D&D Help

[Austin J]

Well a buddy of mine has one of the old original 80s-90s D&D sets. However, a game on D&D can last quite a while, all that paper, tracking your level, inventory, stats etc. etc. can be a real pain. We were talking about this then suddenly I thought "Well doi you're a programmer numb-skull, why don't you make a program to keep track of these things?" The problem is we've never actually learned how to fully play a proper game of D&D, just too many damn rules. If I were to make this program(not in a terminal, it'll have a GUI) what would you consider the minimum features for it to work. I don't want to make a game out of this, otherwise the whole point of what makes D&D fun gone. It just needs to accompany mainly as an organizational tool. So yeah I just need some advice from you more hard-core D&D guys out here.

[Disch]

I've never actually played a proper D&D game... but I don't see very much you could add to a custom program that you couldn't just input in a spreadsheet.

Seriously.. if your complaint is with having to write stuff down and/or do simple calculations... just open up Excel.

[maeriden]

Seriously.. if your complaint is with having to write stuff down and/or do simple calculations... just open up Excel.

It's true that excel is sufficient, but a custom program lets you have a better interface, and it's a good opportunity to learn some GUI programming IMO.


I tried making an interactive character sheet 3 times, and every time I got bored in the middle of it because there was too much stuff to consider, and making GUIs is bothersome.

I'd say the minimum features are name, class, level, XP, HP, AC, saves, stats, ability scores, inventory with weight calculation, equipped items, money, class features, spells, talents.
That's all that comes to mind for now. It's basically most of the stuff you can find in a character sheet.

[Disch]

It's true that excel is sufficient, but a custom program lets you have a better interface,

Any way you slice it, this interface here is going to just be a series of text fields with maybe a handful of calculation controls. That's what spreadsheets are for.

and it's a good opportunity to learn some GUI programming IMO.

I'm not opposed to writing code as an academic/educational project.... but that didn't sound like it was the case here. He sounded like he's interested in the goal, not the process.

I'd say the minimum features are name, class, level, XP, HP, AC, saves, stats, ability scores, inventory with weight calculation, equipped items, money, class features, spells, talents.

All of that would take about 2 minutes to do in a spreadsheet. Maybe a little longer if you want to make it pretty.




I say, use the right tool for the right job. I'd say a spreadsheet is the right job for this. This doesn't strike me as a programming project at all. And it definitely does not strike me as a C++ project.

[Austin J]

Well actually I was a bit interested in learning something from it, and yeah a spread sheet would work but I still think it'd be worth it making a program. There's other features of D&D that I can't imagine being fun doing in a spread sheet i.e using the grid system for fighting other characters. It's one of those things you could just do a dice roll for but if you're a more hardcore player.

[ResidentBiscuit]

This has already been done a hundred times. I used to play D&D v3.5 a ton and I had no issue finding online spreadsheet managers.

[Austin J]

You can do more than use a spread sheet for character sheets. Like I said before the grid system for when you fight other players is an example. Let's just say for the heck of it that spread sheets aren't an option here, because I have a excelaphobia. I just want to know what I could design excluding a character sheet manager that most would use a spreadsheet for. I don't plan on sharing this with people, it's just for myself and the friends I play with.