|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, hero lab had the Oni-Spawn version of the Thiefling, but didn't have the Maw or Claw (Claw) alternate race traits. So, I got Advanced Race Guide, and oh, great, now the Oni-Spawn is gone. Lame.
Am I to think that one cannot have an Oni-Spawn with claws? I bet it is just that overpriced crappy program.
Oh look, me too.
I see a clear case of PEBKAC.
|
Vincent,
Make sure that you have re-activated yoru HeroLabs license, so it includes everything you own, including new purchases.
On the PC involved, go to Configure your Hero, and make sure the check boxes for the books involved are checked.
You need Blood of Fiends checked, IIRC, as well as the ARG.
As I am not near one of my computrers with Hero Lab on it, I can't go into greater/better detail, as I am workign from memory.
But, at one point, I had wound up trying to work on my Gunslinger PC with Hide Guns checked. Ugly.
|
|
Vincent,
Make sure that you have re-activated yoru HeroLabs license, so it includes everything you own, including new purchases.
On the PC involved, go to Configure your Hero, and make sure the check boxes for the books involved are checked.
You need Blood of Fiends checked, IIRC, as well as the ARG.
As I am not near one of my computrers with Hero Lab on it, I can't go into greater/better detail, as I am workign from memory.
But, at one point, I had wound up trying to work on my Gunslinger PC with Hide Guns checked. Ugly.
I will remember that!
But does anybody know how to fix the buggy text over my intellect, wisdom and constitution scores? It shows my reach, space, and size on top of them instead.
Vincent,
Make sure that you have re-activated yoru HeroLabs license, so it includes everything you own, including new purchases.
On the PC involved, go to Configure your Hero, and make sure the check boxes for the books involved are checked.
You need Blood of Fiends checked, IIRC, as well as the ARG.
As I am not near one of my computrers with Hero Lab on it, I can't go into greater/better detail, as I am workign from memory.
But, at one point, I had wound up trying to work on my Gunslinger PC with Hide Guns checked. Ugly.
I will remember that!
But does anybody know how to fix the buggy text over my intellect, wisdom and constitution scores? It shows my reach, space, and size on top of them instead.
It's a known issue and will be fixed in the next update.
The current work around is to enable Ultimate Combat in the Configure Your Hero window.
|
|
Is this program taken as 100% true? As in, whatever I print out from it, with the PFSOP character box checked in the Configure Your Hero window?
Cause if it is not, it's like paying for something that prints out things for you. I guess it IS nice, but it costs double to play the game, once for Piazo and once for Lone Wolf.
|
|
Is this program taken as 100% true? As in, whatever I print out from it, with the PFSOP character box checked in the Configure Your Hero window?
Cause if it is not, it's like paying for something that prints out things for you. I guess it IS nice, but it costs double to play the game, once for Piazo and once for Lone Wolf.
No, the usual response is that it is a nice addition, but you need to double-check the legality on Additional Resources yourself.
You should also check to make sure the numbers it is coming up with are correct.
I think the custom sheets for PFS tend to (accidentally) double-dip on Weapon Finesse and Agile Maneuvers for finesseable weapons. Then again, I may have one of the few PCs who has both those feats...
Trip/Disarm build, using high Dex and a piolearm, so AM. Later, due to being tired of being ineffective in combats against non-trip/non-disarmable enemies, picked up WF and an Agile rapier.
Is this program taken as 100% true? As in, whatever I print out from it, with the PFSOP character box checked in the Configure Your Hero window?
Cause if it is not, it's like paying for something that prints out things for you. I guess it IS nice, but it costs double to play the game, once for Piazo and once for Lone Wolf.
By 'true,' do you mean 'Does owning the rule packs for Hero Labs make non-Core Assumption features legal?' The answer to that question is no; you still need to own a physical or watermarked electronic version of the rulebook that is involved in those choices. So yes, you're paying twice.
Alternatively, by 'true' do you mean 'If Hero Labs says it's PFS-legal does that mean it definitely is?' As Kinevon says above, the answer to that question is also no. Always double-check the Additional Resources page to make sure that what you've chosen is actually legal; Hero Lab is an unofficial resource.
|
|
It is not 100% accurate (no tool is, but equally neither is any given person), basically its a tool and like any tool is only as good as the user.
How about maker?
Generally run through a quick check of you characters vital stats (HP, saves, AC, skill points, attack bonuses, damage) and make sure you know where everything is coming from because if I ask you as a GM "how is your AC X?" I dont want to hear "because herolab said it is" as that means I then have to delay the game while I double check that your AC is infact X.
