Thread: MPMB's Character Record Sheet (PDF form) + MPMB's Spell Sheets (Excel / PDF form)

Originally Posted by Dhood6708

MPMB,

First off, loving the sheet changes since the last time I posted. I am probably a special case since I am using a government computer, but I cannot get the spells option to do anything after the spell sheet addition. I am using Adobe Acrobat XI Pro Version 11.0.15 on a government system. When I click the option for spells, no macro seems to engage, however any other option continues to work as normal. Also, I noticed that the Extra Features (Add-on Tools) are not loading automatically anymore since version 11 of the sheet as well. I now have to click show extra features so I can see them in the tool bar. Anyways I love the sheet, and if you need any other information from me, I will get you whatever I can.

Thank you!

Hi Dhood, Happy to hear you like the sheets! I am not sure that I understand what is going wrong with the sheet on your system. What do you mean with "When I click the option for spells"? Do you mean the "Spells" button in the "JavaScript-window"? Or you mean the "Spells Options" bookmark? Or do you mean the "Spell Sheets" bookmark? Or do you mean the little red boxes in front of each row on the spell sheet pages?

Do you get the pop-up menu that looks like this:


As for the "JavaScript-window" (the toolbar) not showing up, that happens sometimes if you open the sheet when Adobe Acrobat is not yet running. I am not sure when it does and when it doesn't work, I am yet to find a pattern. Hopefully this isn't too much of an annoyance!

Have you considered adding these free official backgrounds?

http://media.wizards.com/2016/downlo...er_Options.pdf

http://dndadventurersleague.org/wp-c...ounds-v1.1.pdf

MPMB,

It sounds like it would be a Java-Script issue for me. I am unable to run Java script while here on my government work computer, so this is how I access the extra features. I apologize for the resolution of the picture, you should be able to see though that I don't have a Java-Script window open and have to access the extra features through the tools menu on the right.



I will try to see if it works as intended when I get home today. I don't get the drop down menu you showed, like I said, its likely a special case.

Astromath, you had so many suggestions that they deserve a separate responds.

Originally Posted by Astromath

I just found something that could be fixed dealing with the equipment list. I had an item in the left hand column contained in a backpack (item is preceded by a dash ("-")). I then moved it to the right hand column that does not have a container. The dash came with it. I did not expect that. It would look funny if I moved the rope and now it looks like it is contained in a non-container such as a dagger. Here's an idea: when moving equipment, have it check to see if there is a container above it, then a popup would ask if you would like to put it in that container. If yes, add or keep the dash, if not, delete the dash if any.

You are right about the strange way the equipment list handles the "- " in front of some things when moving between the columns. I like your suggestion of having it be more intuitive. A pop-up is a bit much though, but I think I have a way to do it that feels logical. Look for it in the next version!

Originally Posted by Astromath

The other thing that seems to be still there deals with thrown weapons. Example: I have a dagger in the list. Then I have 2 daggers in the ammunition section. The auto-add feature adds both instances of the dagger to the equipment list. In other words, the equipment list has a line for 1 dagger, then right below that is a line for 2 daggers.

I think it might be better if there was a way to indicate the number of thrown weapons in the list instead of the ammunition section. Something along the lines of Dagger (x2) would indicate 2 daggers or Javelin (x10) to indicate 10 javelins (however, still keep them in the ammo list, or better yet, have the weapon and the number auto add to the ammo list). Then let the auto-add feature skip the instances of thrown weapons in the ammunition section.

Using a multiplier in the weapon section has been discussed before in this forum thread and the big problem with forcing people to adhere to a system such as the "(x2)" that you are suggesting, is that simply too many variations exist and that people are bad at following (strict) guidelines. I have another solution: simply let the ammunition section always overwrite the weapons when adding both to the equipment section. I will add this change to the next version as well! This change includes a nice new feature for the equipment section: it now recognizes plurals, and won't make a new line for plurals (i.e. "daggers" will now be added to an entry that reads "dagger" instead of making a new line below it).

Originally Posted by Astromath

I just thought of something else. Suppose you have more than 2 ranged weapons with ammunition. The ammunition section can only handle 2 types of ammunition. I propose that the third instance be part of the property field of the weapon. Maybe something along the lines of checkboxes that are right justified in that field. I never needed more than 2 types of ammunition, but maybe somebody does.

I think that you are correct, there is very little to no need for more than 2 types of ammunition. I simply can't make the sheet fit every possible need, that is just too much work. Something like what you are suggesting will require a lot of extra fields, extra code, and extra graphics to be added. I am a bit hesitant to add a lot more fields to this sheet as the current number of fields is already making it rather unstable at times. Every field will increase the space and memory usage of this sheet and I am not convinced of the necessity of these checkboxes as there already is an ammunition section that is adequate for 95% of characters.

