[Script] D&D 4e Monster Importer

Ok, seems to work now

Did it not work and then work with the same monster or did you try importing a different monster? I would like to know of any monsters that fail to import so I can look for why they failed and try to fix it.

HoneyBadger, Is there a reason you don't put your code in github or similar? We can see the changes (like the last one with --format|dnd4e) which i was confused about. Also, do you have any issues with someone pirating this to work with Alex's damage automation script?

I'm lazy when it comes to github. And no, no issues... with using it in Alex's script. Just fyi though, I won't hesitate to make changes to my version that may cause other version to stop working.

Issue was with the OLD offline builder files (though the XML looks nearly the same). Just means I need to keep my DDI sub until they take the tools down

If you want to compare the two and see what's different, I'll see what I can do about it. Just busy with a possible new job and starting my own D&D campaign soon.

Good luck on the Job Front. MANY thanks for the work you've done here

Just fyi, I won't be updating this to use the new character sheets since we can only have one sheet currently. If Riley adds multiple sheet support for campaigns, then I will update this to try and shove the data into an html/css monster statblock that somewhat resembles the actual statblock. On a sidenote, I start my new job on Monday! Can't wait. ^_^

Has Riley said anything about multiple sheet support?

I haven't seen anything yet. For now, I just screenshot the statblock of a monster and upload it to a handout. You can then copy/paste that image from the handout into the bio field of the actual character sheet. Most people don't know you can paste images there. Just can't directly upload them, so it's a bit of a process to do.

At this point it is possible to use one sheet for both and have a check box that changes the layout and style to more fit the monsters. Would that be of use?

Possibly. Just trying to parse monster data into unique character sheet attributes for inclusion into the sheet would be a headache.

HoneyBadger said: Possibly. Just trying to parse monster data into unique character sheet attributes for inclusion into the sheet would be a headache. It would use the same attributes as the normal sheet, therefor it wouldnt be any more work than if you used a seperate sheet.

you can also cut n paste the stat block on monster cards directly from the compendium (not the adv tools) - you just have highlight the top few lines and change the font size back to something normal after you pasted them. i find this a bit easier then screen-shotting and uploading. as of right now i am 100% happy with the char importer/ monster - importer / power cards. Of course i'd love to see what kind of work you do to implement the char sheets - BUT i prob will not use them for the monsters (should we even get 2ndry char sheet support) - for me, the cut and paste of the stat block method with the powers import-able via the monster importer is all i need to make DM'ing 4e through roll20 a snap.

Since we have access to GM notes with the API now, is it possible to make it automatically delete GM notes after importing?

+1; sometmes the token seems to lag when i open it with all the info in gm notes.

Done... Minor Update (May 10 2014 - 8:30 am edt): The gmnotes field of the token will be cleared after importing the monster. Leaving the xml in the token gmnotes did create some strange lag issues.

Thanks

Honey badger - i just though of an idea; feel free to shoot me down, but I generally always add token buttons to my monsters for their defense, a simple [AC22] - [F19] - [R20] - [W21] button with no macro attached, just something i can easily reference by clicking on the token w/out having to reference the char sheet. <a href="http://i62.tinypic.com/2upz0uw.png[/IMG]" rel="nofollow">http://i62.tinypic.com/2upz0uw.png[/IMG]</a> If you like the idea - how hard would it - and would you be keen on, adding it to the monster importer?

Honey badger - i just though of an idea; feel free to shoot me down, but I generally always add token buttons to my monsters for their defense, a simple [AC22] - [F19] - [R20] - [W21] button with no macro attached, just something i can easily reference by clicking on the token w/out having to reference the char sheet. (saves me a lot of time) If you like the idea - how hard would it - and would you be keen on, adding it to the monster importer?

Thank you for your hard work. This is an amazing script and saved me a lot of time. Thanks. :)

That is a good idea Kenny. I will look into it when I get back into scripting.

I like that idea too.

Minor Update (June 14 2014 - 12:30 pm est): Added an option to show defenses as token actions for imported monsters. It is on by default. Look for SHOW_DEFENSES in the user configuration system and replace true with false to turn them off.

Couldn't you have done this 24 hours ago? My game starts in 5 minutes. Kidding of course. Great update to the script HoneyBadger.

Excellent. Thanks. :)

Awesome HB, thanks!

