Topic: ERA for Rolemaster - Creating characters and managing adventures

[Jenkyna]

One other note I wanted to make. I kind of realized belatedly you are talking about RMFRP. All my stuff was done under RMC. I believe professions are handled a bit differently in RMFRP, and I am not familiar with that rule set. Voriig or someone who knows RMFRP would have to advise you on the specifics of adjusting the a profession for those rules. While the fundamentals of working with ERA and xml are going to be the same I have heard enough to know that there may be some file inter-dependencies I couldn't even guess at.

[Voriig Kye]

I think I said it before, but I'll say it again: it's really nice to see ERA users helping each other out based on their own experiences.

Now, on to the question. I'd suggest grouping all issues regarding advanced customization of the system in this thread.
If you need to add professions, the idea to make first a copy and just change the name to get a handle of this is excellent.
With that we could confirm if you are finding the right directories and files that need adjusting before diving into the changes themselves.

Once that works, if making some changes leaves the system unresponsive or with some error message, you can send the files you are working on to the support account: era-support.voriigkye@recursor.net.

I don't think changing things in RMFRP should be any more difficult than in RMC, but I could be wrong.
Adding races, spells and professions should have no impact on the previous state of things. It's when you add skills, or categories, that you need to be more careful with the files in your installation.

Anyway, let us know how your experiment goes, and thanks for your efforts!

[Jenkyna]

What I don't know about RMFRP is the packages element. It's not so much that I think it could be harder, I just don't know what's involved or how ERA manages that element.

[rax]

Good news! I gave it another try, and this time it worked.

I did one thing differently - instead of opening the Fighter file and saving it under a new name, which changed the file ending, I copied it and renamed it without opening it first.

After that I did everything the same as before, but took it step by step as the White Wolf suggested - and in the end, all the changes were successfully implemented. I even built a test character, and everything worked fine.

I'm now considering adding the other professions from School of Hard Knocks, but there's a difference that I'm not sure how to handle - Barbarian and Outrider both have a profession bonus in a skill category, rather than a skill group. So I guess I'll be heading over to the other thread to ask how to fix that... 

 

[Jenkyna]

Good news! I gave it another try, and this time it worked.

Awesome, happy editing.

[Voriig Kye]

Another update is here.

- To improve the customization options for different groups, custom professions can give the cost of skills that are not included in the basic skill list of the ruleset. This will make any new character with that profession to add the skill by default, with the lists cost and stats.

- The missing number of ranks and rank bonus in the RMFRP printable character sheet has been fixed.

Apart from that, you might notice a slight design change in the module selection screen. This is part of an ongoing effort to modernize the UI framework used in ERA (the original is more than 5 years old!)

[TLemke]

I just tried the latest ERA update,28JUL2018, and it will not start. I even did a fresh install.

[Jenkyna]

I'm having no issues with the Mac version. I have not tried the PC version.

Edit: Actually I take that back. I think I had to fix an issue with one of the files. Subduing had the wrong maneuver type, but I am using a modified 'skills' file with skills from the companions. The issue could have been with me overwriting a good file with my modded file and then of course my file contained obsolete code.

If the specific error you are getting on start relates to something being wrong in the skills.xml file then you may have the same issue I did, and it might be a bug in the newly updated package.

[Voriig Kye]

Hi. Whenever ERA does not start we should get some clue as to what's blocking it.
Please send the following information to the support account: era-support.voriigkye@recursor.net
- What operating system are you using?
- What Rolemaster ruleset are you using?
- When you start the server, does the server window appear? What does it say?
- Does your browser open? What does it show?
- After starting the server, try opening a new tab in your browser on the server computer, go to http://localhost:7777/ERA and check what you see there.
- Check in the installation directory if there is a file ERA/Server/ERA-Support.log and send it as an attachment

With this information we'll surely be able to sort out the issue.

@The White Wolf some skills were corrected for RMC in the latest update.
- Subduing was incorrectly listed as an Offensive Bonus
- Meditation was listed in the Crafts category instead of Self Control

These changes required all the RMC professions to be updated, and that is why anyone playing RMC should make sure to update all packages that contain professions (Character Law, Companion I, Combat Companion).
For the same reason, those with custom professions should make sure to make the change as well.
Sorry I forgot to clarify that in the previous post.

And since I'm remembering things now... there's also an update to Channeling Companion. It now includes the priests templates! Start a new character and make your favorite Priest, be it a non,semi,pure or hybrid.

[Jenkyna]

@The White Wolf some skills were corrected for RMC in the latest update.
- Subduing was incorrectly listed as an Offensive Bonus
- Meditation was listed in the Crafts category instead of Self Control

Ok, then definitely my issue was related to me putting an the file back in place. I tend to restore the modified files slowly after an update to see if any issues pop up, and I couldn't recall if I hit the problem with skills.xml before I put my copy of it back in place.