Originally Posted by Astromath

Another thing, I have a player that has more weapons than there are weapon lines on the front page. My suggestion is this: With the Character Background being so large, you could add a java box that asks if you need more weapon lines and how many. It would then adjust the background section to make room for the extra weapon list.

My answer to this is the same as for the ammunition boxes. There are already a LOT of weapon lines and I even get complaints from people saying that there are too many weapon lines and that that space could be more useful for something else.

Originally Posted by Astromath

You could do the same with feats. The fighter has the possibility of getting 7 feats as that is how many ability improvement scores it has. All other classes can have a maximum of 5 feats if the player so chooses. 4 feats are normally enough, but what about those who take more than those 4?

This has been discussed at length in this thread before and as you probably guessed my answer for this is the same as for the ammunition and weapons, I can't accommodate every variation and I aim to accommodate 95% of the characters being made, not 100%. The A4 version offers more space for both feats and weapons, but that is besides the point. The whole idea of the sheet is that there are a lot of places to write things because nothing is locked. You can move things around and are not limited to what is auto-generated. Thus you get a choice for adding things where you like to see them.

Originally Posted by Astromath

Would it be possible to generate a "DM Sheet"? What I mean would be a sheet showing only the essential information that a DM would require. Examples: Player Name, PC Name, Race & Class (& level), Dex score, Initiative modifier, hp, passive perception, etc. The DM don't need the whole sheet. It doesn't even need to be pretty.

You might want to poll the DMs out there what they would like to see before doing this. Heck, this could even be a half a sheet, or formatted for a 3x5 index card. The same would go for companions, but not wild shaped beasts.

I thought about making a summary sheet before, but haven't gotten around to really making something for this that works. If I add a page that is 3×5" that page would effectively waste a lot of paper. Ideally you would get more of these index cards in one printing (with a different character on each), but that is hard to do considering every pdf will only contain one character... If you have the opportunity, would you want to make a mock-up of your idea for a design for this?

Originally Posted by Astromath

One quick thing about spells. Those races that have "innate" spells, such as the Tiefling. Their spells will never show up on the spell sheet because why produce a whole sheet for just one or two racial spells. My solution/suggestion, reserve a couple of lines in the notes section on page 3 for racial spells and format them similar to that on a spell sheet. I say similar because the notes section is only half as wide as the full length of the spell sheet.

If the only spellcasting your character can do is from a race, you are indeed very unlikely to generate a Spell Sheet for that. If you have spellcasting from somewhere else, you can probably spare the couple of lines that are required to add the racial spells to the sheets.

However, for the reasons mentioned above, I am reluctant to add more information like this on the sheet. I also don't add spell descriptions for class abilities that allow the casting of a spell (e.g. Way of the Four Elements Monks and Totem Barbarians also get features with which they can cast a spell, but the description is just a reference to the PHB where to find that spell). I think that if your arsenal of spells is so limited that you don't want to generate a spell sheet, that you probably don't need the spell description handy like on the spell sheet.

Originally Posted by Dhood6708

MPMB,

It sounds like it would be a Java-Script issue for me. I am unable to run Java script while here on my government work computer, so this is how I access the extra features. I apologize for the resolution of the picture, you should be able to see though that I don't have a Java-Script window open and have to access the extra features through the tools menu on the right.



I will try to see if it works as intended when I get home today. I don't get the drop down menu you showed, like I said, its likely a special case.

The fact that you get any buttons at all means that JavaScript is working. JavaScript is used for every calculation and automation in my sheet, from calculating the Ability Modifier, to auto-filling the class features. If all of those things also don't work in your Adobe Acrobat then JavaScript is probably disabled, but I guess those are working as they should considering you mentioned "any other option continues to work as normal".

Maybe you mean that Sun Java is not allowed on your computer (JavaScript is something else than Java)?

Can you tell me which version of the sheet you are using?

If the pop-up menu is not showing, it might be something with the menu command. Do you see other pop-up menus (like the one if you press the "Color" button, or the "Layout" button)?

If you do see the other pop-up menus, it might be something wrong with the Spells pop-up menu, which is generating an error. Can you look in your JavaScript console in Acrobat Pro (open it with Ctrl+J) if there is any error message (just open the console and then click on the "Spells" button)?

I am using version 11.1 of the sheet. The popup menus for Layout and Color do work. When I click on the spells button, with the console open, I receive the following error.

ReferenceError: JSON is not defined
3278:Doc:Exec

Also, I receive this error when adding my class (Warlock) into the class field.

ReferenceError: JSON is not defined
2187:Field:Validate

Hope these help.

