~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CharGen - An AD&D Character Generator Version 1.16 29. July 1993 by Troels Poulsen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer ~~~~~~~~~~ This program may not be sold, or otherwise distributed for financial gain. Please remember that this program is supplied 'as is': the entire risk as to the quality of the program is to the user. In no event will the author be liable for direct or indirect damage or loss resulting from the use of this program. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introducing CharGen 1.1 Contacting the author 1.2 Generel notes 1.3 The CharGen package 1.4 Installation of CharGen 1.5 Important !!! 1.6 Keyboard shortcuts 1.7 The character sheet 1.8 Sharing files with others 1.9 HELP Chapter 2 The Project menu 2.1 New 2.1.1 Enter 2.1.2 Random 2.2 Open 2.3 Save 2.4 Save As 2.5 Print 2.5.1 Character 2.5.2 Description 2.5.3 Spells 2.5.4 Psionics 2.6 About 2.7 Quit Chapter 3 The Edit menu 3.1 Race and Class 3.2 Ability Scores 3.3 Level and Xp 3.4 Saving Throws 3.5 Description 3.6 Notes Chapter 4 The Equip menu 4.1 Armor 4.2 Weapon 4.3 Magic Items 4.4 Equipment 4.5 Wealth Chapter 5 The Abilities menu 5.1 Fighting 5.2 Proficiencies 5.3 Spell Casting 5.4 Thieving Skills 5.5 Turning Undead 5.6 Psionics 5.7 Extra Abilities Chapter 6 The Design menu 6.1 Race 6.2 Class 6.3 Armor 6.4 Weapon 6.5 Proficiency 6.6 Spell 6.7 Priesthood 6.8 Wizard School 6.9 Psionics Chapter 7 The Settings menu 7.1 Options 7.1.1 This Character 7.1.2 New Characters 7.2 General 7.3 Sources 7.4 Printer 7.5 Format 7.5.1 Character 7.5.2 Spells 7.6 Show Full Sheet 7.7 Create Icons 7.8 Screen Mode 7.9 Font 7.9.1 Program 7.9.2 Character 7.10 Palette 7.11 Load Settings 7.12 Save Settings Chapter 8 Tool Types 8.1 PUBSCREEN 8.2 PROGRAMFONT 8.3 CHARACTERFONT 8.4 SETTINGS 8.5 CHARDATA 8.6 CHARACTERS 8.7 SCREEN 8.8 NOSIZE Chapter 9 Program Limitations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 1 Introducing CharGen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CharGen is a character-generation program that lightens the workload of the Dungeon Master in the roleplaying game >Advanced Dungeons & Dragons< (also known as AD&D) from TSR Inc. If you have no prior knowlegde of AD&D, the program will _not_ be of any great use to you. The program does _NOT_ replace any puplished material from TSR, i.e. you cannot learn the game from this program, nor can you learn the spells contained in the different source books from this program. CharGen is FreeWare. 1.1 Contacting the author If you have ideas for things that could improve the program, or if you find any bugs, please write to me, either via email: FidoNet: 2:230/311.19 (Troels Poulsen) AmigaNet: 105:450/9.19 (Troels Poulsen) normal mail (I've moved since last version was released): Troels Poulsen P.W. Tegnersvej 46 3070 Snekkersten Denmark The latest version of CharGen can be downloaded from the official CharGen support board: -* \/\/intermute Amiga/Mac BBS *- +45-86-180087, 24h, v32bis 2:230/823@Fidonet 39:140/110@Amiganet and 46:2100/10@Vnet Danish VNet coordinator - lots of RPG stuff online! or from the BBS where I am point: PitStop BBS Sysop: Thomas Agatz Fido: 2:230/311.0 Place: Copenhagen Phone: (+45) 31 19 74 59 You will also be able to request the file via the magic name CHARGEN from both BBS's. 1.2 Generel notes Be sure the settings in the Settings menu corresponds to the rules you use in your game, as this can influence the way certain rules are applied. If you cannot recreate a character from your game, check the menu items in the Settings menu. Do not use the '@' character, as this is used to embed printer escape sequences in your character sheet. If you do use it, there is a high propability that it will mess up your character sheet (or even crash the program if you are very unlucky!). In CharGen you will sometimes see a recessed gadget showing a number, with a integer gadget to the right of it, such as the pair shown under 'Edit, Level and Xp'. The first of these shows the total number (in this case the total number of hit points), and the second the adjustment you have applied (a kind of 'cheat' gadget). It is important for you to know that an adjustment entered into CharGen will be shown with a '+' or a '-'. A '+' should be taken to mean that it is a bonus, and a '-' means that the number is a penalty. Thus if you enter +2 in the THAC0 adjustment gadget, under 'Abilities, Fighting' you will see the THAC0 _decrease_ by 2. Under some of the very long scrolling lists you will find a string gadget named 'Find'. This gadget is a search gadget that allows you to enter a piece of text to search for. If the text piece is found, it will be the new top item in the list. The search ignores case, and doesn't need the full text (e.g. When searching the priest spell list for cure spells you can enter 'cure'. You will then see the next spell with the letters 'cure' in its name at the top of the list - this could be one of the Cure xxxxxx Wounds spells, or even the Obscurement spell). The search routine will wrap around, when it finds no matching name in the list below the present top. The program is still under development, and some parts are not implemented yet. I plan to expand the program using the following guidelines, but since I study at the same time it can take a while. o Print Character summary ( < 1/2 page). o Some standard magical items, other than weapons and armor, could be made available. 1.3 The CharGen package File Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in the CG dir... CharGen The program CharGen.doc This file History.doc Update history for the CharGen package CharData A directory libs13 A directory libs20 A directory Install_ReqTools An Install script for reqtools.library. in the CharData dir... Race Datafile for CharGen Class Datafile for CharGen Major Class Datafile for CharGen Armor Datafile for CharGen Weapon Datafile for CharGen Proficiency Datafile for CharGen Spells Datafile for CharGen Wizard Schools Datafile for CharGen Priesthoods Datafile for CharGen Psionics Datafile for CharGen Sources.prefs Settings file for CharGen CharGen.prefs Settings file for CharGen CharIcon.info Icon used by CharGen for character files. in the libs13 dir... reqtools.library Requester library for 1.3 by Nico François. in the libs20 dir... reqtools.library Requester library for 2.x+ by Nico François. 