Character Planner spreadsheet

[binnsr]

I do a lot of 'what-if' builds and have used Ron's character planner extensively in the past for this. Also, over on www.housetharashk.net, for a while, we were hosting build challenges (of the make a build that can do A, B and C type).

After using Ron's tool for a while, I started laying out my skills in a simple spreadsheet to make it easier to calculate out the full potential of a character given full buffs, feats, tools, etc.

Over time, this grew to include AC, to-hit and saves. Then I started automating things (such as, if I have 6 levels of paladin and 3 levels of fighter, then the saves automatically tally up).

Today, negative commented 'wouldn't it be nice if someone had a spreadsheet that tallied up all of your skills' in cforce's rogue skills thread -- so, I figured I would provide what I use to the community.

This spreadsheet is a work in progress, but as of this writing, it does the following:

• Calculates build points spent, final abilty mods with items, tomes, enhancements, buffs, levels, etc.
• Calculates saves with class levels, enhancements, inherent bonuses, feats and buffs.
• Calculates AC from armor worn, max dex of both the armor and your character
  • Does not automatically factor in Fighters Armor Mastery or Dwarven Armor Mastery (yet)
  • Also does not factor in additional max-dex from Defender of Siberys or Stalwart Defender
• Calculates max hit points from class, constitution, buffs and false-life items
• Calculates to-hit from input BAB, +5 weapon, feats and buffs
• Calculates skills from points spent, ability modifier, racial bonuses, feats spent, enhancements (manually entered at this time), items, tools and buffs.

http://download.skullreaver.net/build_template.xlsx (this is a ~237kb Excel 2007 spreadsheet)

Usage:
simply copy the template sheet to a new sheet
then,
- select a 28-point or 32-point build (A2)
- select race (A3)
- select Alignment (B4)
- allocate build points in G2-G7 until G8=0
- Choose classes in AA2-AA21 (future class choices can be listed as f-ftr for fighter to simulate a future level)
- Choose feats (AD2-AE21 and AF2:3) - blue lines in column AD are normal feats. Column AE is for fighter, wizard, ranger, favored soul and rogue feats. Cell AF1 is for the Human Bonus Feat at lvl1 and cell AF2 is for the Half-Elven Dilettante feat (These are restricted fields)
- Select Armor, Shield and Power Item (AE24, AE26 & AE28) - this will finish populating AC (except for enhancements) and spell points
- Select Enhancements -- this is best done by initially using one of the other offline enhancement tools - either Ron's tool, or JJFlanigans tool (http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88918) because I don't enforce much of anything here yet
- Adjust buffs and items in the various sections as needed..

Please note that as of v2.0.0, I do not have all of the PrE bonuses implemented (notably, only the Fighter Kensei's power surge is implemented at this time).

Let me know if you find anything broken or rule-breaking - most of what's in here is based solely on my knowledge of the game, so I'm sure there are still stacking errors somewhere


IMPORTANT NOTE: OpenOffice.org Calc now supports cell validation, removing the last hitch that I know of for using this tool in that product.

[negative]

I actually really like this spreadsheet a lot. It has a very PnP character sheet feel, and lets you plan out your character more in-depth than many other planners. I personally build a lot of my characters by hand, so this is right up my ally.

[binnsr]

Updated the tool.

- using vlookup to allow updates to the feats and enhancements - it's now harder to break formulas
- added rage with an on/off toggle to see what things look like both with and without.
-- Applies Rage and Rage enhancements to STR, CON, Will Save and AC. It doesn't handle double/triple stacked rages yet.
- Added Argonessen favor HP to the HP section
- Split Con bonus HP from class HP
- Toughness Enhancement HP are now IAW 4.2 (even though it's not live just yet)


I still have to automate BAB calculation and figure out a way to validate enhancements.. Until then, you're still better off using one of the other tools for that part

[Rentz]

hey binnsr,

I've been using your spreadsheet for a couple months now, and i friggin love it.

in combination with Ron's planner and the offline Enhancement calculator i can map a build down to the last detail, and have a nice high level view of it all in your spread sheet.

