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

[DamienKnight]

In Excel 2007 when I open the file I get the following message

If I click on NO, Excel closes the document.

If I click on YES it converts the document and the following things I have noticed.

Optional Rules checkboxes are gone but has the text there. If you Type the correct text value it still works but it doesn't look as pretty.
The Resources drop down list is empty. This may not be related but I just wanted to make it known.
Once the macros are enabled the text in the optional rules box vanishes,

Other bug But not related to this is There are only 4 levels to Martial Artist not 7. Unless this is some house rule that I have not seen.

If you do not have access to Excel 2007 I will be glad to try and help with fixing the sheet but I will admit that I don't know excel that well and may be asking some questions for coding help.

I am using Excel 2003. I cannot hardly believe that names would be removed in a latter version of Excel! They are so much more robust than actual cell refrerences, especially when working through multiple spreadsheet editors. Shame on you Microsoft!

The resources bug has been mentioned and is fixed in 7.

They only mention 4 levels of martial arts in the books, I assume meaning you can get up to level 4 in one style, but couldnt you get level 4 in one style, and 3 in another? To save space (and because it makes sense) I have allowed up to level 7, which would be 35 BP (the max qualities allowed), which represents 35 points worth of Martial arts, divided however you like amongst different styles (which is handled in the martial arts section next to qualities on the main page). If you do not approve of 7 levels, then feel free to delete the extra levels from the data page, or simply dont use them.

Edit:

Beta 7b is released!

Added Nanoware to Cyberware/Bioware page
Added Mentor Spirit Selection on Magic page (must select Mentor spirit quality)
Added aliases for various cell references
Add top 30 world languages to language list, fixed Italian
Added Character Data Mapping sheet and Ini/Xml output pages, sample only (pages are hidden but workable)
Fixed various bugs on vehicles, cyberware, cyberparts, and charsheet, thanks to help finding the bugs from the community
Added Symbiont and missing Cosmetic cyber modifications
Added Bobson's quick and pretty Skill Group savings (just use negative values in BP column for skills that are part of groups)

[Cabral]

I am using Excel 2003. I cannot hardly believe that names would be removed in a latter version of Excel! They are so much more robust than actual cell refrerences, especially when working through multiple spreadsheet editors. Shame on you Microsoft!

I agree. I labels are very handed, particularly when combined with defined lists. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) It's like C++ no longer supporting comments.

Beta 7 is released!
<SniP Cornucopia of Corrects and Array of Additions

... And there was much rejoicing!

[Mishra]

Hey there, again something from me =)
Looks like there's a little mistake in the calculation of at least one attribute for at least one race ^^'
Or perhaps two little mistakes - with the charisma for the elf.
Minimum is stated as 2 points with a maximum of 8 - but I believe, it should be a minimum of 3 points, shouldn't it?
And, when I enter a value for charisma, it doesn't show this value +2 in the appropriate column, but just the value itself (so while I should get a charisma of 6 with entering 4, I just get 4).
Hope, I'm pointing it out clear enough and can be of some help again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Best regards - and thanks so far
Mishra

[cryptoknight]

Attribute calculations are a bit difficult to understand...

What would be nice is if I could just enter either

1. how many stat points I wanted to add to the base state and let the sheet calculate the BP or Karma costs

2. What value the stat should be and just use the minimum and maximum for the race to figure out the BP.

ie. setup a table on a hidden sheet with each race and the racial mins and maxs for each stat, use VLOOKUP to get the info.

[Bobson]

I figured out how to do group-breaking in a workable (although not entirely intuitive) manner.

Three steps:

1. Change validation of column D to allow for values down to -4
2. Wrap column AN in a MAX(....., 0)
3. Replace column AQ with =IF(E29>ABS(D29),IF(ISERROR(FIND("(Group)",$A29)),
   VLOOKUP($E29,Complete_Karma_Math_Table,3,FALSE)-VLOOKUP(IF($D29="",0,ABS($D29)),Complete_Karma_Math_Table,3,FALSE),
   VLOOKUP($E29,Complete_Karma_Math_Table,6,FALSE)-IF($D29="",0,VLOOKUP(ABS($D29),Complete_Karma_Math_Table,6,FALSE))),0)

Then, when you want to say that a skill was raised to X as part of a group, you buy the group as normal, and give the skill a value of -X. Then the karma costs for raising beyond X are calculated appropriately.



Also, More than Metahuman (uw) is missing from the positive quality list, and the bioware/cyberware costs seem to have reverted to an older version, or something - they aren't halving the lesser of the two any more.