1.4 Installation of CharGen The following file structure must be kept so that CharGen can find it's data (or you can use the SETTINGS, CHARDATA and CHARACTERS tool types). CharGen Characters (Dir) * CharData (Dir) ** Armor Class Major Class Priesthoods Proficiency Psionics Race Spells Weapon Wizard Schools CharIcon.info Sources.prefs CharGen.prefs *** *) Must be named Characters, and must be in the same directory as CharGen, unless the CHARACTERS tooltype says otherwise. This is the initial directory. You can off course load characters from any source. **) Must be named CharData, and must be in the same directory as CharGen, unless the CHARDATA tooltype says otherwise. ***) Must be in the CharData directory, and must be named CharGen.prefs, unless the SETTINGS tooltype says otherwise. You can still load characters created with earlier versions of CharGen, but you might see minor changes in you character. You should read the History.doc to see what you can expect, when you load an old character into CharGen. In addition CharGen needs the following libraries, which must be the LIBS: directory. info.library - Get this from your workbench disk. diskfont.library - Get this from your workbench disk. reqtools.library - Use Install_ReqTools script to install (see below). 1.5 Important !!! CharGen uses the ReqTools.library © by Nico François to gain a Workbench 2.0-look on it's requesters, even under Workbench 1.3. CharGen must have at least version 2.0a of this library to function correctly. You must install the ReqTools.library in your LIBS: directory. Use the Install_ReqTools (by double-clicking it) script for this, since there are two versions of the library (one for 2.0+ and one for 1.3). If you are running Workbench 2.0 or lower, just use the Install_ReqTools script. If you are running under Workbench 2.1 or higher, get hold of the ReqTools package (version 2.0a or higher), if you would like to 'localize' ReqTools. Many thanks to Nico for this great library. 1.6 Keyboard shortcuts In order to cut down on the number switches between the keyboard and the mouse you have to make, CharGen provides you with the following keyboard shortcuts: All versions of WB: o If no string gadget on the screen is activated, and you press , the first string gadget (if there is one) on the screen will activate. o When you use to exit a string gadget, the next gadget (if there is one) will be activated. When using (and , see below) to walk among the string gadgets on the screen, CharGen will wrap around when reaching the last/first string gadget (i.e. if you press in the last string gadget, then the first string gadget will be activated and vica versa). WB version 2.0 and up: o If you use instead of just when exiting a string gadget, the previous string gadget (if there is one) will be activated, not the next. o You can make a cycle gadget cycle the opposite way by holding down the key while clicking it. o The up/down cursor keys can be used to scroll through a scrolling list. If there are two such lists on screen at any one time, the second can be scrolled by using the right/left cursor keys. It only works if no string gadget is active on the screen at the same time. o When using the arrow gadgets of a scrolling list, or the cursor keys, pressing , , or on the keyboard has this function: : Move by a half view full. : Move by one view full. : Move to start or end of list. 1.7 The character sheet Ability Scores Str Strength Ht To hit bonus Dm Damage bonus Wt Weight allowance Op Open doors Bn Bend bars/Lift gates Dex Dexterity Reaction Reaction adjustment Attack Missile attack adjustment Defensive Defensive adjustment Con Constitution Hp Hit point adjustment System System shock Resurrect Resurrection survival Int Intelligence Languages Number of languages and bonus proficiencies Wis Wisdom Cha Charisma Henchmen Maximum number of henchmen Reaction Encounter reaction adjustment Loyal Loyalty adjustment Com Comeliness Saving Throws PPD Paralyzation, poison, or death magic RSW Rod, staff, or wand PP Petrification or polymorph BW Breath weapon SP Spell Dogde Bonus on saves that dexterity affects Elec Bonus on saves versus electricity Fire Bonus on saves versus fire Mind Bonus on saves versus mind affecting magic Pois Bonus on saves versus poison Weapon Skl Skill Nonproficient Prf Proficient Spc Specialist Stl Fighting style WS Weapon & shield style 1W Single weapon style 2H Two hander style 2W Two weapon style Hnd Hand P Used in primary hand S Used in secondary hand B Used in both hands Hit Roll needed to hit AC 0 (THAC0, but this was to long) Att Attacks per round Dammage Damage done Special Special notes: 'S M L' Range in tens of yards (Short/Medium/Long). If a weapon has a range, it is calculated as a missile weapon. '-X AC' AC bonus of X. '+Shield' Bonus shield attack each round. '+Dam' Possibility of extra Firearm damage. THAC0 To Hit Armor Class 0. This is the base value as opposed to 'Hit' which is the value adjusted for skill, magic and other things. 1.8 Sharing files with others If you play in a group where severel others also have CharGen, and you want to be able to share character files between you, there are severel steps you must take avoid problems: o Make sure you are all using the same (and newest) version of CharGen. o Make sure the datafiles are identical. This is only a problem if somebody in the group wish to design something. Appoint one of you to have the 'Master files' and design everything here. Then make copies of the master files (the CharData directory) and distribute them. There are two reasons that the latter is nessesary. The first is simple, the second complex: If a person designs something and uses it in a character which he then saves and gives to another, the other person's CharGen will have no information about the data the first person designed (while this could be a minor problem if it was a spell, imagine trying to load a character of a class that doesn't exsist in your system - CharGen would simply refuse to load the character). CharGen gives each data item (a spell, a weapon, or whatever...) a identification number. If two people independently designs something (e.g. a spell) it will have the same identification number, even though they are very different (one could be a 1'st level spell, the other a 9'th level). When a character is saved, only the identification number of his data items are saved, and not the data itself (would result in _very_ large files for spellcasters). So when a character, who can cast the 1'st level spell designed on the first system, is saved, and later loaded on the second system the character can now cast a 9'th level spell. 