[3.3.12] Links to custom races of characters pre 3.3.12 are now unlinked

[Kelrugem]

Hi :)

Some user reported some error in the discord, and I was able to reproduce it:

In 3.5e, I have custom races in a custom module, like a kobold. When I now click on a character which was created a time ago (pre 3.3.12), and I click on the race link in the character sheet, then it just opens an empty race box and does not link to my custom race anymore. Instead I have suddenly a "new race" in my race window :) My old races are still there, and I never ever changed them, custom module is also loaded of course, and I did not get the usual prompt about loading the module when it would not have been loaded; my suggestion is that the changes of the drag&drop things in 3.3.12 (like the prefix stuff) may have affected that?

I will send this thread also to the user of Discord: Their problem was with 5e races and backgrounds; that user was also pretty sure that it worked a few days ago and suddenly all their links are gone. For new characters this problem seemingly does not exist and everything works correctly for newly created characters :)

I can upload my campaign if you need (but it is my actual campaign, so, with a lot of extra stuff) :)

Best wishes,

Kelrugem

PS: That is only for custom data, links to official modules like 3.5e Basic Rules is still there. When you have own custom modules, then you might be able to replicate that by looking at an old character :) So, I'd be happy when someone could test it; not that that user and I did some mistake with their own modules :D

[Arghun]

I am the person who was asking questions on the FG college Discord. I have created custom races and backgrounds as well as spells and traits for my upcoming campaign. I recently checked a few characters who had been created more than two months ago and some others maybe a few weeks ago. They ALL experience the same issue: LINKS to my custom backgrounds and races are broken. When I click them they open a brand new race or background that’s empty (took me time to realize that every time I was clicking it did create a new entry... Oddly enough when I check where those new entries get created the book (module) icon shows... my custom module. I dis create a new character today (player created not DM) and links seem fine and not broken. Absolutely nothing has changed on those races backgrounds, I never deleted them and recreated them after. The only thing I’ve done is add data to the module, export it and use that new version in my campaign.

This is 5e if that matters.

Best regards,

Arghun

[Moon Wizard]

Can you provide an example module that has the races?

There weren't any changes specifically to races in v3.3.12; so not sure why there is an issue.

Regards,
JPG

[Arghun]

Hello Moon Wizard,

Do you want me to upload my mod file? I would prefer sending it privately if you don't mind.

[Moon Wizard]

Yes, please send to [email protected]; and include a link to this thread.

Regards,
JPG

[Arghun]

Done! I’ve sent the mod file as asked. Looking forward to understanding what happens.

[Kelrugem]

Oh, sorry, I had not time to look into the forums yesterday :) Is there a need for more modules/campaigns? Then I send mine, too :)

[Moon Wizard]

I just tried your module in my 5E campaign; and the race records came up correctly when I clicked on them both from the master campaign list as well as the module specific list. (see image)

Can you walk me through the exact steps to load your module in a new campaign and get the error?
(i.e. create 5E campaign, go to Library, go to Modules, load DS module, close Modules, click on Races in upper Library list, click on Halfling (Athasian) in the campaign races list, ...)

Thanks,
JPG

[Arghun]

The problem only comes when you update the module. If I don’t modify the module then everything is fine (I created a player character after my last module update and no links were broken).

I do add things to my module fairly often and export it again. That’s when things got broken.

I believe the issue might be tied to the fact that I once exported it with the Read Only flag but since people told me not to do so I exported again without the flag set. Could it be the cause of the broken links?

Btw I did so because I didn’t want (myself) to be able to modify anything by accident in my players campaign and wanted to ‘mimic’ the behaviour of the PHB or DMG. Can Read Only introduce issues with links WHEN you have the module loaded in your campaign???

Thanks a lot for the help, it is really appreciated

[Kelrugem]

The problem only comes when you update the module. If I don’t modify the module then everything is fine (I created a player character after my last module update and no links were broken).

I do add things to my module fairly often and export it again. That’s when things got broken.

I believe the issue might be tied to the fact that I once exported it with the Read Only flag but since people told me not to do so I exported again without the flag set. Could it be the cause of the broken links?

Btw I did so because I didn’t want (myself) to be able to modify anything by accident in my players campaign and wanted to ‘mimic’ the behaviour of the PHB or DMG. Can Read Only introduce issues with links WHEN you have the module loaded in your campaign???

Thanks a lot for the help, it is really appreciated

Can you reproduce it? Read-only or not should not affect that.

I just now looked at my xml; it could be that mine is false alarm. I reported because I was confused that I had precisely the same problem as you, Arghun, after you reported that on Discord and I didn't run any game since a year, such that I was not certain anymore whether it is user error or not. But looking at the xml shows me that my races are not linked to a module although they are in a module. I remember that I indeed did not put them into a module at the very beginning when I started with FG. Then later on I created the module and I may not have relinked the links; hence, my case could be a red hering :) (then really sorry for that of course)

Arghun, it would be really helpful when you have steps to reproduce your case, or maybe send also your campaign and tell precisely which links are unlinked suddenly. Or, when you feel comfortable doing so, then also look in the db.xml to check the IDs of your links to the module :) Maybe indeed at some point you did something with these entries like race and background leading to an unlink, you just cannot recall it (as it happened to me :) ).

[Moon Wizard]

A module with the read-only flag uses a different data scheme than a module without. (race.id-##### vs. reference.races.id-#####)

So, if you changed the module mid-stream, then it would be trying to recreate the old module links when you clicked. You'll need to fix the links on the PC sheets built using the old module to avoid that.

Regards,
JPG

[Arghun]

I did indeed change the module and used a Non Read Only one when creating them exported again with RO flag set to on. I guess that’s what broke the links. Is there a way I can fix it in the campaign? Worse case scenario I guess I need to create a new character of the same race/background and then look at the DJ.XML campaign file and do some copy/paste work to overwrite the ‘wrong’ links.

Is that the right approach to fix my problem?

[Moon Wizard]

You can modify the db.xml to fix; though I highly recommend making a backup before changing any XML files in case an error ends up messing up the database.

Or you might be able to just drag the new link onto the link field on the sheet.

Regards,
JPG

[Arghun]

Thanks Moon Wizard!