Upgraded Character Generator, Updated Generator Based on work from Autarkis and Blakkie Options

[Penta]

Thanks all. The answers are so obvious...Yet I am apparently a dunce.

[SpellBinder]

Don't sweat it. The dumb questions are the ones not asked.

And I don't know if it was mentioned before or not, but the speed calculations for vehicles is incorrect for the second vehicle entry and on (percentages are not totaled before the multiplication).

[DamienKnight]

"The book says both Metagenics and Metagenetics interchangably, probably on accident. Are you sure which one is correct?" - DamienKnight
Okay, I had another look. You are right; Runner's Companion uses both terms. However "Metagenetics" is used far more often than "Metagenics". Augmentation only uses the term "Metagenetics".

Metegenetics sounds good to me. I will fix it.

Damien I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your work on this project, I live and die by this spreadsheet when making characters.

I require my players to use it for character generation. The sheet settings I prefer are part of my houserule document.

Thanks so much. I really appreciate the feedback. It makes me feel like the work is worth it knowing that people are getting good use out of the sheet.

[Delarn]

The running wild infected are in the 1g ?

[Blade]

I've seen in that CG that "Black Market Pipeline" allows you to buy things up to 15 availability. Where is that rule? I couldn't find it in the quality's description...

[risingstar]

I love the character generator. It does have one disappointment though. Any chance of using a character dossier instead of the provided character sheets?

[DamienKnight]

I love the character generator. It does have one disappointment though. Any chance of using a character dossier instead of the provided character sheets?

I have had alot of requests for more Character Sheet printable pages. If anyone wants a certain format added to the spreadsheet, I am absolutely willing to do it. Eventually more will be added, but it is going to be slow.

If anyone is REALLY eager to see a certain sheet... Go into excel and create the formatted page, without the data in it. Submit the printable layout to me, and if it follows this criteria:

- Same font/style as other Charsheets
- Must fit into one printable 8 x 11 area
- Must address a need not already covered by the existing sheets

Then I will take your sheet, paste it into the SR4CG_DK sheet, and plug in the formulas.

I will only myself design printable pages that I personally need to use, or am inspired by others to create. Ways to inspire me include:
- Giving a detailed description of what you want
or
- Creating a template, as explained above

Ways NOT to inspire me to do it myself:
- List all the sheets that are not present and label it a 'dissapointment'
- Giving shallow requests like, 'Hey, could we have more printable sheets?'

I am starting on another programming project in my free time, and do not intend to spend as much time working on new features for the sheet. I will address broken things as they are mentioned, and occasionally add a new feature. Which feature I decide to add will be based on what help I get from the community and what suggestions appeal to me.

If my group starts playing shadowrun again, the sheet will likely get more attention. For now, its something I spend only a few hours a week on, counting the time I spend reading/replying to this thread.

[DamienKnight]

I've seen in that CG that "Black Market Pipeline" allows you to buy things up to 15 availability. Where is that rule? I couldn't find it in the quality's description...

House rule. I added it to the settings page so you can configure it as you like. I figure if you have a blackmarket pipeline to a specific kind of gear, it should allow you to start with slightly harder to obtain gear in that category. This new option is available in version 1g. Just set 'Blackmarket Availability Bonus' to 0 if you want to stick to RAW.

Also, I implemented the variable starting availability option on the Settings page. It should be 12 as a default, but change it to whatever you like. You could even set it to 30 if you want to get rid of the annoying highlighting on a char that is past creation.

You should add a weapon that's obtained by doing the Manhattan Missions

You can custom create that with the sheet.

[ Spoiler ]

Create a custom Ares Alpha, add the 20 nuyen bayonett attachment, then buy a vibrosword. A bayonett is just a knife which gets reach when attached. Vibro sword would have 2 reach when attached to a bayonet mount, and do same damage.
I added a melee weapon mod called 'Bayonet Mounting Bracket' to better facilitate this.

Did you include the infected from running wild ?

The running wild infected are in the 1g ?

I added the Gnawer, but I was just guessing on stats. Running Wild does not have rules for PC's playing as the new infected. I gave them same stats as Goblin, but with no charisma penalty, and an intuition bonus. Maybe no logic penalty either.

I gave them powers as listed in the Running Wild Book, but I am not sure what their cost should be. They have better stats than goblins, and some neato powers, but no essence drain... I just left them at 35, like ghouls and goblins. Opinions? Is there a thread out there where the community discusses PC rules for the Gnawer, Harvester and Grendle?

[Brol_The_Mighty]

Maybe I've missed it somewhere, but where's the link for the 1g version? All the links I'm finding are to 1f

[DamienKnight]

As far as I know, arrows are missing. Just use the open fields near the bottom of the Gear sheet for the short term (it's what I did for a troll adept archer).

Generally, crossbow bolts are handled the same as arrows in most cases. If it's absolutely essential to differentiate between the two, just do the same for arrows and bolts as for regular ammo for firearms (like how light pistols and heavy pistols cannot share ammo).