[DamienKnight]

Hey there, again something from me =)
Looks like there's a little mistake in the calculation of at least one attribute for at least one race ^^'
Or perhaps two little mistakes - with the charisma for the elf.
Minimum is stated as 2 points with a maximum of 8 - but I believe, it should be a minimum of 3 points, shouldn't it?
And, when I enter a value for charisma, it doesn't show this value +2 in the appropriate column, but just the value itself (so while I should get a charisma of 6 with entering 4, I just get 4).
Hope, I'm pointing it out clear enough and can be of some help again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Best regards - and thanks so far
Mishra

Yes, the charisma formula is wrong. Fixed it, will release 7a soon. Charisma should be very similar to Agility calculation, if anyone is impatient and wants to fix this themselves.

Attribute calculations are a bit difficult to understand...

What would be nice is if I could just enter either

1. how many stat points I wanted to add to the base state and let the sheet calculate the BP or Karma costs

2. What value the stat should be and just use the minimum and maximum for the race to figure out the BP.

ie. setup a table on a hidden sheet with each race and the racial mins and maxs for each stat, use VLOOKUP to get the info.

The sheet currently employs method 1. There is a hidden sheet called 'RACE' which it does lookups on.

[DamienKnight]

.

[cryptoknight]

The sheet currently employs method 1. There is a hidden sheet called 'RACE' which it does lookups on.

No it doesn't... and that's what's confusing.

Take the sheet, make a Dryad... put a 1 in the Base for Charisma. If it employed 1... the Charisma of the Dryad should be 3. But it's still 2.

What's worse, is it costs 10 BP to set it to 2 if I put 2 in the base column... The base for a Dryad is 3... But even so... if I put a 2 in the Build column it should be 2 - Racial minimum (which is incorrectly 2) = 0 * 10 = 0 BP, in Beta 7 it shows 10.

Each attribute's cost formula should be IF(Value = Max,25 + 10*(Value - (minimum + 1)),10*(Value-minimum))

[DamienKnight]

No it doesn't... and that's what's confusing.

Take the sheet, make a Dryad... put a 1 in the Base for Charisma. If it employed 1... the Charisma of the Dryad should be 3. But it's still 2.

What's worse, is it costs 10 BP to set it to 2 if I put 2 in the base column... The base for a Dryad is 3... But even so... if I put a 2 in the Build column it should be 2 - Racial minimum (which is incorrectly 2) = 0 * 10 = 0 BP, in Beta 7 it shows 10.

Each attribute's cost formula should be IF(Value = Max,25 + 10*(Value - (minimum + 1)),10*(Value-minimum))

Try looking at an attribute besides charisma. Refer to my previous post:

Hey there, again something from me =)
Looks like there's a little mistake in the calculation of at least one attribute for at least one race ^^'
Or perhaps two little mistakes - with the charisma for the elf.
Minimum is stated as 2 points with a maximum of 8 - but I believe, it should be a minimum of 3 points, shouldn't it?
And, when I enter a value for charisma, it doesn't show this value +2 in the appropriate column, but just the value itself (so while I should get a charisma of 6 with entering 4, I just get 4).
Hope, I'm pointing it out clear enough and can be of some help again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Best regards - and thanks so far
Mishra

Yes, the charisma formula is wrong. Fixed it, will release 7a soon. Charisma should be very similar to Agility calculation, if anyone is impatient and wants to fix this themselves.

[cryptoknight]

Well ok so I played with Agility.

If I put a 1 in for the Base Agility... it stays at 2. Which contradicts what I said above... If I want to add 1 to the base stat for a Dryad it should be 3.

If I put in a 2 for the Base Agility.... it goes to 3... When it should be a 4 if your operating on the type 1 I have above.

The stats are just counter intuitive... Adding tons of explanation to the sheet still leaves them so...

[DamienKnight]

I figured out how to do group-breaking in a workable (although not entirely intuitive) manner.

[ Spoiler ]

Three steps:

1. Change validation of column D to allow for values down to -4
2. Wrap column AN in a MAX(....., 0)
3. Replace column AQ with =IF(E29>ABS(D29),IF(ISERROR(FIND("(Group)",$A29)),
   VLOOKUP($E29,Complete_Karma_Math_Table,3,FALSE)-VLOOKUP(IF($D29="",0,ABS($D29)),Complete_Karma_Math_Table,3,FALSE),
   VLOOKUP($E29,Complete_Karma_Math_Table,6,FALSE)-IF($D29="",0,VLOOKUP(ABS($D29),Complete_Karma_Math_Table,6,FALSE))),0)

Then, when you want to say that a skill was raised to X as part of a group, you buy the group as normal, and give the skill a value of -X. Then the karma costs for raising beyond X are calculated appropriately.

Also, More than Metahuman (uw) is missing from the positive quality list, and the bioware/cyberware costs seem to have reverted to an older version, or something - they aren't halving the lesser of the two any more.

