NPC Engineer

[Maasq]

Updated.

As well as the main block, AHK Creature Creator also correctly formats spellcasting and innate spellcasting blocks.

Other traits, actions and reactions should work too, although they are still Work-in-progress and may be rubbish.

Maasq

[Maasq]

OK, the basic text manipulation is all in place. It should work
Next step is to have a working UI, and this will involve a more granular approach to some of my sections.

It's all good fun!

[Zacchaeus]

Nice one

[Maasq]

Update - no additional functionality, but a significant change in the structuring of the program. Everything is tucked away neatly in functions now, making the program easier to read if anyone wants/needs to.

The joys of relearning global vs local and passing parameters (or whatever that is called these days).

Right, a working UI next....

[L. R. Ballard]

So the first version of AHK Creature Creator is available in the first post of this thread. Have fun, and be gentle. This is my first ever piece of code released to the public (and the first written in over 20 years!)

Maasq

Thanks for all the good work!

I'm using the DnD Monster Maker with the Reddit output to test the AutoHotkey program. The stat block I generated is parsing correctly up to the "ACTIONS." Then the various weapon attack entries appear offset by asterisks and double asterisks. So, for example,

**Spear.** *Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., *Hit:* 5 (1d8+1) piercing damage1) piercing damage.

Also, the AutoHotkey does not seem to identify a line break between or among Actions, so it produces them as one block of text.

I may be using one or both programs incorrectly. Thoughts?

[L. R. Ballard]

Hmm, seem's like the OS monkey didn't make a 5e statblock.

I like PCGen's potential to help create or convert NPCs, possibly even PCs, for FG. That said, a 5e stat block export is a necessary condition for Maasq to be able to modify the stat block with the AutoHotkey program.

A PCGen stat block could be more accurate than the DnD Monster Maker stat block given a preliminary analysis of both utilities.

[Maasq]

Hiya!

I'm using the DnD Monster Maker with the Reddit output to test the AutoHotkey program. The stat block I generated is parsing correctly up to the "ACTIONS." Then the various weapon attack entries appear offset by asterisks and double asterisks.

I forgot to remove those *blush*
I had left them in as I might have used them for tagging or formatting, but as I say, I forgot to attach a line to strip them at the end if I didn't use them. Fixed!

Also, the AutoHotkey does not seem to identify a line break between or among Actions, so it produces them as one block of text.

This one took a while! It seems the output of DnD Monster Maker appends spaces at the ends of lines for no good reason. As my paragraph marker looks for a period followed by a newline, period<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><NEWLINE> wasn't getting picked up. Fixed!

While I was doing this, I noticed something else strange about DnD Monster Maker's Reddit output. Every action with damage has the damage line sort of repeated:

**Dagger.** *Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 5 ft.,  or range 20/60 ft., one target. *Hit:* 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage3) piercing damage.

It's definitely just a mistake in the Reddit output - the Valloric statblock doesn't have it, and the *.mm file doesn't have it. Anyway, I put in some code to detect and correct this.

Thank you for the help in getting this right!

Maasq

[L. R. Ballard]

Hiya!

I forgot to remove those *blush*
I had left them in as I might have used them for tagging or formatting, but as I say, I forgot to attach a line to strip them at the end if I didn't use them. Fixed!

Hey! I loaded the same NPC to Monster Maker that had the superfluous asterisks. The AutoHotkey program produced a perfect stat block, which parsed correctly. The stat block looks official in FG, and everything that should be automated is automated. Well done!

This one took a while! It seems the output of DnD Monster Maker appends spaces at the ends of lines for no good reason. As my paragraph marker looks for a period followed by a newline, period<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><NEWLINE> wasn't getting picked up. Fixed!

While I was doing this, I noticed something else strange about DnD Monster Maker's Reddit output. Every action with damage has the damage line sort of repeated:

**Dagger.** *Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 5 ft.,  or range 20/60 ft., one target. *Hit:* 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage3) piercing damage.

It's definitely just a mistake in the Reddit output - the Valloric statblock doesn't have it, and the *.mm file doesn't have it. Anyway, I put in some code to detect and correct this.

Yes, I noticed that, too. That was my first follow up question. Good anticipation!

There's still one minor omission in the Monster Maker itself that could make some stat blocks incomplete. (The following omission is one reason I wrote to Nylanfs that I think PCGen ultimately could be more accurate than Monster Maker.) In the Monster Maker "Add Actions" dialogue box, in the dropdown for damage type, there is no way to add "magic." The omission may be because a damage type can be both piercing and magic, for example.

Fortunately, and perhaps owing to the foresight of the self-described "Genius" programmer, a box appears immediately afterward that reads "On Hit." One can insert the word "magic" in the box, so that the stat block reads as follows:

Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage. magic

Would it be possible to add a line to the AutoHotkey script that searches for any damage type followed by a ". magic" and replace that with a ", magic"?

Thank you for the help in getting this right!

Maasq

You're welcome! Awesome work. I have some followup questions to see if you can make this script the go-to resource for FG NPC creation.

[Maasq]

Brilliant, I am glad it works well now.
I'll go and play with Monster Maker and see if the "magic" is always at the end of a line. I'll drop an updated version in the next..... oh, I want to say 10 minutes, but you know this will stir up a nest of hornets and it'll be hours to fix hahaha I'll try to get it up ASAP though, as I know you're working on a HUGE number of NPCs.

Follow up questions are good; they'll push me to learn.
I'm not expert at anything I'm involved with here: D&D, FG, programming, parsing. I've got enough knowledge to get into trouble, and a few helpful forums to get me back out

Can I just thank Zacchaeus publicly here; he's been an absolute paragon of patience and font of knowledge. The community is lucky to have him.

Maasq

[LordEntrails]

Brilliant, I am glad it works well now.
I'll go and play with Monster Maker and see if the "magic" is always at the end of a line. I'll drop an updated version in the next..... oh, I want to say 10 minutes, but you know this will stir up a nest of hornets and it'll be hours to fix hahaha I'll try to get it up ASAP though, as I know you're working on a HUGE number of NPCs.

Remember, the ", magic" is actually going to have to get moved and inserted after each damage type and before the word "damage".

Can I just thank Zacchaeus publicly here; he's been an absolute paragon of patience and font of knowledge. The community is lucky to have him.

We are lucky to have him and many others. Don't forget to give Reputation when appropriate (and public acknowledgements like this one).