[silarkhar]

Thanks to Voriig Kye who continues to develop ERA.

[Voriig Kye]

Another update today. This is mainly for Windows users. Some people reported the last version did not start, please try with this new one and let us know how it went.
The only change in functionality, regardless of Operating System, is that the adventure log for attacks, maneuvers and spell casting will include the exact number rolled, in addition to the result and the rest of the information it was providing before.

There is also the matter of 2 new products today, but I'll start a new thread for those.

[Ephraim]

I'm beginning to get the feel for the DM side of this program, but I still don't see how the PC uses it. I keep seeing references to using mobile devices, but when I use a remote device, I just get the complete DM screen. Also, how does one use the herald function to reach the players?

[Ephraim]

Well, wouldn't you know. After hours of struggling, I found out how it worked only moments after I posted a plea for help. Now my only question is:

How do you keep players from logging into the DM portion of the program?

[Voriig Kye]

I'm beginning to get the feel for the DM side of this program, but I still don't see how the PC uses it. I keep seeing references to using mobile devices, but when I use a remote device, I just get the complete DM screen. Also, how does one use the herald function to reach the players?

There's an old tutorial video which might help.
The basic idea is that after the GM has created the adventure and added the characters, the players log to the module selection, choose "player status" and then their character.
The assumption is that they can then bookmark that page in their phones/tablets, and next time use that directly (the URL just needs the character name).
From there they can also open the spellbook module, which lists all spells known to the character.

Well, wouldn't you know. After hours of struggling, I found out how it worked only moments after I posted a plea for help. Now my only question is: How do you keep players from logging into the DM portion of the program?

I'm assuming players are honest enough not to go into the adventuring module. You could manage some sort of URL block for those accessing from outside the GM's computer, but that would require some networking skills and should be considered advanced customization.

In any case, please keep the questions coming. I think there is a lot of unexplored potential for ERA outside of just creating characters. Thanks for your interest!

[Ephraim]

Is it possible to add custom avatars to creature templates?

Is it standard practice for the players to log in and manage there own character level-ups?

Thanks for the hard work on this program. I had walked away from Rolemaster because of the difficulty in managing players (especially new ones). This looks like its going to make things much easier.

[Voriig Kye]

Is it possible to add custom avatars to creature templates?

There is currently no feature for that. It might be added in the future, probably from a sort of Creature workshop module.

Is it standard practice for the players to log in and manage there own character level-ups?

They would normally do that from a computer with a "normal" screen instead of a phone or tablet. I've had a player level up using a 7'' tablet, but it's not the best user experience.

Thanks for the hard work on this program. I had walked away from Rolemaster because of the difficulty in managing players (especially new ones). This looks like its going to make things much easier.

I'm glad you're liking it! Using ERA, I've already introduced 5 players to the game who had no prior knowledge of RPGs at all. You could even say that 2 of them still don't know most of the rules, but thanks to ERA, they can see the relevant features and let the GM handle any details. As players get more involved in the game they will ask to create their own characters, understand the rules of combat, etc. on their own time.

[Voriig Kye]

There is a new ERA version for you to download.

The most relevant highlight is the option to add a character during the adventure by choosing an XML character file from wherever you want. This allows preparing NPCs for the adventures and then go look for them on a need-by-need basis, instead of cramming all characters ever created in the characters directory.

Also, NPCs created in the Adventuring Module can specify a level, which is useful for RR purposes.

The specific stats for each skill can now be specific in the Character Sheet module, which will be in addition to the category bonus.

You can also edit the maneuver difficulties by hand, although this is considered advanced customization (and would require modifying the movement maneuver table as well).

Finally, for RMFRP we added some missing maneuver tables.

Please bear with me if forum answers and feature development slow down a bit in the comings months, we've just added a Lvl 0 Arcane Baby to our party at home, it's our firstborn, and it does not include a manual.

[Voriig Kye]

Is it possible to add custom avatars to creature templates?

I just realized that this is possible in the current version, although it borders on advanced customization.

You just need to:

• Add the creature to the adventure
• Rename it with a custom name of your choice (using the scroll option on the top of the radial menu)
• Save (scribe) the adventure
• Leave the avatar image in /ERA/Server/Resources/Avatars. It should be a .png file with the new name of the NPC
• Load the adventure

If anyone tries this and needs help with any of the steps, please let me know

[Voriig Kye]

There is a new ERA version for you to download.

In this release, we have better support for NPCs. You can now customize the skills and spell lists of all characters in the adventuring module, indicating bonus and number of ranks.

So now your NPCs can maneuver and cast spells as well.
You can create an adventure before the session with any NPC whose skills and spells are relevant and get everything ready.

For those willing to do advanced customization, there is the possibility of indicating skills, spell lists and power points per level for the creature templates XML.

I am currently working on adding the PP/lvl and spells of all creatures in the books currently available for ERA.

Enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions about the new features.