Multiple characters in one portfolio

[Sturmrider]

I have created a new portfolio called Added encounters for monsters, and NPCs I create. The issue I am running into is once I put the first NPC in, and then open the file to put others in, it does not seem possible. I always have to create a new portfolio. It does not have a section to just add a character.

I know this can be done, but must be using the wrong search terms on the forum. Haven't had any luck. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you very much.

 

[ShadowChemosh]

Not near HL. But it should be under the "Portfolio" menu option to import another .por file.

 

[Sturmrider]

Just so I understand it right. For each NPC say you have to create a seperate portfolio and then import it. so you end up with a lot of portfolios in the folder, or can you delete the extra portfolios afterwards.

Thank you for your patience.

 

[charlieluce]

Importing a portfolio into another portfolio creates a copy, so once you save the combined portfolio you can delete the individual ones if you wish.

Also, if you have a portfolio open and want to add a new character to it, there is a Create New Character option under the Portfolio menu as well - or you can import characters from the Encounter Builder or an Encounter Library into an existing portfolio.

Finally, if you want to customize a character and then have a number of identical ones in the portfolio, you can build the first one and then use the Duplicate option on the current character in the Portfolio menu.

I do this same thing running my game; I have the individual portfolios that I get from my players, and I combine them into one portfolio called The Party. Then I import each encounter into that portfolio to use the Tactical Console, and when I'm done with them I use the Delete All Enemies option to prepare for the next encounter.

 

[Silveras]

The first menu option under "Portfolio" is "Create New Hero".

As I read the OP's issue, he just wants to be able to create a new NPC/monster/PC in the existing Portfolio file.

So.. open the Portfolio ... then from the menu, "Portfolio", "Create New Hero".

 

[charlieluce]

Well, I wanted to cover all the situations I could think of. In my game I have an oversized, high-point PC party, so I tend to pull the Encounter Library encounters out of Iron Gods into a new portfolio and beef them up, then save them into a separate portfolio to be imported when I need it.

 

[Sturmrider]

Thank you everyone for the quick and varied replies. I can see now there is a variety of ways of creating the character in the portfolio. I wouldn't and obviously didn't think of going to the Portfolio menu. I thought it would be under character or file section. I am learning a lot about Hero Lab from everyone and hopefully in the future will be able to help others as you have helped me.

Thank you again.

 

[Ualaa]

If I'm making a character, rather than using a monster, and am not sure at what point I'd like that character to come in... level 6, 7 or 8... or whatever...

I make the character, up to whatever level the minimum is.

And I name it: Character, LV 06.
Then I create one duplicate of that character, and rename it from Character, LV 06 #2 to: Character, LV 07.
Then I level the character up, and make all the changes.

I now have a level 6 and a level 7 of the same character in the porfolio.

I have backup characters ready to go, who show their progression from 1st to 20th, by having 20 versions of the character in their porfolio.



If there are generic versions of hostile Barbarians, I'll have a portfolio for those.
So maybe there are Archers, guys with big Axes and a few with Sword & Shield.
A portfolio gets one of each.

When the PCs need to fight them, I can import hero from portfolio, navigate to the Barbarian file, and select six of the Axe Barbarians with the number arrow next to the Barbarian Axe guy.
You could import all, which would get one of each unique thing, that is another option.
With that approach, you could create duplicates of whatever type needs multiples, once they're in the porfolio, with essentially the same result.

A specific encounter might be the Barbarian leader, with his elite guard, and a bunch of regular ones.
So I may have a portfolio with different versions of the leader, and one with one each of the various Barbarian types.
I'd make a new portfolio, import the leader version, one (or more) of the elite guard, and however many of the normal kind.

When the PCs are going to battle them, from the PC portfolio, import 'hero' and import the entire hostile (marked as enemy, in configure control + k) portfolio.
The Tactical Console then runs the show, and the PCs can loot the corpses.

