Dragon Ascendant

[Draidis]

Hey everyone. I'm new to Hero Lab, I actually didn't know it existed until I stumbled upon it a couple days ago and now I LOVE it. The problem is I still don't fully know how to use the editor and my coding skills could best be described as none existent. I did go through the tutorials in the help and I picked up a few other things just by playing around but I could still use a little help.

I'm trying to make the Dragon Ascendant (DA) prestige class from the WotC Draconomicon for 3.5.

So far I've actually gotten most of it done I think but I'm stuck on a few things.

Prerequisites:

1) I don't know how to make a certain BAB a prerequisite
2) I don't know how to make multiple and specific races a prerequisite

For Class Specials:

1) I don't know how to make the DA Awesome Aura replace their Frightful Presence if it is even possible
2) I don't know how to add a deflection AC bonus = to Charisma bonus
3) DA are supposed to get an HP increase of 1 per hit dice it possess at levels 2,4,6,8,10 & 12.... No idea how to do that
4) At lvl 4 damage reduction is supposed to made such that it can only be overcome by epic weapons (+6 or higher) and lvl8 it increases by a factor of 5) (ie. 15/epic --> 20/epic), don't know how to do any of that
5) Lastly, at lvl 11 spell resistance is supposed to increase to 33

I know it's a nice list of things to ask for help with but any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Nigel Fogg The Wayfarer]

Hey everyone. I'm new to Hero Lab, I actually didn't know it existed until I stumbled upon it a couple days ago and now I LOVE it. The problem is I still don't fully know how to use the editor and my coding skills could best be described as none existent. I did go through the tutorials in the help and I picked up a few other things just by playing around but I could still use a little help.

I'm trying to make the Dragon Ascendant (DA) prestige class from the WotC Draconomicon for 3.5.

So far I've actually gotten most of it done I think but I'm stuck on a few things.

Prerequisites:

1) I don't know how to make a certain BAB a prerequisite
2) I don't know how to make multiple and specific races a prerequisite

For Class Specials:

1) I don't know how to make the DA Awesome Aura replace their Frightful Presence if it is even possible
2) I don't know how to add a deflection AC bonus = to Charisma bonus
3) DA are supposed to get an HP increase of 1 per hit dice it possess at levels 2,4,6,8,10 & 12.... No idea how to do that
4) At lvl 4 damage reduction is supposed to made such that it can only be overcome by epic weapons (+6 or higher) and lvl8 it increases by a factor of 5) (ie. 15/epic --> 20/epic), don't know how to do any of that
6) Lastly, at lvl 11 spell resistance is supposed to increase to 33

I know it's a nice list of things to ask for help with but any help is appreciated. Thanks!

First off Draidis, hello and welcome!

Secondly, have you downloaded the additional material available at the Cheeseweasel site? If so, I'd suggest using the editor to look into the Dragon Devotee and/or Dragon Disciple classes to see if that gives some insight.

Thirdly, if my above comment helps not at all, listen to far more skilled Forum members like Mathias & others too numerous to mention.

Does this count as a dradis contact? lol Okay, so you aren't spelled the same but it did seem like you were going for a Battlestar Galactica reference.

Nigel Fogg, aka The Wayfarer

 

[Draidis]

First off Draidis, hello and welcome!

Secondly, have you downloaded the additional material available at the Cheeseweasel site? If so, I'd suggest using the editor to look into the Dragon Devotee and/or Dragon Disciple classes to see if that gives some insight.

Thirdly, if my above comment helps not at all, listen to far more skilled Forum members like Mathias & others too numerous to mention.

Does this count as a dradis contact? lol Okay, so you aren't spelled the same but it did seem like you were going for a Battlestar Galactica reference.

Nigel Fogg, aka The Wayfarer

Thanks, I appreciate the attempt but it doesn't really help. The first thing I did after getting this program before I even figured out how to make a basic lvl 1 human fighter to test it was download lawful g's stuff off that site (and it's AWESOME btw) and any other user content I could find. I do need to make this class specifically. I tried copying other classes (by using the new(copy) feature) but it didn't seem to copy over prerequisites nor could I find anything that helped me code/make the specific things i stated above. There were a bunch of abilities I did figure out how to add as well as the feat prereqs but I got stumped with those.

