Another CharGen Workbook - Updated to 2.0d

[ART!]

Cool! I need to let my infomatics/IT/Microsoft-hating players know that.

[Ski]

The latest version of the spreadsheet has been uploaded.

http://www.box.net/public/mgc2yse0mt

The major changes are as follows:

1. Fixed the Powers page to calculate costs accurately for powers with Flaws equalling or exceeding base cost + extras. This is for powers that you can buy at a 2-for-1 or higher ratio because they have a (Base + Extra - Flaws) that is equal to zero or lower.

2. On the Basics page, I added a "TRUE/FALSE" pull-down near the Feats section. If you set it to TRUE, it should print out the basic description of the feat on the character sheet. If you had an additional description, it should print that out as well. If you don't choose TRUE or FALSE, it will assume FALSE. It'll look like:

Feat [Additional Desc: Basic Desc]

3. On the Feats list of the Data, I added the sample "Powers as Feats" from the Mastermind's Manual.

4. I re-indexed the Powers on the Data sheet. Originally I had it broken into original powers and powers added in the Ultimate Power supplement, but there really was no point in it. It's now all one big happy alphabetized list.

I may have fixed some other goofy math issues, but I can't recall. I do know I added quite a few power descriptions on the Data sheet, but I still don't have them all filled in. I apologize for that, but it gets so dull filling out that form.

I'll keep working on the other changes and suggestions that have been given, but I thought some of you might like that Basic Description for Feats thing, so I decided to upload a new version.

[ART!]

Awesome. I'm running tonight, so I don't think I'll have time to use it before then, but soon. I'm so glad this sheet has turned up just when I was really starting to get into fleshing out (doing full write-ups of) all my NPCs...

[Darth Sarcastic]

I have (so far) thouroughly enjoyed your character sheet Ski. I've been reading the other feedback(s) and they're all good thoughts. I appologize if I am repeating anything already posted, but I just noticed these issues.

1. In the Powers section you're adding Flaws and Drawback when you should be subtracting them. ((Cost+extras-flaws)*rank)+Feats-Drawbacks...not a major issue, just gotta change some +'s to -'s.

2. I know you've got enhanced trait, but perhaps Impervious Toughness could be thrown into the powers.

3. There's got to be a way to list Alternate Powers so they calculate within the sheet. Ex: Taking Super-Strength as an Alternate Power, currently the character doesn't seem to benefit from this...unless you list Super-Strength as a seperate power and then wipe out its costs. Maybe a checkbox or something to signify an alternate power.

4. Same thing for Devices and Gadgets. I list a Device, but I get none of the bonuses of the Device. Ex. I have a Device that includes the power of Shield or Protection...it doesn't get calculated in.


These are just some things that I noticed. I can understand the difficulties in placing these items in the sheet. As I stated before I appologize if these are things that have been pointed out already. Otherwise this is a great sheet.

[Ski]

I have (so far) thouroughly enjoyed your character sheet Ski. I've been reading the other feedback(s) and they're all good thoughts. I appologize if I am repeating anything already posted, but I just noticed these issues.

Actually, repeated comments about the same things help me prioritize what people would want me to fix. So I don't mind at all hearing the same thing over. I have limited time to work on things, so having two or three people say "Hey, I want this..." means I should dedicate that time to that feature or fix.

1. In the Powers section you're adding Flaws and Drawback when you should be subtracting them. ((Cost+extras-flaws)*rank)+Feats-Drawbacks...not a major issue, just gotta change some +'s to -'s.

I know. My math here is fluky. I really don't even have a good reason for what I did. It works, obviously... but it doesn't make inherent sense. I'll try to make something a bit easier to understand.

2. I know you've got enhanced trait, but perhaps Impervious Toughness could be thrown into the powers.

That's not a bad idea. I will say that if you throw in the word "Impervious" in the extras section for Protection, it will figure out that the Toughness bonus is impervious and it will calculate things like Knockback appropriately. Still, it doesn't bother me to add in an Impervious Toughness power, although it will take some re-arranging.

3. There's got to be a way to list Alternate Powers so they calculate within the sheet. Ex: Taking Super-Strength as an Alternate Power, currently the character doesn't seem to benefit from this...unless you list Super-Strength as a seperate power and then wipe out its costs. Maybe a checkbox or something to signify an alternate power.

You actually sort of hit on something I'm adding to the next feature set (using terms like "feature set" makes me feel like I know what I'm doing). I'm going to keep it simple and just add a simple yes/no type of option to indicate whether a power's cost should be added to the total or not. Right now, me and my gaming group just put in points under drawbacks to make the sum total zero, but I know that's a bad solution. If I can figure out how to make a toggle box in Excel, I will... Otherwise, it may have to be a pull-down TRUE/FALSE like the Feats description thing is.

