b>magic circle against good</li><li><b>2nd-</b>desecrate (x2)</li><li><b>1st-</b>cause fear (DC 15), doom (DC 15), protection from good</li></list>
ABILITYSCORES:Str 22, Dex 16, Con -, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 18
BASEATTACK:Base Atk +11; CMB +17; CMD 30
FEATS:Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Improved Critical (greatsword), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Power AttackB, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
SKILLS:Climb +12, Diplomacy +12, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (religion) +14, Linguistics +2, Perception +15, Ride +11, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +13, Survival +3; Racial Modifiers +8 Intimidate, +6 Perception, +6 Sense Motive
LANGUAGES:Abyssal, Celestial, Common
SQ:fiendish boon (2/day, 10 minutes, +2 bonus), find target
GEAR:+2 unholy wounding greatsword, jeweled crown worth 250 gp (skeleton warrior's circlet)

Edit: Meh I have no idea where the smiley and frowny faces came from.

[Trenloe]

Yep, this one's a toughie - and for once the clue was in the first error message:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39085830/Screenshots/Fantasy%20Grounds/Creature%20Parse/Saracek%20Attack%20Error.JPG

Looking at the attack entry:


Melee +2 unholy wounding greatsword +20/+15 (2d6+11 plus 1 bleed plus 2d6 to good targets/17–20), or 2 claws +17 (1d4+6)
The problem here is the comma after the greatsword damage before the "or 2 claws...". A comma in a Paizo stat block attack actually means "and", a good example I frequently use is the lizardfolk from the Bestiary: "Melee morningstar +2 (1d8+1), bite +0 (1d4), or claw +2 (1d4+1), bite +2 (1d4+1)" which means "morningstar AND bite" or "claw AND bite" - the comma can be replaced with AND.

So, in our problem statblock, replacing the comma with an and give us: "greatsword AND OR 2 claws" which the parser cannot split into the "attack" and "full attack" sections of the statblock - this particular error.

Remove that pesky comma and it should work fine.

Tough one that. You'll be an expert in Paizo stat blocks before too long! :)

[Nickademus]

But, but, yours has a comma-or too....


"Melee morningstar +2 (1d8+1), bite +0 (1d4); or claw +2 (1d4+1), bite +2 (1d4+1)"

ftfy :P

[Trenloe]

But, but, yours has a comma-or too....

ftfy :P
Yeah, sorry the PRD on the web is wrong, the entry in the PDF is right (semi colon instead of comma). So much for that example...:rolleyes:

[ScooterPA]

Thanks again and sorry for not responding. I went out shortly after our last exchange. I'll make the corrections. Thanks again.