MuensterCheese

I no longer have the code, but it was last written in Delphi 7.  The algorithm is fractal in nature, using Brownian motion calculations, and uses recursion.  The output of the file has to have dimensions which are a power of 2, plus 1.  The first time through the function, the "altitudes" of the main 9 points are calculated.  The main 9 are upper-left, upper-center, upper-right, left-center, center, right-center, lower-left, lower-center, and lower-right.  The map is then divided into four quadrants and each of those is sent into the recursive function.  The function randomly calculates the "altitudes" of any unassigned points of the main 9 within the quadrant.  The recursive function divides the quadrant into four smaller quadrants, and once again sends those into the recursive algorithm.  The further away two points are, the larger the variance in "altitude" at the midpoints.  At the smallest level, a 9-pixel box is submitted to the algorithm.  Since there is no more to subdivide, the function exits.  It did not use threads, so it's kind of slow, but computers are getting faster.  The "altitude" is a value between 1 and 255, I believe, which is a color of grey.  A color map then maps these values into RGB values.  The download includes sample color maps, which are customizeable and you can add more.

If you want your Characteristic totals to show negative numbers when you "sell back" Characteristic points, change the formulas using this pattern:

=CEILING((B9-F9)*H9,SIGN(B9-F9))

For those that aren't as familiar with Excel functions, I'll explain this.

• By subtracting the F column from the B column, you're seeing how much more than "normal" your character's Characteristic value is.  Like, if your PC has 15 STR, the default is 10, so the result of that subtraction will be 5.
• It multiplies this value by the other value in column H, which is the cost.  If the cost is 3, then 5 would be multiplied by 3 and end up with a whole number.  But if it's a partial cost, then it would end up being divided by a whole number (or multiplied by a fraction, however you see it).  In the case of END and STUN, you could end up with a fraction.  The CEILING function will round UP if there's any fractional part.
• The second parameter of CEILING is what direction you want to round and how many places.  We always want to round to an integer (a whole number) in the case of costs.  BUT, if the player is selling back points, the result of the division will be negative, and you can't round to a positive integer.
• The SIGN function will return a positive 1, if the parameter is positive, a 0 if the parameter is 0, and a -1 if the parameter is negative.  So if the character wants to have less than the starting number of Characteristic points, the subtraction will be negative, and the rounding will be to a negative integer.

I found a few problems with the character sheet and thought I'd post a solution rather than complain, since this was great of this member to post.  Please note that I am going off of Champions Complete 6th Edition, which is a subset of the Hero System, 6th Edition.  Perhaps costs are not the same; I don't know:

• Cell H13 should be 1 not 2 (for EGO cost)
• Cell H22 should be 1 not 2 (for REC cost)
• Cell H23 should be .2 not .5 (for END cost)
• Cell H25 should be .5 not 1 (for STUN cost), then the Format needs to be changed to Fraction

• J23 -> =CEILING((B23-F23)*H23,1), then change Format to General
• J25 -> =CEILING((B25-F25)*H25,1), then change Format to General

In fact, the above calculation column could be applied to all of column J in the Characteristics section, allowing GM's to create fraction costs for other characteristics, specific to his campaign.  Also, Excel won't complain about an odd calculation in the middle of the others.