Arbitrary Arcana - generate spellbooks for loot and arcana-based mayhem!

Printable View

August 21st, 2022, 04:29
anathemort

Arbitrary Arcana - generate spellbooks for loot and arcana-based mayhem!
Introducing Arbitrary Arcana, an extension to generate spellbooks for loot and arcana-based mayhem!

This extension is a fork and reinterpretation of fxg42's 5E Random Spellbook Generator (made with permission). It includes support for the 3.5E, PF1, and PFRPG2 rulesets, as well as more dynamic preference options.

You can find the extension on the forge, here:
https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/724/view

Arbitrary Arcana adds a new button to the Items window to generate spellbooks using your weighted preferences. So, if you want a spellbook that prefers to use Bard spells, or those that deal thunder damage, or Conjuration spells that involve acid, you can create that with this extension! You can also specify how many spells per level you'd like to have, or get a random distribution at the press of a button. The generator will attempt to fill your request with available spells, ranking them by your combined preferences.

Secondarily, you can take the generated spellbook and drop it onto a NPC to give that entity all the spells in the book*!
* Note: in 5E, this is a destructive operation to support spell parsing. Exising spells and the Spellcasting trait are replaced. Innate Spellcasting is left untouched.

Arbitrary Arcana is part of the Fantasy Grounds Unofficial Developers Guild. Please use GitLab or this thread for reporting any issues, thanks!

Planned features:
- 4E Ritual support
- preference exclusion (inverse preference)
August 30th, 2022, 09:56
Arimil508

Hi love your extension really helps just making random spell books. I run pathfinder and I have a question With the weight system you use what is its upper bound. I.E what is the value that you would need to put to have it so that it would guarantee it pulls only from a certain source.
for example I am making a Necromancer wizard. So his source should be wizard[the highest weight] and necromancy should be the second highest that it favors. But a every time I generated one I see inflict light wounds which while being a necromancy spell is not a wizard spell but a cleric spell
August 31st, 2022, 00:15
anathemort

Hey there, thanks for asking. The weight calculation is very simplistic right now: all it does is add the weight value for each preference a spell matches, then numerically sorts the spells based on total weight "rank." So if you give Wizard a weight of 5 and Necromancy a weight of 2, Wizard+Necro spells will have a rank of 7 and end up "favored" by the selection mechanism. But if it runs out of such weighted spells to choose from, it ends up diving into just Necromancy spells from any source.

You might try a few times to take advantage of the random shuffling of spells, but what I really need to do is add the inverse preference so you can say things like "only Wizard spells, favoring Necromancy" or "all except Cleric spells." I'll be getting to this in the next couple of weeks, so look out for the next update!
September 1st, 2022, 22:00
anathemort

1 Attachment(s)

Arbitrary Arcana has been updated to v1.1.0:

* Added checkbox to exclude a preference criterion

By selecting this toggle, you can flag a criterion from being excluded. For example, if you set the School to be Necromancy and the Damage Type to be necrotic, but you select the Damage Type Exclusion checkbox, you can get Necromancy school spells that do not deal necrotic damage.

Attachment 54173
September 14th, 2022, 17:54
CassMerry

Hi, really love the concept but for some reason it sometimes fails to run, citing this error:
[ERROR] Script execution error: [string "scripts/manager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:168: attempt to compare number with nil
Not sure what's causing that but if you know that'd be great!
September 15th, 2022, 02:23
Arimil508

So I am having an issue for my main campaign. Basically it the extension loads but the button does not show up in the item window. I get no error but the compiler does show up on launch.
I checked compatibility with all my other extensions and on a fresh campaign it does not break.
I would prefer not to remake the campaign.
any help would be nice.
if there was a command to force the window to show up i might be able to do some more testing.
it could be just a graphical glitch or it could be that it is not really loading
September 15th, 2022, 03:15
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by CassMerry

Hi, really love the concept but for some reason it sometimes fails to run, citing this error:
[ERROR] Script execution error: [string "scripts/manager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:168: attempt to compare number with nil
Not sure what's causing that but if you know that'd be great!