1.9 HELP Pressing the key under WB 2.04+ will bring up the CharGen documentation file via AmigaGuide on the CharGen screen. To use this feature you must have the amigaguide.library installed. If you enter a menu item (such as 'Weapons' in the 'Equip' menu) and press you will be given information about that menu item's function. If you select a menu item and press (while still holding the right mouse button depressed over the menu item) you will be given information about that menu item's function. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 2 The Project menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2.1 New 2.1.1 Enter Allows you to create a person from scratch. You are guided through most menu-items in the Edit, Equip, and Abilities menus (see below). You can cancel at any time by clicking CANCEL. 2.1.2 Random Creates a random character, taking into account the frequency of the different Races, Classes etc... You are first asked to set certain variables which also affect the result. These are the chances for the different frequencies: Common 65% Uncommon 30% Rare 4% Very Rare 1% So if you would like to have more half-elves when rolling random characters simply change the frequency of half-elves in the Design Race menu (and so on...). 2.2 Open Loads a character. 2.3 Save Saves a previously saved character. 2.4 Save As Saves a new character. 2.5 Print 2.5.1 Character Prints a character-sheet (normally to PRT:, but this can be changed in 'Settings, Printer') using standard Amiga printer control codes. To get a good looking result the left margin in prefrences should be set to about 5. 2.5.2 Description Prints a characters description, notes and equipment seperatly. 2.5.3 Spells Prints spellslists/spellbooks. Please note that this menu item only functions when the current character is a spellcaster. Here is a short summary of what different methods prints: o 'User defined format' You can define how this should work in 'Settings, Formats/Spells'. o 'Standard format' Name, Range, Duration, Area of Effect, Casting Time, Save, Reversability, and Components. o 'Spellbook format' Name, Range, Duration, Area of Effect, Casting Time, Save, Reversability, Type, Source Book, Components, and Pages (a line). o 'Names and components' Name, Components, Left (a line), Used (a line), and Material Components. o 'Names in 1 column' o 'Names in 2 columns' o 'Names in 3 columns' o 'Names in 4 columns' You can define how this should work in 'Settings, Formats/Spells'. 2.5.4 Psionics Prints psionic power lists. Please note that this menu item only functions when the current character has psionic powers. Here is a short summary of the method: o Name, Type, Power Score, Initial Cost, Maintainance Cost, Range, Preparation Time, Area of Effect. 2.6 About Shows some details about CharGen (version number and date), and how to contact me. 2.7 Quit Guess what... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 3 The Edit menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3.1 Race and Class Choose Race and Class. If you already have a character this should be done with great care, since it can change (or even delete) other parts of the character which are illegeal for the new Race/Class combination. The total xp of the character remains unchanged. Wizard types and Priesthoods are also chosen here, if more than one is allowed. If only one is allowed, you will not be asked which one you want (e.g. the wizard type of an elven fighter/wizard is always a mage, unless you have designed some wizard schools yourself). 3.2 Ability Scores This is where you choose Strength, Intelligence etc... On the left there are seven boxes containing the present ability scores (and one for exceptional strength). It is these scores you will get when you press the OK box. They can be altered by clicking the appropiate box and entering the desired score. This can override the Min-Max range shown next to it. Below is a gadget labeled 'Enforce Ranges'. If you click this, the ability scores will be adjusted so that they fall into the ranges shown. Please note that these are not the same as those in the PHB. They are the _effective_ limits, meaning that they have been adjusted by the racial ability score adjustment, to reflect the true range allowed (the ranges shown in PHB must be imposed _before_ racial ability adjustments are added). Below this is a gadget labeled 'Reroll Ability Scores'. If you click this, the ability scores will be rerolled (surprise!), using the method you have chosen in 'Settings, General'. Method: PHB 1 and UA There are no further gadgets on screen when you use these methods. Method: PHB 2, PHB 3, PHB 4, PHB 5, and Custom. On the far right are 7-14 boxes. These contain random numbers generated by rolling according to the chosen method (either 3d6, or 4d6 and discarding the lowest roll, or as defined in the 'Settings, General' menu). If you click on one of these boxes it will be highlighted. This indicates that you are about to place that number on one of the ability scores, which is done by clicking on one of the gadgets with the name of the appropiate ability score. If you want to place a number on another ability score, simply click the gadget with the number, and it will become free to be placed somewhere else. Method PHB 2 is a little special, in that you can only place a number on the ability score that is on the same level with it on the screen. If the above explanation confused you even more, then try it out, and see what happens. The methods have been extended (from those explained in PHB) to also take comeliness into account. The adjustment of Comeliness for high or low Charisma is not performed until the character sheet is shown or printed. 3.3 Level and Xp Enter your characters level and xp. You can change the hit points by using the 'REROLL' button, or directly entering the hit dice rolls for each level. There is also a 'cheat' gadget that allows you to add hit points directly. 