That is simple and elegant, and passive so that it is inherently optional. Fantastic!

Fixed Charisma, several missing qualities from unwired, and the bioware/cyberware essence costs.

Version Beta 7b

[Bobson]

That is simple and elegant, and passive so that it is inherently optional. Fantastic!

Fixed Charisma, several missing qualities from unwired, and the bioware/cyberware essence costs.

Version Beta 7a

Great. Now I need to go move the character from sheet to sheet a second time in the same day. You're too productive. Shame on you. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Ehleric]

Great sheet so far Damien. I'm trying to make a magician with 7a though and I keep getting an error in the Magic sheet on cell I24, where it is trying to calculate max spells known based on the Spellcasting skill. I'm running it in OpenOffice, is anyone else having this problem, or is it just me?

[Mishra]

Hey there,
and me again - sorry for always having a new point ^^'
This time it's the calculation of karmacost with the attributes again.
Whenever you raise an attribute with a natural Minimum of more than 1, it calculates the karmacost as if the minimum was one lower. So if I raise Charisma for an Elf to 2, resulting in a value of 4, it should cost me 12, but it does cost 9+12=21. For raising Agility to 2 what is 3, it equally costs an additional 6 karma. Tried this out with Orks and their Konstitution/Strenght, getting the same results.
Hope, this helps (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Best regards
Mishra

[DamienKnight]

Hey there,
and me again - sorry for always having a new point ^^'
This time it's the calculation of karmacost with the attributes again.
Whenever you raise an attribute with a natural Minimum of more than 1, it calculates the karmacost as if the minimum was one lower. So if I raise Charisma for an Elf to 2, resulting in a value of 4, it should cost me 12, but it does cost 9+12=21. For raising Agility to 2 what is 3, it equally costs an additional 6 karma. Tried this out with Orks and their Konstitution/Strenght, getting the same results.
Hope, this helps (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Best regards
Mishra

Yeah, your right. Fixed in 7b.

I keep getting an error in the Magic sheet on cell I24, where it is trying to calculate max spells known based on the Spellcasting skill. I'm running it in OpenOffice, is anyone else having this problem, or is it just me?

This is because it is searching for Sorcery/Ritual spellcasting, but I have added spaces to their name so it is not finding them. Fixed in 7b the max spells formula to search for sorcery/ritual sorcery with spaces.

Sorry to have another incremental update, but these are major bugs that need fixin. Grab 7b here.

[brennanhawkwood]

Just downloaded 7b and I must say that I am quite pleased with the Generator...very good work!

I have run into a problem dealing with cyberlimbs. If it has already been reported, my apologies.

It appears that there is something not working right in the calculations dealing with the Bod, Str and Agi associated with cyberlimbs. In beta7 selecting a cyberlimb would give you #VALUE in the spots at the top of the page (Cyberparts!I4 for example) and would end up giving similar results in the CharSheet. In beta7b the error #VALUE no longer appears, but the numbers never change.

I've looked around a little to see if I could figure it out, but I think I have exceeded my meager programming skills with Excel at this point. I'm using the sheet on an XP Pro machine with MS Excel 2003 SP2 in case that is useful.

[Ehleric]

Okay, me again. Same problem (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I did some more digging this time around though and it may just be an Open Office problem. In the formula on the Magic tab Cell I24, the VLOOKUP function is being used to pull in the value for your Spellcasting skill for Build Points, then for Karma Points. The problem I am seeing is that when building a character with just build points the first function works fine and I get the value I have for Spellcasting. When it does the second check however, it finds the skill but the points column is empty. It returns an empty value to the formula... which then promptly falls apart. I'm not sure if Excell handles the function differently or not. If it's empty, does it return a 0? Is there some way to tell it to do that? It seems to me that would solve the problem... but unfortunately my Spreadsheet programming skill isn't quite high enough to figure it out yet.

[imrtlcomp]

DamienKnight

Thanks for the refrence fix.
But I am still having issues with the main page. When I open the document macros are disabled and I can see where the optional rules are. I also found the diagram where the check boxes are in cells BO14 through BT23

When I enable the macros the box moves over but the check boxes do not. When I go over to them I can check them. Although if I check the Karma system the options for the races show up in the box correctly.

I am sure that this is a bug with Excel 2007 but I don't know how to fix this one.

Dice Roller work just fine.

I think you have done a excelent job with this sheet.

[merashin]

not sure if you noticed, but on sapient critters it won't let you raise magic unless your a mage/mystic adept/physad

[Sceptic]

In Z3 you should probably have: =IF(AND(Standard_Races_Free;Karma_Build_System);"Infection";"Race")

Also, one tweak I tend to make is setting resources equal to the minimum of 250000 and 5000 * the number of build points remaining. This removes what I regard as a superfluous decision.

