Custom Compendium

+1 for this. My homebrew requires quite a bit of crunchiness on the equipment set-up side, but functions quite well in all other facets. Please expedite this.

I would really like this feature too.  It would make Roll20 far more useful for running smaller, indie games or out-of-print games.  The ability to create a set of spells/feats/skills/special abilities once and then apply them to new character sheets with a click would be a huge benefit.

Add my vote for this feature.

I'd love to have this feature also - I'm running a non-D&D game and would want to be able to take the weapons/armor and drop them onto my players' sheets instead of having them use a D&D character sheet and modify it according to my system.

I’d really like to see this feature added as well. Don’t know if it’s been suggested already (too many posts in this thread to sift through), but why not a custom compendium that’s attached to the user account, that can be accessed by that user’s Charactermancer (and not the roll20 community as a whole)? This would add much desired functionality that, in the end, would be no different than the current ability to manually customize a character with the attributes of copyrighted material.  This is currently possible in other D&D service provider platforms that don’t provide the incredible VTT experience found in roll20.  

This is a MUST HAVE item for me, so adding my +1 to this

Pretty please =[

+ 1  Would love to get homebrew compendiums going

+1 Honestly, all I need in my Custom Compendium would be a place to put Handouts for homebrew materials (D&D 3.5e), such as races, classes, feat, magic items, world locations, etc. Right now I have thousands of handouts in my handout page and it gets a bit... cumbersome... to find what I'm looking for TBH. And having a way to mass import/export this data would be great. I've been avoiding transferring more information out of my 200 page googledoc (which is a bit slow to use) into Roll20 because it would be so tedious to create appropriate handouts for everything. One thing I'd like to see in the Custom Compendium is a "secret" flag, so that players don't see some custom item or monster before I bring it out onto the table.

+1 from me to this, there are some many reasons one might want this. GM's frequently want to add custom magic items or tweaking certain traits etc. my friend doesnt even want to add something new, there is just a magical grenade type item in a campaign he runs but despite owning the content its not in the compendium, can get very tedius to constantly make handouts for reference.

+1 This is a definite must. 

Making up your own stuff is core to rpgs. This needs to be basic functionality

+1 This really rules out homebrew campaigns on Roll20 for me

+1 this is an absolute need for homebrew content.

5 years and such an essentially useful feature hasn't been added. Here's to hoping it actually does arrive someday, as it would be a push to the people who stay away from Roll20 due to it having such a heavy market-game-only focus of features.

+1 I'd like to see this as well. Not a massive homebrewer myself yet but the more I get into it, the more I'm longing for this feature

+1 My games are largely homebrew and I NEED this.

How is it possible that this feature does not exists? This thread it 5 years old and there are dozens of plus/pro members requesting it.

+1 they know many of the ones requesting this aren't going anywhere if they haven't already - because there is too much data invested in this site to upload whole homebrew compendiums elsewhere. Though after 5 years and not seeing this feature the message is clear. To be fair or play devil's advocate: rebuilding an entire framework -without shutting down whole services is a painstakingly long process that requires a buttload of man hours and problem solving.  While I hope they get this feature added - even a beta version - before the end of the year. If they cannot I will be moving my homebrew games elsewhere.

Any chance for an admin update? Not been much information provided on how far along this is? Its hard to believe that there hasn't been any development of this.. It seems like such a core thing to have for a style of game that relies on this sort of functionality.

+1 I have custom weapons  and armors for my dnd5e campaign, but since these are not as part of the caompendium there's no easy way to add them to the palyers and i have to stop the game to add it manually each time someone get something new and there's no fast way to do this, and even using the normal weapons as a base it takes time. If is linked to just the table, like being part of handouts or take storage space i wouldnt care

I just started a membership and I am digging my teeth into the Roll20 tools.  I am really disappointed that I can't make a custom race and add it to the compendium for my own use.  It feels like a strategy to get users to buy supplements which, if true, is pretty shit.  I've found threads talking about this from 5 years ago.  Why hasn't this been rolled out?

Logan E. said: Why hasn't this been rolled out? You could go back and read the dev posts in this thread.

Kraynic said: Logan E. said: Why hasn't this been rolled out? You could go back and read the dev posts in this thread. To be fair, the dev posts in this thread offer more mystification than clarity. At the end of the day, all we seem to have been told is that we've waited a number of years because they assume it would be too hard for users to edit text files.

