The July Ampersand article included a screenshot of the new Monster Builder, presumably the first of the DDI Campaign Tools (a.k.a. Adventure Tools, DM Tools). It's designed to be a more robust hybrid of the web-based custom monster-maker and the published creatures in the Compendium. The image size is small (Firefox'ers can use 'Ctrl-+' to zoom in) but it looks like it'll be pretty handy and robust for building your own personal Monster Manual. (The article is DDI-exclusive, but the picture seems intended for sharing & discussion.)
I've checked out some of the fan-made tools that have similar functionality (MasterPlan is a good one along those lines) but of course, they don't have access to the WotC content, and they don't always let you save/export the monsters for trading or later use elsewhere. I've found the web-based custom monster-maker to be very useful, and it would be a significant improvement to integrate the custom/homebrew with the pre-existing monster database.
I read the article as implying that we'll be able to mix-and-match monster abilities, although I don't know if that includes previously-created custom abilities. I'm also unsure if we'll be able to trade custom monsters in some form, or whether there'll be a hobbled demo version of the final Builder. Anybody heard more on this? Anyone else excited/interested?
Looks sweet.
Delicious.
Eeh. Interesting, but unnecessary for me. A bit more interesting if it comes with the ability to export and import files in other formats. Still it might make the DDI slightly more appealing to get into once my other issues with it have been resolved. This isn't enough to counter the problems of subscribing.
It does look cool - but I'd rather they do the Character Viewer first, so we can make custom pictures for the Character Builder. That said, the Monster Builder does look useful.
It does look cool - but I'd rather they do the Character Viewer first, so we can make custom pictures for the Character Builder. That said, the Monster Builder does look useful.
Not me, I'm not really certain what use I'd get out of a Character Viewer and I bet it'd be a pretty difficult piece of software to pull off. Monster Builder strikes me as very useful for a DM and simple enough that we'd likely see it in a reasonable amount of time.
Personally I'm all for WotC making all the database heavy campaign tools first because we can reasonably expect them to pull that off at a descent clip and do it well. Things like the Game Table and Character Visualizer are likely to need a lot more work and take a lot longer.
Give me my Campaign Organizer or some such next and save the really tough stuff for when they run out of the usefukl and comparatively easy stuff.
The very idea that I might, one day, have a campaign organization program akin to the one B.A. has in Knights of the Dinner Table has me drooling.
I love 4E but have not bothered to subscribe to DDI yet (though my DM has) but its getting harder and harder to resist. I used the demo of the character builder to update my cleric to 3rd level and it was pretty easy and impressive. They keep adding sweet tools and I'll eventually cave and give up on my weekly Lattes or something to acquire the cash to pay for a subscription.
Fantastic - I have been waiting for this for ages.
A bit more interesting if it comes with the ability to export and import files in other formats.
Which formats? The Char. Bldr. has its own XML schema files that can be traded freely, and some folks have been tinkering with using that output for use with custom character sheets/power cards & the like. I've customized the built-in sheets mostly to my liking, but I'm hoping someone will come up with more customizations for the power cards. What are you looking for?
It does look cool - but I'd rather they do the Character Viewer first, so we can make custom pictures for the Character Builder.
Not sure I ever saw the real need for the Char. Viewer. I mean I agree it would be cool to eventually have, but there's so much artwork around already (fr. Wizards & Paizo, plus other 3PPs & "amateur" stuff) I feel like it's not that hard to come up with a suitable headshot/medium-shot. Now if you want full-body, 3D visualization, I don't see how they could offer that with as much customization as folks would want. (I doubt they're dealing with say, Blizzard's art budget...)
A bit more interesting if it comes with the ability to export and import files in other formats.Which formats? The Char. Bldr. has its own XML schema files that can be traded freely, and some folks have been tinkering with using that output for use with custom character sheets/power cards & the like. I've customized the built-in sheets mostly to my liking, but I'm hoping someone will come up with more customizations for the power cards. What are you looking for?
XML is a good start, but I also would like (although this does fall outside what I said for file formats, but is closer to what I meant) for it to be able to take in and interpret just text off of a website. For example, I would enjoy just being able to copy a monster description off of a forum (or a list of monsters from a text file), place it in the program, and have the program be able to interpret it correctly into the proper chucks.
XML is a good start, but I also would like (although this does fall outside what I said for file formats, but is closer to what I meant) for it to be able to take in and interpret just text off of a website. For example, I would enjoy just being able to copy a monster description off of a forum (or a list of monsters from a text file), place it in the program, and have the program be able to interpret it correctly into the proper chucks.
Hmm, MasterPlan (link above) claims to do that for monster descriptions from the Wizards Compendium or from the MM PDFs - although I think it's doing some kind of regular expression/pattern-matching text parsing and I haven't got the knack of what text-markers it's looking for to make it import everything cleanly. (Only started tooling around with it recently.)
As for characters, as of the May or June update, the Char. Bldr. actually can import from text (via Copy/Paste/Windows clipboard). The import format is the same as the plain text format it uses to export for human-readable character summaries (for quick-reference, online posts, wiki's, etc.). I think powers/proprietary descriptions are simply listed by name, w/o description, so I don't know how it handles custom powers/items, but people made some noise and they put in the base functionality at least.
(sort of a rant) I think Wizards development team ought to put together a proper Help/Features document. (Un)Fortunately the program keeps adding/changing functionality, though, so it would take some effort to constantly update to stay in sync. (I'm guessing this is why they haven't done one yet.) It's pretty straightforward to use, and they do an Updates list every month, but those aren't really substitutes for a well-designed manual.
Oh yes. I want this. Have done for a while. Improvising monsters has charm, but getting the levels right - that's a whole other story.
This dudes monster builder
http://www.asmor.com/scripts.php
looks like a pretty basic version of what the monster builder will hopefully contain. Ive been playing with it this morning and converted a spiretop drake into a Giant Wasp with about 2 clicks.
Poking around this thread I found out some useful tidbits - looks like powers are fully customizable whether created from scratch or modified-from-existing. Templates are slated for a future build, and won't be in the first version. Info on whether a free demo will be available, and what form it would take (only monsters up to Lvl 3, for example) is pending, hopefully available early next week.
As expected, the builder will be a standalone app with monthly updates (like the Character Builder, instead of web-based), and will ultimately be compatible/modular with the later DM Tools/Adventure Tools/Campaign Tools as they come out. No word yet on what input/output formats the new app will support, but hopefully that'll be available next week as well.
Somewhat less expected, you can use the new app to build complex NPCs as well as monsters. I'm not sure how it would handle rituals/items though - maybe just a quick "equipment" list or included as part of the NPC/monster description? If it's viable though, it would be handy for NPC allies and such (bigger than "local cleric" and smaller than "DM's pet PC").
We finally get a proper introductory article, with explanations & more screenshots. The custom monster/power features are elaborated upon, but it's still not clear (to me, at least) whether you can distribute your creations independently of the builder.
Also, the matter of a when a demo version will be released is still in debate - whether it'll be a full DDI version first, then the demo release later, or whether the demo & full version will get a simultaneous release (from the same thread as earlier).
I'd think the latter would be better to entice potential new subscribers, but the developers may just not be ready for that yet.