Would you have any idea how I could contact those more numerous and skilled members you mentioned so they might help?

Also no, the name Draidis is one I came up with off the top of my head for my very first D&D character when I was nine (almost 20 years ago). It's not a reference to anything.... although BSG kicks ass

 

[Lawful_g]

Don't limit yourself to looking at the pre-reqs on the same type of thing you are making, both those can be seen on various feats as well. As for copying classes and not seeing the pre-reqs, I suspect you're copying the class helper, which is not where the pre-reqs are. You would need to new (copy) the Class level things.

Here are the answers to the first 2 questions. I assume the class requires a True dragon and not just the dragon type then?
~ Base attack bonus +X required.
child[Attack].field[tAtkBase].value >= X

~ True Dragon race required.
hero.tagis[Race.TrueDragon] <> 0

 

[Lawful_g]

1) I don't know how to make the DA Awesome Aura replace their Frightful Presence if it is even possible

Make a special for the Awesome Aura, and in an eval script have it delete the Helper.ShowSpec tag on frightful presence special.

perform hero.childfound[xFrightPre].delete[Helper.ShowSpec]

2) I don't know how to add a deflection AC bonus = to Charisma bonus

Look at the eval scripts of Paladin's Divine Grace for how to get something equal to the Charisma bonus. Then look at... say the Ring of Protection to see how to apply a deflection bonus. Try and combine the two and ask me if you still have trouble.

3) DA are supposed to get an HP increase of 1 per hit dice it possess at levels 2,4,6,8,10 & 12.... No idea how to do that

Look at the eval scripts on the Improved Toughness feat, which does the same thing.

4) At lvl 4 damage reduction is supposed to made such that it can only be overcome by epic weapons (+6 or higher) and lvl8 it increases by a factor of 5) (ie. 15/epic --> 20/epic), don't know how to do any of that

Bootstrap the Epic DR special to your class ability, then run a script to detect the amount of the magic DR and set that as the bonus

Final 10000
~ Our Epic DR is equal to our Magic DR
var bonus as number
bonus = hero.childfound[xDamRdMag].field[Value].value

~ We gain a +5 bonus if we are 8th level or higher.
if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 8) then
bonus += 5
endif

~ Epic DR is equal to our calculated bonus or it's current value, whichever is higher.
hero.child[xDamRdEpic].field[Value].value = maximum(hero.child[xDamRdEpic].field[Value].value, bonus)

6) Lastly, at lvl 11 spell resistance is supposed to increase to 33

Does it just flatly increase to 33 no matter what it was before? In that case you can just bootstrap the xSplRs thing and then use this eval script.

Post-levels 10000
~ If our level is higher than 11 give us Spell resistance 33 or it's current value, whichever is higher.
if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 11) then
hero.child[xSplRs].field[Value].value = maximum(hero.child[xSplRs].field[Value].value, 33)
endif

 

[Draidis]

1) I don't know how to make the DA Awesome Aura replace their Frightful Presence if it is even possible

Make a special for the Awesome Aura, and in an eval script have it delete the Helper.ShowSpec tag on frightful presence special.

perform hero.childfound[xFrightPre].delete[Helper.ShowSpec]

2) I don't know how to add a deflection AC bonus = to Charisma bonus

Look at the eval scripts of Paladin's Divine Grace for how to get something equal to the Charisma bonus. Then look at... say the Ring of Protection to see how to apply a deflection bonus. Try and combine the two and ask me if you still have trouble.

3) DA are supposed to get an HP increase of 1 per hit dice it possess at levels 2,4,6,8,10 & 12.... No idea how to do that

Look at the eval scripts on the Improved Toughness feat, which does the same thing.

4) At lvl 4 damage reduction is supposed to made such that it can only be overcome by epic weapons (+6 or higher) and lvl8 it increases by a factor of 5) (ie. 15/epic --> 20/epic), don't know how to do any of that

Bootstrap the Epic DR special to your class ability, then run a script to detect the amount of the magic DR and set that as the bonus

Final 10000
~ Our Epic DR is equal to our Magic DR
var bonus as number
bonus = hero.childfound[xDamRdMag].field[Value].value

~ We gain a +5 bonus if we are 8th level or higher.
if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 8) then
bonus += 5
endif

~ Epic DR is equal to our calculated bonus or it's current value, whichever is higher.
hero.child[xDamRdEpic].field[Value].value = maximum(hero.child[xDamRdEpic].field[Value].value, bonus)

6) Lastly, at lvl 11 spell resistance is supposed to increase to 33

Does it just flatly increase to 33 no matter what it was before? In that case you can just bootstrap the xSplRs thing and then use this eval script.