I'll download and check out your new one asap.
Did you get a chance to update the spell points to mod 4.1?
current numbers can be found here:
http://ddo.enterwiki.net/page/Spell_point

also, don't forget the toughness enhancement changes coming in 4.2.

Thanks again for creating and maintaining this thing. fantastic work!

[binnsr]

I knew there was something that I had forgotten to update.

I'll get that updated and a new version uploaded today or tomorrow.

[binnsr]

Updated spell points and re-uploaded.

One other thing that I updated for this version was the addition of a couple more skills.
The current listing of skills is: DD, OL, Search, Spot, Hide, Move Silently, Haggle, UMD, Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy, Balance, Jump and Tumble.

[Rentz]

yeah, it's a lot of work trying to maintain something like this. you've put in a truly commendable effort and I hope a lot of people are enjoying the spreadsheet as much as I am.

i've got your new one up and running, looks good. here's some things that might be worthy of making the template. I have some of these already customized for myself, albeit in a much more crude manner.

#i think you have rage linked to barbarians only, but some of us use the spell version (or potion/scroll version);
would it be possible to do something like 'if no barbarian, use rage spell/potion values' (+2 str, +2 con, +1 will save, -2 ac), or something like that?

#i added a Damage column at the right side of the ATTACK table so i could see my base dmg. (str bonus, weapon bonus, power attack, etc). I kinda like having that..not sure if anyone else cares. I just fill it in manually for the most part, though it's easy enough to reference the applicable 'to-hit' boxes.
along with that, a toggle for 1hand or 2hand damage would be cool, but not completely necessary.

#might be nice to have power attack in the list of to-hit modifiers.

[binnsr]

good suggestions.. I had already thought about all three of them, but have been too lazy to do anything about any of them yet

I've added them to the to-do list, though so maybe it'll get done..

For one-handed vs. two-handed, I just toggle the shield in AD26.

[Rentz]

spell point calculation looks perfect, great job.

#does toggling the shield (AD26) affect anything besides AC?
If a dmg box is added then you'd want some kind of toggle to give a 1.5x str bonus and +5/+10 bonus to power attack (for 2hand on/off).

2 other things on spell points:
#spell point enhancements and feats aren't adding to the spell point pool.
#bonus to SP items:
the % of sorcerer levels of total character levels adds to SP item
(12 sorcerer/2 rogue = 85% sorc + PoP X = 185 spell points from the item).

#drow doesn't seem to be forced to 28 point build (i think it is in my old version of the sheet).

[binnsr]

For the moment, toggling the shield off doesn't affect anything but AC (and attack if you had a tower shield on).
I'll give some thought on how I want to implement weapon toggles..

I fixed the 32-point drow thing, but am going to hold off on pushing another version until I can get a chance to update the spell point enhancements/feats and possibly the weapon/damage changes. I thought I had done the SP feats/enhancements sometime in the past, but I guess not

Since you seem to be pretty up on the spell caster side of things, and I'm more of a melee/rogue type guy .. do Spell Point enhancements stack? I.E. For a 13Cleric/1Sorc would I be able to take Cleric Energy of the Zealot III as well as Sorcerer Energy of the Dragon I?

[Rentz]

someone's gonna ninja me, i know it...

spell point enhancements work exactly the same as toughness or stat enhancements. can't stack class enhancements with similar enhancements from other classes. so, Nope. no stacking Energy of the Zealot and Dragon Blood enhancements.

However, racial enhancements do stack with the class enhancements.
elf wizards have access to Elven Arcanum + Wizard Energy of the Scholar
dwarf paladins/clerics have access to Dwarven Faith + zealot. etc.

hope that's not too much of a PITA to code...

[binnsr]

Ok .. based on all that feedback, there were some significant changes over the weekend..