And thanks DK.

Added Arrows and Injection arrows from the original Core Book p. 306.

Added Bolts and Injection bolts, same stats as arrows.

Sequencer, Keykard Copier and Maglock Passkeys are missing their ratings.
Well, not really missing, but it's greyed out as if it had no rating (it still calculates like they had it, thou).

Edit 1: Myomeric Rope is bought per 10m increments, the spreadsheet is listing 100m increments.

Added max rating of 6 for Sequence, keycard, and maglock passkey. Changed Myomeric Rope 100m to Myomeric Rope 10m.

Thanks for helping me clean up the gear. Keep it coming as you find the problems!

Would it be possible to have a houserule setting for free Knowledge/Language skills via Logic & Intuition in Karmagen?

Could you elaborate on your request Tyro?

[Delarn]

Maybe I've missed it somewhere, but where's the link for the 1g version? All the links I'm finding are to 1f

1g is the next version not out yet !

[Draco18s]

Could you elaborate on your request Tyro?

I believe what he wants is "free knowledge skill ranks" under karmagen similar to how you get free knowledge skill ranks under BP.

[Dakka Dakka]

That's my understnding as well. so (LOG+INT)*3 Skill points in KarmaGen. Sounds reasonable to me. But with the variable cost of skillpooints this can be a lot more work than with BP-Gen.

[Tyro]

That's my understnding as well. so (LOG+INT)*3 Skill points in KarmaGen. Sounds reasonable to me. But with the variable cost of skillpooints this can be a lot more work than with BP-Gen.

I was thinking (LOG+INT)*6 Karma for Knowledge/Language skills only.

[Dakka Dakka]

Of course only knowledge and language skills, I though that was clear. *6 will effectively double the amount compared to those you get in BP-Gen as the granted points are not BPs but actual rating points in those skills. 18 points means 3 knowledge/language skills at 6 or 6 at 3 or any other combination that adds up to 18.

[Gev]

House rule. I added it to the settings page so you can configure it as you like. I figure if you have a blackmarket pipeline to a specific kind of gear, it should allow you to start with slightly harder to obtain gear in that category. This new option is available in version 1g. Just set 'Blackmarket Availability Bonus' to 0 if you want to stick to RAW.

Also, I implemented the variable starting availability option on the Settings page. It should be 12 as a default, but change it to whatever you like. You could even set it to 30 if you want to get rid of the annoying highlighting on a char that is past creation.


You can custom create that with the sheet.

[ Spoiler ]

Create a custom Ares Alpha, add the 20 nuyen bayonett attachment, then buy a vibrosword. A bayonett is just a knife which gets reach when attached. Vibro sword would have 2 reach when attached to a bayonet mount, and do same damage.
I added a melee weapon mod called 'Bayonet Mounting Bracket' to better facilitate this.

I added the Gnawer, but I was just guessing on stats. Running Wild does not have rules for PC's playing as the new infected. I gave them same stats as Goblin, but with no charisma penalty, and an intuition bonus. Maybe no logic penalty either.

I gave them powers as listed in the Running Wild Book, but I am not sure what their cost should be. They have better stats than goblins, and some neato powers, but no essence drain... I just left them at 35, like ghouls and goblins. Opinions? Is there a thread out there where the community discusses PC rules for the Gnawer, Harvester and Grendle?

The Gnawer has the same stats a sa ghoul , without blindness and with special diet" metahuman bones" instead of "metahuman flesh"

[Karoline]

Are nanites not included in the character generator, or am I just unable to find them? They don't seem to show up under general gear or augmentations.

[SpellBinder]

As far as I know, no, the nanites are not included. Short term solution would be to use the gear page and manually input the nanites. Fortunately they don't incur any essence loss.

Some of the gene treatments aren't listed either, particularly the Genetic Optimization. In a similar thought, would it be possible to expand upon the Impaired (Attribute) negative metagenic quality so there are options that actively reduce the natural attribute maximum?

In the same line of the gene treatments, Adapsin does not influence essence loss in the character sheet. As a thought, it could be tagged to be included in the Grade entry for cybernetic implants (like Std., Used Std., Adapsin Std., etc.), so you can calculate the essence loss for the gear for the before and after effects of the gene treatment, and have it only show up as long as the Adapsin gene treatment is in the Cyberware/Bioware page.

[DamienKnight]

The Gnawer has the same stats a sa ghoul , without blindness and with special diet" metahuman bones" instead of "metahuman flesh"

That is not what I found in Running wild. Can you quote your source?

[DamienKnight]

SR4CG_DK version 1g is now available.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4nmzyh0jdob/SR4CG_DK_1g.zip

Includes:
- Added alternate ammo text on custom firearms to the CharSheet Ammo Description
- Added the Zoe armor lines to the Selectable Armor list.
- AI characters can select Inherent programs on Hacking page, selection will be listed on Charsheet
- Charsheet and Mainsheet now more accurately displays AI stats
- Added Starting Availability Limit and Blackmarket Availability Bonus to Settings page
- Updated Armor, Weapons, Vehicles and Wares to use new availability settings
- Added new Mobile_Charsheet page for easier viewing on Mobile phones
- Post infection 'x' now works with Latent Dracomorphasis
- Added Gnawer infected option from 'Running Wild'

Want to see Harvester and Grendel infected options? Help me narrow down their stats here.