Originally Posted by morepurplemorebetter

Astromath, you had so many suggestions that they deserve a separate responds.

You are right about the strange way the equipment list handles the "- " in front of some things when moving between the columns. I like your suggestion of having it be more intuitive. A pop-up is a bit much though, but I think I have a way to do it that feels logical. Look for it in the next version!

Using a multiplier in the weapon section has been discussed before in this forum thread and the big problem with forcing people to adhere to a system such as the "(x2)" that you are suggesting, is that simply too many variations exist and that people are bad at following (strict) guidelines. I have another solution: simply let the ammunition section always overwrite the weapons when adding both to the equipment section. I will add this change to the next version as well! This change includes a nice new feature for the equipment section: it now recognizes plurals, and won't make a new line for plurals (i.e. "daggers" will now be added to an entry that reads "dagger" instead of making a new line below it).

I think that you are correct, there is very little to no need for more than 2 types of ammunition. I simply can't make the sheet fit every possible need, that is just too much work. Something like what you are suggesting will require a lot of extra fields, extra code, and extra graphics to be added. I am a bit hesitant to add a lot more fields to this sheet as the current number of fields is already making it rather unstable at times. Every field will increase the space and memory usage of this sheet and I am not convinced of the necessity of these checkboxes as there already is an ammunition section that is adequate for 95% of characters.

My answer to this is the same as for the ammunition boxes. There are already a LOT of weapon lines and I even get complaints from people saying that there are too many weapon lines and that that space could be more useful for something else.

This has been discussed at length in this thread before and as you probably guessed my answer for this is the same as for the ammunition and weapons, I can't accommodate every variation and I aim to accommodate 95% of the characters being made, not 100%. The A4 version offers more space for both feats and weapons, but that is besides the point. The whole idea of the sheet is that there are a lot of places to write things because nothing is locked. You can move things around and are not limited to what is auto-generated. Thus you get a choice for adding things where you like to see them.

I thought about making a summary sheet before, but haven't gotten around to really making something for this that works. If I add a page that is 3×5" that page would effectively waste a lot of paper. Ideally you would get more of these index cards in one printing (with a different character on each), but that is hard to do considering every pdf will only contain one character... If you have the opportunity, would you want to make a mock-up of your idea for a design for this?

If the only spellcasting your character can do is from a race, you are indeed very unlikely to generate a Spell Sheet for that. If you have spellcasting from somewhere else, you can probably spare the couple of lines that are required to add the racial spells to the sheets.

However, for the reasons mentioned above, I am reluctant to add more information like this on the sheet. I also don't add spell descriptions for class abilities that allow the casting of a spell (e.g. Way of the Four Elements Monks and Totem Barbarians also get features with which they can cast a spell, but the description is just a reference to the PHB where to find that spell). I think that if your arsenal of spells is so limited that you don't want to generate a spell sheet, that you probably don't need the spell description handy like on the spell sheet.

Ok. No prob.

As far as the "3x5 index card" goes, I was picturing the ability to print on an actual index card, plus a warning that you will be wasting paper if you don't. In the Java print window, you would have a check box for the 3x5 index card. This check box would also disable the other print page functions so that only the 3x5 card can be printed. This will prevent accidental printing of the other sheets.

My other thought is a "DM only sheet" with the ability to import from the PC sheets and extract only the information needed for the DM. I was thinking it would work similar to your Java export feature, only exporting the variables needed for the DM sheet. The DM sheet would then import the PC fields. It should have the ability when importing to detect if a variable will be overwritten, it will then. assign a new variable with an index number (e.g. class, class1, class2, etc.). Another feature the DM sheet could have is a field for when the initiative is actually rolled. The sheet would have a button to "alphabetize" by intiative. This field would not be needed on the printout. Maybe just a reference and a blank space.

Originally Posted by Dhood6708

I am using version 11.1 of the sheet. The popup menus for Layout and Color do work. When I click on the spells button, with the console open, I receive the following error.

ReferenceError: JSON is not defined
3278oc:Exec

Also, I receive this error when adding my class (Warlock) into the class field.

ReferenceError: JSON is not defined
2187:Field:Validate

Hope these help.

Than I know exactly what is going wrong. To my surprise Acrobat XI doesn't have all JSON functions, but only partial JSON support. Apparently full JSON support was only introduced with Acrobat DC. I think I have a way of making these things backwards compatible. I'll see what I can come up with

Sounds like you might have sussed the issue. I'm using Acrobat XI on Windows XP with version 11.1 but all the macros worked on on the 10 series. The hang seems to be on the class macros, although I have not had a chance to check them all. Fey Warlock, illusionist wizard, and champion fighter produce the error. Race and background macros seem ok.