A quick breakdown like "I get 7 from mithril breastplate +1, 3 from my +1 heavy shield, 2 from dex and 1 from dodge for a total of 23" is what I and I would say most other GMs are looking for.
But that is not exactly my question. Say that I have replace bonus item creation feats checked. Do I not worry if I don't know what exactly I should get? Is that 100% by the book? Also, a witch with nails/hair hex and no other equipped weapons. If the program says that I get 1-1/2 Int. on my hair attacks, is that correct. And my claws bumped to primary attacks. Things like that. Not that you don't have to know the rules.
But that is not exactly my question. Say that I have replace bonus item creation feats checked. Do I not worry if I don't know what exactly I should get? Is that 100% by the book? Also, a witch with nails/hair hex and no other equipped weapons. If the program says that I get 1-1/2 Int. on my hair attacks, is that correct. And my claws bumped to primary attacks. Things like that. Not that you don't have to know the rules.It is not 100% accurate (no tool is, but equally neither is any given person), basically its a tool and like any tool is only as good as the user.
How about maker?
Generally run through a quick check of you characters vital stats (HP, saves, AC, skill points, attack bonuses, damage) and make sure you know where everything is coming from because if I ask you as a GM "how is your AC X?" I dont want to hear "because herolab said it is" as that means I then have to delay the game while I double check that your AC is infact X.
A quick breakdown like "I get 7 from mithril breastplate +1, 3 from my +1 heavy shield, 2 from dex and 1 from dodge for a total of 23" is what I and I would say most other GMs are looking for.
If it's not an official tool, you should always double-check everything it gives you. Generally, Hero Lab is pretty good, but there are many instances both in the forums and in public play where it's given people incorrect calculations or flat-out wrong character development. The devs are pretty good at fixing them when they come up, but that doesn't happen until the bugs get caught.
|
|
While I don't use Hero Lab, I'm sure it's not worthless. It is a tool that many people like to use for their character tracking. I don't have terribly complex things on my characters so it's not hard for me to just update a sheet for changes. I personally don't see much merit in the tool compared to my own accounting, but lots of people like it so I hesitate to suggest it's worthless.
As has been mentioned, owning the Hero Labs License for a source does not satisfy the PFS requirement of owning the source. Hero Lab is also nowhere in the Core Assumption, so I don't know why you are saying that it costs you double to play the game.
I meant that it costs you double IF you chose to use the program.
You chose to pick up a tool that theoretically makes character tracking easier (which for games that aren't Pathfinder, I'd find highly valuable cause there are some systems that Hero Labs supports that are much harder to track each bonus...I'm looking at you SR4). The tool does its job.
Sooo. . . Herolab is not crap?
I'm in the "not crap" camp. I've used it repeatedly and successfully. Admittedly I've suffered from user-error a couple of times, but that's my fault and not the program.
If you don't know everything HeroLab is doing and why;
If you couldn't make the same character by hand without HeroLab telling you anything;
If you're using HeroLab to do absolutely anything other than save you time;
Then you shouldn't be using HeroLab to make a PFS character.
Suggested revision in italics.
I have no problem with my home game players using HeroLab because they just want to get to the fun; I can and will fudge things if they don't understand something. System mastery is an obstacle to getting some of my friends to play. In the same way I would create a character for them and just hand it to them if asked, I'll also let them play around in HeroLab and do things "that are just cool."
|
I am becoming more and more happy with PCGen personally. It isn't as well-supported with current updates as Hero Lab but it is free, fairly easy to use (to get out of learners mode I just took some time and made about 20 pcs of various levels and classes, from core, apg, UC, UM and races including some monstrous ones from the bestiaries.). It seems fairly solid if not totally infallible, and the price is frickin' right.
Herolab is great, but as it's made by a third party and not Paizo, there can be errors. You should always double check any game legalities yourself.
-j
|
|
Hero Lab is great. But as others have said it is not infallible by any means but then again nor is ANY software used to create characters. Including at the moment Paizo's in house software for writing up scenarios :)
Knowing what is used where for character creation will alleviate any thing that Hero Lab does incorrectly though.
I absolutely love the Hero Lab. Worth the $s, I get to spend more time playing and GM'ing than generating NPCs and big bad guys. My two cents.
2nd to what jwood314 said: One of the best things about Hero Lab for me is having the Bestiary packs and being able to advance monsters easily when adjusting adventures or creating my own; when not GMing it's an awesome tool for creating different versions of the PC I want during character creation until I come up with the one that fits. Well worth the $ for the time it saves me.