DnD 4e Offline Character Builder to Fantasy Grounds Converter

It's located here for now.


Hey everyone,

I've been working on a little practice project. Inspired by the Beyond to FG converter, this converts files from the offline DnD 4e character builder into formatted files you can import into Fantasy Grounds Unity.

Right now I just put it in that site I linked above, but if people are interested in it, maybe I'll host it somewhere else where I can give it a more custom domain name. I'll update the url if it changes. Not sure how much it'll be used, so aiming for cheap for now if people have hosting suggestions (right now it's free on python anywhere lol).

The site isn't much yet, so just let me know on here or the FG forums if you notice any bugs, data missing from the output XML, etc.

Next up is probably to make an offline tool people can use in case i ever forget to keep this site updated, but hopefully someone else finds a use for this until then.


EDIT: I made the offline tool. Here is the link if people want to try it out.

Getting "Internal Server Error" from it when I try uploading. Definitely something my group would be interested in, though!

Oh hey, that's awesome that somebody else is interested. Sorry about that, it's still under construction and I've kind of been half-assing keeping the hosted site updated with what I have on my local. But now that I know at least one other person might get a use out of it, I'll try to keep it more reliably updated lol.

Can you try to do it again and let me know if you get the same issue? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by SieferSeesSomething

Oh hey, that's awesome that somebody else is interested. Sorry about that, it's still under construction and I've kind of been half-assing keeping the hosted site updated with what I have on my local. But now that I know at least one other person might get a use out of it, I'll try to keep it more reliably updated lol.

Can you try to do it again and let me know if you get the same issue? Thanks!

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Still getting an Internal Server Error (500). Tried on both firefox and edge, if that matters.

Ah, guess there's some issues I didn't catch because I only tested with my own character lol. Found a difference that I didn't compensate for. I think I fixed that particular one you ran into at least, so try it again when you can, and hopefully it doesn't bug out again on a different field. Sorry you have to be my first tester (who isn't me) right now, but you're also helping me and others who may use it in the future, so I really appreciate it!

If it does break again, or if it works this time but you notice any fields missing from your imported character, can you send me the file you're trying to convert in this thread or a DM (or I'll send you my email through a DM)?

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Originally Posted by SieferSeesSomething

Ah, guess there's some issues I didn't catch because I only tested with my own character lol. Found a difference that I didn't compensate for. I think I fixed that particular one you ran into at least, so try it again when you can, and hopefully it doesn't bug out again on a different field. Sorry you have to be my first tester (who isn't me) right now, but you're also helping me and others who may use it in the future, so I really appreciate it!

If it does break again, or if it works this time but you notice any fields missing from your imported character, can you send me the file you're trying to convert in this thread or a DM (or I'll send you my email through a DM)?

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Sure thing. I got it to work once with a test, and then I tried running one of my players' actual characters through and got the error again. Attached the one with the error.


EDIT: The Test one I ran through doesn't have any info in the feats on FGU. Also the skills came through without matching Abilities set.
Powers seem to have come through just fine though.

I forgot that I got lazy and haven't finished the logic to parse the feats yet lol. That will be next on my list after I fix these basic bugs. Right now I just link them to existing feats that I got from the 4e Player Options module. You can get that from using the code to convert the Portable Compendium into some 4e modules, it's in one of the threads on this site, in this sub-forum. If you convert it into the FG module, import it, and then activate that module, the feats should work (until I can parse them properly, like I do the powers, so it's not dependent on a separate module).

The skills should show their matching Abilities now and I think I fixed the bugs causing the issue with Kyah's character sheet. Also fixed a couple powers that weren't parsing some parts correctly. If anything else pops up, let me know. Thanks again! The sent file really helped speed it up!

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Originally Posted by SieferSeesSomething

I forgot that I got lazy and haven't finished the logic to parse the feats yet lol. That will be next on my list after I fix these basic bugs. Right now I just link them to existing feats that I got from the 4e Player Options module. You can get that from using the code to convert the Portable Compendium into some 4e modules, it's in one of the threads on this site, in this sub-forum. If you convert it into the FG module, import it, and then activate that module, the feats should work (until I can parse them properly, like I do the powers, so it's not dependent on a separate module).

The skills should show their matching Abilities now and I think I fixed the bugs causing the issue with Kyah's character sheet. Also fixed a couple powers that weren't parsing some parts correctly. If anything else pops up, let me know. Thanks again! The sent file really helped speed it up!

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I have modules generated from one of the parsers, though I'd have to double check if it's the exact same one or not. Not a huge deal in the meantime to drag their duplicates in.

