4E Lore Extension now available

[Fot5]

Thanks, Tenian. I downloaded the extension, downloaded the Microsoft update you mentioned, installed the 115 parser, and reparsed a module. I then opened an FG session and added a PC and an NPC to the CT. I then opened the PC via localhost. I upped the PC to level 30 and trained all skills. Then I typed "/lore" from the GM window. The pictures popped up on both the GM side and the PC side, but both sides still only read "delivering lore" with no lore text delivered.

[Tenian]

Was the NPC set as visible as well? Or did you use /lore {npc name}
(i.e. /lore Goblin Sharpshooter)

[Fot5]

Thanks again, Tenian. Yes, the NPCs were visible. I should have mentioned that. However, ...

Ah ha! I discovered the problem (at least the problem with my files), and I hope that the solution is this simple for everyone else. I checked the db.xml file and found <lore> nodes. I assumed that that meant that all of my NPCs were being parsed with lore data. I was wrong. In fact, there were only three NPCs in my fluff file that actually parsed with lore data. And guess what ... those weren't the ones that I was trying to report lore data for when I tested the extension. When I tested the extension on the ones that did parse lore data, the extension worked fine.

So, I became curious about why those particular NPCs parsed and the others did not, and I noticed that they were the only ones in my fluff file that had multiple skills associated with knowledge checks (e.g., tangler beetles have both nature and arcana knowledge lore). For these NPCs, I used the following format for the lore data:

Nature DC 15: Text

For all other NPCs I used the following format:

DC 15: Text

When I changed all lore entries to match the first example, all lore data was parsed, and the lore extension worked as intended. So, if you're having trouble with the lore extension, try changing all of your lore data to have the following format:

SKILL DC XX: LORE DATA

where SKILL is the name of the knowledge skill relevant to the data, XX is the DC of the knowledge, and LORE DATA is the information that you want reported to the PC. Be sure to (a) reparse with parser 115, (b) enter the NPCs into the CT after reparsing, and (c) make the NPCs visible. If you do these things, and the PC has an appropriate level of passive knowledge, I think that the lore parser will work.

This is a great contribution, Tenian. Thanks for your work!

[Tenian]

This format should work as well....at least it appears to for me:

A character knows the following information with a successful Dungeoneering check.
DC 20: Aboleths lair in foo foo foo
DC 25: Aboleths communicate via bar bar bar
DC 30: Sometimes aboleths barfoo foobar

The resulting entries in the DB.xml appear as:

			<lore>
				<id-00000>
					<dc type="number">20</dc>
					<text type="string">Aboleths lair in  foo foo foo</text>
					<skills>
						<id-00000>
						<skill type="string">Dungeoneering</skill>
						</id-00000>
					</skills>
				</id-00000>
				<id-00001>
					<dc type="number">25</dc>
					<text type="string">Aboleths communicate via bar bar bar</text>
					<skills>
						<id-00000>
						<skill type="string">Dungeoneering</skill>
						</id-00000>
					</skills>
				</id-00001>
				<id-00002>
					<dc type="number">30</dc>
					<text type="string">Sometimes aboleths barfoo foobar</text>
					<skills>
						<id-00000>
						<skill type="string">Dungeoneering</skill>
						</id-00000>
					</skills>
				</id-00002>
			</lore>

It should generate the <skills> subnode and have an entry for each skill

[Fot5]

That approach didn't work for me, but I bolded each skill name (e.g., "with a successful <b>Nature</b> skill check."). Perhaps that was the cause of my problem. Regardless, it is working now, and I am thrilled. Thanks again.

[Tenian]

Yes it would not like the bold tags. I recommend removing them, as that's probably less work than going through all the MMs and manually adding the skills

[DNH]

Got it working now! Thanks very much for this. As I have said previously, I am quite the fan of monster lore and this makes things so much simpler. Good work.

[adminwheel3]

Not sure what changed on the backend, but previously parsed NPCs that were parsed with the new release and using the new extention are delivering lore as expected. Thank you!

[mattcolville]

I parsed the MM with the 118 parser, but unless the overwhelming majority of NPCs therein have no lore, the lore isn't parsing for me.

Just opened the XML and searched for "lore" and returned nothing.

Is there a "parse lore" option in the parser? Possibly a silly question, as I could just open the parser right now and look, but I just thought of it.

[Fot5]

Unfortunately, the compendium does not output lore data, so you have to input that into the fluff files yourself. The easiest way to do that is to create an OCR scan of the text of the books that you own and cut and paste that information into the fluff files created by a parser scrape. If you want to see what the entries for files might look like, send me a PM.