Dave said: At the end of the day, all we seem to have been told is that we've waited a number of years because they assume it would be too hard for users to edit text files. Considering things that come up on the forums, reddit, and discord, I'm not sure that is an unfair assumption.

Hello...so I just cast my vote here as a comment and wait for another five years like the rest? XD Need to create a compendium for Wands and Wizards.

Can't believe this still hasn't been implemented...

it's only been five years of people asking for it +1

+1 for this.  I have a home brew system that I've trying to find a way of integrating, beyond the character sheets, for my players.

+1 for me this is a must with all the new platforms out there and upcoming this is needed.

+1 I am interested in creating my own PRFPG 1st ed. content for my players to easily reference and add to their characters.

+1..  Hugely disappointed this is not a core feature and to find a 5 year old thread with many users asking for this feature. I just bought a 3rd party campaign book which contains custom races, classes, spells, feats and items (this campaign book is not available on the Roll20 marketplace).  This is an essential ask due due to the flexible nature of many TTRPGs. 

+1

My mind is blown that this feature isn't available.  It's literally the only reason I bought pro.

+1... utterly shocked that this isn't possible by default

+1  This is a must-have feature and should have been part of roll20 from the beginning.

+1 I would love to see this feature

+1 I would love to make new items :) 

+1 still waiting

Another +1 for this feature

+1 from me to get this!

+1 This is a basic feature if you want to create your own games. What else is a pro account for???

+1 Here's another suggestion to add to the mix of 'homebrewed' content in a custom compendium. Allow the owner to move 'new' monsters, classes, treasures, rule handouts, etc. to their custom compendium from the content purchased through the marketplace. This would act like a 'bank' for the players rather than the tedious task of having to Transmog each item from other modules (assuming you remember where you saw it when the inspiration strikes).

+1 I was looking around and was very surprised this didn't exist yet.

+10 no seriously, +10. this has been a long time coming. as a content developer with a full compendium of material I use in almost every game I run, having to manually enter this each time a player joins is genuinely burdensome.  consider that this is the starting point for additional commercial compendiums, something I would like to add to the marketplace. As new compendiums reach a level of completion, they can much more easily be shared. Part of the existing ogl compendium, the SRD 5.1, is that it be expanded on to create new content. I have done so with the MGC SRD, or SRD++ Project. I would love to share and sell the roll20 conversion of my content here. I use it every week, in numerous games on this site and have for years. I have seen the new compendiums for sale, Ive asked for help on the marketplace forums, Im not seeing a way to convert my content to a compendium that is readily available. I would like a more streamlined way to create a custom compendium for mine and my player's use. I would also like to sell the digital roll20 conversion of my content, on the marketplace for an arbitrary fee of $1 or $2, since that particular project is ogl just like the SRD 5.1 is. I also have more commercially oriented projects, that in compendium form, such as 'The Player's Guide to Beaumonde', that are not ogl, I would like to sell for $5-10 or more. Getting this basic feature, which Im not certain of but would speculate is a lot of CRUD code for a db that works through a web interface, Ive written a few over the years. I would like to spend my 10 votes  on this feature.  Why is this project considered Obstructed?

Kenton said: The tool that was developed for publishers has been used over the last month with success, and you should start to see additional compendiums being added to the platform from many of those publishers. As that process gets tested and further updated, we will be able to start additional planning on the user interface and how to deal with the data created from custom compendiums, pending further technical and legal research. ok, can I get access to that? Kenton said: The first module made using the tools created for Publishers is now live on the Marketplace , and we are taking the lessons learned from that process and improving the experience. With those improvements, we will be at the stage where we can look at custom compendiums per user more closely. yes, this tool right here, can I get my Marketplace Creator application approved so I can publish to your site? Kenton said: We continue to work with third parties to improve the compendium creation process, most notably with work on Pathfinder 2, but we still have significant work ahead making data usable by character sheets while keeping data preparation and data entry intuitive enough to be useful.  Kenton said: Hello everyone, I am truly sorry for the length of time between posts. To keep things direct, over time working with third parties in implementation of compendiums has shed a lot of light on where the current user interface falls short. A Custom Compendium in its current state would be a difficult and unintuitive experience for users. In addition, in areas that are not as evident as a feature, the Compendium software is in need of optimization. We're asking a lot of the current software, most of which wasn't planned with the initial work or since. In my eyes, these optimizations are necessary before we open doors to custom compendiums and trust us with maintaining that data. The data stored in Compendiums take a lot of effort and care from the GMs and players who create them-- as such this should be a fully realized feature that is intuitive and easy to use both in editing and navigating.  Taking feedback and lessons learned from previously , this does not seem to be the reality at this time. We absolutely love the idea of custom compendiums and want to provide you all with a pleasant experience in using them. We do not want to rush anything out the door while we are still working through other high priority issues at this time. In the mean time, Pro users have access to the Transmogrifier, which can move Characters, Handouts, and much more between games. The Character Vault might also be able to meet some intermediate needs. One other point, Custom Compendium is not a single "feature" but rather an entire suite of features. When we start to implement the ability to store and search data, it will be released in smaller increments.  Is there a Beta Test for this new software? So you can get UI/UX feedback? I have taken doctoral classes in Formative and Summative Evaluation. My focus was on ADA compliance in web based training software.

