DDO Character Planner - Printout input

[Ron]

There are several long term projects lined up for the Character Planner. One of the ones that has been in the queue the longest is to do something about the printout. Everyone hates it (including me). It looks ugly, it doesn't really work very well (skill and spells can fall off the bottom the of the page for complex builds). And I've wanted to redo it for a long time.

I've put together a couple of designs for this, mostly trying to duplicate old style D&D character sheets (with of course modifications to make them usable for DDO). But I'd also like to get input from the rest of the players.

There are a couple of rules.

1. It must be class generic. No character sheets that are class specific. I only want to have to maintain one printout please

2. As few pages as possible. I don't want to be wasting everyone's paper and ink.

So, if you have ideas, please post and let me know. I'd like to get a mock-up done in the next couple of weeks if possible so I can get started on the coding.

[Hafeal]

You have my full support and I support a similar style to the old school AD&D sheets!

A key piece of information I would like to see is a breakdown of stacking bonuses - (e.g., luck, enhancement, competence etc), and how they are working for your character.

[AZgreentea]

To be honest, I have never tinkered with the print function. My use of the planner is to build characters, store them on a thumb drive, and sometimes post them on the forums.

I am a little old school, in that I have a notebook next to my computer. I copy the character down into that (using the forum export view) and then when I need to level I check out the page that character is on. I find this useful because I can reference it quickly (more than loading the planner), view it the way I want to with my notes, and since my thumb drive is from the 90's and sometimes loses data I have a copy for backup.

So, I guess to be helpful, here is what I will write down when I am putting them in my notebook:

1. Starting stats with a note of where level ups are taken (and a note if one is taken in a different stat during level up)
2. When and what kind of tome is used.
3. A list of what skills to increase, with a note next to the level if it is different from the standard.
4. I have each level arranged thusly unless there is a note near it:
(spells taken) (Feat Taken) (Level in roman numerals) (enchantments taken)

Hope this helps!

[Ron]

Well guys, after a bit more tinkering, I have come to the realization that trying to modify an old D&D character sheet just isn't going to work. At least not until you've modified it so heavily that it is no longer recognizable.

The problem is this: Character sheets, in general, provide a snapshot of where the character is at some point in time. When a character changes (e.g. gains a new level), you erase the old information and put in the new (new save numbers, new ability numbers, etc).

The character planner printout, on the other hand, is a map of where the character has been and where they are going, from 1-20 (and soon 25). In other words, we have 20 (and soon 25) times as much information to present on our character sheet as a standard character sheet does.

So what to do? I'd like the printout to function as a character sheet so that you can see your character, but we can't printout a full character sheet for each level 1-25 (as they are 2-4 pages long, that would end up being 50-100 pages!). So perhaps we should print out a snapshot at just level 20 (or 25) of the character like a regular D&D character sheet.

But then we add an extra page on the end for the "Leveling Guide" where we just print out each level and what you do at those levels. You know those boxes of questions you answer in game when you level (which feat do you want to take, which skills, etc)? Maybe we just provide the answers to those questions in list form (tacking on the enhancements taken at that level as well). Sort of similar to the way the forum export level breakdown looks.

What do you think?

And suggestions are still very welcome. Best to get them in while we are still in the planning stages!

[AZgreentea]

So perhaps we should print out a snapshot at just level 20 (or 25) of the character like a regular D&D character sheet.

Why not make that a selectable level? Give people the option to print a starting sheet (lvl1) with a leveling guide, or to print out a sheet for specific mile stones. On the second one, an option to not include the leveling guide would be nice. You would only need the one guide and several sheets for specific mile stones.

[Ron]

Why not make that a selectable level? Give people the option to print a starting sheet (lvl1) with a leveling guide, or to print out a sheet for specific mile stones. On the second one, an option to not include the leveling guide would be nice. You would only need the one guide and several sheets for specific mile stones.

Okay, yeah good ideas. We will add those options (defaulting the character sheet to level 25 as that would be the most common choice).

[ArgentMage]

Another thing I'd like to see on a leveling guide page is the ability to add a free-form
comment for any particular level. Just one line of like 80 characters, so you can put
in something like "Feat Exchange Extend for Heighten" or "Replace Cure Moderate
Wounds with Deific Vengeance". I suppose this would be useful on Forum Export as well.

I can't tell you how many times I have specific build ideas I want to add that I later
forget about because they're not saved with the build.

[Psiandron]

Honestly, I've never used the print option. Probably won't either, it'd just leave me with more clutter.

That said,
The option to print at a given level makes sense.

I like the look of the planner export to web. I wish people would always use that, rather than make me look through their toon as they decided to type it out 'long-hand'. I'd see that as being a viable option for the look of the printed file. Just a thought.

As always, really appreciate the work you do Ron.

p.s. I do like ArgentMage's suggestion about adding a comment bloc.

[Calebro]

Another thing I'd like to see on a leveling guide page is the ability to add a free-form
comment for any particular level. Just one line of like 80 characters, so you can put
in something like "Feat Exchange Extend for Heighten" or "Replace Cure Moderate
Wounds with Deific Vengeance". I suppose this would be useful on Forum Export as well.

I can't tell you how many times I have specific build ideas I want to add that I later
forget about because they're not saved with the build.

I save my build when finished, but then I immediately copy (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, so I don't get the color tags) the forum export onto a notepad, saving that note into a Builds folder on my desktop.
I can add/change anything I want to right then and it stays.
I can open that text file when leveling and immediately see what I need to do this level.
I use the builder as just that, a builder, not as a place to store everything, but only to build them.

I agree that a feature like that would be great, but until then you can do as I do. It works well.

[Hafeal]

So what to do? I'd like the printout to function as a character sheet so that you can see your character, but we can't printout a full character sheet for each level 1-25 (as they are 2-4 pages long, that would end up being 50-100 pages!). So perhaps we should print out a snapshot at just level 20 (or 25) of the character like a regular D&D character sheet.

But then we add an extra page on the end for the "Leveling Guide" where we just print out each level and what you do at those levels. You know those boxes of questions you answer in game when you level (which feat do you want to take, which skills, etc)? Maybe we just provide the answers to those questions in list form (tacking on the enhancements taken at that level as well). Sort of similar to the way the forum export level breakdown looks.

What do you think?

I like that and I thought that was where you were going originally actually.

[ArgentMage]

I save my build when finished, but then I immediately copy (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, so I don't get the color tags) the forum export onto a notepad, saving that note into a Builds folder on my desktop.
I can add/change anything I want to right then and it stays.
I can open that text file when leveling and immediately see what I need to do this level.
I use the builder as just that, a builder, not as a place to store everything, but only to build them.

I agree that a feature like that would be great, but until then you can do as I do. It works well.

Yeah, I do that when I'm on my desktop at home, but that's almost never when I'm
doing the character planner. I'm usually on the character planner in an airport or
on an airplane, or sitting in a hotel room, and then I would sure like to be able to
send the build to a buddy and have all my notes in there for them to see when they're
playing around with the build. It's likely that I'll get interrupted or move on to
another activity soon after being in the planner, and then I've lost my train of
thought, and the details I had come up with.