This script is super, super awesome. Thanks for sharing it. I'm loading it up in a couple of campaigns, and on one it may even help convince our GM to switch from MapTool. You mentioned several messages back about a similar script for PCs. Is that something still in development? I built some macros by hand using your Power Cards script (also awesome, thanks), but the idea of automating that is an attractive one.

<a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/729299/script-d-" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/729299/script-d-</a>... There's a link to the D&D 4e character importer script. It does NOT play nice with character sheets yet. I haven't had the time or motivation to update it yet. Soon though.

Too tired to do it right now, but I'm going to add the option to include the new Power Card whisper tag in monster powers when you import them. I should also try and make the non-power card version work with whispers as an option too.

HoneyBadger said: Too tired to do it right now, but I'm going to add the option to include the new Power Card whisper tag in monster powers when you import them. I should also try and make the non-power card version work with whispers as an option too. This is great to hear. I generally prefer to have monster attacks/dmg hidden with the occasional exception. Can always count on great work from you. Hope you're liking your new job.

If it's not too much work, could you add an option to not show bar 3 to the players? I don't want them seeing HP, and sometimes I forget to disable this option. Also, an option to show them the Aura? Edit: Never mind, I just took a gander into the configuration settings.

I've altered the script a little, since my group commented on the fact they rather me tell them what the monster's move does when they hit, not on a miss. They commented on it helps them not being able to metagame so much with tactics until they actually hit. So I've cobbled a version for myself to show only the effects, on hit and on miss messages to the GM. Here's a picture of the result, since I couldn't get two power cards to show in a row, which is a shame. The only things I havn't figures out is how to move the "Psychic damage" or any damage text like that into the public one, and moving the whisper text below the power card. But that's about it. Here's the alteration I made into the powercard powerstring script if you want to have a look at it yourself. PowerString += "!power --format|dnd4e --emote|" + MonsterName.toUpperCase() + " --name|" + MPName; PowerString += " --usage|" + MPUsage + " --action|" + MPAction; PowerString += (MPRequire != "") ? " --Requirement|" + MPRequire : ""; PowerString += (MPTrigger != "") ? " --Trigger|" + MPTrigger : ""; PowerString += (MPRange != "") ? " --Range|" + MPRange : ""; PowerString += (MPTarget != "") ? " --Target(s)|" + MPTarget : ""; PowerString += (MPAttackBonus != "") ? " --attack" + MultiAttack + "|[[1d20 + " + MPAttackBonus + " + ?{Attack Modifier|0}]]" : ""; PowerString += (MPDefense != "") ? " --defense|" + MPDefense + " (@{target|token_name})": ""; PowerString += (MPDamage != "") ? " --damage|[[" + MPDamage + "+ ?{Damage Modifier|0}]] damage": ""; PowerString += " \n"; PowerString += "/w GM GM Notes \n"; PowerString += (MPDamage != "") ? "/w GM On Hit:- " + MPOnHit + "\n" : ""; PowerString += (MPOnMiss != "") ? "/w GM On Miss:- " + MPOnMiss + "\n" : ""; PowerString += (MPEffect != "") ? "/w GM Effect:- " + MPEffect + "\n" : ""; PowerString += (MPUsageDetails.length &gt; 1) ? "/w GM Recharge:- " + MPUsageDetails : ""; // Remove last newline... PowerString = PowerString.substring(0, PowerString.length-2); I hope this is help to someone and maybe it can be adapted into the main script if others think it's a good idea. And any suggestions on how I can resolve those two issues I have would be helpful too.

@Calhanol Would it not be easier to just send the PowerCard only to the GM? Or do the players want to view the results? If they see the PowerCard they can also see it's bonus and damage equation.

Chris N. said: @Calhanol Would it not be easier to just send the PowerCard only to the GM? Or do the players want to view the results? If they see the PowerCard they can also see it's bonus and damage equation. They want to see the results at least for the attacks and damage, I had a talk to them about it and that's what I gathered from what we discussed. So I made it so it shows that to them and not the bonus effects on top of that. So they can see the rolls, but not the attack's effects on top. Besides I want to show them the results too as I did in the past, it just means they can't meta-game right out of the bat agaisnt my monsters, apart from the damage they do.

