Should I re-scrape the manuals?

[crazz2323]

I did scrapes using an older version of the parser program back in 2011 of the Players Handbooks 1-3, the Adventurers Vault 1-2, the DM Guide 1-2, and the Monster Manuals 1-2 and turned them into mods to use in FG2. Is there any reason to redo those scrapes now? Have those manuals been updated/changed much since then?

Also, is there anything vital I'm missing that i should have... For example, do I need the Monsters Vault?

[Invictys]

If you feel like you have everything you need go for it. But, be aware that they revamped monsters starting from monster manual 3 and onward I believe was the cut off. They made fights less grinds but still exciting by lowering defenses and hit points but raising damage. This makes for shorter but still challenging fights that don't turn into at-will fests.

Also, they changed solo monsters so that they are actually challenging and interesting encounters, particularly at paragon and above.

Personally I don't use any old style monster without reworking it first.

Also, if you don't rescrape (which is frankly so easy with Valeros parser I don't know why you wouldn't) you will miss out on all the newly added content from dragon and dungeon magazine as well.

[crazz2323]

OK, thanks! So if I skip out on the previous Monster Manuals 1-2, will I miss out on the basic standard monsters in them or does Manual 3 re-add those back in with the new rules?

[Invictys]

Nope they didn't rework existing monsters but honestly I don't think you'll miss them there are something like 3000 new monsters with the new stats.

I parsed everything and in FG I can always tell if a monster is the old style by going to the other tab and valeros added a tag to say whether its the original or new style.

The changes were drastic I never use an old one without reworking it. Especially at higher levels

[crazz2323]

Thanks! I took your advice!

Are there instructions or a video on using this new parcer?

What if I just want the Players Handbooks 1-3 in one mod and then all the DM Manuals in a separate mod, and the Monster Manuals 3+ in another mod? Only for 4E material and not out of any other sources? It seems it parses everything (all books, magazines etc) for either the player or the DM. Can I not pick and choose?



EDIT** I figured out how to select just the stuff I want by choosing the Select Compendium Entries option and then searching each entry by Players Handbook 1-3 adding each to the list.

I just need to know what do I pick for database type? I think I was on Db and now i can't open the module on the players end... can i change it or do i have to reparse? What should I normally pick?

[Invictys]

Yeah everything you need to know can be learned pretty much in the thread on Valeros' Item Parser (it parses everything now not just items)

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ad.php?t=17485

As for the database type if it's db.xml that means its for the host only and can't be shared. client.xml and common.xml can both be shared I forget the specific differences between the two, I think client.xml has to be on each client's computer whereas common.xml can be shared by the host to the clients through the program. Again not sure on that I just use common.xml for everything.

You don't need to reparse you can actually change the name of the .mod file to .zip and then open it up. Once inside, change the name of the file from db.xml to common.xml

Its discussed in the thread above I had the same question when I started using it.

[Trenloe]

As for the database type if it's db.xml that means its for the host only and can't be shared. client.xml and common.xml can both be shared I forget the specific differences between the two, I think client.xml has to be on each client's computer whereas common.xml can be shared by the host to the clients through the program. Again not sure on that I just use common.xml for everything.

The 3 different module types are described here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userg...gm_library.xcp in the "Module Types" sub heading in the left sidebar.

[crazz2323]

Really appreciate the help! It's been a few years but whether it was then or now, people on this forum are always very helpful, much appreciated!

[crazz2323]

One more question if you don't mind. Does the Monster Vault include only the newly changed monsters or does it have both old and new?

The reason i ask is because, I did a parse of the Monster Manual 3 and Monster Vault together and when i look at a Decrepit skeleton in the library, it is the same from my new scrape and my old scrape that had Monster Manual 1 and 2. Should I just be using Monster Manual 3 if I want the newly configured monsters?

[Griogre]

If you want only the new monsters use Monster Vault, MV Nentir Vale, and MM3. To understand Monster Vault you need to realized it is mostly a revised MM1. WotC generally only keeps one entry in its database for a monster, thus when the monsters were were updated for MV the database entry in DDI was also updated to match, so if a monster was in multiple places it was effectively updated everywhere. That's why it is generally worth updating all your monster manuals, this is because there is a *lot* of non-errata "stealth" updates to monsters. After MV the most common reason monsters are updated is because they were used in a dungeon adventure. When this happens to an older monster they revise it to MM3 math and update the database.

On the older MM1 & MM2 monsters for low levels the difference is meaningless. Low level in this case means anything less than about 8th level. After about 7-8 level the damage and to hit on older brutes become very problematic.

When I pick monsters for an adventure I start with MV, MV Nentir Vale, and MM3. Then if I can't find what I want I look over at MM1 and MM2. If I find something to use and its low level I just use it. If its high heroic or higher I'll look at the damage to see if its the new math. I can now pretty much tell at a glance these days, but if you look at page 46 in the compiled errata there is a table of monster damage values (Note the values are for at-will powers). As a general rule of thumb to convert an old monster to the new math: double the static mod for anything but Brutes, for Brutes triple the static mod. IE if the damage is 2d6+3, then for non butes the conversion is 2d6+6 damage and for a brute it would be 2d6+9 damage.