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PCGen 5.8 Released
HunterD writes "PCGen, the premier Open Source D20 RPG character generation application has released it's new 5.8 version. The 5.8 release of PCGen comes from over a year of hard work adding new features such as the ability to preview characters, a new plugin system, and the ability to use pcgen to run games over the internet via the new networking plugin. Eleven new datasets in this release mean that there are now almost 100 free data sets for Pcgen, which represents a substantial percentage of the available D20 books on the market. Usability has increased dramatically, as countless bugs have been fixed to increase stability and application speed."
...are here. They weren't kidding about lots of bugs getting closed with this release!
The Army reading list
that's specifically because of threats of lawsuit. Seems WoC was rather bent out of shape when this was introduced to them a couple of years ago. At one time it contained spells, items, even images that could be checked into. Reference existed to tell you about spell effects and the like. A Cease and Desist took care of that. Problem is, most spells too closely resemble WoC material. So in order to avoid getting more trouble, the erred on the safe side.
Some spells, items or weapons had all the details you mentioned needing, others didn't. To get those, you had to add the data sets, or make your own, or find stuff on Kazaa that had the non WoC approved datasets homebrewed. Or, you kept using an older version. But try adding all the datasets and see how things look.
I use http://www.d20srd.org/ during play as a quick hypertext reference. He has spells alphabetically, by class/level, and by cleric domain.
It's also handy for looking up monsters, feats, conditions, etc. I use the encounter calculator to add up xp at the end of every session.
I managed to dig up some screenshots here: http://www.legolas.org/pcgen/docs/
:)
The timing of this announcement is very auspicious, as my roommate and I were talking just last night about starting a d20 Star Wars campaign
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
We specifically had to do that becasue of legal reasons. I would love to offer more information for the players, but most publishers are uncomfortable with that. We have been in discussions with some to try to precure rights to include more information in books that have been out for a while.
Devon Jones
PCGen Board of Directors
- The unexamined life is not worth leading -