Hi I'm having issues with the latest version of the script. For some reason I can't get the macros to work anymore and their look has changed too. Macro - example: ( Old version of script ) /emas HUNGRY DIRE WOLF /as "Power" Bite /as "Range" Melee 1 /as "Attack" Standard Action /as "Attack" [[1d20 + 9]] vs AC /as "Attack" [[2d6 + 5]] damage, or 3d6 + 5 damage against a prone target. The target falls prone if the wolf has combat advantage against it Macro - example: ( Latest version ) !power --format|dnd4e --emote|WYVERN --name|Claws --usage|At-Will --action|Standard Action --Requirement|The wyvern must be flying. --Range|Melee 1 --Target(s)|one creature --attack|[[1d20 + 10]] --defense|AC --damage|[[1d6 + 10]] damage, and the target falls prone. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

var USE_POWER_CARDS = true; // Uses power cards instead of text only macros Change that to = false to go back to the text only version.

I see. Thank you very much! :)

Alright, I'm having an intermittent issue with importing some creatures. Sometimes their powers/abilities don't fully import and leave off the last few letters of whatever line happens to be last in the macro being made for it. The first example here is fine and didn't lose anything, but the second example lost the last few letters off the Recharge part. First example macro /emas RORT, GOBLIN TOMERIPPER /as "Power" Goblin Tactics /as "Trigger" Rort is missed by an attack. /as "Effect" Rort shifts 1 square Second example macro /emas RORT, GOBLIN TOMERIPPER /as "Power" Page of Summoning /as "Require" Rort must have a book. /as "Effect" A gray ooze appears in a square adjacent to Rort. Roll initiative for the ooze, and it acts normally until destroyed. /as "Recharge" (1/roun The last line should be /as "Recharge" (1/round) I've done this with multiple creatures so far, and there doesn't seem to be any specific part of the macro that causes it, as it's happened on effect lines, or damage lines, or anything at all. But it doesn't happen all the time, only sometimes.

Weird. Does it always happen with the same part of the same macro?

Nope, sometimes it cuts off a whole line and the last letter of the next one up, and sometimes just cuts off the last letter of the last line. Just tested another 5 random creatures from the official builder, and there doesn't seem to be any kind of connection to where it cuts off at, or what it cuts off. I can send you the .monster files of the ones I've found that get cut off if that will help?

I meant with the same monster... does it always cut off at the same point?

Oh, yes. Every time it cuts it off, it's always at the same point.

Hrm. Give me a list of a few of the monsters it does this to.

Sorry about the delay, had some RL issues crop up. Rort, Goblin Tomeripper (missing a bit off the big attack that has multiple choices based on a d6 roll, and off the attack listed after that one) Goblin Cutter (missing a bit off the end of the basic attack) Goblin Archer (this one has something missing from the end of everything except for Goblin Tactics) I also did some custom creatures and did some wacky stuff with the powers on them, but every one of those came out just fine.

A few of my custom creatures cut off at the end. not enough to cause problems, just a matter of vet the macros before a play-session goes live.

Sorry for the lengthy delay on this... PowerString = PowerString.substring(0, PowerString.length-2); Comment out that line... around 213'ish, and it should fix the cut off power problems, though you may have an extra newline at the end of your macros.

Hey HB, big fan of your work with these scripts, it's one of the huuuuge motivating factors that got me to start paying up :) Works excellently, but I am noticing some inconsistencies with skills and ability scores being imported way off. I came here first since I expect better response times, but I already have discovered that it seems to be something with how the ddi Adventure Tools is exporting the monster files. I THINK it may have to do with getting a bunch of things wrong after I've customized the monster ... but I have no idea what the common thread is linking the mistakes the exporter is making. Curious if you've had anyone report anything like this, noticed this yourself, etc. Seems to be pretty off for skills and abilities even if I simply take a monster and advance it a few levels, it won't export the numbers accurately to the text file. This is a super minor complaint, I can just fix the attributes manually - but if people are working on or already handled this problem I would love to have this mystery solved! Thanks a million

I dunno... It is probably something to do with what DDI does to the xml when you "level up" a monster. Prolly makes the skills unreadable to the import script.

I added a "Half Level Mod" attribute and linked it to the token action generation for skills and that resolves 97% (approximately) of my skill issues. (I stole this idea from your character importer, heehee) DDI can't decide what order it wants to export Str, Con, and Dex, which is where my other issues are arising. I'm attempting to find the common thread about what/why it changes the order. Thanks again for the excellent work! EDIT: It seems to pretty reliably be switching dex and str (so that it goes dex con str etc.) if the monster has been customized. This would allow an easy fix of switching which value gets imported. Investigation continues.