Help With Modifying 'Obsessive' Trait, Please!

[Maidhc O Casain]

We've started a PbP Living World using the Pathfinder rules, and I'm trying to set up a .user file to incorporate our special character creation rules.

The first thing I'm tackling:

We've changed the skills the player can choose from to be modified by the Gnome's "Obsessive" trait. The new list is:

* Appraise
* Bluff
* Diplomacy
* Handle Animal
* Linguistics
* Profession
* Spellcraft
* Use Magic Device

I started by making a copy of the trait and gave it a unique ID. I've given it a Source.

Question 01:
If I set it to replace the original trait, will it only replace that trait when the source for this one is activated?

Question 02:
What the heck do I do now? I've got to eliminate the 'Craft' choices while keeping the 'Profession' choices, and I've got to add all the others to the list of skills available in the drop box and make it modify the skill chosen. I've got absolutely no idea how to proceed.

[ShadowChemosh]

Originally Posted by Mowgli

Question 01:
If I set it to replace the original trait, will it only replace that trait when the source for this one is activated?

No Replace happens WAY before any Source is checked. So in this case as long as your .user file is present this override will happen.

Originally Posted by Mowgli

Question 02:
What the heck do I do now? I've got to eliminate the 'Craft' choices while keeping the 'Profession' choices, and I've got to add all the others to the list of skills available in the drop box and make it modify the skill chosen. I've got absolutely no idea how to proceed.

The best thing to do is find something similar to what you want and copy it's logic. For this I found the "Collector" trait which sets its "Custom Expression", which controls the drop down list of choices, to be very similar to what you want. So I took that and modified it with your list. So add the following into your Things Custom Expression over writing what is their.

component.BaseSkill & (Helper.SkCatProf|thingid.skAppraise|thingid.skBluff|thingid.skDiplo|thingid.skHandleAn|thingid.skLinguist|thingid.skSpellcr|thingid.skUseMagic)

[Maidhc O Casain]

Thanks for responding, ShadowChemosh!

OK, I replaced the Custom Expression with the one you provided, but even though most of those skills are already activated withing HL, there's still nothing showing up in the drop-box under Obsessive.

What am I missing, please?

Also, if I don't use the 'Replaces Thing' function, will HL use this just this version of 'Obsessive' when my source is activated? In other words, how do I go about using this version when I'm checking our Living Pathfinder characters, and the regular version when I'm making characters for other games?

EDIT: BTW, I've been meaning to thank you for all the work you do both on these forums and for HL in general. So - Thank you!

[ShadowChemosh]

Originally Posted by Mowgli

Thanks for responding, ShadowChemosh!

OK, I replaced the Custom Expression with the one you provided, but even though most of those skills are already activated withing HL, there's still nothing showing up in the drop-box under Obsessive.

What am I missing, please?

You did do Test Now! after you changed the Custom Expression? As I did this in a .user file to test it before I said anything and it works. Here is the raw xml of the my changed thing that works. You can use Notepad to open up your .user file and search for your Things ID to compare them. I am really not sure right now why it does not work.

  <thing id="raS2xxx" name="Obsessive" description="The selected Craft or Profession skill gets a +2 racial bonus.{br}{br}{b}Note{/b}: To provide options for this list, go to the skills tab and click &quot;Add Additional Skill&quot;." compset="RaceSpec" replaces="raGnObsess">
    <fieldval field="usrCandid1" value="component.BaseSkill &amp; (Helper.SkCatProf|thingid.skAppraise|thingid.skBluff|thingid.skDiplo|thingid.skHandleAn|thingid.skLinguist|thingid.skSpellcr|thingid.skUseMagic)"/>
    <tag group="ChooseSrc1" tag="Hero" name="All Picks on Hero" abbrev="All Picks on Hero"/>
    <eval phase="PreAttr" priority="5000"><![CDATA[
      ~if we've been replaced, get out now
      doneif (tagis[Helper.SpcReplace] <> 0)

      if (field[usrChosen1].ischosen <> 0) then
        field[usrChosen1].chosen.field[Bonus].value += 2
        endif]]></eval>
    </thing>

Originally Posted by Mowgli

Also, if I don't use the 'Replaces Thing' function, will HL use this just this version of 'Obsessive' when my source is activated? In other words, how do I go about using this version when I'm checking our Living Pathfinder characters, and the regular version when I'm making characters for other games?

Here is a similar thread that goes into how this can be done but its not super easy but not super hard either. As Rob explains it has to do with how the Replaces Thing logic happens so very early. My suggestion is make a copy of the Pathfinder folder in the Data folder and call it Pathfinder_CORE which will have no .user files in it. That way you can simply select that game system when you want to use Pathfinder without any changes. Personally I have like 5 different Pathfinder folders so I can keep the different things I am doing separate. Plus one named CORE so I can test stuff without any .user files hanging around.

Originally Posted by Mowgli

EDIT: BTW, I've been meaning to thank you for all the work you do both on these forums and for HL in general. So - Thank you!

Thanks

Hope that helps.

[Maidhc O Casain]

Thanks again, Shadow! I got it working - I must have changed something inadvertently when I was trying to create it in the first place. I started over and simply pasted your custom expression in and it worked perfectly. Also copied the Pathfinder folder so I've got a distinct system for my LPF games.

I have one more thing to fix now. We use many of the same changes as Pathfinder Society, so activating the 'Replace Item Creation Bonus Feats' option takes care of the bulk of the changes. Unfortunately, there is one conflict.

For the Cavalier's Expert Trainer ability we don't replace it with Skill Focus. Instead we just remove the second part of the ability (that allows them to train animals more quickly). I tried making a new instance of this and replacing the Expert Trainer, but since I've got the 'Replace Item Creation' activated this created a bootstrap on a bootstrapped ability (or some such).

Is there a way I can change the 'Replace Item Creation' option to reflect our use of the Expert Trainer ability?

[Maidhc O Casain]

Never mind - it was easier than I thought to just substitute in our adjustments for everything, so I ended up not using the 'Replace Item Creation Bonus Feats' option.