Quote from: Emperor Norton;685602I remember the generator that came with the 2e AD&D CD compilation thing, can't remember what it was called anymore. Had a bunch of the books in a terrible digital format that was slow as balls, but the generator was pretty nice.

There were two versions (Core Rules and Core Rules 2.0, which had splat books included and a differernt mapping sysem).  I have them both.  In fact, I just used them last week to build a character for a 2e campaign I'm starting in a couple weeks.

Works fine in Win 7.  I did have to download the add on to support MS help files, and occassionally you get weird pop up windows saying it doesn't have access to save to certain locations, but those don't make it unworkable.  Very easy to generate a PC.

I would love a good character generator - but every one that I've ever used has one major problem - they don't allow easy integration of custom material.

If you have a houserule that everyone gets a 'skills background bonus' at 1st level, your character generator needs to be able to handle that.  If your 9th level fighter gets a kiss from the Queen of the Fairies that gives a permanent +1 to saving throws, the generator needs to be able to reflect that.  

Custom Material could be a unique race, unique class, feats (for 3.x) and non-standard abilities.  If you're blasted by radiation and grow a third arm (totally functional) that impacts the way you can wield multiple weapons, it might need reflection on the character sheet.  

Since it's nice to print up a sheet that has everything on it correctly, and have electronic backup in case a soda spills across your 14th level wizard, a character generation program that can handle all those things would be a dream come true - but I've never seen it yet.  

I tried to use DM Genie quite a bit, and it did have some custom options, but I could never get it to do what I wanted.  And I'd hate to reduce the scope of the game because of a limitation in software not related to a limitation in my imagination.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;685667There were two versions (Core Rules and Core Rules 2.0, which had splat books included and a differernt mapping sysem).  I have them both.  In fact, I just used them last week to build a character for a 2e campaign I'm starting in a couple weeks.

Works fine in Win 7.  I did have to download the add on to support MS help files, and occassionally you get weird pop up windows saying it doesn't have access to save to certain locations, but those don't make it unworkable.  Very easy to generate a PC.

Does it now? I switched to OS X way before Win 7, so it's good to hear compatibility has changed. Now to debate if to boot camp on a current machine or new, isolated, offline-only machine is worth it...

(edit: and something topic relevant -- I do think Mistwell is right, the unlimited nature of the OGL fights WotC long after. If it was a restricted timeframe it would have done (and will do) their bottom line less damage. But what was bad for Hasbro has been a boon for the player community, so I do find it hard to lament their self-inflicted wound.)

I just read on another forum that there are over 3000 feats in DDI to choose from?

Hard to see how that could be done without computer support.

I imagine it isn't that difficult.

Do you know how many 3.x feats there were?  

Between WotC products (Complete Series for example) and Dragon Magazine there were at least that many - if you include 3rd party supplements there were a lot more.  

The thing is, for any particular character concept, there weren't many worht having - especially since characters get so few.  So you only had to look at the ones that were likely to be relevant to your concept - so you only have to consider a small subsection of the available choices for any single character.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;685711The thing is, for any particular character concept, there weren't many worht having - especially since characters get so few.  So you only had to look at the ones that were likely to be relevant to your concept - so you only have to consider a small subsection of the available choices for any single character.

How do you know what the small subsection is unless you have a comprehensive source for all feats?

Quote from: Haffrung;685738How do you know what the small subsection is unless you have a comprehensive source for all feats?

Sometimes you'll know by the sources.  

If you have an archer character concept, you'll usually want to look in 'martial' sources.  Since a fuck-ton of feats are devoted to magic, you can ignore all the ones that are in 'necromancy' sources.  Unless you're looking for some kind of necromantic archery feat.  

Passing familiarity is sufficient for most purposes.  And likely your group does include one 'obsessive' who knows what every option does and can make recommendations on what you hope to do.