Creating New Rulesets Properly

[pentay]

Ever tried creating a new ruleset but kept getting the d20 stuff instead of your changes? Well here are a few steps to get you set up for a ruleset of your own:

1. Delete the d20 folder under rulesets "[FG Root]/rulesets/d20". This folder isn't necessary to run FG as it draws this information from a different file (see below). I beleive Goblin-King had posted that the d20 folder was an example on rulesets. Well, it's incomplete and that's the problem. So get rid of it.

2. Go to your "[FG Root]" directory. You should see a file called "resource.pak". This is the file that FG draws its information from.

3. Backup the "resource.pak" file (i.e. copy/paste it and then rename it "resource.pak.bak"). This way the original file won't be messed if you your surgery goes awry.

4. Now rename the "resource.pak" file to "resource.pak.zip". You will now be able to open the file to extract the complete d20 ruleset.

5. Extract the d20 folder under rulesets to "[FG Root]/rulesets/". Now you will have a complete ruleset to base your new ruleset off of.

6. Rename the "resource.pak.zip" back to "resource.pak" to ensure your game continues to work properly.

7. Copy/paste and/or rename the d20 folder to your ruleset name (i.e. "[FG Root]/rulesets/Pentays_Rules").

8. Use an .XML editor to edit all the files. If you don't have an .XML editor, then "Word Pad" will work. Don't use notepad as it can't edit the larger files without locking up. You'll need to edit all the .XML files and look for any "rulesets/d20/" references. Replace it with your ruleset's name (i.e. "rulesets/Pentays_Rules"/). Search every file. You won't find it in every one, but I don't remember exactly which ones I modified. Now you'll have a properly linked ruleset you can modify.

Also, if you want to get rid of those pesky A-Z tokens, delete them from the "resource.pak" file and your "[FG Root]/data/tokens" folder. I don't know what effect it has on connecting with other users, but they don't show up anymore.

Hope this helps those who've been having some trouble out there.

[Goblin-King]

I'll add some observations to the list.

1. Delete the d20 folder under rulesets "[FG Root]/rulesets/d20". This folder isn't necessary to run FG as it draws this information from a different file (see below). I beleive Goblin-King had posted that the d20 folder was an example on rulesets. Well, it's incomplete and that's the problem. So get rid of it.

You need to update the files between patches, and there's an utility program for that. It basically does what you described in the next steps. For more information see:

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ead.php?t=2561

5. Extract the d20 folder under rulesets to "[FG Root]/rulesets/". Now you will have a complete ruleset to base your new ruleset off of.

A point you might want to keep in mind is, everything done from this point on is independent of the data in the d20 ruleset. For example, if you only modify the character sheet, any changes to the image sheet in a patch might not work, until you do the updates as well. Also, referring to the old files will mean less transfer of data when the clients connect.

Of course, this might actually be what you want if you are working on a completely different set of rules.

You can avoid this for most small changes by only copying the base.xml file and the files you are planning to modify to the new folder, and letting the base.xml refer to the files in the original ruleset.

Also, if you want to get rid of those pesky A-Z tokens, delete them from the "resource.pak" file and your "[FG Root]/data/tokens" folder. I don't know what effect it has on connecting with other users, but they don't show up anymore.

This will lead to synchronization issues when others use these tokens. The correct way to do it is to make a custom ruleset, and remove this line from base.xml:

<tokenroot source="data\tokens" />

[pentay]

Thank you for those clarifications on the rulesets. I will definately take those into consideration as I create my custom ruleset. I've been trying to modify the dice using the completely independent ruleset, but so far I've had no avail. Any advice on that?

[joshuha]

Thank you for those clarifications on the rulesets. I will definately take those into consideration as I create my custom ruleset. I've been trying to modify the dice using the completely independent ruleset, but so far I've had no avail. Any advice on that?

Well I added a D3 dice to the SRD ruleset as well as a test dice called DOMT (Deck of Many Things) to test out simulating the deck (1-22). I created my own gameelements.xml file for the SRD ruleset and changed the reference in my base.xml to:

<includefile source="rulesets\d20-SRD\gameelements.xml" />

Note how it is relative to the Fantasy Grounds.exe.

The new entries in gameelements.xml look like so:

<die name="DOMT"> 
      <values list="1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22"/> 
      <icon file="data\icons\d20_icon.png" /> 
</die>
<die name="d3">
        <values list="1,2,3" />
	<icon file="data\icons\d4_icon.png" />
</die>

Note that you can roll the DOTM by just doing /roll DOMT or /roll 3DOMT to roll 3 times. The only problem is once a card is "used" you would have to reroll on those numbers or edit the definition between sessions. I also tried adding text values but it ignores all non-numerics. (I assume so you can drag it properly to number controls).

[pentay]

But were you able to add a "die" on the table? That's what I'm trying to do. Like all 5 dice to be d6's or d8's. It seems the game engine doesn't recognize it or I still need to find it in the files (which I'm doing detailed analysis of).

[Ged]

You can only relocate the default positions of the dice but not get rid off or change the types of them in the current release.

[pentay]

Also, referring to the old files will mean less transfer of data when the clients connect.

Of course, this might actually be what you want if you are working on a completely different set of rules.

We've built our custom ruleset and have transferred all the files (i.e. ruleset, tokens, etc) over to the computers who use it that get transferred during the connection.

The problems is when the clients connect, FG wants to transfer everything again. Why doesn't transferring work?

[vayman]

I am unable to get a custom d3 into my ruleset, though I followed the steps above.

In my gameelements.xml file, I added the following code...

<die name="d3">
<values list="1,2,3" />
<icon file="data\icons\d3_icon.png" />
</die>

(The d3_icon.png is just a duped version of the d6)

From inside the game, I type in /die 1d3 but I get no result.

Is there something I am missing? Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Vayman

[Morfedel]

try using one of the standard dice first, and see if it works. If so, then you will know its an issue with the die graphic.

[kalmarjan]

This link should help you out in this problem

Sandeman