Kenton said: Most of the time, the data in a Compendium needs to be formatted specifically for the Character Sheet that's going to use it. The exception being compendiums that are primarily used for storing rules, not so much about stats. The plans that we have been compiling for an update to the Compendium Software will be a way to create, update, and access text, images, stats, and rules working in much the same way as the Compendium tab works now. The next expectation (in my opinion) would be to support interacting with that custom data (like drag and drop). The way this goes in - and verifying that it goes in correctly - is going to be different for each Character Sheet. That's where the majority of the complexity of this feature comes from. Does the version for 5e work yet? the most common system, (50% of games according to the site usage data you publish), one your site is built on, given that your public compendium is the 5.1 version of the SRD, which exists to encourage creativity in gaming, can you get the basics of this working well enough to get out to us? then you could expand to the other systems and character sheets. even limited or basic functionality for items, spells, races and backgrounds would be something. Though classes and subclasses for 5e, and monsters, would be sufficient for public use. 

Kenton said: I'm glad to hear that Compendium Selection resolved the issue for some of you. Some of you asked about the difficulty of implementing a feature like this. From a very high leve, let me dig into that question. First, there two significant kinds of entering data into the compendium: Large Volume and One-At-A-Time. Since this thread was created, actually prior to supporting the Dungeons & Dragons 5e SRD, the purpose has not been limited to one or the other. The improvements to the Compendium software has been necessary to support the addition of  15 games systems , and more than 50 compendium books spread across those systems. Many of those have been in the last six months. The work has been supporting the Large Volume need. That's created very specific tools that Publishers can use to convert an entire book's worth of data, and add their game system. This requires significant planning and collaboration on how their games have been developed on and for Roll20. From a the other perspective, individual users are more likely going to add entries closer to the One-At-A-Time side of the spectrum. The big difference is the distance between doing all the planning for data/database/character sheet and being able to see, understand, edit, and use individual pieces. That work is detailed and nuanced - each game system is different and will have very specific needs based on the Character Sheet it uses. The One-At-A-Time side also is not likely to have or be able to produce changes to the display layer (like the character sheet, handout, or compendium entry). That "last mile" is making adding and editing compendium entries simple, intuitive, and easy to use. That's the phase we need to move into next. I hope that gives some insight into the problems we're trying to solve. We don't want to release something that's overly complicated or doesn't actually solve your problems. In an very summarized explanation, I expect that the first iteration if this request will be a way to save and retrieve a Handout or Character to a database shared by all your games. That gives you about 10% of the total feature power in the Compendium right now, but it solves the more common themes in this request. so, how far along are we now? does this work for 5e? the work involved in preparing my content for your platform is part of why I dont mind charging for a Compendium on open content I developed. I welcome people building on that work with proper attribution commercially on this platform. Being able to build that compendium in the first place is what is required. what is the obstruction on getting this to work for 5e specifically? I know other games are important, yet getting this going for a large group of users will help get feedback for improving and expanding your tools for those other systems.

Faun said: +1  and THIS Bloodchild said: I have read most of this threadand talking as a coder I donjt believe it would be hard at all to be honest because we could have the same sort of handout layout with a dropdown  a structure like this would enable dungeon masters to create their own content without issue and you guys would simply reuse the same componentsw from the compenium at current all that would change is the datasource and with your own layout you control how it appears in the db   Its not quite this easy, getting this for 5e would be great though. even just for items and spells.