What do you wanna see in Hero Helper 2?

[nyakki]

Hey everyone,

Cross posting in the Champions and Star Hero forums.

 

I'm almost done with a New and Very Very Very Improved Hero Helper

 

For those who don't know, it's a program to help GM's during gaming sessions, like roll dice quickly etc.

 

The graphics are more appealing and I've included an on-line help. Besides that, here is what I've done so far and things that are in the planning.

 

Comments are welcomed.

 

What's Improved

 

Dice Roller

Now it will roll the Killing damage for Killing Attacks. I've also improved the interface so that you can have unlimited number of Pre-Roll settings and setting up those Pre-Rolls much easier.

 

Explosion dice will list in either direction now to suit individual preferences.

 

Name Maker

I've altered it so that you can bring in your own text file of names (instructions on how to do it will be included). So you can have names that are not only American sounding but also Chinese, German, or Old English if you like

 

The Super Hero name generator has improved so that, on average, 1 out of every 3 names generated are usable (it's random, so those odds are pretty good).

 

Added to the Super Hero name section is a Team Namer and a 'Power Namer' (enter your special effects and it will generate a list of names like Ice Cannon, Ice Displacer, Ice Bond, etc).

 

Good for those times when you want another power but can't really think of one, just roll the Power Namer, pick a name you like, and create the power based on the name. Kind of cool actually.

 

Added Categories include: Fantasy Namer, SF Namer, Devices, Places and an Other category which will include monster names and more.

 

New Ideas In The Works

 

Phase Tracker

 

The idea is to be able to input the character's Name/SPD/DEX/OCV/DCV

 

Have it go Phase by Phase and show who goes next. Options if you select a name to modify (i.e. DEX Drains, abort, etc.) and have a quick Combat Dice Roller.

 

Ideas welcomed.

 

Inspiration

Basically it gives character and story ideas (randomly, of course).

 

Still in the works, the general idea would be to separate by genre and targets (i.e. plots, characters, NPC's, etc.)

 

Ideas welcomed.

 

NPC Aid

Ever had a PC say 'I want to talk to the secretary' and you, as a GM, didn't have the secretary's personality thought out yet.... NPC Aid is there for you.

 

Similar in concept to the Inspiration idea above, NPC Aid is designed primarily for On-The-Spot NPC creation. Personality, Reaction to PC's, Appearance, etc. All to give the lingering doubt to the PC's as if this is a 'Throw Away' NPC or an NPC that you have thought out and, therefore, is important.

 

Ideas welcomed

 

Disad Lister

Actually a hold over from Hero Helper 1, it randomly picks Psych and Physical lims based on the point values you put in.

 

Should this stay.

 

YES SIDE: It has helped me come up with Lims I wouldn't have thought of myself.

 

NO SIDE: I can find a list of Lims on the web at http://www.globalguardians.com/masterlists/index.html (which is actually where the idea came from) and don't need it in a program

 

Please tell me what you think (as you can see, I'm on the fence with this)

 

**************

 

That's it so far. Is there anything that you would like to see in a program to help you with your gaming?

 

Do you have a comment on anything above?

 

Let me know

 

nyakki

[Hierax]

I've never used it before, but I think if you could get it to import Hero Designer Character information that would be great.

[nyakki]

Originally posted by Hierax

I've never used it before, but I think if you could get it to import Hero Designer Character information that would be great.

 

What information would you want to show in the program from a Hero Designer Character sheet?

 

nyakki

[Hierax]

Since you mentioned a dice roller what came to my mind was things like SPD, the various dice of the various attack types (STR, martial arts, weapons, powers, etc.), OCV, DCV, CSLs, all the numerical stuff that needs to be taken into account for dice rolling. Hope I didn't misinterpret what the program does, again, I haven't checked it out yet.

[nyakki]

Originally posted by Hierax

Since you mentioned a dice roller what came to my mind was things like SPD, the various dice of the various attack types (STR, martial arts, weapons, powers, etc.), OCV, DCV, CSLs, all the numerical stuff that needs to be taken into account for dice rolling. Hope I didn't misinterpret what the program does, again, I haven't checked it out yet.

 

You can download version 1.5 from my website (link is in my signature).

 

The Dice Roller is basically 3 sliders and a lot of checkboxes.

 

For example:

Slider 1 is How Many Dice

Slider 2 is How Many Rolls do you want to roll those dice

Slider 3 is Plusses to each die roll

 

Then you have Check for Half Die, Check if Killing (then another slider appears for the Stun Multiplier die), Check if you want Stun to display, Check if you want Body to display, etc.

