Here is Extension for 4E ruleset that gets you 90% of way to D&D Next (5E)

[JamesManhattan]

I made an extension for the 4E ruleset that can get you a lot of functionality to be able to easily play D&D Next (5E) in the 4E ruleset. I also made a parser that will scrape the pdf's and get you all the monster data, character class abilities, and spells into the 4E ruleset. That parser is a separate forum post linked here

1. Just put this extension in your C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Fantasy Grounds II\extensions folder.
5E_for_4E_extension.ext

2. Open up a new 4E campaign, but make sure the extension above is check-marked when you start one. I think it will only work if it is the only extension checked.

3. Once you start up your new campaign. In the chat bar type “/mod +0 [ADVANTAGE]” (without the quotes) but don’t press enter. Drag what you typed into a hotbar slot. Now whenever you want to roll something with Advantage just press that hotbar key first, or the shortcut key for that slot.

4. In the chat bar type “/mod +0 [DISADV]” (without the quotes) but don’t press enter. Drag what you typed into a different hotbar slot. Now you can roll Disadvantage also.

5. You’ll notice that the text in monster powers will automatically parse text such as “DC 12 Constitution saving throw” and make a draggable action field. Which you can drag onto targets and force them to make saving throws.

6. Player powers have new defenses to target. Under the powers section of a character sheet, or underneath a weapon on the Combat tab. You can cycle through additional defenses. After you cycle through AC,Fort, Ref, Will, you can now target STRsave, DEXsave, CONsave, INTSave, WISsave, and CHAsave. For the attack number you can put in the static DC, then when you drag the attack, it will make the target roll a saving throw vs. the DC you put in. You might want to leave the field that chooses your stat modifier blank, otherwise you’ll be adding your own WIS modifier to the save DC. I put this in the parser also, so the player powers should detect when a power calls for a saving throw, and populate the defense to target. It won’t calculate the DC number so you’ll still have to type that in.

7. I replaced the 4E list of skills with the D&D Next skills on the character sheet. You will have to manually add in proficiency bonus on your skills in the “Misc” category.

8. Added slashing, bludgeoning,piercing damage types to the database so the power parser will find them.

9. I don't know how to change the section of the character sheet to remove Ref, Fort, and Will and change them to the new six saving throw defenses. Those defenses seem to be hard-coded into the ruleset itself, and I don’t know where to change them. So for now the dirty fix is I added SrengthSaves, DexteritySaves, CharismaSaves, etc as Skills. So on the skills tab players can add their Proficiency bonus granted by their class to certain saves in the “Misc” category.

10. You might want to make your own effects and add them to your Effects window such as:
ATK:1d4 [Bless]
DMG:1d4 [Bard Song]
DMG:1d6 [Hunters Mark]
DMG:2 [Rage]
RESIST:2 [Heavy Armor Master feat]
Other effects aren't all programmed yet. Such as paralyzed granting advantage. I haven't done the work to handle Resistance and Vulnerabiliy, so you'll have to do that manually. There’s also some issues with the 4E ruleset automatically giving prone creatures -2 to all defenses, etc that you will have to watch out for.

11. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Whenever you input a new monster always put parentheses around the level. Such as Ettercap Level (4). The 4E ruleset has a habit of adding half-level to lots of numbers. The parenthesis around level such as Level (4) prevents this. For players always leave them as level 1 in the box where you are supposed to type in level. You can write their real level next to their name or class or something. EDIT: 11/18/13 I changed the code in attached file so 4E monsters no longer add half-level to ability checks. (I'm testing some converting of 4E to Next)

Issues:
This all works, but some of it is not the prettiest. I'm still learning how the background programming works. Advantage/ Disadvantage mechanic rolls an additional d20. It sorts them, and for every following function like determining hits or crits, it only registers the first d20. I couldn't figure out how to negate the extra dice in totals, so I added a third d20 that negates the 2nd one for totals.

For saving throws I switched the defense and the modifier. When you drag an attack normally you roll d20 and add your attack modifier to it. In this case: the modifier you drag is the save DC and it pulls the targets defense save bonus. Then it switches them so you add the targets save bonus to the d20 and compare it to the DC as the defense. Hits come out correctly and register for targeting and the message in the chat comes out correctly. The only problem is the dice total shows the d20 roll and the DC modifier which is a meaningless number. I can't figure out how to change it. Plus most DM's wouldn't want the monsters defense popping up in the chat every time it's attacked.



Future things:
Find a way to make fantasy grounds detect effects that cause targets to grant Advantage and automatically allow it to be triggered on attacks.
Treat Resistance to damage just like Insubstantial but only vs certain types of damage like slashing or non-magical etc.

I ADDED a NEW FILE THAT WORKS WITH THE LATEST 3.0 UPDATED VERSION OF FANTASY GROUNDS. It's named 5E_for_4E_extension30.ext

[Xorn]

This is awesome, thanks!

[Moon Wizard]

I better get back on the horse, and get the 5E ruleset built out for v3.0.

JPG

[JamesManhattan]

I better get back on the horse, and get the 5E ruleset built out for v3.0.

JPG

That'd be awesome. The 4E one is incredible.

[Acroyear]

Awesome!

[mattcolville]

Seems like it would be easier to start with the 2E or 3E rulessets?

[damned]

well done James!

[viresanimi]

I would love to do some 5E gaming, but those parcers make me feel stupid and I'll wait for the official ruleset. So hoping for that to come soon!

Vires Animi

[damned]

Some really smart folk write those parsers! sadly though - you will probably need the parser to play 5e as wizards probably wont license the ruleset out. that means you have to get a subscription to insider and scrape all the material up and then parse it etc etc... honestly though - plenty of other people will be doing it at the same time and will be able to help you with any glitches when the time comes.

[Zeus]

Some really smart folk write those parsers! sadly though - you will probably need the parser to play 5e as wizards probably wont license the ruleset out. that means you have to get a subscription to insider and scrape all the material up and then parse it etc etc... honestly though - plenty of other people will be doing it at the same time and will be able to help you with any glitches when the time comes.

5E ruleset is being actively developed as we speak. PAR5E (5E ruleset bulk data parser) is also ready and (will be) compatible with 5E and the CoreRPG v3 rulesets. Assuming DDI is updated and we get an equivalent of the 4E Compendium I will also add online scrape functionality to PAR5E to make module production easier. Having said that, given Wizards have recently re-embraced PDFs, its very easy to convert core data (npcs, items and spells) into the 5E ruleset from the PDFs with little or no markup required (markup only being required for formatted text).

Finally, we can also hope that this time around Wizards are open to 3rd parties and specifically Smiteworks, licensing 5E for FGIII conversions of rulebooks and adventures. Fingers crossed.