It helps to have the combined treasure, from all of the bad guys on a creature named 'Treasure' (or something similar), within the combat portfolio.
If you mark 'Treasure' as an ally, it doesn't count as experience against the party, so you can use HL's calculation of the experience value of the enemies for your group.
And treasure then includes eight Great Axes, two of which you've marked as masterwork and one is magical, or whatever; then you can distribute loot from Treasure rather than from each individual Barbarian, if you want to go that route.

 

[Sturmrider]

Thank you Ualaa I wouldn't have thought of most of your ideas, but they seem like a great way to simplify some things.

 

[Azhrei]

FYI, some versions of the iPad have a problem with portfolios that contain 15+ heroes in them. The LW team has done a lot of work to minimize the memory footprint, but high-level characters tend to have more options/features/gear so they take up even more memory, and when you have one hero that has been leveled up 15 times, that last one is likely to be pretty big.

I mention this because I've had some emails back and forth with the LW team while beta testing new iPad builds. I do the same thing Ualaa does -- my character goes from L1 to L16 or so in a single portfolio as a way to test what I want to take at each level. But I keep the current character in a separate portfolio for use at the game table.

 

[Ualaa]

I've got six or seven PCs, in one portfolio, which is the current version of each character in the party.

If one of the characters dies, or the player wants to have their character wander off to be replaced...
I export the deceased/lost character, to the 'dead list' for that campaign; I like to have a copy of the character, in case I need to refer back to it or the player wants me to help them make a new one like whatever, only this time with...

Once I have the exported version, I delete them from the portfolio.
The portfolio then imports the replacement character...

In the case of one of the characters I have built... the group wants a healer/buffer, but no one wants to play that role.
We're currently level seven, so if the current support NPC were to die, I'd Portfolio > Import Character...
Navigate to the next Support NPC portfolio, and select the level seven version of that character.

Between sessions, if I've not looked at the character in a while, and the character has leveled up, I can always refer to the previous portfolio with a copy ranging from LV 01 to LV 20 of that character, to see how I built them the first time, to get an idea on what I was going for.

 

[Sturmrider]

Thank you everyone for all your help. It has enabled me to get by some problems I was bumping into. I do have one question though for those who use a portfolio for the party.

What happens when a member is not able to make it and the party wants to adventure that session. Is there a way to drop a member from that session? Or do you have to remove him or her from the portfolio for the session.

Thank you again everyone for your input it is helping me set up things for the future as I am learning Hero Lab.

 

[ErinRigh]

You will have to remove the character for the session. Go to Portfolio > Export Hero... and export the current character to a new .por then just click delete hero under the Portfolio menu as well. When the session is done and you've finished updating the other characters in the portfolio, just re-import the saved .por and you're golden. Just don't save the export to somewhere strange and forget where you put it.

 

[Aaron]

When a player doesn't show I don't think it's necessary to do anything to their character in the party portfolio. If you're the type of group who makes the character "fade into the background" when their player isn't present, just ignore the hero. If you're using the tactical console you can just remove them from the encounter with a button press.

 

[Sturmrider]

Two different styles of keeping the character in the background there. Thank you for the feedback, now just have to decide which one will work best for the group.

Thank you again everyone for your help on this. Have a great day.

 

[Ualaa]

I leave an inactive character in the hero's portfolio.

I run combat, using the 'Tactical Console', and there is the option to disable a character for the combat beside (to the far right) or their name.
So they're not active in combat, and their turn is skipped... until you hit the Sword icon beside their name, which puts them back into the active characters for the Tactical Console.

Having a character listed in the Portfolio, who is not active in the session, doesn't seem to be a detriment.

Hero Lab calculates experience for creatures marked as Enemies, within either their portfolio or the Hero's Portfolio when I import them for a combat.
It shows the total amount of experience, for the Enemies within the portfolio.
I would take that total, and divide it by the number of active characters, and after the session has ended add the cumulative total for each of the battles/encounters won, on each active character's journal entry (or to every character, present or not, if using group experience).