 

Click on Roll and the output is what you have set in the 'Dice Control Panel'

 

Instead of always redoing the settings every time, you could save it as a 'Quick Roll'

 

Example: You have a character, Grog the fighter, who does 3d6 (with STR) with his sword.

 

So you set up the Dice Roller Control Panel to the settings of the Attack and save it as Grog's Sword Attack.

 

You set up the dice again to reflect Grog's +3 OCV with the Sword and call it Grog's Hit Roll With Sword.

 

During the game, instead of rolling dice, you double-click on the Grog list item and wham, bam, thank you ma'am, the information is displayed.

 

Now, for players, this may seem unfun, but for GM's, this saves a lot of time. If you put all of your NPC's rolls in (and it automatically saves to disk so they are there until deleted), then you don't have to worry about hiding die rolls again.

 

** Whew **

 

I'll have to look into the disecting of the HD files to see if finding that information is feasable.

 

I'm not saying 'No'... but it does seem that it would be faster just to move the sliders and click the check boxes.

 

Would there be another reason you would want the HD character files loaded for game play? (Just thought of one idea... handy reference for the GM... but what do other people think?)

 

Keep the comments coming,

 

nyakki

[Guest joen00b]

I've seen this and used it for ideas in the past, my only one beef with the character generator is Coherancy. Sure, it's random, but it seems to a bit too random. It's a great start to creating characters on the fly, no doubt about it, but just for an example, I asked it to make a Warrior at 150 points. It came up with some very, very random things, here are a few examples:

 

Languages:

 

2 Language: Troll (Fluent Conversation)

1 Language: Halfling (Basic Conversation)

1 Language: Read Magic

1 Language: Orcish (Basic Conversation)

1 Language: Read Elvish

 

I guess the guy is good with languages, and in fact, the background it generated said he was naturally adept to learning languages, but where is the common thread? Are troll and orc that closely related, and then halfling? The read magic is the one that got me in particular, it just didn't seem to fit.

 

For Skills, it was just as weird:

 

3 Persuasion 13 or Less

3 Breakfall 13 or Less

3 Stealth 13 or Less

3 Lockpicking 13 or Less

3 Shadowing 11 or Less

3 Seduction 13 or Less

3 Weaponsmith 11 or Less

3 Sleight Of Hand 13 or Less

3 Riding 11 or Less

3 Conversation 13 or Less

3 Bureaucratics 13 or Less

3 Bribery 13 or Less

3 Forgery 11 or Less

 

 

In the background it said a Rogue took him under his wing. Does that mean he only knows Rogue skills? For a warrior, he is very light in the fighting ability circles. To be honest, the generator made on helluva Conan Clone:

 

23 STR

20 DEX

18 CON

13 BODY

18 INT

14 EGO

20 PRE

20 COM

 

The toal cost came to 189 when I had entered 150 max. That's more of a non sequitor than anything, many of those points could be shaved really fast.

 

For the record, this is an amazing tool, I like it, have used it and will continue to use. Constructive criticism part is: It seems 'too random' if that makes any sense. If asking for a warrior, it should give a warrior with warrior abilities, fighting skill levels, combat abilities, things to make him a better warrior. In this isolated case, it gave me a thief with alot of physical attributes. One mean thief, to be sure, but for a warrior, he's a bit weak.

 

This is not a knock at all, please don't think that at all, it's a wonderful tool, an immense time saver, and alot of fun to tinker around with.

 

I give it a B+ with only a little few tweaks keeping it from an A. Given the immense coding involved, this is just too cool to pass up. if I didn't already have it bookmarked, I would do so now.

[Talon]

For HeroDesigner input, I'd suggest making an Export Template that spits out the information you want to import in a format that is easy for you to import. You can do text files easily, and the Combat Record feature will let you spit out summary information for an entire group.

 

If you're doing a Phase Tracker, here's what I'd like to see:

 

Quick (one-key) access to:

-- next character in order;

-- current character is Stunned

-- current character is -11 or below (recovers Post 12)

-- current character Holds

-- any character Aborts

 

Warnings at the end of a Segment for Holding characters who are about to lose their action.

 

Ability to apply "effects" to a character

-- Entangles (note BODY, can decrement)

-- Adjustment Powers (auto-decrement either Post 12 or 12 Segments later)

-- other (just notes that apply to the character)

[nyakki]

Originally posted by joen00b

Sure, it's random, but it seems to a bit too random.

**snip**

The toal cost came to 189 when I had entered 150 max.

**snip**

For the record, this is an amazing tool, I like it, have used it and will continue to use.