Anyway, Kyah does seem to work now, feats aside. Here's a higher level one I just tried to parse that still is not working, though. (This one isn't a particularly large deal so much as just something I figured I'd try since it's higher level)

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Originally Posted by Falco1029

I have modules generated from one of the parsers, though I'd have to double check if it's the exact same one or not. Not a huge deal in the meantime to drag their duplicates in.

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Hopefully! There can't be that many 4e parsers floating around lol. If it's still not working even with your player options modules activated, let me know.

I think I got that new one you attached working as well. Woo! Knocking out these bugs!

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Originally Posted by SieferSeesSomething

Hopefully! There can't be that many 4e parsers floating around lol. If it's still not working even with your player options modules activated, let me know.

I think I got that new one you attached working as well. Woo! Knocking out these bugs!

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Alright, I ran everything through that I had and got xmls back at least. I'll double check them the next time I open FGU to see if there any obvious issues there.

As for the modules, mine seemed to be active and had the same names but weren't automatically linking. I'll double check with the latest version though when I check the above.

The feats should work now with the "Self-Contained Data" option is checked, which it is by default. I still want to figure out the module-issue (because I like the way the feats are formatted in the module) so I'm keeping both methods available now as separate options while I figure it out. Maybe there is more than one floating around, but at least it's not needed anymore.

Known missing fields (I discovered while doing a bit more testing myself) include senses, paragon path, and epic destiny. Would also love to add background and themes, but there doesn't seem to be good space in the 4e FG character sheet to add them to? Anyone know if there is?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SieferSeesSomething

The feats should work now with the "Self-Contained Data" option is checked, which it is by default. I still want to figure out the module-issue (because I like the way the feats are formatted in the module) so I'm keeping both methods available now as separate options while I figure it out. Maybe there is more than one floating around, but at least it's not needed anymore.

Known missing fields (I discovered while doing a bit more testing myself) include senses, paragon path, and epic destiny. Would also love to add background and themes, but there doesn't seem to be good space in the 4e FG character sheet to add them to? Anyone know if there is?

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Great! I have a new player coming in soon so I'll get some more testing done shortly just to be sure. And yeah, hadn't noticed the paragon bit when I'd done a quick check, as only one of the test sheets went that far.

The broken links thing may well be my fault as the author of the Module Maker app - I released a new version in June with extensive changes to the xml tag structure for consistency, but it would have broken existing or generated links (from memory it was mostly using lower instead of camel case, and alphabetising all the structures).

In terms of where to put Race / Class / Themes / etc. info, the only place I found that really works is the 'Special Abilities' section on the Abilities tab as it can hold links that point to the PC Options entry. You can also put things like Fey Origin and Trance in there that aren't really Feats or Powers that you might want to reference in play.

Also kudos on getting this done - I started looking at building something to do this when I finished the Module Maker but gave up pretty quickly.

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Originally Posted by skelekon

The broken links thing may well be my fault as the author of the Module Maker app - I released a new version in June with extensive changes to the xml tag structure for consistency, but it would have broken existing or generated links (from memory it was mostly using lower instead of camel case, and alphabetising all the structures).

In terms of where to put Race / Class / Themes / etc. info, the only place I found that really works is the 'Special Abilities' section on the Abilities tab as it can hold links that point to the PC Options entry. You can also put things like Fey Origin and Trance in there that aren't really Feats or Powers that you might want to reference in play.

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Oh, yup. That would definitely explain it. I'm not exactly sure whether Falco or I are using a later version, but I haven't updated my own copy of the module in forever after I last ran your Module Maker (it's been working fine so haven't seen a reason to). So since it's probably me I'll make sure to grab the latest version and match my code with it. That new knowledge helps a lot, so I appreciate it!

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Originally Posted by skelekon

Also kudos on getting this done - I started looking at building something to do this when I finished the Module Maker but gave up pretty quickly.

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That means a lot coming from the maker of the Module Maker app. You're the reason I and others can play 4e on Fantasy Grounds without taking forever to input everything, so I'm glad to hear you've still been maintaining that, too. Thanks so much! :o

Made a few updates.
- Updated the site to work with skelekon's latest Portable Compendium Module Maker app (v2.0). It should correctly link feat data to the nicely formatted feats from 2.0 of the Module Maker app now, if you have that option checked.
- Also put the version in the site, so that you can tell what version of the Module Maker this is supposed to work with in case this ever happens again in the future.
- Should also now insert class features
- Fixed an issue where it wasn't inserting armor and weapon proficiency names correctly. Also cleaned up the way they're named to not include the name "armor proficiency" or "weapon proficiency" (it's a little redundant since they already have their own sections).

