Add 1e stats

[slithy]

1. Add a 1e option to display 1e stat blocks
2. Update the sample document
3. Create the 1e monster listing

[non]

@slithy Hi there!

I just found this project (thanks!) and I was wondering if you hit any roadblocks in implementing 1e stat blocks? If it's just a matter of not having time to work on it, I may take a crack at it.

[slithy]

Hi non,

No, no roadblocks, just no-one is pushing me to do it so it's at the back of my queue of things I need to do!

Item (1) on the list above is done, but (2) and (3) still have to be done. If you would like to take a look, please feel free!

[tunesmith]

Count this as another vote for implementing 1e stat blocks. :) I've been wanting to write a 1e module for a while and just started using this to sketch it out. I'm downloading it from here rather than CTAN. If you can supply any additional information on how to do (2) or (3) above, maybe I could help.

[slithy]

The statblock functionality is done, in principle it works but there are no predefined monster statblocks. So what needs done next is for someone to create a spreadsheet containing all the stats of all monsters in MM, MM2 and FF which I can convert into LaTeX macros.

[tunesmith]

That sounds great. I have all three. If you create a google sheet or a spreadsheet attachment with a template of what the columns should be, perhaps with an example, I can slowly plug away at it over time. Sounds relaxing. ;)

[tunesmith]

I'm pretty sure I've found the template in the codebase, and I've also found some other excel spreadsheets that have most of the database, will just require some exporting and reordering and them some calculations for thaco and xp/levels in places.

I'm curious what the "Special" column is for? It's not part of special attacks or special defenses.

[slithy]

The "Special" column is an abbreviated form of SA/SD for display in monster roster/wandering monster tables. You can see an example in rpg-1e-stats/test.tex. You should be able to compile this to test.pdf which shows all the various display formats.

[slithy]

I updated the sample doc to display with 1e stats and created a sample rpg-1e-stats.def with the few monsters in the sample doc.

The stats for these monsters are generated from the spreadsheet rpg-1e-stats/monster_list.csv. Open this file in your favourite spreadsheet program, type CSV, using | as the field separator and no text delimiter. You can then add new monsters and save in the same format.

A few notes on the format:

• Use LaTeX formatting within the fields. For a range of numbers use 2 dashes to get an N-dash, e.g. 1--6.
• % character has to be escaped, "%"
• For negative numbers use "\minus 2" to typeset a minus sign
• The special sequence "?" is a breaking slash. It will be typeset as "/" but allows a line break immediately afterwards if necessary.
• The special sequence "+" is typeset as "+" but with a narrow space either side. You will see that I set HD like "1+1" (no space) but XP as "20+ 2/hp" (with narrow space).
• The special sequence "\x" is typeset as the multiplication symbol, e.g. "2\x Claws, 1\x Bite"
• The plural column can usually be left blank as it is calculated automatically. You need to specify it for irregular plurals or where the word to be pluralised is not the last word (e.g. man -> men, minion of set -> minions of set)
• The category column can usually be left blank, it is intended for grouping monsters of the same type in new monster listings, e.g. "Dragon" would be the category for "White Dragon", "Gold Dragon", "Red Dragon", etc. as they are all part of the "Dragon" listing.

Hopefully the rest is self-explanatory but let me know if anything is not clear or you have any questions.

[tunesmith]

Great, thanks! I did a little work on this. It seems the githubby way to do this is to fork your repo and do the work on my fork.

Can you take a look so far? I did the "A" monsters in MM1. Here's the commit:

tunesmith@5ee9e03 (note - I fixed the duplicated quotes in MV in the following commit)

I'll try not to bug you with every changeset but it'll be good to check in to start to make sure we have the proper conventions.

Initial notes:

• I split Giant Ant into two monsters since they're so different
• I had them initially listed alphabetically like "Ape, Carnivorous" - let me know if you have strong preferences either way because otherwise I might switch it back to alphabetical.
• Note the odd THACO and AC for Anhkheg - is this ok?
• Some monsters have multiple movement rates like Anhkheg, I'm following the literal MM1 convention here
• Chaotic Evil is spelled out, is that all right
• Some resources have Intelligence with extra numerical info, like "Semi (2-4)" and "Low (5-7)", would you like that if I can add it easily?
• I'm just sort of eyeballing "Monster Level" by looking at their base xp before adding in HP or Special/Exceptional Abilities, I hope that's accurate

Let me know what you think and if you see any corrections I should make. I'll probably continue with the B's next in MM1, I'll probably use "Beetle, Giant" as a category.