Post-levels 10000
~ If our level is higher than 11 give us Spell resistance 33 or it's current value, whichever is higher.
if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 11) then
hero.child[xSplRs].field[Value].value = maximum(hero.child[xSplRs].field[Value].value, 33)
endif

Thanks for all the help. I super appreciate it and btw, you kick ass, thanks for all the D&D 3.5 material.

I'm still having issues though. What you gave me for the prereqs worked like a charm, as did the Awesome Aura and the spell resistance stuff.

For #2 (the deflection AC bonus equal to the charisma bonus one) I did what you suggested and took the Divine Grace ability script to get the Cha bonus and the ring of protection script to find out how to apply a deflection bonus and I came up with this eval script

var bonus as number
~ Get the value of the Cha bonus
bonus = hero.child[aCHA].field[aModBonus].value

~ Apply a deflection AC bonus = Cha bonus
hero.child[ArmorClass].field[tACDeflect].value = maximum(hero.child[ArmorClass].field[tACDeflect].value, bonus)

I saved the Class Special, tested it and tried actually applying it to a character but nothing happened. It's listed in the class information as being there and is white (as in level is met for use) but there is no AC change.
Any suggestions?

I did pretty much the same for #3, i created multiple Class Specials that came into effect using the eval script copied from Improved Toughness

container.child[Totals].field[tHP].value =
container.child[Totals].field[tHP].value +
container.child[Totals].field[tHitDice].value

It also had no effect once the actual class levels were applied to a character

For the damage reduction (the last thing that isn't working properly) I did as you said and add the Epic Damage Reduction bootstrap to the class then copied and pasted your script into the class special eval script

Final 10000
~ Our Epic DR is equal to our Magic DR
var bonus as number
bonus = hero.childfound[xDamRdMag].field[Value].value

~ We gain a +5 bonus if we are 8th level or higher.
if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 8) then
bonus += 5
endif

~ Epic DR is equal to our calculated bonus or it's current value, whichever is higher.
hero.child[xDamRdEpic].field[Value].value = maximum(hero.child[xDamRdEpic].field[Value].value, bonus)

That gave me a syntax error saying that the variable "Final" was undeclared, tried declaring it and that game me a different error and I tried outright removing it and while that allowed the script to work the final result was still gave no change to an actual character using the prestige class. Also wouldn't the lines

if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 8) then
bonus += 5
endif

result in a character getting the +5 if they have a character level equal or higher than 8? Because I want that to happen at the 8th class level not character level.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Lawful_g]

2) I don't know how to add a deflection AC bonus = to Charisma bonus

The script you wrote should work. I think you must be running it too early, before the Charisma score is set. Above the eval script window there is a section for Phase and Priority. Try setting them to Post Attributes and 10000 respectively.

3) DA are supposed to get an HP increase of 1 per hit dice it possess at levels 2,4,6,8,10 & 12.... No idea how to do that

Same with this, you are probably running the script before the Hit Dice have been calculated. Try Post Levels 10000. You will also need to define some conditions as to under what circumstances the bonus HP will be added (i.e. don't add this until we hit level 2, 4, 6, whatever). Try and use the information below to make that.

4) At lvl 4 damage reduction is supposed to made such that it can only be overcome by epic weapons (+6 or higher) and lvl8 it increases by a factor of 5) (ie. 15/epic --> 20/epic), don't know how to do any of that

The program only recognizes certain words, and Final is not among them. This is why #2 starts out with "var bonus as number", we are telling HL we are making a new variable named bonus, and it will be a number. Then in the next line we define what that number is. The "Final 10000" included in that script is meant to tell you what phase and priority to run it at. Delete it from the script and set the correct timing above, then your error should go away.


Also wouldn't the lines

if (field[xTotalLev].value >= 8) then
bonus += 5
endif

result in a character getting the +5 if they have a character level equal or higher than 8? Because I want that to happen at the 8th class level not character level.

