Topic: ERA for Rolemaster - Creating characters and managing adventures

[Voriig Kye]

If I don't roll the dice for "Cast spell" and instead just accept then it doesn't reduce them.

If you are not going to enter a roll for the casting, you won't be able to determine the casting result, that is why the dialog does nothing. When preparation rounds, penalties, etc don't matter, you should use the quick cast dialog.

[Voriig Kye]

Welcome to another message where you learn about new features in ERA.

- The creature file format has been simplified so that NPCs can be created with minimum effort. Both RMC and RMFRP now include a Thug example, where you can see how to declare weapons and skills. Spells are also allowed, see the Phoenix example for that.

- The customization dialog has a new option to indicate that parry declarations are to be kept once declared, instead of defaulting always to 0.

- The attack dialog no longer shows a fumble and a critical button. After rolling the attack, accepting the dialog will open the fumble or critical dialog if the result indicates it.

- All races can now indicate a default stride modification. This requires the race to indicate <StrideModification>NUMBER</StrideModification> in their XML file.

- RMFRP races can now include power point development for custom realms. This requires the race to indicate
<REALMNAMEPowerPointProgression progression="PROGRESSION"></REALMNAMEPowerPointProgression> in their XML file.

- In case you have multiple book files adding spells with a repeated spell name, you can break the ties by manually setting a spell list with that name, which will take precedence over any list in the book files.

- Also some bugs have been fixed, maybe you didn't even notice about them ;-)

If you need assistance or more clarification with any of the features, please let us know, either here or by starting a new thread with your question. Thanks to all those using ERA and making requests to keep it improving!

[Voriig Kye]

ERA got updated!
Why should you care?

Bug fixing:
- Installed creatures from book packages can once again be attacked (the previous version was preventing attack results against them)

Relevant to house ruling:
- Variant Professions: this allows (1) adding or changing the costs, bonuses and everything that a profession implies, which will override the information in the book packages installed, (2) use an existing profession as base and create a new one with only changes for the listed information.
An example "Angry Fighter" is provided in the /Professions directory. The file format is the same, except that the main tag is VariantProfession, and a baseProfession must be mentioned, if the name is the same then it will be replaced.
This means you can add the costs for your custom categories without re-creating all professions, and also offer things like clerics for different gods without repeating all the stuff that stays the same, or professions with changed realm and only some changes in skill costs.

Also:
- Character movement in status module. Players accessing their characters during an adventure can compute distances in hexes, meters, feet, and percentage, a tool which was previously only available to the GM.
- When adding custom weapon categories, existing professions will automatically use the highest cost for them. They can then be re-ordered as usual when creating a character.
- Custom races can indicate a size adjustment that will be used by default for new characters.

[MrKinister2]

Hello, there ERA crowd,

First of all, I'd like to say "Thank You" for a wonderful program. It is fantastic and helps with RM character generation quite immeasurably.

Now, I have a question regarding characters. I and my GM, who lives in another (frozen) part of the world, both have the latest version of ERA. I have created a character on my installed instance, and have made it available for download via a shared folder.

However, when my GM attempts to open the file, he gets an error. Specifically:

MessageNotUnderstood: NullResistanceRollBonus>> #specialBonus:

So, he can't open the character up.

What are we doing wrong? Same version, same available "books" installed.

Any help would be appreciated. =)

[MrKinister2]

I have another question regarding ERA:

I am using the version available on DriveThruRPG. Is that the latest one? When you say "ERA has been updated", is this the version you are referring to?

As I create a character, I want to add a Training Package. It faithfully removes the Training Package costs from my available development points. But when I want to add the Training Package ranks, it continues to remove points from my available development points. The only way I can add those ranks now is by editing the skills and categories directly, outside of the level up process. And if I do so, no log of the increased ranks is made available. In the "History" tab, all I see is the training package name and its DP cost.

Is that as intended? Am I missing something? I checked on the available YouTube tutorials, but I could not find a mention on that specific mechanic.

[Hurin]

If I could just tack on a question too: what is the current state of ERA's support for RMU?

[Voriig Kye]

First of all, I'd like to say "Thank You" for a wonderful program. It is fantastic and helps with RM character generation quite immeasurably.

Thanks!

However, when my GM attempts to open the file, he gets an error. Specifically:
MessageNotUnderstood: NullResistanceRollBonus>> #specialBonus:

If both installations have the same contents, characters should be usable without any issues.
Please write to the support account era-support.voriigkye@recursor.net with the character in question and the list of installed modules.

I am using the version available on DriveThruRPG. Is that the latest one? When you say "ERA has been updated", is this the version you are referring to?

Yes, if you get a notification that ERA has been updated, you just log into DriveThruRPG and download again. Unless you have custom content that affects the files included with ERA, you can overwrite over your previous installation. Updates to book packages require re-downloading and re-installing through the dialog in ERA.

