Herolab Statblocks missing a ton of Information.

[Cid]

Click here and go to the fourth post.

No special abilities on the Paladin, and the Wizard is about as bare-bones as is possible. That's what the Statblocks look like in Herolab, too.

Latest version of Herolab, latest version of Realmworks. D&D 5e system.

Is there a setting i'm missing, or will it just not output statblocks for 5e?

[dungeonguru]

The statblock output has never given the full information on any PC for as long as I can remember.

I think the issue is that the statblock format was primarily intended for NPCs and monsters and LoneWolf implemented it to only print out RACIAL specials and never CLASS specials.

That's why if you look at the NPC humanoids like Abjurer, Arcane Archer, Blackguard, etc., in the editor you'll see that they don't actually have any CLASS abilities, just RACIAL abilities that are bootstrapped to the base monster "thing." This includes the spellcasting block.

I know people have put in tickets in the past asking for the Class abilities to show up in statblock format but I've never seen a reply that they are in the works. I know this firsthand because I remember opening a ticket to add a spellcasting block to PC output and never got anything beyond the "we got it" reply.

I came to the conclusion that it's not a priority to extend the statblock output to include class information for the 5e system.

[Cid]

Well, that sucks. Back to the drawing board...

[Cid]

I can maybe just post the PDF's of the entire Character sheet... Or just use office...

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

[Duggan]

You can also use the XML, either as a custom output in the program, or by using a scripting language to unzip the portfolio and read the XML. Not much help Realm Works, I know.

[RavenX]

To be honest that was likely the original intent, but since they added sidekicks to 5e which are statblocks you add class levels to the format for statblocks is still convenient to have. Fortunately 5e is simple enough I just hand write most of the stuff as I go along.

[Fenris447]

Originally Posted by RavenX

since they added sidekicks to 5e which are statblocks you add class levels to the format for statblocks is still convenient to have.

When I programmed the sidekicks into the community pack, I realized their class features weren't showing up in their statblocks. I had to go into each ability and tweak them to show up. If I recall correctly, I had to designate whether they were Special, Action, etc., much like we do when making monster abilities.

I did it because I usually output the sidekicks as stat blocks and hand them to my players as such, instead of full character sheets. So this is doable. But it would require changes to the SRD content by LWD. And with the pushback I've received on some quality of life changes I requested, I don't think it'll happen.

[RavenX]

Originally Posted by Fenris447

When I programmed the sidekicks into the community pack, I realized their class features weren't showing up in their statblocks. I had to go into each ability and tweak them to show up. If I recall correctly, I had to designate whether they were Special, Action, etc., much like we do when making monster abilities.

I did it because I usually output the sidekicks as stat blocks and hand them to my players as such, instead of full character sheets. So this is doable. But it would require changes to the SRD content by LWD. And with the pushback I've received on some quality of life changes I requested, I don't think it'll happen.

SRD content is open game license material. Basically they can't just add all the mechanics to the data files. If its not in the SRD it crosses into copyright infringement. The pushback comes for a reason. They're not the official licensed character builder of WotC. So you can't expect them to go beyond the parameters of the open game licensing. And WotC isn't giving out licensing rights to a character builder while they are selling Beyond subscriptions to their own.

This is why I coded my own 5e file. It's not done or perfect but its come far on its own and has the content I need.

[Fenris447]

Originally Posted by RavenX

SRD content is open game license material. Basically they can't just add all the mechanics to the data files. If its not in the SRD it crosses into copyright infringement. The pushback comes for a reason. They're not the official licensed character builder of WotC. So you can't expect them to go beyond the parameters of the open game licensing. And WotC isn't giving out licensing rights to a character builder while they are selling Beyond subscriptions to their own.

This is why I coded my own 5e file. It's not done or perfect but its come far on its own and has the content I need.

I understand where they're coming from, but I've looked through older posts from them where they're willing to walk the line a bit more in the past than now.

On the one hand, they won't do anything to help us create the Artificer. It's a new type of Half-Caster, and they won't do any backend work to help us get it in. That makes sense. The Artificer isn't SRD content and they have no obligation to do it.

On the other hand, there's a bug with bootstrapping spells to a character that recharge on a short rest. The Tiefling has spells bootstrapped that recharge perfectly fine on a long rest. When you do the exact same thing but set it to recharge on a short rest, the spells don't reset on a short rest. This is a bug. But because there are no SRD races that have spells that recharge on a short rest, LWD won't fix the bug. That's where saying "we can't because SRD" becomes a little more excuse, a little less legal requirement.

Here's a for instance. The SRD doesn't have any monsters with a CR>30, but a developer was fine making a change that would allow for a user to bump it up.

[RavenX]

Originally Posted by Fenris447

I understand where they're coming from, but I've looked through older posts from them where they're willing to walk the line a bit more in the past than now.

On the one hand, they won't do anything to help us create the Artificer. It's a new type of Half-Caster, and they won't do any backend work to help us get it in. That makes sense. The Artificer isn't SRD content and they have no obligation to do it.

On the other hand, there's a bug with bootstrapping spells to a character that recharge on a short rest. The Tiefling has spells bootstrapped that recharge perfectly fine on a long rest. When you do the exact same thing but set it to recharge on a short rest, the spells don't reset on a short rest. This is a bug. But because there are no SRD races that have spells that recharge on a short rest, LWD won't fix the bug. That's where saying "we can't because SRD" becomes a little more excuse, a little less legal requirement.

Here's a for instance. The SRD doesn't have any monsters with a CR>30, but a developer was fine making a change that would allow for a user to bump it up.

Lone Wolf is a small team of codeslingers. They are divided up amongst different projects. Pathfinder and Shadowrun always get treated better simply because they're official files and the companies that make the products support the character builder. WotC has an official builder on their own website through D&D Beyond, so they'd never support a 3rd party product as that would detract from the profits. I used to code data files for LWD and it was a lot of work. I developed my own 5e file to work around the bugs because I knew they would be limited to the SRD when beyond announced its character builder. We're lucky to even have a character builder for 5e. They could have just not created an open game license for 5e and kept everything first party. I know there are bugs in the software, but I mostly use it to get pdfs and print outs of sheets to give my players. I don't bother using it to track things on my end. I used to do that for pathfinder and 4e but I find its just as easy to keep written notes for things in 5th because of how simplified the system is. I wouldn't expect any official bug fixes unless the SRD changes or they have time to dedicate to fixing them. Right now I'd say they have their hands full with other products and are less concerned about this product.