3.4 Saving Throws Allows you to review/alter the characters saving throws. The 'Protection' box simulates the effect of a Ring of Protection as it affects saves. It has no influence over the armor class of your character. 3.5 Description Allows you to enter a short/long description of the character in question. 3.6 Notes Here you can enter various notes for your character. If you don't see these written at the bottom of the sheet, check that the 'Show notes and equipment' option in the 'Settings, Format/Sheets' menu is on. If it is on and you still don't see it try, turning 'Show full description' in the same menu off, or make the sheet longer ('Sheet Lenght'). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 4 The Equip menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.1 Armor Choose the armor for your character. Some armors may be disallowed because of the characters class, or priesthood. If you have selected the option 'Piecemeal Armors' under 'Settings, This Character', and your present character is allowed to use armors that can be used in pieces, you will be presented with five extra cycle gadgets to control the makeup of your armor . 4.2 Weapon Choosing a weapon You choose a weapon by clicking on it in the scrolling list named 'Available Weapons'. When you do this, the weapons name will appear in the 'Chosen Weapons' box, which is the weapons which will be shown on the character sheet. Below it is the options 'Edit', 'Copy', 'Swap', and 'Remove'. o 'Edit' Can be used on any weapon displayed in the 'Chosen Weapons' box, and gives you extensive control over the characters skill with the weapon in question. See below for some hints about editing. o 'Copy' Lets you to make a copy of a weapon shown in the 'Chosen Weapons' box. o 'Swap' Lets you to change the order the weapons in the 'Chosen Weapons' box will be shown on the character sheet. o 'Remove' Lets you remove a weapon from the 'Chosen Weapons' box, and makes you non-proficient with it, if it was the last of its type in the 'Chosen Weapons' box. Editing a weapon Most of the gadgets that appears, when you have chosen 'Edit' and clicked on a weapon in the 'Chosen Weapons' box, need no further explanation, so here are just a few notes to help you: o Skill Even though you have a fighter, and have slots left, you might not be able to specialize because you can only specialize once on level one, and again each time you gain new weapon slots (i.e. every third level). o Style CharGen uses the fighting-system from 'The Complete Fighter's Handbook' - i.e. it is possible to use different fighting styles (Weapon & Shield, One Weapon, Two Weapon, Two Hander). Some styles might not be available due to restrictions on the Weapon (its hard to use a Bow one-handed), or because of the characters class or height. o Combat Tells CharGen weather it should treat the weapon as a missile weapon or a meele weapon. This is useful with weapons such as the dagger. o #Att This is the number of attacks per round the character has with this weapon. To the right is a number gadget that allows you to increase or decrease the number of attacks, by entering a positive or negative number. This is the possible values: Nil, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1/1, 3/2, 2/1, 5/2, 3/1, 7/2, 4/1, 9/2, 5/1, 5 ½, 6/1 The rate of fire (ROF) for a weapon specialist using some missile weapons have been set by me, when I could not find any relevant information (in the case of the new firearms), or when the information available didn't make sense. If you disagree with any of my choises simply change them via 'Design, Weapons...'. Here is a list of the changes: o The blowgun has a base ROF of 2/1, but if you specialize you get a ROF of 3/2 (according to table 35 in Player Handbook), which doesn't make much sense. o The hand crossbow has the same ROF progression as 'Other (Non-bow) Missiles' in table 35 in Players Handbook. o The knife, shuriken, and stilleto has the same ROF progression as the dagger. o The ROF progression for firearms has been based on the weapon's base ROF and the progression shown in table 35 in Players Handbook for light and heavy crossbows, thus on levels 1-6 the ROF is unchanged, on levels 7-12 it is one step higher, and on level 13 and above is it two steps higher. o Special This is where CharGen writes special information. This could be the range of a missile weapon, effects of style specialization, a reminder of the possibility of extra damage with firearms and so on... The size of a person (which is used for determining which weapons can be used and how) is now calculated from the person's height and not from the average racial height, thus a very large (higher than 4' = medium size) halfling can use a scimitar (also medium size). I have used the height intervals from Monstrous Compendium: Tiny : up to 2' Small : 2'+ to 4' Medium : 4'+ to 7' Large : 7'+ and up 4.3 Magic Items This menu-item has not been implemented yet. 4.4 Equipment Here you can enter various equipment for your character. If you don't see this info written at the bottom of the sheet, check that the 'Show notes and equipment' option in the 'Settings, Format/Character' menu is on. If it is and you still don't see it, try turning 'Show full description' in the same menu off, or making the sheet longer. 4.5 Wealth Here you can enter the amount of money the character has, and in which coinage it is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 5 The Abilities menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5.1 Fighting Here you can choose which (if any) fighting styles the character is specialized in. You can become proficient in whole groups of weapons, or give your character ambi-dexterity as defined in 'The Complete Fighter's Handbook' and 'The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook'. 5.2 Proficiencies Allows you to choose which proficiencies your character shall have. You will notice that there are different colors on the lines in the scrolling list of proficiencies. These colours relate to how many slots the proficiency takes in the manner descriped on screen. o Free proficiencies are just that, Free. They are available to your character at no cost in proficiency slots. o Normal proficiencies are those that your character can learn normally, at the normal cost. o Special proficiencies are those proficiencies that your character needs to use an extra proficiency slot to learn. 