As I create a character, I want to add a Training Package. It faithfully removes the Training Package costs from my available development points. But when I want to add the Training Package ranks, it continues to remove points from my available development points. The only way I can add those ranks now is by editing the skills and categories directly, outside of the level up process. And if I do so, no log of the increased ranks is made available. In the "History" tab, all I see is the training package name and its DP cost.
Is that as intended? Am I missing something? I checked on the available YouTube tutorials, but I could not find a mention on that specific mechanic.

Sadly, yes. The "DP Pack" option will reduce DPs and list the package in the character, but ranks must then be edited manually. There are historic reasons for this that do not hold true today, so the improvement of this feature is a planned and highly prioritized feature for this year.

[/quote]

If I could just tack on a question too: what is the current state of ERA's support for RMU?

ERA for RMU is as ready as it can be: you can create characters, level them up, cast spells, resolve attacks and criticals, etc. It will be included in the free version and also there will be a Character Law package with the configuration files just as for RMC and RMFRP.
Since Creature Law is not ready, it does not yet have creature support, or more likely, just uses the RMFRP format until something forces it to change. If all goes according to plan, you will have ERA for RMU the moment you have your RMU books.

[Hurin]

ERA for RMU is as ready as it can be: you can create characters, level them up, cast spells, resolve attacks and criticals, etc. It will be included in the free version and also there will be a Character Law package with the configuration files just as for RMC and RMFRP.
Since Creature Law is not ready, it does not yet have creature support, or more likely, just uses the RMFRP format until something forces it to change. If all goes according to plan, you will have ERA for RMU the moment you have your RMU books.

Awesome, thank you so much!

[MrKinister2]

Thank you. =)

I shall write directly to that support email and describe our installed packages.

Much appreciated. =D

[MrKinister2]

One more request: I noticed that once I am looking at a character sheet, there is no way for me to return to the Main Menu via any links.

Would it be possible to include menu navigation in the various modules?

Thanks.

[Hurin]

I would second MrKinister2's comments.

I'm also having a problem assigning prime stats in the RMC module. I can drag the pairs of temps/potentials easily into the boxes for all other stats, but I can't drag the two prime stats for some reason. I keep moving them over but they just snap back to the box to the left of the stat name. I actually did once I think get the prime stat in the box on the left; but I tried for 10 minutes and was not able to do it any other time.

[Hurin]

Not sure what the problem is, but I tried on a different computer and it worked fine. The bonus numbers didn't seem to line up on the old computer, when it didn't work, so I'm not sure if maybe the zoom or something was causing the problem?

Anyway, now that I've played with this a bit more, I have to say: wow, this is really useful! I am definitely going to use it for RMU.

Have you ever thought of integrating this with Roll20? It would be amazing to be able to roll up and level up a character in this, and then import it into Roll20.

[Voriig Kye]

One more request: I noticed that once I am looking at a character sheet, there is no way for me to return to the Main Menu via any links.
Would it be possible to include menu navigation in the various modules?

Most modules can reach the module selection by going back once in the browser. For character sheets you might need several back steps since loading a character is basically changing the webpage. In any case your request has been noted and will be considered.

I'm also having a problem assigning prime stats in the RMC module. I can drag the pairs of temps/potentials easily into the boxes for all other stats, but I can't drag the two prime stats for some reason. I keep moving them over but they just snap back to the box to the left of the stat name. I actually did once I think get the prime stat in the box on the left; but I tried for 10 minutes and was not able to do it any other time.

This has been know to happen because prime stats tend to be higher, and once the potential reaches 100 there's more chance that the zoom puts a part of the text on the following line. The drag and drop that ERA uses on this step is a third-party tool that sadly has this drawback. In any case we will do another check to see if the step can be improved.

Anyway, now that I've played with this a bit more, I have to say: wow, this is really useful! I am definitely going to use it for RMU.

RMU stats do not work exactly like that, so you'll see (once it's published!) that the steps involved are slightly different. And feedback will be welcome!

Have you ever thought of integrating this with Roll20? It would be amazing to be able to roll up and level up a character in this, and then import it into Roll20.

I don't know the first thing about Roll20, so I wouldn't know. There is support to import ERA characters into Fantasy Grounds thanks to Dadakin who did all the work.
I think there may not be any copyright issues if someone does a conversion tool. It would be great to convince people to use existing ERA modules for the gaming sessions as well, although they are more focused on the GM and the players being at the same table, like it used to be pre-pandemic times.

[Hurin]

I don't know the first thing about Roll20, so I wouldn't know. There is support to import ERA characters into Fantasy Grounds thanks to Dadakin who did all the work.
I think there may not be any copyright issues if someone does a conversion tool. It would be great to convince people to use existing ERA modules for the gaming sessions as well, although they are more focused on the GM and the players being at the same table, like it used to be pre-pandemic times.