Level is tracked in several different places in HL.

On each hero there is a "Totals" thing that keeps track of the characters total Hit dice (the field "tHitDice") and the total number of class levels (not counting racial HD, the "tLevel" field).

On each class helper the field "cTotalLev" counts the number of levels taken in this class and passes that on to all class abilities attached to it.

And on each class ability the field "xTotalLev" counts the number of levels that have been applied to this class ability. This is important because some abilities can be inherited from multiple classes which stack levels, like Trap sense from both the rogue and barbarian class. Also, certain items like the monk's robe give bonuses to certain class abilities but not others, so they can't add to the cTotalLev on the Monk class helper. That would pass down to all associated monk abilities. Instead they add to the xTotalLev field of each class ability they modify.

A note on paths. Each script starts on it's current home thing, unless you tell it otherwise. The script I gave you was meant to be placed on the class special, so "field[xTotalLev].value >= 8" needs no earlier part.

If you were to put the same on the Class Helper for example, you'd get an error because that does not have an xTotalLev field. Instead, when referring to something outside your current thing, you have to draw a path. Look at the line for your Deflection bonus to AC script.

hero.child[ArmorClass].field[tACDeflect].value

Each dot is like an arrow to the next thing. The above means "Start at the hero, then go to the hero's child thing ArmorClass, then go to the field named tACDeflect, and get the value"

If the script were actually on the ArmorClass thing, you would only need "field[tACDeflect].value"

So in short, "xTotalLev" refers only to levels applied to this class special, not total number of class levels (that would be "hero.child[Totals].field[tLevel].value") taken.

Tell me if you have more questions.

 

[Draidis]

Thanks Lawful! You've been a huge help. Pretty much everything seems to be working now. I have only one more little issue. I thought all I needed to do to provide an immunity as a class special was to bootstrap in on but apparently i need to set a condition as well or the character getting the class seems to get the immunity at 1st level when they're supposed to get it at 7th. What script would I use in the conditions of the bootstrap to limit it to a specific level?

Also would you want me to send you the class so you can add it to your user content once I'm done?

Thanks yet again for all the help.

 

[Lawful_g]

Use a bootstrap condition at first 500

count:Classes.Whatever >=X

Where "Whatever" is the class tag for your class and "X" is the minimum level to add.

And of course you're welcome to add your class to the community files, We're grateful for the help.

 

[Draidis]

Do you guys have a file drop box or or a place I can send it to?

 

[Lawful_g]

We do have a drop box but I have forgotten how to add people to the shared folder. Or you can send it to chiefweasel (contact info on cheeseweasel.net, click the Contact Us link), shadowchemosh (I think he just posted his e-mail address in another recent thread), or you can mail it to me (I'll send you a PM with the address, I don't like posting it on the forums).

 

[Draidis]

I tried adding the your script and I get a syntax error saying 'Classes.Whatever' not defined. I did use the class tags and not "Whatever". Is something missing?

 

[Lawful_g]

Just to be sure. You did put it in the bootstrap condition area, right? Not an Eval script or somewhere else? To get to the right area, in the editor click on your class helper, hit the bootstrap button in the upper right, then find the ability you want to limit. On the right there should be 3 buttons "Fields", "Tags", and "Conditions". Click on Conditions and it will open up a window where you can set Phase to First and Priority to 500, then put in the conditional statement I gave previously.

If the script location is not the problem, verify you have spelled the tag correctly. In the main HL Program start a blank hero, and go to the dropdown bars at the top, click on "Develop" and check "Enable Data File Debugging".

Now add a level of your class to the hero.

Now click on Develop again, then "Floating Info Windows" at the bottom, and then "Show Hero Tags". A window will pop up with all tags applied to the hero, it shouldn't be that long because you have only 1 class level and otherwise blank.

Scroll down until you see the "Classes." tag. There should only be one. Check that against your script to make sure they match. Change the script if it doesn't.

And if neither of those gets it fixed, e-mail me a copy and I'll take a look.

 

[Draidis]

Awesome! That did it. I'm just going to "pretty" the descriptions up a little and I'll send it to you. Thanks again for all the help, couldn't have done this without you.

 

[Lawful_g]

No problem at all.