Topic: Character generator/character sheet for Spacemaster 2nd edition

[international1]

Hit points = Base Hits (con/10) + hit die per level of body development x Con Bonus/100.  The hit die could be random as you like it our set as a fixed number.  This could be done through the data sheet at the end I expect.  So basically Con 90 and 2 levels of Body development for a race with 8D for hit die results in a total of: 25hp assuming you use the fixed 8 pts for body development.  Then assuming a +10 con stat bonus you would add 10% to the 25 for a total of 27HP.  This should be easy to forumulate.  This of course would be tied to the racial hp limits in your database as well.  As for keeping track of hp, it would be easier if fixed numbers were used rather than random.  So many levels of BD always equals 4 or 8 pts, etc.  However, I am sure there is a way to program the sheet to keep track of the last number when you are randomizing, but I woud expect that to be a bit more complicated.  I am not an expert on programming.

Implementing hobbies as you suggest makes sense.

Power point development should be easy to implement as well.  I would be alot less inclined to worry about Psionic Training since that would be a vast minority of characters whereas power point development is key to using a telepath or semi telepath. Everyone would have PPs based upon their stat, but PP development would allow you to increase the amount of ppts.  Of course, semi telepaths stat for PP development differs dependin on what realm they choose.  Another complication that ideally would be handled through the wizard.

[international1]

By the way, based upon the changes you say you have made.  I would hope you would upload a new version soon.  I could really use the newer version.  Selfishly, I can't transfer my psychic players to this system until the semi telepath is fixed.  Of course the whole PP and HP issue is complicated and I would prefer it were automated, but I could at least work with that in the interim.

[international1]

Terry

A few other issues that I discovered.  I was playing with meditation as a semi telepath which had a cost of 1/2/2.  For some reason skills with the option to buy three levels wouldn't calculate.  Also, you can't add another weapon skill unless you have that weapon equipped.  There should be the option to buy other weapons skills that you don't necessarily carry around with you.

On the equipment sheet you can't add equipment without it adding to your encumberance.  In some cases you won't be carrying the actual equipment on your person.  You also can't buy more than one item such as a power cell.  The equipment sheet doesn't seem to handle multiples.

Maybe there just needs to be a section to add equipment that doesn't add to your weight and maybe a column that allows you to add multiples of equipment or a seperate ammunition area where one may carry multiples of ammunition.

[TerryTee]

Not quite there yet with a new version...
Incorporating the Semi Telepath involves a new Form, combining this new code with some old code in order to avoid double code, new datasheet functionality, new ways of calculating skill costs, and a few other things. I?m on it though;-)

There is no total weight calculation on Equipment. The player must handle this manually.
Adding functionality for this will again add complexity, so I?ll have to think about this.
Similar thing for adding several identical items. The problem arises with regards to weight and cost per piece or for all carried pieces. Throwing in a calculation for total carried weight will complicate things further, since the player may carry e.g. half of the power cells listed in one row on the sheet.
One thought is to add two columns to the right, where you type number of items carried, and it gives you the weight for those items.
If so, the columns will be : Name, Weight  (one item), Cost (one item), Number of items owned, Description, Type, Number of items carried, Weight of carried items.
The order of the columns may be played around with.

Another idea for equipment is to do a total calculation of items bought so that the player can deduct from cash holdings. This will probably not be an automatic deduction, for a number of reasons.

Weapons skills and equipment
At the moment, you may only add weapon categories as skill, not individual weapons. I have actually not thought too much on this issue, so I guess I have been happy with the idea that you have at least one of each weapon that you have a skill in.
This can be changed, so that actual weapons show up as skills, but I think I?ll leave it for now. An interim fix can be to allow adding a weapon purely as a skill form the Equipment Form.


Skills with cost 1\2\2 is a bug and will be fixed (skills with cost 1\2\* works though).

 -Terry

[international1]

You could have two tables for equipment.  One where you carry the equipment and one for equipment that isn't carried.  And yes I think a column where you can add a number for items such as ammunition could be helpful.  Although, I have also seen a sheet where ammo was a seperate listing. The main problem now is that you cannot list more than one piece of equipment.  I would think calculating costs would be fairly simple.  A character has x elmonits and each piece of equipment costs a certain amount which could be deducted if necessary.  Of course, you should be able to add equipment to your sheet as well that you didn't buy (ie loot).


As for the weapon skills, it is very common for players to have skills in more than one weapon and it is also very common for players not to necessarily own the weapon they may have skills in.

[TerryTee]

Just a quick question on Semi Telepath:

The base field decides several things:

I assume Prime stats are the same as Requisite.
Visions      SD,IN   
Alteration   SD,EM   
Control      SD,PR   
Self-mastery SD,PR   

The stat bonus for developing Psion Lists differs from the Prime stat
Visions      IN
Alteration  EM
Control      PR
Self-mastery  SD

Now, does the stat used to calculate PP, and the stat used as a stat bonus for PP Dev change with the Base Field as well?