Next up is racial features probably. Realized that wasn't done at the same time I realized I forgot to make it import class features.

I also discovered that if you drag a power from the list of powers over into your power tab, it will add some automation actions automatically. I'm sure that's in all the rulesets now, but I had no idea lol. Will probably be a long time until I figure out how to do that, so if anyone uses this in the future, just keep that in mind that if you have the module; or if you create powers in the list of powers first and then add it from there to your character, it adds some actions without you having to do it manually. Obviously will take longer doing that one at a time, but can possibly save time in the long-run, so that's a cool feature to know about.

The other alternative if you want to keep the imported powers without replacing all your powers with ones from the power list, is to just open the powers description up and double-click or click and drag the appropriate text without using the action buttons. To explain for anyone stumbling or lurking in this thread who is somehow unfamiliar with Fantasy Grounds, text like "Attack vs AC" or "4[W] acid damage" or "mark the enemy" will highlight if you mouse over them and do their appropriate actions if clicked or dragged to the appropriate target. I like the buttons because they save me a click of having to open up the power description, but it's up to you. If you're importing a higher level character with tons of powers, I could see that getting tedious, too, and just using the text in the descriptions.

EDIT: For converted powers, you could just right-click over the powers and click "reparse" and it will add the actions to it.

I've encountered an "Internal Server Error" on the converter page. I'm trying to convert a Mage character without any luck. I thought the issue might be related to the character's level (16) but that wasn't the case.

I tried to convert a 1st level Mage (only chose class and race) and got the same error. Any help would be appreciated. I've attached the 1st level .ddi file to assist.

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Originally Posted by beastman013

I've encountered an "Internal Server Error" on the converter page. I'm trying to convert a Mage character without any luck. I thought the issue might be related to the character's level (16) but that wasn't the case.

I tried to convert a 1st level Mage (only chose class and race) and got the same error. Any help would be appreciated. I've attached the 1st level .ddi file to assist.

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Looks like I forgot to apply a recent fix to my web version. Try it now. Thanks for giving me the file you used.

I also created an offline/executable file version that I said I would work on at some point. I added a link to it in my first post.

Thanks for the quick assistance.

Made a recent update to both the web version. Should now also parse data for gender, alignment, appearance, and session/campaign notes. The offline desktop version should also now be updated to the web version.

Still need to fix some issues with the added inventory.

Ignore this. Accidentally posted a comment in the wrong thread.

Hello! Just want to say that this is an awesome tool, but I only notice one thing that seems to be wrong. So when converting a character, I notice that it keeps giving an extra half-level bonus to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. I also notice that while it does take into account the "Inherrent Bonuses" optional detail (Mangage > Details), it only applies it to the saves and not to the Ranged and Melee weapon attacks.

I have attached the photos of the 4 FG characters I made, the fixed one that was imported and fixed to match character sheet, the raw import, the raw import of a version without the Inherent bonuses, and a version with inherent bonuses at level 30. I also attached photos of the Cbuilder character sheets so you can see how the saves, melee basic, and ranged basic attack should be.

Also, when characters are imported, the weapons and armor dont show up in the combat tab even when marked to be equipped, however I do not think this is a problem of your software since this was a problem with the old FG character importer. The weapons and armor need to be deleted and then readded from the modules tab, since adding them from the items tab doesn't work. But I thought I would bring that to your attention as well. I am using the Skelekon converted modules (I actually helped out with that a long, long time ago and was happy to see it updated last year) Cheers!

FG Char Main: Attachment 67721
FG Char Combat: Attachment 67722
FG Char Skills: Attachment 67723
Level 30 Char: Attachment 67724
Level 7 Char: Attachment 67725

Thanks for the feedback! Happy to see people are still using this. I'll try to get some of these issues fixed during the weekend.

awesome! Something else I noticed, the imported feats are syncing with the feats from the modules, they show up as New Feat, which then cant be deleted. that second part isnt your problem, but wondering if you can fix the first or if that is out of scope.

I wanted to chime in and say thanks for all the updates for the 4e system. I've played around at length with the conversion program/site (converts .dnd4e files for FGU.) I've got notes somewhere but a few quick things that come to mind. Resists do not come over clean nor do items (weapons) in inventory. I remember some of the powers get weird when you use a weapon as an implement. I'll dig around for my notes. I found myself building a character in CB Offline and using that to clean-up the character in FGU. Again, thanks for keeping this going.