DragonAge_Forge

[Sync]

G'Day from Down Under!

Some of you (I'd suggest many of you) may be familiar with the Heroforge project for D&D - this is essentially a very large Excel spreadsheet made with the purpose of making character creation in D&D easier.

My question, then, is this:

Would the gathering of players, DMs, and GR Staff alike be happy to see and use something similar for Dragon Age?

I'd be happy to work on it - while my Excel programming skills are adequate, they are not of the calibre of the Heroforge team, and I would not be proposing anything as elaborate as they've done.

That said, I'd be producing something more complex than a basic character sheet as well.

I'd be suggesting something that takes in the elements of character creation: attributes, focusses, talents, spells, and the mechanics behind putting them together. I'd also be including the mechanics of new levels and how a character then advances.

So...how does this sound?

Also, if a GR Staff member could let me know, either in-thread or privately, whether such a project would have the blessing of Green Ronin, that would be fantastic. I'd be perfectly happy to keep things limited to names/titles and no descriptions, as well as adding disclaimers proclaiming ownership and permissions.


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22AUG11 update -

Link to Dragon Age Forge v1.25: http://www.mediafire.com/?ej33r3bsrawcwlv

[Hellebore]

We use a character sheet that has all that, although it doesn't automate everything.

To be honest I don't really think that DA really has enough detail in the game for it to really be necessary. There really isn't the kind of complexity seen in 4th ed that would necessitate a complex heroforge type thing.

Hellebore

[Loswaith]

I agree with Hellebore on this one, DA I cant see realy needing it (dont let that stop you making it for your own use however).

It's not that complex and the classes themselves dont realy offer much that is set in stone given most talent and focus options are the same for all classes.


On a side note: Welcome to the DARPG forums.

[Hellebore]

Just realised I said 'really' four times in that post.

The absurd amount of stuff in D&D is one of the many things that turned me off that system.

Hellebore

[jonchappellnow]

I personally would LOVE to see this. I am an avid user of Heroforge and have often found myself wanting a Dragon Age version, so put me down as a definite yes!

True, DA is rules lite, but with the Set 2 out and Set 3 due by the end of the year, the rules and options are getting more complex. Still, nothing like 3.5 or 4E.

I would like mostly to expedite the creation of NPCs. With DragonForge I could put more time into planning other elements for our game sessions.

BTW - we've played 18 sessions so far with no sign of quitting, so this comes from an experienced player of the game.

Thanks!

[caul]

I'm already working on something like this in excel.

So far I have:
[*]Adversary lookup (pick a monster from a dropdown list and get all their stats nicely and simply formatted)
[*]Weapon & Armor shop list (10 random weapons and/or armor with prices between half to two times that in the guide)
[*]Adventurer's Gear shop list (10 random items with prices between half to two times that in the guide)
[*]Food, Drink, and Lodging lookup (pick an item from a dropdown list and get a random price between half to two times that in the book. If you select the meal option, you also get a description of a suitable meal.)
[*]Treasure lookup (using the table from the GM's guide, pick a treasure category from a dropdown list and get a total treasure value)

Working On:
[*]Spellbook lookup
[*]Random Valuable Items section for the Treasure lookup
[*]Random Magic Item selection
[*]Much much more...

So far I like it...I just hope I get to use it.

[Admiral Yacob]

Caul, that sounds AWESOME. I would love to see what you have working.

[caul]

Anyone who want's to see my Excel work just leave an e-mail and I'll send it to you. I will not post it anywhere online because a lot of the material is copyrighted.

[Sync]

caul - sounds like you're working more from a GM's perspective, where I'm thinking purely in terms of character creation (I may have misinterpreted where you're coming from, though).

Want to collaborate?

[Sync]

Progress Report:

* Character attributes completed (allowing for both 3d6 rolling and 10-point-buy), including level-up to level 5.
* Background selection (to determine race & class) implemented; background benefits listed but still to be implemented.
* Attribute focusses completed.
* Weapon selections and combat statistics completed.

Talents will be tricky. So will implementation of background benefits.

[caul]

My own progress report for GMs:

Spellbook with reference charts, spell lookup (Set 1), and spell stunt lookup (Set 1) complete.

Adversary, NPC, Mounts, and Animal Companion statistics and lookup (Set 1, including Dalish Curse) entered and complete.

Shop Chart that returns 10 random items from the Player's Guide (Set 1) and multiplies the base price by a random number from .5 to 2, also allowing lookup by All, General Store, Blacksmith, Armorsmith, and Weaponsmith, complete.

Item lookup that has a dropdown of all the standard items, armor, weapons, and adventurer's gear from the Player's Guide (Set 1) giving you the base price, complete.

A Lifted Purse generator for the rogue with light fingers, set it to Pauper, Freeman, Artisan, Merchant, or Nobility to produce a random amount of coin in their purse, complete.

Food, Drink, and Lodging list that randomizes the price from the base in the Player's Guide (Set 1) by multiplying it by a random number from .5 to 2, complete.

A Container generator that returns a list of random items depending on the container type. Pouch, Backpack, and Quiver are complete. Still working on Crate and Cask.

A Treasure Value generator that will return a random value from the table in the Game Master's Guide (Set 1), complete.

A Valuable Item generator that generates a random item base on a dropdown menu, either Gems & Stones, Jewelry, Armor & Weapons, Clothing, or Other. Mostly complete, still tinkering, but nothing for Other yet.

A RAW Magic Item lookup, either Temporary or Permanent, that randomly selects an item from the Game Master's Guide (Set 1), complete.

A Random Magic Item generator that generates a random item based on a dropdown menu choosing from several different types...under construction.

