Monster coding: skills, NPC, encounter builder

[wdmartin]

I built a custom monster race using the editor for the first time last night. Everything seems to be working except for a couple of minor details.

1) The race has ranks in Knowledge (Nature) and Knowledge (Planes). I have successfully used #skillinnate[] to spend skill ranks in those skills. But when I load up the monster by selecting the race, it shows unspent skill ranks because the two Knowledge skills have not actually been added to the character. As soon as I add Kn (Nature) and (Planes) in manually, the unspent skill ranks are correctly assigned.

So ... how do enable those to knowledge skills by default on this race? Do I need to bootstrap them somehow?

2) How do I mark my race as an NPC? I set it to "NPC Race", but it's still showing up as a PC and prompting me to pick traits and such.

3) What do I need to do to get my monster to show up in the Encounter Builder?

Thanks.

[Mathias]

1) you've got it - the Bootstraps button on the top right is how you bootstrap them.

2) This is handled on the configure hero form by the person creating a character from this race, not by the person creating the monster. Sometimes, GMs will give the players the option of playing monster races.

3) Here's an existing thread where that is asked and answered: http://forums.wolflair.com/showthrea...ounter+builder

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by wdmartin

I built a custom monster race using the editor for the first time last night. Everything seems to be working except for a couple of minor details.

1) The race has ranks in Knowledge (Nature) and Knowledge (Planes). I have successfully used #skillinnate[] to spend skill ranks in those skills. But when I load up the monster by selecting the race, it shows unspent skill ranks because the two Knowledge skills have not actually been added to the character. As soon as I add Kn (Nature) and (Planes) in manually, the unspent skill ranks are correctly assigned.

So ... how do enable those to knowledge skills by default on this race? Do I need to bootstrap them somehow?

Yes, bootstrap the knowledge skills it has ranks in by default to the race itself.

Originally Posted by wdmartin

2) How do I mark my race as an NPC? I set it to "NPC Race", but it's still showing up as a PC and prompting me to pick traits and such.

Whether a particular hero is a PC or NPC is controlled by the setting on the Configure hero form. After all, with DM permission, any race is a PC race, right? The "NPC Race" tag controls what section the race sorts into when selecting race.

Originally Posted by wdmartin

3) What do I need to do to get my monster to show up in the Encounter Builder?

Thanks.

Create a portfolio with the monster, and save it as a .stock file in the same folder you put your .user files in. Then reload the game system and you should see it available through the EB.

[wdmartin]

Lovely, thanks. I'll fix that up when I get home this evening.