I am opening this topic to capture feedback on the Excel character sheet generator that I have developed, available at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25220351/ACKS_Character.xlsm.
Please post bugs or incorrect information that you may encounter, and also let me know which functionalities you would like to see implemented.
The sheet comes with instructions, I am also open to feedback on how they are presented. You will need to enable macros to get the most of the automation, but the calculations still work without them.
I am working on selecting spells for the arcane casters. I also printed out spell sheets to select spells for divine casters - at first this was just because I was operating on AD&D assumptions about memorizing spells, but I think it might be useful for people who are using these characters in systems or houserules that do have clerics prepare spells; also as a Judge when I run a NPC divine caster it helps to have a suggestion of what spells they might lead with.
It is in the zip file for the expanded templates, in the Player’s companion section. I have found a couple of bugs so far, I will check with Tavis on how to publish a “dev” version of the tool that can have a quick turnaround for fixes.
This looks really cool.
Wishlist? Make it easy to add new classes. I don’t know where the tables are hidden that pull all the data, but since I’m addicted to making new classes, I would love to be able to use them with this sheet.
Good point. I will make a tutorial on how it works, and how to add new classes and templates. It is relatively easy for the most part, I am still looking for better alternatives for the template attacks. I think I can have it ready for the weekend.
I have updated the sheet in the same link. It contains my work in progress on spells (so far the divine part should be working), and a new sheet called customize. I have added the Nightmask from your custom classes, to test the process, but I will appreciate feedback as I am not the best one to judge how easy is to use my creations.
Very very cool! I’m really impressed.
It doesn’t seem to want to let me just add my weapons and proficiencies, instead there is an equation to look up a template. I assume this will work with the templates in the Players Guide, but certainly just being able to add the right ones would be more useful to my group (we don’t use templates…though having them preloaded for quick NPCs would be awesome).
Also, for house rules, Proficiencies should be a matter of ‘type them in’ or select from a drop down. My own house rules allow for more than the RAW, and with Int bonuses and magic pools, it seems better to not link them to level (or red flag if you go over, but not stop you).
I love that the output looks like the book character sheets, but is there no way to expand the spell sheets… I mean, divine casters lose 3 spells a level.
Otherwise, awesome work. And I’m not just saying that 'cause you used one of my classes…
Thanks for the feedback. Many of the current limitations are due to my focus on making it work for the existing templates. I am thinking on ways of overcoming those limitations, although it make take some time.
As an interim solution, the “Make Edits” button unprotects the sheet and removes the array formulas that cannot be easily overwritten. With that, you can overwrite everything in the sheet, and the final printout will still be the current character sheet.
With proficiencies, I started at some point with a full list, but then I realized that it is actually a shorter list for each class. I will probably implement them at some point, and then include the process to add the proficiency list for custom classes. One question, when you add extra proficiencies, are you still picking from the class and general lists, or do you go outside of them too?
Spells is not an easy one; I would like to keep using the character sheet and it is not easy to fit them there. I rolled a priestess, and I had to leave more than half of the spells out!
If you use the Make Edits, what does that remove? I mean, would it still pull the details for everything else? What would stop working?
Honestly, I think you should just do the big list (with allowing people to add more profs into the master list). Why? Well, I have altered a few class lists and I’ve seen other people who do. I’ve even heard that some don’t bother with the class limited lists at all but let people play with whatever makes the most sense for their character character.
As for what I mean about the adding extra proficiencies it just sort of depends. If someone drank from a magic fountain and got a random proficiency or something similar then it wouldn’t necessarily be off their list.
Yeah, we never liked the limited spell sheets… 7 spell lines seemed a weird choice. Couldn’t you shrink the font and add extra lines?
Got it. It is actually easier to do a single list than individual ones; I can start there and move to separate lists by class if needed. The main issue that I foresee is with the proficiencies which require a domain, like craft, but I think I will open some space to input that data, instead of coding it on the data validation.
I am changing the formulas, so the “Make edits” will just unprotect the sheet. Before it copied and pasted data, as there were some array formulas that could not be easily overwritten. Now (when I upload the new version) you can overwrite everything in the sheet once it is unprotected.
For the spells, the number 7 makes sense for arcane casters, as that is their limit (4 from any given level, +3 on max INT). I will play around with shrinking the font, and adding extra placeholders between the lines. I don’t think that I could cover extreme cases like the witch or the wonderworker, with a potential 17 spells at a given level!
Thanks for the feedback, I will probably publish a new version today with some of it.
I have uploaded a new version at the same link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25220351/ACKS_Character.xlsm
I have included more spells per page, aligned right on each box under each line. I think it looks OK, suggestions are welcome.
I have also included data validation on the proficiency area. At the end I decided to go with class proficiencies instead of the full list, sorry. I will find a way to have both of them soon.
I have also started a changelog inside the Excel. I have labeled this version as 0.8, as there are some extra functionalities that I would like to incorporate.
If you use the Make Edits, what does that remove? I mean, would it still pull the details for everything else? What would stop working?
Honestly, I think you should just do the big list (with allowing people to add more profs into the master list). Why? Well, I have altered a few class lists and I’ve seen other people who do. I’ve even heard that some don’t bother with the class limited lists at all but let people play with whatever makes the most sense for their character character.
As for what I mean about the adding extra proficiencies it just sort of depends. If someone drank from a magic fountain and got a random proficiency or something similar then it wouldn’t necessarily be off their list.
Yeah, we never liked the limited spell sheets… 7 spell lines seemed a weird choice. Couldn’t you shrink the font and add extra lines?
I have made a quick update on the same link. Now you can select the full list of proficiencies or the class proficiencies for the drop down.
Also, I have added the nightmask proficiencies to the list.
I arrived to the point where I feel comfortable with the Excel ACKS character generator, so I am releasing the version 1.0. It is the same link as before: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25220351/ACKS_Character.xlsm
The main addition to this version is the ability to set up combat related items, both as part of a template for higher levels or manually in the character area (scroll down on that sheet to find that section).
I just wanted to say that this character sheet is fantastic! You’ve obviously put an incredible amount of work into it and I can’t thank you enough for doing so. I’m just about to embark on a new ACKS campaign and this will make things SO much easier.
You should really ask Alex to put it up in the Downloads section. I was just bored and poking around in what I thought was a closed forum when I found it.
Thanks again and keep up the great work! (Ever think of a domain generator??)
