Wow, there’s a lot of dust around here!
Things have been pretty busy elsewhere in my life, so I have unfortunately had to concentrate my energies there. But enough excuses, let’s get to the RPG-related content.
ENnies Blog Shout-out
First, I’d like to give a shout-out (back?) to Tony Law and the ENnies Blog. Tony interviewed me (and many other ENnie nominees and winners) and the interview went live this morning. The interview was completed before I gave my controlling interest in Nevermet Press to Jonathan Jacobs, who is now the sole proprietor.
Pathfinder RPG App
Even though the Labs appear to have been abandoned since GenCon, I can assure you I have only secreted myself away from the villagers with their burning torches and nasty pitchforks while I gave life to my newest endeavor.
If you cannot tell from the screenshots, it is a web-based character generator for the Pathfinder RPG. I cannot say when I’ll be finished; I am currently on my 3rd re-write of the code at the moment in an attempt to get the app to perform decently on any browser but Chrome (Chrome IS the fastest browser when complex JavaScript routines are concerned).
The character generation takes place completely on the client side through the liberal application of JavaScript until the final step where the app creates a PDF of the character and stores it for a limited time on the server (the app automatically redirects to the (Character Gen Sample) PDF in the browser).
Here is the list of features that have been developed so far:
- Point buy Ability Score calculation (though you are free to break it)
- Favored Bonus points distribution (including Half-Elf bonus favored class)
- All racial features for the 7 Core Races
- All selectable class features for the 11 Core Classes
- Validation logic for all 176 Core Feats
- Skill bonus calculation
- Saving Throws, BAB, CMB, & CMD calculation
- Hit Point calculation using ½ Hit Die + 1 (and max HPs at 1st level)
- Save to PDF
As far as things to come, I want to add equipment and spell selection, with automated calculations for attack, damage, and save DCs. I plan on introducing Traits from the PDF enhancement as well. I also want to look into implementing random Ability Score generation options as well as random options for Hit Points.
Since I am in the middle of development, I do not want to reveal the project’s web address (it is actually live), but any parties interested in testing the app when the time comes, feel free to leave a comment below. I would also like to thank the handful of people who have already given me feedback on the project during its infancy.
For now, I’m sticking to the core rulebook only. Once the core rules are hammered out, then I will consider adding material from other sourcebooks. The core of the web app will certainly be free, but I am considering charging a small fee to store characters in a database.
I should note that the portrait used on the sample character sheet is drawn by Kennon James and was featured in Dragon Issue #278 and will not be used when the site goes live. For final release, I plan on using 60 (108) Terrible Character Portraits (drawn by Jeff Preston) when they are released since they will be using a Creative Commons license.
I’m not currently playing Pathfinder, but I do have the core books. I’m always interested in tools to assist gamers, so I’d love to help out with testing the app.
So excited! My gaming group (including a bunch of peeps from GOLD) could definitely use this. Can’t wait to see it!
Well done, sir! I eagerly await.
Excellent! I’m impressed. And your timing on announcing this couldn’t be better too 😀
@Mike: As soon as it’s ready for Alpha release, I’ll drop you a line.
@Greywulf, David, & Matthew: Thanks! I hope it meets expectations. I finally got some free time to throw myself at something, and this will be my priority until I’m satisfied with it.
I’m also interested in your app. Just one question: when you say “store characters in a database”, you mean in a database stored on your server, isn’t it?
Sounds great, let me know when you want someone to have a play with it.
😉
@Rafa: That’s what I mean.
@CaptCalamitous: Will do.
I’m running a Pathfinder group and would love to help test your CharGen when you get it running, if you need anymore help. =)
@Merkvah (and any interested parties): I’ll hopefully have something ready for beta testing in two weeks or so.
Any thoughts on putting this out for as a mobile app? Or will the Web app render reasonably well on Droids or iPhones?
Great work! Excited to see it live.
@Craig: I’ve thought about mobile, but I feel the process is just too damned complex to be able to render to such a tiny screen. There is a LOT of information to display not to mention extended navigation.
The JavaScript & CSS I’m using to display options doesn’t render particularly well on the mobile devices I’ve tested (Blackberry Storm & a few non-Android/iOS models). I’d be interested in seeing how well the site functioned on an Android 2.2 or iOS 3+ device, but I don’t have access to any.
Also, the site outputs characters to PDF, so if a mobile device doesn’t support that format, then all the work creating the character is for naught.
Will I consider doing a mobile version? Maybe… it depends on how much motivation I have.
In the end, I practice the “eat your own dogfood” method of design: I program things that I will use and how I plan on using them. So I recommend the Chrome browser, as it’s the browser I’ve done most of my testing on and the one on which I will be using the app myself.
Very nice! I have a MyTouch 4G I’d be more than willing to test this on.
This looks really great Mike! Also – I have an Android 2.2 device (MotoDroid original) and I would be more than happy to help test the alpha. 🙂
Anyone who expressed interest in testing the app in the comments should check the email (an possibly your spam folder) they used when commenting. I have sent out invitations to beta test.