[slithy]

Hi, if you plan to commit your changes back into the main repo, you should use a branch rather than a fork. Can you check out my repo and try git checkout -b tunesmiths_branch? (I'm not sure if I need to assign permissions so let me know if it doesn't work).

In any case I will copy your changes into the master branch of the repo now and take a look.

[tunesmith]

I had earlier tried to create a branch on your repo but got a permission denied when I tried to push the branch, so I probably need to be granted some level of permissions to the repo. I agree that would be better if you can give me access. Then I’ll move my changes to the branch.

…

Sent from my iPhone

On May 29, 2020, at 10:39 AM, Michael ***@***.***> wrote:  Hi, if you plan to commit your changes back into the main repo, you should use a branch rather than a fork. Can you check out my repo and try git checkout -b tunesmiths_branch? (I'm not sure if I need to assign permissions so let me know if it doesn't work). — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[slithy]

You should now have permission to push a branch.

But hold on, I'm setting up some conversion and test scripts. After I push that, create a new branch and start from there.

[slithy]

OK, the script convert takes monster_list.csv as input and creates rpg-1e-stats.def and test_all.tex. This tex file contains all the defined monsters in all display formats, so if you compile it you can use this to check everything looks OK.

Here are my comments on the A monsters:

• Your spreadsheet software is putting quotes around the MV stat, because it contains a single quote (12" etc.). Check if you can set your options to not have the extra quotes. If not, it's not a deal-breaker, I can write an extra script to post-process the spreadsheet to remove them.
• I split "Ape" and "Gorilla" into 2 monster listings with the same stats. I think this makes the most sense for monsters which are the same apart from the name.

I split Giant Ant into two monsters since they're so different

No problem to do this: in that case put them in the same category (I put "Ant") which enables side-by-side stat listing in the newmonster format.

I had them initially listed alphabetically like "Ape, Carnivorous" - let me know if you have strong preferences either way because otherwise I might switch it back to alphabetical.

I like it the way you have done it.

Note the odd THACO and AC for Anhkheg - is this ok?

For AC, the template expects a number, as there is an option to use ascending AC and it does the conversion automatically. Also a long entry here screws with the wandering monster and monster roster listing formats. My compromise for cases like this (Lycanthropes were one in the Basic stats with different AC for human form and animal form) is to put it as as 2\,(4). (\, is a narrow space)

For HD/THAC0, I put one entry for each HD option, so the module author can insert whichever one he wants. (The XP should really be calculated separately for each HD variant). I also added a default "Ankheg" with the range of stats, but this is really only useful for the "new monster" listing.

Some monsters have multiple movement rates like Anhkheg, I'm following the literal MM1 convention here

That's perfect.

Chaotic Evil is spelled out, is that all right

Yes, it will automatically be abbreviated to CE in the appropriate places.

Some resources have Intelligence with extra numerical info, like "Semi (2-4)" and "Low (5-7)", would you like that if I can add it easily?

That option is only printed in the "new monster" listing so it's not that critical. I would just put it as it is in the MM.

I'm just sort of eyeballing "Monster Level" by looking at their base xp before adding in HP or Special/Exceptional Abilities, I hope that's accurate.

The Monster Levels are listed in Appendix C of the DMG for MM monsters, but I didn't check if the lists there are exhaustive. The FF and MM2 included this info in the monster listing.

Again this is only used in the "new monster" listing so it's not critical if it's not completely accurate.

[slithy]

OK I just pushed. Have a go at building test_all.pdf and let me know if you have any problems.

[tunesmith]

Looks like I am still not able to push my local branch to your repo, but I'm sure we can get it figured out, so I'll continue with my local branch on your repo (I'm off the fork now). I'm able to build test_all.pdf ! Continuing with the B's...