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Character Tools:
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Math and bookkeeping are the "hard" parts of
being a GM. Oh, and remembering rules,
what spells are going, the magic ring that Fizbo
was wearing that adds to his defense against
Land Sharks, etc... These tools can help.
If nothing else, they can sure help you get a
character created quickly. |
Program
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Description
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Game System |
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e-Tools |
Developed by Fluid for
Wizards of the Coast, e-tools is a more advanced
version of the character generator that was
included in the first release of D&D 3.0.
It needs to be patched to make it really work
well. Codemonkey Publishing has taken over
development. Now data packs are available
for D20 Modern and D&D 3.5. It includes
all the monsters and races from the core three
books by default, and the 3.0 data set.
One big advantage to this program is the way it
integrates into the mapping program Dunjinni.
It can export its character as XML content that
can be easily imported into adventures designed
in Dunjinni. Familiarity with both
programs can make generating a professional
looking (as in "looks like you bought it
somewhere") adventure the work of just a couple
of hours. Its monster generator and
battle-block printouts can make a GM's life a
lot simpler. |
D20,
D&D |
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PCgen |
Open-Source meets
Open Gaming License in this
terrific little product. PCGEN is free, and comes with the data sets that are part
of the D&D
SRD. There are commercial data sets that
contain products such as D20 Modern & D20
Future, and these are released by Codemonkey
Publishing. PCGEN is a powerful tool, and
the character sheets it makes are very nice.
But its output is not easily used with mapping
programs. See the
current SRD here. |
D20,
OGL |
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GURPS Character Assistant |
The GURPS Character Assistant
is a complex toolbox which generates excellent
character sheets for your GURPS game. It
is not as intuitive as it could be - a "wizard"
would be nice - but it is comprehensive,
and has features such as "Campaign" global
settings and job templates that make a GM's job
easy when s/he has to generate several
characters. My biggest complaint is that
it doesn't have tools to auto-generate NPCs. |
GURPS |
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Character Sketcher |
From the makers of Fractal
Mapper & Inspiration Pad comes the Character
Sketcher. If you can't draw, or can't draw
on a computer, or can draw but don't have a
scanner, this program can help give a general
idea of what your character looks like.
(Sample) |
Any |
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Faces |
On the other hand, if you
want to make your character look like a
professional Police-Sketch artist did the
picture, you might consider using Faces
software. It'll set you back $150 for the
educational version - but if you have disposable
cash and a lack of art skill it'll do. |
Any |
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