4. Same thing for Devices and Gadgets. I list a Device, but I get none of the bonuses of the Device. Ex. I have a Device that includes the power of Shield or Protection...it doesn't get calculated in.

Same thing here. You'll just be able to pick if the cost is added in or not. Otherwise, anything you get from a alternate power or power built within another power will be calculated. So if you're device gives you Enhanced CON, you'll put in Enhanced CON as a power, choose "NO" on the box that asks if you want it added to the total cost, and away you go. I hope that will meet what you're wanting?

These are just some things that I noticed. I can understand the difficulties in placing these items in the sheet. As I stated before I appologize if these are things that have been pointed out already. Otherwise this is a great sheet.

The only difficult thing is, to be honest, I don't know Excel that well. There's probably a ton of stuff I could do with VBscripting that would make this sheet a lot cooler, but I'm teaching myself as I go along. It actually helps when people suggest difficult features, because that forces me to look harder at what Excel can do. Learning the features of Excel is boring. But if I have a goal (like helping people out with features, etc.) it makes it tolerable.

[Ski]

Version 1.3 is up and running.

I added the "toggle" ability on the Powers page. Basically, there's a pull-down box now labeled "Calculate? (Non-Array)". If the power's cost needs to be added to your final total, you can change it to "yes" (which is also the default when you hit the Clear button).

If you change it to "No", then the Cost value is set to zero, which means it won't affect your final power numbers. I know it's not as elegant as leaving the total value of the power showing in the cost (and just not adding it to the final total), but this way was quicker and I believe it's less confusing.

http://www.box.net/public/mgc2yse0mt

As always, please let me know what you think. I'm still working on some of the other comments and concerns about the workbook, but I got busy lately.

Ski

[Darth Sarcastic]

Your sheet is getting better and better. You said you were teaching yourself Excel, and this is actually a great way to do it. Although you can't really explain your learning experience to a perspective employer...believe me I've tried. Keep up the good work.

[Buddha the DM]

I like this sheet a lot. It helped me to answer some questions that Simpson's sheet couldn't. I can't wait to see where you take this.

[Invictus]

Ski, I love the look of your program, but that's all I can say about it 'cause I'm having no luck using it ... it tells me it's read-only! How can I get around that? Do I have to do something special when I open it, or maybe when I download it again, if I need to?

.... aaaand a big "never mind" on that. Realized I got in a hurry and tried to open it without extracting first. So if extracting is "special" ... anyway! Now I'll try playing with it and I'll letcha know what I think soon thereafter.

[Darkwind]

The sheet looks great and I have been playing around with it a lot today.

One thing I would probably add would be the Grapple calculation. Right now I am manually typing that in.

Also, on the main Character Sheet, will you be adding some type of damage tracker like there is on the Simplified one?

Thanks.

[Ski]

The sheet looks great and I have been playing around with it a lot today.

One thing I would probably add would be the Grapple calculation. Right now I am manually typing that in.

Also, on the main Character Sheet, will you be adding some type of damage tracker like there is on the Simplified one?

Thanks.

Thank you for the compliment.

I'll add the Grapple calculations in the next version. It shouldn't be too hard, since there's not an enormous amount of variables involved.

I never even thought about a damage tracker on the main character sheet. It was just one of those things that I threw in on the Simplified one.

I'm still working on this from time to time. I know I haven't put out an update in a while, but I'm definitely still pursuing this as I work on my campaign.

[Darkwind]

Cool. I definitely love the sheet. I am actually revamping a character a bit after adding it to the sheet and seeing it all laid out. ;-}

I know it can be a pain to find room for new items on the character sheets, but I think those two things would be nice.

[Darkwind]

Also, are there plans to add in the extra benefits from Density in the future? I just ran into that one tonight.

[Ski]

The way I handle Density is the same basic way that I handle many arrays that contain sub-powers...

I put in Density as a power, and then I add sub-powers as members of that array (so super strength, immovable, etc.). That sometimes means that I have to have two character sheets if the Density is not permanent, but there's not a good way to handle toggle powersets right now.

Was there something else for Density that you wanted added?

[Darkwind]

That is what I figured, and how I handled it as well. I just wasn't sure if there was some sort of calculation for adding ranks. I also see the problem with toggle powersets as well. Normally I do not mind the additional character sheet idea, but I am trying to avoid it this time because I am demoing M&M and do not want to overwhelm new players. But I will work that out. ;-}

Anyway, one thing I did notice - You combine the Drawbacks & Complications but if I add a Complication I have to void the calculation field with a 0 in order for the Total to work properly. Perhaps you can use the Frequency/Intensity field as additional checks for things that need calculation. That way you can list a Complication without having to mess with the calculated fields. Otherwise you can always split the two sections out.