Thanks so much for your detailed answers.

Roll20 is another Virtual Table Top (VTT) -- I think it is currently the most used and most widely known one (the other well known ones would be I think Fantasy Grounds and now Foundry). They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but Roll20 is probably the easiest to use, even if Fantasy Grounds has more flexibility and probably more features. That's just my take on it though.

The reason I brought it up is that it looks like we're about to get our first real RMU character sheet for Roll20 (Pantsorama just submitted the pull request). D&D already has integration for Roll20 with its D&D Beyond tools; so when we play D&D, my players actually roll up, level up, and manage their characters on D&D Beyond, as we play on Roll20.

I was thinking that this would be a fantastic for Roll20 too. We now (or will soon) have the most basic thing we need for playing RMU on Roll20 (the character sheet); but in the long term the ERA tools offer much more support beyond that. So I guess I see you and Pantsorama kind of working alone, and wonder if you might do even more together. I'm sure you've developed some similar resources, such as lists of skill costs, cultural and racial bonuses, etc., that perhaps might save each of you some work; and while I have no idea what integrating the ERA with Roll20 would involve, I can't help but think about how great that could be. Just the ability to generate a character in ERA, click an attack, and have it resolve in Roll20 would be incredibly useful.

[alloowishus]

Hello, there ERA crowd,

First of all, I'd like to say "Thank You" for a wonderful program. It is fantastic and helps with RM character generation quite immeasurably.

Now, I have a question regarding characters. I and my GM, who lives in another (frozen) part of the world, both have the latest version of ERA. I have created a character on my installed instance, and have made it available for download via a shared folder.

However, when my GM attempts to open the file, he gets an error. Specifically:

MessageNotUnderstood: NullResistanceRollBonus>> #specialBonus:

So, he can't open the character up.

What are we doing wrong? Same version, same available "books" installed.

Any help would be appreciated. =)

I just had the same thing happen and I discovered it has to with the way the Mac formats the Resistances, it puts the tag short cut "/>" at the end for example:

<resistances>
<resistance concept="Mentalism" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Channeling" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Essence" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Psychic Power" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Poison" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Disease" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Physical" specialBonus="0" />
<resistance concept="Fear" specialBonus="0" />
</resistances>

Under windows it is expecting this:

<resistances><resistance concept="Mentalism" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
<resistance concept="Channeling" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
<resistance concept="Essence" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
<resistance concept="Poison" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
<resistance concept="Disease" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
<resistance concept="Physical" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
<resistance concept="Fear" specialBonus="0"></resistance>
</resistances>

So if you open up the xml file manually in a text editor and change this portion it should load.

[MrKinister2]

Hey, thanks for that observation.

In our case, me and my GM are both using Windows, and his installation moved the files into a restricted area where permissions would not allow changes to files. He moved his files elsewhere, and the app worked fine after that.

It is good to know, though, that Macs are formatting differently from PCs, although that shortcut should work just fine.

I will put this under my "toolbelt" for future reference. =)

[Voriig Kye]

Just for future reference, the issue mentioned with the Mac is not related to using a Mac at all, but because there are different ERA versions installed on the computers used.

The character format was changed in the version "2021-02-10". Characters generated from that version onwards can't be loaded in old installations.

As long as everyone on the same gaming group updates at the same time, this should not be an issue, but please check your versions if sharing character files, or any other configuration file.

[MrKinister2]

Good to know. Thank  you.

[Voriig Kye]

Grab new versions of your free ERA system, and also update any and all packages you have bought that include races, professions or cultures.

This is because now all of them will indicate the "category" which in the case of packages in DriveTruRPG means the name of the Rolemaster book, and for your custom configuration files can be whatever you want.
The categories in all of them can be used to filter when creating characters, and the corresponding step also includes a search box to filter by name and description.

Also, during character creation feel free to customize the base lists for your character.

And if you are playing RMC (or RM2) and use spell acquisition rules, you get a nice dialog after you finish leveling up, to remind you to roll the spell gain and put the corresponding ranks in the spell list.

[Voriig Kye]

ERA has been updated.

With this release, all steps during character creation should make better use of the screen.
Also, culture and hobby ranks have a new and improved step where you can get a better feel for the choices you are making. This requires re-downloading and re-installing the packages that contain cultures (Character Law, Shadow World, Races and Cultures).

Also there was a bug in the previous Combat Companion release, so please re-download and re-install that as well.

There are several improvements based on suggestions, so keep them coming!
- The ERA logo in the adventuring, treasure, character sheet and character creation modules can now be clicked to go back to the module selection screen.
- Editing a spell casting skill will offer to name it based on the installed spell lists (no more "how is it spelled exactly?").
- When attacking a new magnifying glass icon will give a detail of attack and defense to make sure everything is accounted for.
- The customization options allow you to use the professional bonus as you please: fixed, per level, per rank.