I second CodeBreaker, i'd also like to see a 'Morph' costing sheet as well though. I suggested it to Kindalas in his thread in Homebrew but got no response. Basically what we need is a sheet that can be quickly thrown together for custom or 'off the rack' bodies, one that calculates credit cost (average) for all implants, etc allows you to specify what attributes the body enhances, traits (positive/negative) and gives a total value of the body (roughly). That way when players begin switching bodies during the course of an adventure Kindalas' excellent character sheet doesn't have a heart attack everytime you change the morph listed.

Yeah, if it was usable on mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, Android devices) it would be even better. However it not doing so would not stop me buying it. I would be pay ($5) for a mobile version though.

At one point I did some work on a web based eclipse phase character generator. The basic idea was that egos were represented by big random hash URLs, and anyone who knew that URL could fork it. Kinda like github for egos. :) Worked really well to map eclipse phase's backups and forks and what not. Anyway, that part worked great, but then I got into the drudge work of scripting up all the rules and lost interest. :) Just thought I'd share it in case you could do something with the idea.

This definitely falls under "Take my money" for me. :)

I would very much be interested in this. My players love going over character creation, even mid game when morphs are swapped, but they are no so keen on their GM doing it... Plus it would be an enormous tume saver for npc creation what with me being a busy father. - heck Savage Worlds is a quick enough ststem but I quickly ponied up the cash for the Wild Card Creator, I would get something similar for EP, a much more intricate game, in a heart beat.

I would also pay for this, and gladly filled out your survey. I've moved since I had my last stable group, and as a way to keep in contact with various folks schedules, we've been playing online tabletop games using Roll20 and/or Azrapse's Sheet for The One Ring. Something like Azrapse's sheet is just about *perfect*. [url]http://azrapse.es/tor/sheet.html[/url] if you haven't seen it

I've said it elsewhere...we need content. A character generator is fluff after you have tons of content in my opinion. We need more fully fleshed adventures/missions etc. Lazy players STILL won't play a genre that has no adventures.

Like lets adapt said. Lazy GMs aren't most of the time fit to GM anyway. We need more fluff pieces, not adventures.

thanks Jack. I was going to take offense to GreyBrother's implication that I'm a lazy GM until I looked at his earlier post. My main point is as I've said before on these forums...Jack, Rob etc. have a MUCH better grasp on this world than I do. We can create characters and track them but that does not matter if I can't keep player's interested with good adventure material. I'm not going to attempt EP again until I have enough material on hand to run for 10-12 sessions and keep them begging for more. A character generator will be a time sink. I also doubt people will be happy with it in the end and I'm not sure it will bring in much revenue. But if it is something that sounds 'fun' to do, go for it. I used write more of my own material but honestly, my players were more forgiving then and these days I actually enjoy interpreting something done by a RPG professional. I can put my own spin on it as I like but adventures are so much more interesting when it is based on something built by something other than me.

lets adapt wrote:

Back on topic, I'd pay infinite dollars for a character generator! Please make this a reality!

This sounds like the ideal application for a Bitcoin Bounty.

oh it's open source too (in fact re-uses another character generators xml data file) so if you feel up helping, the code is at http://epplayer.codeplex.com

Oh that's fine, that's why it's open source, if you want to scratch a different itch, it should not be too difficult to port. Personally I think tablets make great gaming aids; touch is very intuitive for selecting character attributes, and the tablet itself is a lot less obtrusive than a laptop.

jackgraham wrote:

Techie as our setting is, the mechanics make database guys' brows furrow. They're clearly not hierarchical, and coming up with a relational schema would be a maddening task at first.

What about a NoSQL back-end, like CouchDB? The if..then..else structure of actions that tends to go into building an Eclipse Phase character might fit the map..reduce operations that CouchDB implements in JavaScript.

I had a similar idea once, but it was annoying to try and implement. Actually I found that a tree model with embedded lists a containing subtrees actually works best. Also has the added benefit to be very easy to export to json as well. The main goal is to have a non-static structure. character.morph.maxapt.coo = 30 character.morph.traits[] = {list} character.ego.apt.coo = 15 character.ego.background = Drifter character.ego.background.bonus = (subtree with same layout as main tree) character.ego.traits[] = {list} character.ego.traits[0].name = Fast Learner character.ego.traits[0].cost = 10 character.ego.traits[0].bonus = (subtree with same layout as main tree) character.ego.create.cp.start = 1000 character.ego.create.cp.used = 900 OR character.ego.create.cp.current = 100 The subtree format gives the structure great flexibility. We just need to keep two copies, a final copy, and a base copy. The `final` copy having all the subtrees superimposed on the main tree. Of course this requires a little intelligence to combine certain bonuses. But most the complexity issues disappear once we get the model working.

You don't even need map-reduce. When I started on an eclipsephase character builder I used couchdb, and the character building itself works just fine with nothing but a JSON document store. Map functions are only needed for things like "show me the chain of backups for this ego" (as I mentioned, I built my version around the idea that each saved ego was a backup, and rather than modifying the original document I just fork the ego next backup, leaving the original as something that can be branched off of if something horrible happens to the new version, or if someone naughty gets ahold of the old backup and creates an alpha fork). I also stored morphs and gear separately from egos, and just included a concept of combining this ego and this morph to create a character sheet. Ohh, the other fun idea I had was that if public egos were searchable GMs could do things like search for an ego that's +X and -Y and come up with a fully fleshed out NPC ready to insert into their game - someone's PC from a totally differnet game, complete with carefully crafted backstory.

What about an open source Ruby/Rails webapp project on GitHub? Reduces the effort required, allows the community to pitch in and isn't platform specific?

I'm thinking seriously of switching over to Asus Android Tablets altogether. My desktop PC runs Vista, and I may upgrade to 7, which has sounded like an improvement from everyone I talk to about operating systems. What's your experience with Windows 8?

I love the spreadsheet based generator that everyone uses. There is one major flaw I run into with it though and that's that it has no simple option for exporting in a online postable format. I live in a small town, most of my gaming is done through chat and forums. Being able to print a sheet does nothing for me. If i could upload or export in a html friendly format than SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY>

I added print support to my own character generator last weekend!

I made a chargen specifically to make it easier for first time user. There is a lot of book content coded into it, for example you can read through the gear properties during gear selection. I display a running tally of points spent. I did character creation with a new group this week and the guy I gave my laptop to with the tool was done in one third of the time. And most of his time was spend digesting options and reading descriptions. Unfortunately for some it's a touch-friendly Windows Store application (requires Windows 8). I used the opportunity to learn how to write a store app ... it's free here http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/epplayer/e5794d1d-05cd-47c3-... If's open source so if you feel like making a different user interface for it, more power to you :)

Nychuus wrote:

I'd give my two left testicles for a character generator similar to the ones for HERO (only saw the 3rd ed one), 4th ed D&D, Chummer... well, you get the drift.

There's always the PCGen system. That one is mostly used for various d20-based systems but I'm sure you could create a ruleset for EP in there. It's a free system with a serious developer community behind it. For some reason, this site has been added to my work filter, but I was still able to find the URL via Yahoo: http://pcgen.sourceforge.net

Any tidbits of info for the Singularity character generator that you guys can disclose? :3

I'm mainly curious about its functionality! Namely, is it going to allow a player to actively change their morph and auto-calculate bonuses? The same with adding and removing implants and the like? I only ask because I've used some generators that merely poop out a character sheet and then you're on your way, leaving you to manually account for changes or generate an entirely new sheet each. I guess I want to see a digital work space a PC can use in lieu of a paper sheet that is both functional and gorgeous. :)