Hi, can you tell me what ruleset you're using?
September 15th, 2022, 03:18
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arimil508

So I am having an issue for my main campaign. Basically it the extension loads but the button does not show up in the item window. I get no error but the compiler does show up on launch.
I checked compatibility with all my other extensions and on a fresh campaign it does not break.
I would prefer not to remake the campaign.
any help would be nice.
if there was a command to force the window to show up i might be able to do some more testing.
it could be just a graphical glitch or it could be that it is not really loading

You can open the window directly with a console command:

Code:

/openwindow arbitrary_arcana

However if you're getting a console error on launch I don't expect that it is working as intended. Can you share the error or the whole logs for investigation, as well as which ruleset you're using?
September 15th, 2022, 06:10
Arimil508

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

You can open the window directly with a console command:

Code:

/openwindow arbitrary_arcana

However if you're getting a console error on launch I don't expect that it is working as intended. Can you share the error or the whole logs for investigation, as well as which ruleset you're using?

The command you gave worked it brought up the menu but none of the drop downs had anything inside them. As for the console it does pop up but there is no error displayed on it just a list of loaded extensions. my ruleset is Pathfinder first edition.
September 15th, 2022, 14:38
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arimil508

The command you gave worked it brought up the menu but none of the drop downs had anything inside them. As for the console it does pop up but there is no error displayed on it just a list of loaded extensions. my ruleset is Pathfinder first edition.

Thanks for the logs. I'll take a look at the extensions and see if I can fix the incompatibility!
September 15th, 2022, 14:53
CassMerry

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

Hi, can you tell me what ruleset you're using?

Thanks, I'm using Pathfinder 2nd edition. Trying to nail down what might be causing it since it only happens sometimes, but I'm don;t really know what I'm doing :o
September 15th, 2022, 15:39
anathemort

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arimil508

The command you gave worked it brought up the menu but none of the drop downs had anything inside them. As for the console it does pop up but there is no error displayed on it just a list of loaded extensions. my ruleset is Pathfinder first edition.

AA uses the spell "source" to determine the level of a spell by separating the class and level information in the source string. My best guess is that you might have a spell without a level and so the table lookup fails. Can you open the Spells window and look at your sources, and see if any do not end in a number separated by a space? They should all look roughly like this:
Attachment 54403
September 15th, 2022, 15:44
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by CassMerry

Thanks, I'm using Pathfinder 2nd edition. Trying to nail down what might be causing it since it only happens sometimes, but I'm don;t really know what I'm doing :o

I can't reproduce this either, but I've added an additional safeguard around the probable cause of this error, which should allow you to continue to use the tool but will more gracefully handle an issue with figuring out spell slot allotments. I'll include this in the next update and if you narrow down a configuration that causes the error I can refine the fix :)
September 15th, 2022, 16:08
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arimil508

The command you gave worked it brought up the menu but none of the drop downs had anything inside them. As for the console it does pop up but there is no error displayed on it just a list of loaded extensions. my ruleset is Pathfinder first edition.

In investigating this, I've loaded more PF spell modules and I see that the existing logic I have doesn't really cover spells from multiple sources and levels, so I'll need to revise that. Even if we got it working now it might not meet your expectations in the present state!
September 15th, 2022, 16:21
Arimil508

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

AA uses the spell "source" to determine the level of a spell by separating the class and level information in the source string. My best guess is that you might have a spell without a level and so the table lookup fails. Can you open the Spells window and look at your sources, and see if any do not end in a number separated by a space? They should all look roughly like this:
Attachment 54403

I can see two things that might be the issue.
First I have spells form the base FG books and i use the https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/415/view which means i sometimes have two level source for the same spells one starting with a Capital, the other lowercase. The second thing is that there is one source that has text after the number. this source has a spell from the inner sea guide.
on top of this idk why the button for the extension is not showing up where it is meant to.
September 19th, 2022, 01:49
toastsniffer187

There is also the pf2e DnD (drag and drop) stuff for classes and feats by shaderaven. all those are level-less
October 25th, 2022, 02:34
Morenu

3 Attachment(s)

Strange error. PF1e (Its long, sorry)

I am the extension tester for My DM, He has the Ultimate license with all the purchased Books for 2e, 5e, PF1e we have gotten over the years, plus around 50 Forge extensions (2 not on forge) and 12 PFRPG Forge accessory books. I am able to log into his computer from mine and control his copy of FGU for testing.

I have a Standard license and the exact same Forge items and 2 non forge extensions and all 12 Forge accessories, but no SW store bought items. So I can test all extensions on a clean test campaign on my computer so it takes MUCH less time to reload to test conflicts.