-- Updated the Enhancements and Feats lists from Ron's 2.60 CharGen (thanks again, Ron)
-- Rage can now be calculated using Barbarian Rage, Rage spell/potion/clicky or Madstone Rage.
-- Added a damage column to the Attacks table
-- Added Power Attack to the Attack/Damage table
-- Added [Improved] Uncanny Dodge to the Saves table
-- Updated the Spellpoints calculations to include Spellpoints from enhancements
-- Added the New Human Versatility enhancements (even though they aren't ingame for a while)
-- Converted nearly all manual input to Validation selectors -- I like the way this turned out, but feedback on this would be appreciated.
-- Blue fields are all dropdowns that can be changed (most are an ON/OFF toggle)
-- There is now very little that is manually entered. Stat points, stat buffs, and skill boosts from items are just about it.
-- Added Concentration to the skill list.
-- Made BAB an automatic calculation based on class levels.

[Rentz]

awesome awesome work, Bin-

-took me a sec to find the toggle for 2hand fighting (under weapon bonus), but i found it.
-rage scrolls/spell/potions provide a +2 bonus to str/con stat, and an additional +1 to will save - - not +4 and +2, respectively.
-there is a +1 being listed in the dmg column associated with Bless, but is being toggled on with B63, Haste. Also, i don't THINK haste provides +1 to damage, just +1 to-hit. i could be wrong on that one, however. will check it out later if no one confirms or denies this before i can log in.


all in all, a stellar update to an already great spreadsheet. I hope other people enjoy this tool as much as i do!

Cheers

[binnsr]

You're right .. Haste doesn't do anything for damage rolls .. it's only for attack, AC and reflex saves (on, and 40% striding, but I don't have anything like that on the sheet yet ) Haste also has nothing to do with bless affecting damage .. both of those fields should be 'n/a' .. corrected that as well, and added the reflex save part.


I had rage right yesterday evening, but due to a fickle USB stick, lost about 8 hours worth of updates.


i'll think about how to make the 1H/2H toggle more apparent..

edit: uploaded new sheet.

thanks for the feedback and glad you like the tool.

[binnsr]

In recovering from that stupid USB stick, I completely borked up that upload last night..

• There was a formula error in the calculations for items in the Saves chart
• The selector for stat raises at level increases disappeared.
• Having the weapon finesse feat was applying dex bonus to damage.
• Having Precision wasn't halving damage anymore..

Uploaded and hopefully stable for a while..

[binnsr]

Updated to correct a few bug fixes and one or two miscalculations..

[binnsr]

I've uploaded a new version of this to http://tinyurl.com/2wwrpe.

Updates:

• corrections in the spellpoints enhancements.
• added Armor Check Penalty to the skills section
• added a block showing the Arcane Spell Failure for the appropriate armor/shield combo.

To Do:

• Add class level validation for enhancement benefits (and maybe feats?)
• Add racial validation for enhancement benefits

[Belryk]

Thanks Binnsr. Great tool.

[binnsr]

Thanks Binnsr. Great tool.

thanks. I've been working lately on getting monk support added, but my time has been limited, and its been going slow.

[binnsr]

Based on what we know right now for monks, I've gone ahead and added them to the planner and uploaded a new copy - within a week or so of us having more information, I should be able to do an update again.

Some significant changes for this version are:
- Feats - For fighter/Rgr/Wiz bonus feats, the box is blacked out if you don't qualify for one that level. Same goes for the Human bonus feat.
- Condensed Precision, CE, PA and Defensive Fighting into one 'Stance' entry under the Attack section.
- Changed the way that THF str bonuses are calculated. Previously, you selected TH+5 from the Weapon Bonus dropdown. Now you select a 'style' from a dropdown directly above the Stance entry-point.
- Tower Shield penalty is now auto-calculated based on which shield you have selected in the Shield Dropdown - previously you had to set it to On.
- Added all named shields to the shield dropdown


Most of these changes are aimed at more accurately reflecting your character at any given time. For example, previously it was possible to have yourself set up for both a Tower Shield penalty (and the AC from it) and also get the Damage boost from THF.

As usual, please let me know if I've fouled anything up or am violating any laws of the DDO universe..