More to come...

[Sync]

Progress report on the 'Forge...

* Background implementation almost fully implemented (just got to include those three instances of weapons groups being available in backgrounds...)
* Attribute levelling to level 10 implemented
* Spells entered and a selection mechanism organised
* Languages added

Just got to do Class benefits/talents, Class Specialisations (including the Grey Warden) and *groans* Talents...oh, and design the output sheets.

Then I'll be ready for an Alpha release.

[Sync]

Progress report:

* Talents are now fully implemented (it wasn't as hard as I'd thought - yay! )
* Fixed up a couple of errors I found in Spell and Focus selections
* Output sheets about 50% completed
* Begun work on including Specialisations

Just have to get the class benefits/power and specialisations completed, finish the output sheets...and I can release it. If anyone's interested.

[Admiral Yacob]

I would love to see both of these (as I mentioned way earlier) or help, but I cannot send PM's, apparently (I get a weird message saying too many recipients selected). I was planning to message a moderator....then I realized why that wouldn't work .

I am very interested in both (as a GM I love to see both GM tools and player tools) but I cannot message anyone my contact info . GR, if you're reading this, can you help me?

[jonchappellnow]

Still interested here.

[Jasca]

Interested? Hell yeah!

[Sync]

Progress report:

* output sheets completed (it was good to know the "official" fonts, too...! )
* specialisations almost completed (got the data entry done, then discovered that some of them have direct impact on character advancement... :-/ )
* fixed errors I found in the calculation of attack bonusses for chosen weapons

All that's remaining is the addition of Class Powers and the completion of Specialisation implementation (I think...), and I'll be ready to release version 1.0.

[Sync]

Progress report:

Almost done!

As far as I can determine & test, the data entry, coding and calculations are all complete. The output sheets are complete, and I've set all the data to copy across as required...except for one little thing, and it's driving me nuts. :-/

Once I've got that one niggly thing sorted out, I'll be able to release Version 1 of Dragon_Forge.


// EDIT: Oh, you'll need the Requiem font for this; if you don't have it, and can't be bothered looking for it, it'll be included with the 'Forge. You'll need Book Antiqua, too, but that's standard with WinXP/Vista/7...

[jonchappellnow]

Great news. Very excited to hear that we are close!

[Sync]

Progress report:

*takes a deep breath*

IT'S DONE!!!

Well...not the way that I'm 100% happy with, but I'm 99.5% happy with it. I put a usable workaround in for that one issue that was annoying me...I'll figure out how to do it properly later.

Feel free to download and use as you see fit for your Dragon Age RPGs. Please do not post or upload it elsewhere, or try and claim credit for it without my permission.

All comments & feedback are welcome...so long as you're not flaming or trolling.

Any errors, please let me know what, where, and what you were doing when you found it/them. There shouldn't be any, as I was testing randomly through the build process...but there are a heck of a lot of combinations.

As stated, you will need the Requiem font to get the most out of this Forge - it's included in the zip file. Just throw it in your Windows/Fonts folder and you're good to go.

Link has been added to the first post in this thread, and will be updated as required for fixes and new material.

[Scion of Haven]

Just got started, creating a human apostate mage called "Hawke" as a little playtest. Immediately I ran into a problem: after selecting my background, my class was automatically selected, but I was not able to choose "mage" from the dropdown menu in B8. My class showed up as "Mage" in D8, so I assumed I was just to leave B8 on "CHOOSE" and I continued with my attributes. I used point buy, leaving the 3d6 roll column blank, and spent all 10 points. The problem is that my attributes did not appear in the "base" column, and refused to transfer to the rest of the sheet. I then went to the bottom to select my starting talents (having filled out the rolls for my HP and mana), and was unable to "CHOOSE" anything in the H22 slot for level 1 talent.

It's looking good so far otherwise, and if I'm just doing something wrong, let me know! I'm not all that good with Excel, so it's certainly possible I just did something wrong, but I attempted to follow the directions exactly as given on the Disclaimer page, and still had the problems with my attributes.

[Sync]

Cell B8 is only selectable if your Background is NOT one of the Mage backgrounds - ie Apostate or Circle Mage. You'll note that cell D8 is headed Actual Class - this is the selection the sheet will use as reference.

When choosing to use either 3d8 roll or Point Buy for your attributes, you need to tell the sheet which method you're using by making a selection in cell I4 above the Point Buy column - as you can get different ranges of stats depending on which method you're using.

I can update the sheet to make those things clearer. I guess I have the benefit of writing it.

//EDIT: uploaded version 1.01, new link posted. Just clarifications on usage, no fixes or additions.

[mxninja]

Nice work. I only have one question, how do I get the 2d6#1 and 2d6#2 rolls to work in background?

[Sync]

Nice work. I only have one question, how do I get the 2d6#1 and 2d6#2 rolls to work in background?

Your 2 2d6 rolls should deliver the results of your "random" choices based on your background - the outputs of those two rolls, cross-referenced to your background choice, are (supposed to be) delivered to the correct parts of the sheet for inclusion in the character sheet (whether a focus, or an attribute increase, or a talent), so all that should be necessary is to put your rolls in the respective boxes.

If you've encountered a problem I didn't...let me know what you selected and entered, tell me where you put them, and I'll try and duplicate it and fix it (or tell you what wasn't being done right ).

It may also be that I'm not entirely sure what you mean by wanting them to "work in the background"... :-/

[Admiral Yacob]

Initial Look, looks great. Mind, I've only had 5 minutes as I am just killing time while eating my breakfast before I leave for work. One question, have you thought of having an option to have the rolls all be auto-generated by Excel? Other then that, it looks great.