With all extensions & accessories loaded on the DM computer in his campaign, AA Errors and does not work: Attachment 54853
With all extensions & accessories loaded on My computer in test campaign, It works perfect: Attachment 54854

So I load AA on the DM computer in his campaign by itself, Error: Attachment 54855
Erase and redownload AA, no change (error). produced an error log, removed campaign PW. Available if you want it.

Backed up entire FGU folder... Erased all contents of extension, Module, Ruleset & Vault... Reload FGU and do an update (Wait forever)...

Realized while writing this and waiting for the update, I should have opened a new PF1e campaign on the DM computer with only AA and tested... will do that if the update does not work...

Update done, loading up campaign with all extensions... no luck...(created another log) Loading the DMs testing campaign with ALL extensions.... It works...

OK now I am stuck.
something in the Campaign is causing the error?

any ideas?
October 25th, 2022, 03:15
anathemort

Hey Morenu, this sounds similar to other PF/3.5 issues I've got, where the level parsing of the spells is not very intelligent or fail-safe. Is it possible your DM has some spell sources that you do not share?
October 25th, 2022, 03:24
Morenu

Maybe. I think we may have put some effects in as spells so players could pull them onto character sheets (feat effects or special powers). And I guarantee he has store bought books I do not have on my computer
October 25th, 2022, 03:26
Morenu

Should i load all the modules up in the test library, reload and see if the error occurs?
October 25th, 2022, 03:40
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morenu

Should i load all the modules up in the test library, reload and see if the error occurs?

No need, thanks! I'm already aware that area needs a refactor; I'll bump it up in priority :)
October 25th, 2022, 03:47
Morenu

Nice. I asked my DM if he had rolled up the mage’s spell books yet and he grumbled it takes a time (he loves randomness) and i was like huh? Just use AA. He had no idea since the button never showed up. I can now tell him he can roll them up in the test area if he wants. ��
October 25th, 2022, 06:00
Arimil508

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morenu

Nice. I asked my DM if he had rolled up the mage’s spell books yet and he grumbled it takes a time (he loves randomness) and i was like huh? Just use AA. He had no idea since the button never showed up. I can now tell him he can roll them up in the test area if he wants. 😊

I was one of the first that brought the issue up to them.
from my understanding it has to do with having multiple sources of spells.
idk if is that some spells over lapped in sources or that it could not pull from more than one source to begin with.
I assume you where testing with the Spellbook extended ext or something similar.

honestly it would be nice if it would cull duplicates of spells.
An idea would be to check if Spellbook extended is installed. if so than if it runs into dups of a spell take the Spellbook extended version since that is better.
as for situations where Spellbook is not installed. idk what would be the best priority for spell sources.
October 25th, 2022, 18:58
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arimil508

I was one of the first that brought the issue up to them.
from my understanding it has to do with having multiple sources of spells.
idk if is that some spells over lapped in sources or that it could not pull from more than one source to begin with.
I assume you where testing with the Spellbook extended ext or something similar.

honestly it would be nice if it would cull duplicates of spells.
An idea would be to check if Spellbook extended is installed. if so than if it runs into dups of a spell take the Spellbook extended version since that is better.
as for situations where Spellbook is not installed. idk what would be the best priority for spell sources.

Duplicates are already pruned from the result spell list (based on name and level). It's not really the purview of the baked-in logic to make a preference choice like that, but I think it could definitely have a new preference choice to show the spell source that you could weight!
November 17th, 2022, 14:55
Navigat0r

Hello, I am trying to get this extension working for me PF1e campaign but when I attempt to generate a spellbook, I get the following error message:

[ERROR] Script execution error: [string "scripts/manager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]: 221: table index is nil

Are there any known causes of this error?
November 17th, 2022, 16:56
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navigat0r

Hello, I am trying to get this extension working for me PF1e campaign but when I attempt to generate a spellbook, I get the following error message:

[ERROR] Script execution error: [string "scripts/manager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]: 221: table index is nil

Are there any known causes of this error?

Hi, this is a known issue with PF. I'm working on a fix when I can, and I should have enough time to finish after Thanksgiving next week.
November 17th, 2022, 17:15
Navigat0r

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

Hi, this is a known issue with PF. I'm working on a fix when I can, and I should have enough time to finish after Thanksgiving next week.