**snip**

I give it a B+ with only a little few tweaks keeping it from an A.

Thanks for the comments. No offense taken... really

 

I know it ain't perfect. And, me being a perfectionist, has driven me up the wall. The Fantasy Hero generator came after the Champions one. It was about this time that I started running out of time. I put something up and did a little patchwork but, in reality, it's still a 'Work In Progress'. I have actually thought about taken it down a few times. When I get into those moods, I take a look at my webpage stats, see that many people still use it and I still get e-mail saying 'Thanks' and I vow to make it better... But time has always been a factor.

 

I was (still am) getting e-mail asking if there is a 'non-web based' version of the Random Character Generator.

 

Not knowing much about programming, but liking the idea of learning, I set off to program. I tried to teach myself many computer languages, but time/no access to cheap programming books (in English anyway, I'm in Japan)/lack of comprehension were always in my way. I stumbled upon REALBasic and that was the ticket.

 

So, instead of trying to make the web based version workable, I'm working on a desk top version.

 

***********

 

Now the question is: Would you want a complete character generator (similar to the one on the Web) or a 'template' where you fill in the blanks?

 

I've had comments on both ends.

YES: It helps make the characters.

NO: It limits imagination.

 

 

For HeroDesigner input, I'd suggest making an Export Template that spits out the information you want to import in a format that is easy for you to import. You can do text files easily, and the Combat Record feature will let you spit out summary information for an entire group.

Didn't even think about making and export template. I was just looking at the saved files of HD and wondered how I was going to get that information.

 

Messed around with template making just now and it ain't so hard. A whole world of possibilities has opened up. Thanks.

 

If you're doing a Phase Tracker, here's what I'd like to see:

 

Quick (one-key) access to:

-- next character in order;

-- current character is Stunned

-- current character is -11 or below (recovers Post 12)

-- current character Holds

-- any character Aborts

 

Warnings at the end of a Segment for Holding characters who are about to lose their action.

 

Ability to apply "effects" to a character

-- Entangles (note BODY, can decrement)

-- Adjustment Powers (auto-decrement either Post 12 or 12 Segments later)

-- other (just notes that apply to the character)

 

Most of those ideas are in my 'rough draft'. The ones that weren't (which I like) are the Below -11 Stun (and even an OUT OF COMBAT level as well), the warning at the end for those who have hold actions, and the Adjustment Powers. All are absolutely necessary and will find their way into the program.

 

Please keep the comments/ideas coming.

 

nyakki

[Guest joen00b]

What you may think about doing is splitting up skills into 'class specific'. Meaning, why would a Cleric have Shadowing? Odds are he wouldn't, maybe one in a thousand might, but generally it is not considered a priest skill. Since you already have the classes split up in terms of what kind the generator should make, perhaps you could code in skills per class.

 

Have each class have higher chances to get certain skills, and much lower chances for others. In my above example, it created a warrior with all Rogue style skills. Certainly a warrior would pick up one or two along the way, but have nothing but rogue skills? What would need to be done would be to give each class a set of skills that they would have more often, then have some check for minor skills not usually associated with their class.

 

A priest would have a better chance at Theology or Philosophy than would a rogue, and a Magic User would have a better chance for KS: Magic than woulld a warrior.

 

The sheer amount of coding is going to be immense, but it will make the product infinitely better and make you much prouder (being the perfectionist that you are). The real question for debate is: What skills go with which class?

 

Don't forget about perks and talents either, hehe. Most Magic Users are not going to have Defensive Manuver, ya know what I mean?

[nyakki]

I was (am still) working on a 'Binary' system for powers (but could translate into skills real easily).

 

Give a number value to the skill group like:

 

Warrior Skills 1

Thief Skills 2

Priest Skills 4

MU Skills 8

 

Skills that are only Warrior skills would get 1, Thief Skills 2, Priest Skills 4, etc.

 

Skills that crossed the line would get the total of the skill categories.

Example: Magic Skill Roll would get 12 (Priest and MU), Conversation would get 15 (Anyone can be a good talker) etc.

 

Still in the working stages but it's getting close.

 

Then all I would have to do is say: OK, this Warrior needs X amount of Warrior skills to qualify him (her) as a warrior. Now, what other skills would he have.

 

Just have to figure out how to implement it.

 

There is a website http://www.seventhsanctum.com/gens/ that I stumbled upon a week or so ago. They seem to have succeeded doing the Binary idea that I've been working on for about a year now... This is either a case of "No new ideas under the sun" -or- "Great minds think alike". Take your pick.

 

Keep the ideas coming,

 

nyakki