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View Full Version : Suggestion: NPC generation, monster advancement



Grays
March 22nd, 2005, 23:09
After months of toying with code to advance text entry creatures and players, I was overjoyed to stumble upon Fantasy Grounds and see what it's capable of. (I've already purchased the full version and am building an Eberron adventure I've been wanting to run for a while.) One thing that FG definitely lacks, however, could go great lengths to streamlining an already excellent product.

The advantage of having a computer program simulate a gaming environment is the ability to streamline tasks that are laborious for humans. However, there are very few functions in FG that accomplish this aim, specifically advancing NPCs and creatures quickly and easily. Suppose I wished to have two bears sniff around camp one night, but wanted them to have more hit dice or a template that would hook them into strange goings-on in the area. As it is, I must modify the stat block completely by hand. A computer, however, can add hit dice at the click of a button.

Any template, given proper formatting, can be entered in such a way as to automatically update all statistics on a creature. Templates which allow a variety of options can be flagged with fields or prompt the GM when the template is applied (such as choosing the color for a Half-Dragon). Also, additional Hit Dice (or even NPC/PC levels!) require very limited input; skills and feats can be randomly assigned by taking into consideration the previous skills and feats taken and building off of those trees or choosing similar skills and feats.

Implementation of automatic hit dice advancement or template application would not be significantly difficult, and would do quite a bit to improve the usefulness of FG as a virtual gaming environment.

Grays
March 23rd, 2005, 11:36
I observed the implication elsewhere (https://forums.fantasygrounds.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=456) that the developers who respond on these boards deal primarily with the content, and not the coding, of FG. Is this true? Should I be directing these sorts of suggestions to another venue? (Would love to hear from someone inside FG development...)

Goblin-King
March 23rd, 2005, 11:58
We, the developers, deal mostly with the coding. We also read all the messages with the nice improvement ideas ;) .

Grays
March 23rd, 2005, 12:02
Just needed the assurance, what I read on the above-linked thread just had me a little worried. Thanks for the response. ;) Would implementing the feature I described be difficult, or could it soon be on the horizon for FG? You must admit, it'd be very useful to have.