Okay, I will hold off on testing each extension in a fresh campaign until then.
January 6th, 2023, 03:21
Morenu

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

Hi, this is a known issue with PF. I'm working on a fix when I can, and I should have enough time to finish after Thanksgiving next week.

Just poking my head in to see if the PF issue of multiple spell sources has had any headway?
January 18th, 2023, 18:15
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morenu

Just poking my head in to see if the PF issue of multiple spell sources has had any headway?

Hi Morenu, I haven't forgotten this! The way PF unlocks spells at different class levels has meant I need to build out a separate table for duplication checks and filter exclusions; I know what I need to do, and I have it on my task list for Friday :)
January 18th, 2023, 20:02
Morenu

:) no wories
January 25th, 2023, 23:07
anathemort
I'm happy to report that Arbitrary Arcana has been updated to v1.2.0 with the following changes:
- Refactored spell builder for 3.5E/PF1E support
- Fixed 5E NPC spellcasting trait replacement
- Fixed PF2E Tradition matching
The refactored spell builder is faster and more accurate, less fragile, and most importantly it looks at 3.5E/PF1E spells for different levels and sources. If a spell is available at multiple levels, this generator will use the spell from the lowest level. If a spell is available from multiple sources, you can rank or exclude the spell on any of them.

If you encounter any issues with the changes, please let me know here and include any spell modules or spell trait oddities you might have enabled!
March 28th, 2023, 06:41
CassMerry

Hey, love the extension! Just a heads up the damage types in PF2E may have broken in an update somewhere, I know cold damage is just returning any random spells
August 12th, 2023, 07:46
Christom72

Is this updated to the latest version of FG ? was thinking of using this extension..
December 19th, 2023, 04:15
Morenu

Hey there, what did the new update do?
December 19th, 2023, 22:52
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morenu

Hey there, what did the new update do?

Not much, just resolved the deprecation of one of the UI controls! I verified compat with FGU 4.4.8 in general.
February 4th, 2024, 17:52
XenusUk

Loading Error

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

Not much, just resolved the deprecation of one of the UI controls! I verified compat with FGU 4.4.8 in general.

Is that the fix for this error or is this another issue:

[2/3/2024 11:39:20 PM] [ERROR] Handler error: [string "ArbitraryArcana:..ager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:175: table index is nil

Ruleset is PF1E
FGU v 4.4.9

Seeing this in the console log.
February 13th, 2024, 23:16
anathemort

Quote:

Originally Posted by XenusUk

Is that the fix for this error or is this another issue:

[2/3/2024 11:39:20 PM] [ERROR] Handler error: [string "ArbitraryArcana:..ager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:175: table index is nil

Ruleset is PF1E
FGU v 4.4.9

Seeing this in the console log.

Hello, I've verified the extension is working as expected on FGU 4.4.9. Can you verify that you are using v1.2.1 of this extension (it is printed in the chat when you first load a campaign)? If you are, please let me know which settings you're trying to use and at which point the console is opened with the error.
February 25th, 2024, 17:08
XenusUk

Quote:

Originally Posted by anathemort

Hello, I've verified the extension is working as expected on FGU 4.4.9. Can you verify that you are using v1.2.1 of this extension (it is printed in the chat when you first load a campaign)? If you are, please let me know which settings you're trying to use and at which point the console is opened with the error.

The console opens at startup
[2/25/2024 11:21:44 AM] EXTENSION: Arbitrary Arcana v1.2.1
[2/25/2024 11:21:41 AM] [ERROR] Handler error: [string "ArbitraryArcana:..ager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:175: table index is nil

unfortunately truncated error line.

Possible that there is an extension clash, as I'm using a bunch of others for PF1e. Any suggestions on which to disabling to determine this?
Just tried turning off all other extensions, I still get the console error on startup as above.
March 2nd, 2024, 21:07
Evilthorne

I am getting the same error on mine as well. trying to load the logs but the security token keeps kicking it out.

[2/23/2024 1:29:36 PM] [ERROR] Handler error: [string "ArbitraryArcana:..ager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:175: table index is nil
March 17th, 2024, 12:25
XenusUk

Another datapoint:

[3/17/2024 11:21:00 AM] [ERROR] Handler error: [string "ArbitraryArcana:..ager_arbitrary_arcana.lua"]:175: table index is nil
[3/17/2024 11:21:03 AM] Fantasy Grounds - v4.5.1 ULTIMATE (2024-03-12)

All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:15.