[Gev]

That is not what I found in Running wild. Can you quote your source?

From running wild . in the weakness it doesn't have blindness listed , but does have the dietary requirement listed. it doesn't have the stat adjustments listed either , so i assumed on those.

[Tyro]

Of course only knowledge and language skills, I though that was clear. *6 will effectively double the amount compared to those you get in BP-Gen as the granted points are not BPs but actual rating points in those skills. 18 points means 3 knowledge/language skills at 6 or 6 at 3 or any other combination that adds up to 18.

I implemented it as (LOG + INT) * 6 Karma usable only for Knowledge and Language skills. I consider that an obvious step in converting from BP to Karma.

[bmcoomes]

I'd still like to see cyberparts have a cybersuite option.

[mindcandy]

Hi DK - wanted to say thx for your work on this - awesome tool!

I would like to ask a couple of questions please - when I add Active skills I notice that 'group' skills seem to be listed twice in the drop down box. furthermore it doesn't matter which of the two I pick - the character sheet does not list the skills contained in the group. Should I type them in manually or am I missing a trick? It seems currently that the assumption is that my players would know which skills are in which group picks and thats simply not the case since we've not been playing long.

Secondly I would like to know which software is best to use with your generator? MS Office 2007 gives various warnings about format, macros and labels in formulas which are not supported in 2007 version. Is it safe to allow 2007 to replace them with cell references or should I find an old version of Excel? Would Open Office 3.2 work? I know how to input data to a spreadsheet - but macros, cell references and formula are all beyond me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Thx for you help!

Edit: I've read back through some of the thread and noticed that I'm not the first to ask about the error in Excel 2007 - I feel less hesitant in using it but I'm still interested to know which version of Excel the generator was written for and if Open Office would work fine?

[DamienKnight]

Hi DK - wanted to say thx for your work on this - awesome tool!

I would like to ask a couple of questions please - when I add Active skills I notice that 'group' skills seem to be listed twice in the drop down box. furthermore it doesn't matter which of the two I pick - the character sheet does not list the skills contained in the group. Should I type them in manually or am I missing a trick? It seems currently that the assumption is that my players would know which skills are in which group picks and thats simply not the case since we've not been playing long.

The group skills are listed twice on purpose. First there is an alphabetical listing of all groups, then an alphabetical listing of all skills, then it is followed by a listing of each Group with its component skills listed immediately after. For example, Climbing is found near the beginning of the skill listing, and then found again listed under the Athletics group.

I added this to help players keep track of which skills are in a group. There is no automated way to receive all skills when you select a group. You can add the group, then add each skill component separately if you want to break the group out into individual skills. The groupings from 4th edition are very sensible, and I think you will find that after a couple of weeks of playing you will have it mostly memorized.

If you are breaking a skill group out into individual skills, you need to keep the group and all individual skills in your skill list, then alot a BP or Karma adjustment on the 'Skill Group Expand' area (below your total BP/Karma on the Main_Sheet). If you had an athletics of 2 at character start (paid with BP) then decided later to get a specialization of Gymnastics - Falling, you would need to break out the Athletics group by listing each individual skill at level 2. So you would have:
Athletics (Group) 2
Climbing 2
Gymnastics 2 (x under KarmaSpec column)
Falling
Running 2
Swimming 2

Now you are showing either 24 karma lost, or 32 BP lost (depending on weither you put the individual skills as Karma or BP)

You need to go to the Skill Group Expand BP and add 32 to it, or go to Skill Group Expand karma and add 24 to it. These cells subtract directly from your Active Skills BP/Karma paid.

You also could instead give the character a 24 point karma reward on their Karma_Log sheet, and note the reason as something like 'Expanded Skill Group Athletics'.

Secondly I would like to know which software is best to use with your generator? MS Office 2007 gives various warnings about format, macros and labels in formulas which are not supported in 2007 version. Is it safe to allow 2007 to replace them with cell references or should I find an old version of Excel? Would Open Office 3.2 work? I know how to input data to a spreadsheet - but macros, cell references and formula are all beyond me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The sheet is developed primarily in Excel 2003. The sheet should work fine in Excel 2007. That error message is normal. Let excel do its thing and everything should work as intended.

Some people use the sheet in Open Office. There is a quirk with XP + Open Office 3, which could make the sheet fail. I do not know much about it, and havent had any recent complaints. Open Office can be a little bit buggy, mainly due to the way that it handles automatic updating of formulas as you change cell values. Excel is tight with updating formulas. Open Office... it tries to only update certain formulas, and sometimes can be laggy or display formatting wrong.

The sheet is still usable in Open office, just not quite as slick as it runs in Excel 2003 and 2007.