5.3 Spell Casting All normal spells from Players Handbook, Wizards Handbook, Tome of Magic (not Quest spells), Greyhawk Adventures, and Forgotten Realms Adventures, are available in CharGen, as are some spells from Dragon Magazine. If you see a spell you cannot find anywhere, it is properbly one of my own creations. Allows you to choose the individual spells your character can cast. Some spells may be unavailable due to various restrictions. You can change the Settings and/or your character to make them available. Your chosen spells can then be printed using the Print Spells item in the Project menu. Please note a spell that normally (in AD&D books) start with the name of its creator (fx. 'Melf's Minute Meteors'), do not do so in CharGen. In CharGen the name of the creator is not part of the name of the spell. So if you are looking for 'Melf's Minute Meteors', you will find it under 'Minute Meteors'. The random spell selector (when used by wizards), takes the intelligence limit on spells into account, weather the character is a specialist wizard (spells of his specialist area are made more frequent), and selects the Read Magic spell. If you have a character with severel spellcasting classes (E.g. a Ranger/Priest) you can switch between the different classes via the cycle gadget labeled 'Spellcaster'. 5.4 Thieving Skills If the character has any 'criminal' skills, this is where you edit them. 5.5 Turning Undead How good is your character at turning undead (requires a priesthood that can turn undead, and sufficent level). 5.6 Psionics There are two way of giving your character psionic powers. The first is by choosing the Psionicist character class, the second is by making a Wild Talent. Simply click the 'Wild Talent' gadget to make your character a wild talent. The number gadgets labled 'Dis', 'Sci', 'Dev', 'Def', shows how many disciplines, sciences, devotions and defense modes you can learn. If you are a Psionicist the numbers shown will correspond to the table in the Psionics Handbook. For wild talents you must enter the numbers your self, as CharGen doesn't select wild powers for you. The number gadget labled 'PSP' shows the number of Psionic Strength Points your character has. For wild talents you have to enter this your self. Before you can choose any powers, you must have access to a discipline. You gain acess to a discipline by selecting it from the list 'Clairsentience', 'Psychokinesis', 'Psychometabolism', 'Psychoportation', 'Telepathy','Metapsionics'. The primary discipline (the first one chosen) has its text written in black on blue background, while the rest of the chosen disciplines are written in white on blue background. To the right of the chosen disciplines, are numbers that show the number of sciences/devotions you have chosen in the corresponding discipline. Please note that defense modes do not show up in the number of sciences/devotions chosen, nor are they counted when checking the rules. Select 'Learn' to be able to select and unselect psionic powers. To relearn a power select 'Relearn'. To see information about a power (including how many times you have learned it, if any) select 'Information'. If you "unlearn" powers or whole disciplines, the rules for selection given in The Complete Psionics Handbook are not checked. To see if anything needs fixing, click on the 'Check for problems' gadget. This will test for most rule violations, but is not perfect (you still have to think ;-). If you try learning a power but cannot, the reason is the rules given in The Complete Psionics Handbook. Psionicists generated randomly will not have psionic powers selected for them. This should be done by you. 5.7 Extra Abilities As the name implies, where you enter all those extra special abilities or notes, that CharGen does not otherwise handle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 6 The Design menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Danger !!! Using the items in this menu can have very sad consequences, so make a backup of the CharData directory before you change anything. As a general rule you should look at some examples before you try designing on your own. Specificly you should keep in mind that: o A race should have at least one class allowed. o If a class can cast priest spells you must make a priesthood available to it, even if the class is not a priest (e.g. Paladins and Rangers). o If a class can cast wizard spells you must make a wizard school available to it, even if the class is not a wizard (e.g. Bards). When you create new things by using this menu you may get the message: 'Not room for more races !' or something similar. The cure for this is simple (assuming you have enough memory). Save all you work, quit the program, and start it again. You will now have some more working space. 6.1 Race Allows you to change the different races, or create new ones. 6.2 Class Allows you to change the different classes, or create new ones. Please note that any new classes you create will not be available until you make them so via 'Design, Race'. 6.3 Armor Allows you to change exsisting armors, or create new ones. Please note that any new armors you create will not be available until you make them so via 'Design, Class' and perhaps 'Design, Priesthood'. 6.4 Weapon Allows you to change exsisting weapons, or create new ones. Please note that any new weapons you create will not be available until you make them so via 'Design, Class' and perhaps 'Design, Priesthood'. 6.5 Proficiency Allows you to change exsisting proficiencies, or create new ones. 6.6 Spell Allows you to change the spell list. This is the 'safest' item of all the items in the in the 'Design' menu. 6.7 Priesthood Allows you to change exsisting priesthoods, or create new ones. Please note that _any_ class (i.e. not just priests) that can cast priest spells should have at least one priesthood available to them. 6.8 Wizard School Allows you to change exsisting wizard schools, or create new ones. Please note that _any_ class (i.e. not just wizards) that can cast wizard spells should have at least one wizard school available to them. 6.9 Psionics Allows you to change exsisting psionic powers, or create new ones. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 7 The Settings menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7.1 Options 7.1.1 This Character Different options that changes the way CharGen works. These options are saved along with the character. If you select no options, the program will work in accordance with basic PHB rules. o 'Slow, unlimited advancement' This optional rule from DMG allows multiclassed demihumans to advance above their normal maximum level limit. The slow advancement rate can be changed by you in the 'Settings, General' menu. o 'Race affects years/level ratio' Choosing this option makes CharGen adjust the age according to the highest age catagory of the race, and the level of the character. If this is not selected the adjustment to age is independant of race. Generally, the longer lived races takes more years to advance. The year/level ratio can be changed by you in the 'Settings, General' menu. o 'High prime affects max. level' This optional rule from DMG allows demihumans to have higher maximum level limit than normal, if they have high prime requiste ability scores. o 'Weapon style spec. allowed' Use the rules for weapon style specialization as given in 'The Complete Fighter's Handbook' o 'All warriors can specialize' This is the rule from the 'The Complete Fighter's Handbook', that allows all warriors to specialize (an error ???). This is implemented by allowing all classes, which have the 'Weapon specialization' and 'Max one weapon specialization' options under 'Design, Class, Options' selected, to specialize. Please note that unless you also choose the 'Multiple weapon specialization' option below, the character can only specialize in one weapon, unless he is a fighter. o 'Mutiple weapon specialization' Allows all who can specialize to specialize in more than one weapon. o 'Spec. bonus on missile weapons' According to Players Handbook the +1 to hit and +2 on damage given to weapon specialists only apply to meele weapons. This option allows you to also gain these bonuses on missile weapons. o 'Initiative adjusted by dex.' This is a rule I use myself. The speed of weapons are adjusted by dexterity reaction adjustment. Thus a character with 17 dex gains a +2 bonus on initiative when fighting (see the effect on weapon speed). o 'Initiative adjusted by armor' This is a rule I use myself. Uses the dex check penalty for armor (from Fighter's Handbook) as a penalty on initiative. This penalty can be reduced by magical armor (each '+' reduces the penalty by one, although it cannot make the penalty into a bonus). Thus if a character wore a Banded Mail + 1 (Banded mail has a dex check penalty of -2) the penalty for wearing armor would be -1 on initiative (see the effect on weapon speed). Shields do not affect initiative under this rule. Use this rule as a counterbalance to the rule above. o 'All races can have Excep Str' Normally halflings cannot have exceptional strength, so this option is for your _very_ special halflings. If you design other races that also cannot have exceptional strength, this option also affects them. o 'No extra proficiencies for Int' Allows you to disable the rule from PHB that gives extra nonweapon proficiency slots to characters with high intelligence. o 'Int 13 for Thought and Numbers' A recomended rule from the Tome of Magic. It requires the character to have 13 in intelligence before he/she can cast spells from the Thought and Number spheres. o 'Maximum hp on first level' The character gains maximum hit points on first level (i.e. no rolls are nessesary). Use this option to create tougher characters, if your campaign is especially 'high-powered'. o 'Generous hp calculation method' This method of calculation hit points for multiclassed characters is more generous than the one given in PHB. The reason for this is mainly that the routine rounds up instead of down, and you can add all rolls before dividing by the number of classes. My rule: All hit dice for each level divided by the number of classes (round up) plus the most advantageous constitution bonus. When you don't advance simultaneously in all classes you only gain hit points when your higest class level increases. Example: A 3/3 level fighter/thief with constitution 17, who advances a level as thief gets (d6+d10)/2+3 hit points. He gets no hit points when he later advances to 4'th level as fighter. o 'Less damage on tiny thrown wpn.' This is a rule I use myself. It does not grant a full damage bonus for high strength, when the weapon is a very small thrown weapon (such as a thrown knife). In these cases the program gives you half the strength damage bonus (rounded down). By selecting this option you can use this rule. o 'No bonus for strength on bows' This option dissallows strength bonuses on bow attack roll and damage. It is an option here, rather than just under 'Design, Weapon', so you can let some characters have heavy pull bows, while not others. o 'Do not limit AC from -10 to 10' CharGen normally limits AC to the 10 to -10 range. If you don't want these limits imposed, select this option. o 'Piecemeal armors allowed' Use the Piecemeal armor rules from 'The Complete Fighter's Handbook'. o 'No maximum on thief skills' Normally thief skills cannot exceed 95% (99% for Rangers), but I use a slightly different rule in my campaign (yes, yet a another rule ;-). My rule: A thiefs skill _CAN_ exceed 95%, but if, when the skill is checked, you roll 96% or above the skill check fails. Now you might say that there is no practical difference between this rule and the one in PHB, but there is: If the DM decides to penalize the characters skill (e.g. because of a difficult lock) the penalty is deducted from the characters skill before the roll is made. Thus if a thief with 105% skill in an ability gets a -20% penalty he would have a 85% chance of succeding, whereas a thief under PHB rules (max 95% skill) would have 75% chance of succeding. o 'Long equipment lines' Causes the equipment lines to be twice as long, but there will be half as many of them. Changing this option might loose you some of the equipment information you have already entered (especially if changing from short to long lines). o 'All armors allowed' o 'All weapons allowed' o 'All proficiencies allowed' o 'All spells allowed' o 'All priesthoods allowed' o 'All wizard schools allowed' All of these options is for when you want to create a character that goes beyond the normal rules of the game (i.e. a halfling using large weapons etc....). It doesn't override you source settings. 