[Dakka Dakka]

First of all great work on the character sheet!

I have found some minor problems with it:

1. In Office 97 for some reason the Magic and Technomancer sheets are hidden. Even if the appropriate quality is selected they remain hidden. Otherwise the sheet works.
2. The sheet does not work correctly with OpenOffice 3. Are there plans to reintroduce OO compatibilty?
3. There doesn't seem to be a way to break up groups during character creation with the BP-method, though this is not completely illegal.[Edit]It does work if you remove the protection from the sheet and manually enter the suggested amount from cell AB13 into cell AA13. Also the Comment on the latter cell is misleading, as it speaks of breaking up the group after character creation.[/edit]
4. Reducing essence and subsequently magic with cyber- or bioware screws up the BP cost. MAG 5 in a character with essence loss between 0.1 and 1 point should be 65 not 40. Or is there a mistake on my part?
5. The Code of Conduct quality seems to be missing.
6. The modded weapons page does not seem to support weapons that have stock options for accessories, like the Ruger Thunderbolt with or without Smartgun System.
7. There is no way i see to modify melee weapons. At least plasteel components and personalized grip would make sense. Weapon commlink and Weapon personality are debatable but another Lilarcor or Enserric could be fun. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
8. I have discovered some problems with the calculation of recoil compensation. Optional RC like from a folding stock is not calculated correctly. Adding a gas vent to a weapon with a folding stock is shown as 3(1) instead of 3(4).
   Replacing a stock gas vent 2 system with level 3 still takes up two slots.
   The underbarrel weight is not cumulative with a gas vent, which it should be.
9. There does not seem to be a way to remove built in modifications from a weapon
10. What does the Alt: field (L6) mean?
11. Mystic Armor and maneuvres do not show up on the character sheet

[Cabral]

The sheet does not work correctly with OpenOffice 3. Are there plans to reintroduce OO compatibilty?

I'm using OpenOffice 3. I haven't seen any problems yet, but I've only just upgraded and haven't monkeyed as much as when I first grabbed the sheet. Where are the problems?

[Dakka Dakka]

First of all OO claims that there are links to other files and asks if i want to update them. What other files?

On the Main sheet the Check Buttons for Karma or BP Creation do not exist.

The Martial Arts Advantages are red on yellow background even though the appropriate quality was selected.

Also the different skills and qualities on the CharSheet are not sorted right. It looks something like this Skill ASkill B   12 instead of
Skill A   1
Skill B   2

That's just what I found with a quick look.

Oh i found some more things (in excel):

1. Specializations for knowledge skills cost 4 BP if you are over the limit of (LOG+INT)*3 or 2 of those points
2. Attributes improved by Cyber- or Bioware are listed as total on the CharSheet not as Natural Attribute(Augmented Attribute)
3. Specialized skill ratings should be listed like this 1(+2) not as 1(3) as the specialization does not improve the skill rating but adds two bonus dice.

[Ehleric]

I have noticed some of those problems as well Dakka.

I think the skill list one is just a formatting issue, if you put a specialization in a skill so that it lists SkillA 4(6) all of the rest of the numbers will line up properly with their associated skills. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the parentheses turning it from a numeric quantity to a string.

[Bobson]

There doesn't seem to be a way to break up groups during character creation with the BP-method, though this is not completely illegal.[Edit]It does work if you remove the protection from the sheet and manually enter the suggested amount from cell AB13 into cell AA13. Also the Comment on the latter cell is misleading, as it speaks of breaking up the group after character creation.[/edit]

Since it's not RAW-legal, and it'd be a pain to support (it took long enough to come up with a way to support breaking up groups afterchargen), it probably won't be implemented, although that's always DK's call. I think for minor rule breaking, unprotecting the sheet and changing it by hand is sufficient.

Reducing essence and subsequently magic with cyber- or bioware screws up the BP cost. MAG 5 in a character with essence loss between 0.1 and 1 point should be 65 not 40. Or is there a mistake on my part?

Did you put in that you were buying 5 magic, or was your magic rating 5 after taking essence into account (i.e. you put in 6)? (The final values show up a few columns over). If the former, it's certainly wrong, if the latter, that's intended behavior - you put in your base stats, and then they get adjusted for racial modifiers, essence loss, and so on.

Mystic Armor and maneuvres do not show up on the character sheet

I asked about mystic armor - the response was that since it listed under powers, it didn't need to add in to armor as well.

First of all OO claims that there are links to other files and asks if i want to update them. What other files?

I've noticed this too. I've never noticed any difference no matter what I pick. It's a bit odd, though.