Regarding equipment and cash:
There?s no problem including cost calculation when buying equipment. My ?problem? is that I feel players tend to mark down stuff like money, ammo etc on a separate sheet, since they use a print out while playing. A cash holding in the excel-sheet will quite often be wrong?
I?ll look into incorporating an optional calculation thingy later (don?t worry Int1, I?ll do that after the Semi Tel is done).

I agree on the fact that players may have skills, but not carry the corresponding weapons, I just never though of it I guess. The workaround is fairly simple though: Add the weapon as Equipment, and then delete it from the equipment sheet later. I?ll have to look into fixing it later, either as a special weapons section on the Skill Form, or as a special version of the Equipment form named something like ?Weapon Skills Form?.

-Terry

[international1]

The stat bonus for PP development really doesn't matter...although I will need to check.  PP development like BD simply uses the number of ranks developed in a formula to determine the actual PP.

Also, a quick fix to many programming issues that I seem to stumble upon may be fixed by including all of the skills on the skill portion of the main sheet.  That makes it easier to refer to a specific cell to calculate something like BD, PP, Armor Encumberence.  This came to mind as I was looking at the fact that you don't have a spot for Adrenal Defense on the main sheet.  My experience is that players value having all of this infomation for things such as encumberance and DB in one place.

My experience with money is the same.  My players truely value the ability to track things on the spreedsheet vice paper.  I would argue that most players are moving in that direction other than the true old timers.  I have been gaming for more than 20 years and I prefer using computer aids since it simplifies the record keeping.  The less players need to flip back and forth on a character sheet to determine OB, DB, PP, etc and the less they have to calculate things on their own the more time is devoted to the enjoyable part which is the adventure.  I don't know many people who want to be engaged full time in bookkeeping.  SM/RM are great systems but they do lend themselves to extensive bookkeeping.

As for the weapon skill, if you choose my method of listing all of the skills (there could also be an option to hide skills that had no ranks in them) then you could list several spots under each weapon category that a player could assign an optional name.  The spreadsheets for RMFRP/SM:P take this approach and it seems to work well.  Basically, when you choose the class you wouldn't need to add each skill to the main sheet, but the choice of the class will automatically enter in the costs for each skil.

[Allen]

Just downloaded it and... well it's just what I need for the game I plyaing in.
if it gets better... whoa!
Thanks for the time and effort put into this.
Also, sent you a PM with a request that's not pertienent to the thread.
again, thanks!!!

Allen

[TerryTee]

Thanks Allen, I?m lad you like it.

Now for a quick update.

The good news:
Version 5.2 with better support for adjusting professions such as semi telepath, true telepath, and professions without set primary stats is pretty much finished. (Some other features are added as well).

The bad news:
Version 5.2 need some more testing and bug fixing, since the new functionality led to a fair bit of complexity.

-Terry

[international1]

Great news.  I am looking forward to it.  I am willing to test for bugs if you like.

[international1]

Terry

I am not sure how you are implementing the Psion/Spell lists, but there is the same problem with implementing lists as there is with weapons.  Currently, you have to keep track of all of it manually.  If you buy X ranks in a
Psion list or lists the skill just keeps track of the total amounts and not which list.  Ideally when you choose a psion/spell list to acquire the points spent would be specific to that list.  The way the sheet is set up now you can't choose spell list acquisition a second time or third to keep track of points spent on each list.  This is a fairly important aspect of developing any caster type.

[TerryTee]

Good point.
You can not add specific Lists as skills, but the workaround is quite easy though: Add the skill for the right Field,  copy and paste that skill with all the columns in the SKILLSHEET, and change the name to whatever (Psion list Dev: Armour)  afterwards. No need to keep track manually, but you?d need a manual step to get several skills.
I?m not sure if it?s a good thing to have all lists as separate skills either, but it might be ok.

-Terry

[international1]

I will take a look at it.  I think it would be good to try to make things as automated as possible to limit confusion among players who have even more problems with a spreadsheet than I do.  If you look at the character sheets for SM:P you will see that again each Psion skill has its own place on the sheet.  I don't know how to program, but it would make sense to try to automate at some point.  As I mentioned previously, I will be using the rules whereby a Telepath doesn't need to roll for a spell list since this isn't fair when compared with non psion/spell users who get value out of each DP spent immediately.  This means a Telepath will develop multiple lists at a time.  Even when using one of the other development options you will need to the option to assign DPs to multiple lists.

[TerryTee]

New version out now: 5.2.
New features are listed on the downlaod page and the README file.
Comments, bug reports and new ideas are welcome.
http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item615

-Terry

[Allen]

"...and it was good!"
Excellent Terry, I'm really liking this all the way around.
Top Stuff.

New version out now: 5.2.
New features are listed on the downlaod page and the README file.
Comments, bug reports and new ideas are welcome.
http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item615

-Terry

[BjornAgain]

Just thought I?d advertise a bit and mention that I?ve uploaded a character sheet / character generator for Spacemaster 2nd edition (Excel workbook) to the Vault.
Questions, feedback and feature requests are welcome.

http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item611

-Terry

God bless you, Terry  you've done a great service, even today. Know that your contribution to this forum is still very much appreciated, and I hope you're doing well.