7.1.2 New Characters Here you can edit the options new characters will be given. For an explanation of how these options work, see above. 7.2 General On the second screen you can edit some other settings: Ability Score Methods: o 'Ability scores (humans)' Here you choose which method should be used when rolling ability scores for humans. If you choose 'Custom' the program will use the information you have entered in the 'Custom Method' boxes below. The following methods have been implemented: PHB 1, PHB 2, PHB 3, PHB 4, PHB 5, UA and Custom. o 'Ability scores (non-humans)' As above, but for non-humans. This division between humans and non-humans is nessesary in order to use the UA method correctly. This method can only be used for humans according to the rules (although many people use it for all races, even multiclassed characters). Custom Method: o 'Rolls' o 'Type of dice' o 'Number of dice per roll' o 'Number of dice to use' o 'Added to result' These numbers define the custom method of rolling ability scores. Magic Numbers: o 'Slow level increase factor' An optional rule from DMG allows multiclassed demihumans to advance above their normal maximum level limit. The slow advancement rate can be changed here. For this to work you must have the 'Slow, unlimited advancement' option selected. o 'Years/level ratio (Humans)' This is the number of years added to a humans age for each level he has achived, when creating random characters. o 'Random placement of scores' When rolling a random character, the scores rolled are placed on the different abilities according to their relevance to the race and class of the character. The degree to which this placement of scores should be random, can be controlled with this number. A very low number assures that Fighters will have high strength, Thieves high dexterity and so on... Please note that the race of the character also affects the distribution of the scores, so a Halfling Fighter is also likely to have a high dexterity. The higher the number, the more random the placement of the highest scores will be. This does in no way change the value of the rolled scores, only on which ability they are placed. 7.3 Sources This menu-item also allows you to tell the program which source books are available to you. A selected book will be available, and an unselected book unavailable. Do not delete any of the books already entered, as this can cause trouble in future versions. You may rename the books, but keep the name of any source book that contains spells short, so that it can fit when you print the spells. The information you enter here is checked against each items's 'Source Book' field to determine if the item is available or not. Items that are not available will be ghosted, when you select from among that type of items. The following items have sourcebook information in the present version of CharGen: Armors, Proficiencies, Spells, Weapons, and Psionics. The use of the source book fields will perhaps later be extended to other things. Here follows a list of the source books already in CharGen. Some of the sources are not yet used, but are included for completeness. This is for your own creations. Change the name to something else, if you like. Bard's The Complete Bard's Handbook. Dragon Dragon Magazine. Dragon Kings Dragon Kings (Dark Sun). Fighter's The Complete Fighter's Handbook. FRA Forgotten Realms Adventures. Forbidden Lore Forbidden Lore. GA Greyhawk Adventures. Legends & Lore Legends & Lore. Lost Ships Lost Ships (Spelljammer accessory). Fortress A Mighty Fortress PHB Player's Handbook. Private This is one of my (or my players) creations. Psionics The Complete Psionics Handbook. Ravenloft Ravenloft (boxed set). Spacefarer's The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook (Spelljammer). Spelljammer Spelljammer (boxed set). Thay Dreams of the Red Wizards (Forgotten Realms). Thief's The Complete Thief's Handbook. Tome Tome of Magic. UA (1.ed) Unearthed Arcana (1st edition). War Captain's War Captain's Companion (boxed set, Spelljammer). Wizard's The Complete Wizard's Handbook. 7.4 Printer Allows you to change the print destination from the standard PRT: (this means you can print to a file, if you enter a file name). Printer options: o 'Send form feeds to printer' Selecting this option sends form feeds to the printer when printing to PRT:. o 'Remove printer codes when not printing to PRT:' When you print to a file you often don't want the printer escape codes printed also. Choose this option to remove the escape codes. o 'Print description, notes and equipment on seperate sheet' Makes sure the description, motes and equipment are not printed on the main character sheet, even though they may be seen on screen. You should use 'Project, Print Description' to print these data on a seperate sheet of paper. o 'Reading guides on spell or psionic lists' Makes CharGen underline every third line printed on spell or psionic lists, to make the list easier to read (no need to use a ruler to keep your eyes on the same line). 7.5 Format 7.5.1 Character Sheet Configuration: o 'Vertical Character' Here you can enter the character to be used to draw vertical lines on the character sheet. If you enter nothing, no vertical lines will be drawn. o 'Horizontal Character' Here you can enter the character to be used to draw horizontal lines on the character sheet. If you enter nothing, no horizontal lines will be drawn, but text will still be underlined. o 'Sheet Length' The maximum length of the character sheet. From 50 to 100 lines. If you use a very short sheet, chances are that some information will be left out at the bottom. Sheet Options: o 'Use SI units' Use cm and kg instead of inches and lbs. on the sheet and under 'Edit, Descriptions'. Please note that inches and lbs. are always used in 'Design'. o 'Show full description' Show the full description on the sheet. Only lines that contain information are shown. o 'Show notes and equipment' Show notes and equipment (other than weapons and armor). Please note, that CharGen might have some trouble fitting all the information onto the sheet, if you use this option and the option just above. o 'Show Armor Data' Show special armor data, as defined in 'The Complete Fighter's Handbook', on the character sheet. Empty lines on Sheet: o 'Weapons' How many empty weapon lines do you wish to have on the character sheet ? o 'Proficiencies' How many empty proficiency lines do you wish to have on the character sheet ? o 'Special abilities' How many empty special ability lines do you wish to have on the character sheet ? o 'Notes and Equipment' How many empty notes and equipment lines do you wish to have on the character sheet ? 