Extend subclasses for existing classes?

[Speculi]

Hi, how can I extend the list of subclasses/specialisations for existing classes?

I saw with Xanathar's Guide to Everything, that is should be technically possible to extend the list of subclasses. Independent of which class entry I choose to drag on my character to level up and gain my specialisation, it would show me ALL specialisations. The ones from the PHB and from XGtE.

So, if I have the PHB and XGtE loaded, I can drag for example the Barbarian entry from either PHB or XGtE on my class to reach level 3 I get the popup to choose between:

• Path of the Berserker
• Path of the Totem Warrior
• Path of the Ancestral Guardian
• Path of the Storm Herald
• Path of the Zealot

Is there a way to do this for Homebrew, or new subclasses where I don't own the FG module, but already have the book/pdf?

If I try to do this by copying the SRD class and add just the new subclass I want, this doesn't seem to work. I only get my new subclass if I use my special class and I don't get the subclasses from the PHB.
I already now how to add an entirely new class and add subclasses to it, but that's not what I want.

[Nyghtmare]

The way that I do it is to copy the base class from the SRD and then add the archetype (subclass) that I want to that.

You need to add it to a class... not just create the archetype on its own.

[Speculi]

In my tests, this has the downside, that I always need to drag and drop this copied version to the class on level up, otherwise FG doesn't seem to recognize the added archetype. With the store-bought XGtE module Fantasy Grounds is able to pick the added archetype up, no matter which class entry I drag on my character on level up.

[Zacchaeus]

I don't think homebrew class archetypes will be added to the list. Anything exported from FG is done so in a different format. Everything is numbered rather than given the name of the class or archetype. If you look at the exported output from FG for a class you'll see that it is given an id in the format <id-xxxxx>. Whereas in the output from something like the PHB this would be <barbarian>. You may find that if you change the id tags to the class you want it might work. I rather thank it may be more complex than that.

[Speculi]

Ah, I will have a look at the exported modules. I did my testing only inside a campaign, without exporting it. Maybe I can do some XML editing afterwards.

Thanks for the pointer!

[Speculi]

Just to give back some information:
Apparently it indeed is possible to copy i.e. the Barbarian from the SRD, add a new archetype/specialization, export it into a module and manually change the <id-xxxxx></id-xxxxx> tags into <barbarian></barbarian>.
This way you while you level up the character, you get to choose from all available Primal Path options on level 3. Independent on which entry you dragged onto you character.

Beware, I only did a quick test with this, not sure if it might break anything else, but it didn't seem to do.

When you copy from the SRD, you should remove any existing specialization (and maybe the corresponding features/abilities as well) from the new entry before you export it. Otherwise those will show up two times in the level up pop up.

Thanks Zacchaeus for pointing me towards this.

[sstarsslayer]

manually change the <id-xxxxx></id-xxxxx> tags into <barbarian></barbarian>

Looks like I've got 18 modules that don't have their specializations included in the prompt when players level. I tried editing some of them but it doesn't seem to work.
Screen Shot 2020-07-18 at 5.05.29 PM.png
eg the above "ranger" class record used to say "id-00001". Am I doing it wrong?

[Zacchaeus]

You'll need an end tag as well. Your image doesn't show that.

[sstarsslayer]

After some more testing, I see I've made some progress. I edited a few of the modules xml tags, including the end tag, to say ranger.
Now if using one of my edited modules to level up, the specialization/archetype prompt shows the combination of all specializations for all modules I've edited and does not show the ones I've not yet edited.
The problem though is it still doesn't show the specializations from the encrypted modules. Or if leveling using one of the encrypted modules, such as the PHB, it will still only prompt for all the specializations from all of the encrypted modules combined. This is why I thought it wasn't working at all when I made my post.
Perhaps the PHB doesn't use "ranger" ? I think it could spell or capitalize it differently or say something like "Ranger_class" and I wouldn't be able to tell anywhere.

[Zacchaeus]

I'm not sure what your answer is. The choosing of the archetypes is done by the ruleset and not by the class specifically. But if the xml is correct (and it may require some code elsewhere other than in the class bit itself) then I think it should pick up all of the archetypes.