Utility - Character Importer
Updated on August 7, 2012.
Cody, our wonderful intern, has been busy cranking away on the import utility.
In addition to the items reported so far, he has added support for importing Pathfinder and 3.5E characters from Hero Lab into 3.5E campaigns, as well as PCGen output sheets whose output can be imported using the tool.
If you have Hero Lab, please let us know and give it a try.
The latest version of the character converter can be used from the FG Start Menu group. There will either be a dedicated link for the converter (newer installs) or you can find it in the Application Data Folder link under the Utilities subfolder (older installs).
Cheers,
JPG
Reply to Leonal and Trenloe
Leonal
Thanks for the feedback! Unfortunately this bug "Penalty to movement from armor is added to the misc and not armor box for movement speed" is a problem resulting from the limited information given by HeroLab output. We are working closely with HeroLab to expand the information given by custom output, but it won't be fixed any time soon.
As for this bug "Cannot import to campaign test PF. Error: Name cannot begin with the '>' character, hexadecimal value 0x3E. Line 504, position 8" I haven't encountered it, but I was able to artificially recreate by manipulating the db.xml file. For me to truly fix this bug it would be great if next time you encounter it you could post the db.xml, located in the FG2 Application Data folder under the campaigns directory, and error message.
Trenloe
Thanks for the feedback! I will look into both of these problems and see what I can come up with. I also wanted to let you know that PCGen support is currently in the works.
Reply to Krb243 and Raedmere
Hey everyone. I want to apologize on the lack of response. I've been working on a new update that will bring the program cross-platform. It's currently working in Ubuntu Linux and needs to be tested in Mac. That should be out soon. On top of that my Dad has fallen ill and I've been attending to my family.
Raedmere
Wait for the next update and your problem should be solved. Although if you could send me those system specifications that would really help.
Krb243
I believe you have exported your character incorrectly. To export your character correctly from Hero Lab you must click File->Save Custom Output and then in the dialog select the "Generate XML File" button and click output.
Everyone
Expect a new update soon. If any of you have Linux or Mac systems I especially would love your testing support on the newest update coming out.
Best regards,
Cody Stebbins
Seeming Non-deterministic Behavior
Greetings!
It was great to see you again at GenCon!
I've used the converter many times trying to figure out the circumstances that the import works, but I'm at a loss.
When I run the converter, I will frequently not get the character added to the campaign I selected. A text dump of a typical import at the end of this post.
I've run it with and without "local" selected when I'm importing to a campaign. I've run it with and without the campaign already open in a separate FG2 window. I've generated fresh .dnd4e files for each character. But I just can't nail it down.
It seems to take several runs to actually get the character imported into my chosen campaign. Once it is imported, it has the quirks mentioned by other posters, but is only in need of a bit of tweaking, rather than wholesale entry.
This is a fantastic tool! I just can't seem to get it to import realiably. I just keep re-running it until the character actually gets imported.
Just to re-iterate: Every run *says* that it succeeded, and has a log file very much like the log at the end of this post.
Thanks again for the tool! I'm also looking forward to HeroLab 4e support.
-Thomas
NOTE: I've inserted a space between ':' and 'D20' in the text because the posting editor complained about too many images.
---------------------- LOG OUTPUT -------------------
Conversion Start
Version: 2.8.1B
Display Ruleset: 4E
Internal Ruleset: 4E
Source Format: Dungeons & Dragons Insider .dnd4e
.Path: C:\Documents and Settings\Thomas\My Documents\ddi\Online Game\Mouse17.dnd4e
Output to Xml: false
Import to Local Character List: false
Import to Campaign: true
Char Import Test.Path: C:\Documents and Settings\Thomas\Application Data\Fantasy Grounds II\campaigns\Char Import Test\db.xml
----Conversion Results----
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/StatBlock/Stat[alias/@name='Default Epic Destiny']/statadd/@String>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='First Strike']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Rogue Tactics']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Artful Dodger']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Sharpshooter Talent']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Sharpshooter Talent (Crossbow)']>
Node Read Error. <Name:RulesElement; Path:specific[@name='Short Description']; Info:Sharpshooter Talent (Crossbow)>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Far Shot']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Sneak Attack']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Crossbow Expertise']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Slaying Action']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Black Arrow Style']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Weapon Focus (Crossbow)']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Backstabber']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Distant Advantage']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Distant Shot']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Crossbow Savant']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Sniper Action']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Steady Shooter']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Unerring Ambush']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Danger Sense']>
Node Read Error. <Name: D20Character; Path:CharacterSheet/RulesElementTally/RulesElement[@type='Power' and @name='Versatile Combatant']>
Mouse successfully converted.
Mouse successfully imported to campaign Char Import Test
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