7.5.2 Spells This is where you define the user definable spell printing formats. Using the 'Data Format' boxes on the left side of the screen, you can edit the way spell data is printed, when using the 'User defined format' print method. Using the 'Column Format' boxes on the right side of the screen, you can edit the width the lines and spell names, when using the 'Names in x columns' print method. The editable number boxes define how wide the data field in question is. You can change this within certain limits. The recessed 'Width' boxes show the total width of a line (in characters), excluding any margin you might have set in printer preferences, and the print pitch that will be used when printing. CharGen selects the print pitch (Pica, Elite or Fine) based on the widths, and the left and right margins you have set in the printer preferences. 7.6 Show Full Sheet Should the full character sheet be visible on the screen ? 7.7 Create Icons Selecting this will make CharGen create icons for any character it saves. 7.8 Screen Mode Allows you to pick the screen mode CharGen will use. The screen mode and screen size are saved in the Settings file, along with window size and position. Is only available under 2.0+. The screen opened by CharGen is a public screen with the name 'CHARGEN.1'. If CharGen is run again the new screen will have the name 'CHARGEN.2' and so on... 7.9 Font 7.9.1 Program Allows you to pick the font CharGen will use throughout the program, except for the character sheet (see below). Although available font sizes will depend on the size of the screen CharGen is on, it can still happen that some text or gadgets 'crawls' out of the window, so after changing fonts, CharGen will resize the window so that this is unlikely (when possible - if you use large fonts it might be unavoidable). The program font can be proportional. 7.9.2 Character Allows you to pick the font CharGen will use for the character sheet. The 'Character' font must be fixed width. 7.10 Palette Allows you to change the programs colors. The color change is permanent if you save the settings. 7.11 Load Settings Loads settings file (including sources). 7.12 Save Settings Saves settings file (including sources). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 8 Tool Types ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These tool types can be placed in the CharGen icon using the Info (Information under WB 2.x) item in the Workbench menu. You can also use these tool types if you run from shell (perhaps from the startup-sequence of a boot disk), Example: CharGen PUBSCREEN=Workbench PROGRAMFONT=topaz/11 8.1 PUBSCREEN= Tells CharGen to open its window on the public screen named (case sensetive!). Example: PUBSCREEN=Workbench 8.2 PROGRAMFONT=/ Selects the program font (see 7.9.1). Overrides the font saved in the Settings file. Do not include ".font" in the font name. Example: PROGRAMFONT=helvetica/13 8.3 CHARACTERFONT=/ Selects the character sheet font (see 7.9.2). Overrides the font saved in the Settings file. Do not include ".font" in the font name. Example: CHARACTERFONT=courier/13 8.4 SETTINGS= Allows you to specify a different settings file to use. Example: SETTINGS=work:AD&D/SpellJammer/CharGen.prefs 8.5 CHARDATA= Allows you to specify a different directory from which CharGen will get its data about races, classes,... This is useful if you run severel campaigns which differ greatly in races, classes,... Example: CHARDATA=work:AD&D/SpellJammer/CharData 8.6 CHARACTERS= Allows you to specify a different directory to which CharGen will save the characters you create. This is also useful if you run severel campaigns. Example: CHARACTERS=work:AD&D/SpellJammer/Characters 8.7 SCREEN= (not 2.0+) Force screen mode selection. The program detects weather the machine run in PAL or a NTSC mode, so this tool type is not nessesary for the ordinary user, but it helps me when I have to check the Gadget layout on an NTSC screen. The LACE option can be used with NTSC and PAL in this way, but is not required: SCREEN=NTSC|LACE SCREEN=PAL|LACE or it can be used alone SCREEN=LACE If you run in NTSC mode and have an anti-flicker device, then I strongly recommend that you use the LACE option, as the screen layout improves (more room for all the gadgets, see also NOSIZE). If you use the LACE option you might consider using a larger font, such as topaz 11, so the text will be easier to read. 8.8 NOSIZE If you run CharGen in NTSC, you should use this tool type to remove the sizing gadget in the lower right corner of the window. The gadget layout on a NTSC screen was created with the assumption that you use this tool type. This tool type can of course also be used if you don't run in NTSC, giving you a little more room in the window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 9 Program Limitations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The program imposes the following restrictions on the number of: Races: 32 Single Classes: 32 Classes: 80 Armors: 80 Weapons: 250 Proficiencies: 250 Wizard Schools: 250 Priesthoods: 250 Spells: 2000 Psionic Powers: 500 This should be enough to for most people. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to o Lars Meldgård for his useful suggestions, testing, and converting the doc to amigaguide format. o Claus Lykke for his useful suggestions. o Rasmus Hansen for typing in all psionic powers, and the spells from 'Forbidden Lore'. o Nico François for the ReqTools.library o Thomas Agatz for being my Boss on Pitstop BBS. o Rolf Max Hansen for CharGen support on Wintermute BBS. o All others who have writte to me with suggestions and/or bug reports.