Important Things to Know - PCGen Documentation

# Important Things to Know

There are a number of important things to remember when list editing, as well as a number of tricks that one can do to get the desired results. The following sections include the important stuff to know about list file editing, some are just informational use, some are requirements for turning in list files for the official releases. So if you’ve read this page AND the previous page, then the next couple of pages you should wade through before we get to the nitty gritty stuff.

## Terms Used

The following terms are tossed about readily and easily, some interchangeably when talking to any list monkey, so make sure you are up on the latest lingo and how it’s used!

- Source Material - The gaming information provided by a publisher.

- PCC (pcc) File - this is the extension used for the file that tells PCGen what list files to load, this is a text editable file.

- LST (lst or list) File - Refers to a text editable file containing the specific entries read by PCGen to make a character (Feats, Skills, etc), and the .lst refers to the (commonly accepted and used) extension to save the files.

- Tag - A specific word used in list files that PCGen reads and recognizes as having an effect on a character.

- Source - Refers to the Source information specifically, as in, what source book, what page.

- Campaign - Refers to a collection of Source Material that is loaded as a group.

- TL - Total Level. This is used in a lot of formulas for the tags.

## What you Need

You need only 2 things to get going, a text-editing program and patience.

Editing or creating a list file can be a hardy experience and not one to take on lightly, but neither is it impossible to do. Paying attention to the syntax of how a tag works will save a lot of headaches when it comes time to test your modifications/creations within PCGen.

Using existing list files as a reference can help you to understand how to construct anything you want to, from classes to feats, to spells, if you need an example, there is something in there for you to look at.

## Syntax

This covers two areas, first, creating list files. PCGen does not care what you call your created files, whether it is .txt, .lst, .doc, or anything else for an extension. As long as you have the correct file name in the .pcc file, it will load. Second, the syntax of the tags used in the list files. the sections with the list file tags contain correct syntax to use for each tag. PCGen DOES care about this, if your syntax is wrong, then the tag you are working on will not work and PCGen will return errors.

*IMPORTANT - The other item of note, any line, in any list file, that begins with the pound sign (#), is a comment line. PCGen will ignore reading this line completely. (The purpose of this is to let others know what something is/does, what items are outstanding and need to be completed, or just notes on how something is working).

*CRITICAL - There can _NEVER_ be a space between fields. Always use a TAB between fields, as a space between fields will cause the list file to not load and/or return errors trying to load

## Directory Structure

While the directory structure is changeable, there are some common practices to make it easier on everyone.

Currently, all the Source Material list files are kept in the \pcgen\data directory, and they are then sorted by company name, usually the long name, but some “high profile” companies are generally shortened (Can we say SRD? I knew you could!).

There is a custom directory provided to locate your own personal list files in, and by no means are you required to put them there, it is, after all, your computer, put them where you are comfortable with.

When PCGen is installed, the basic directory structure will look like this (Assume you are installing on your C drive (C:\);

- C:\pcgen <– This is the root directory for PCGen

- C:\pcgen\characters <– Default directory where PCGen saves characters to

- C:\pcgen\data <– Base starting spot for the list files

- C:\pcgen\data\<company_name > <– The root folder for the company’s list files. There are too many sub-folders in this directory to list here. But taking a quick look at them, will show the suggested structure for setting up a company’s list files.

- C:\pcgen\doc <– Where all the documentation on how to use and customize PCGen are located

- C:\pcgen\system <– This is where PCGen’s system wide used files are stored at

- C:\pcgen\system\bio <– This is where the list files for randomly determining characters features are located (Hair, Skin, Eye color, Traits)

- C:\pcgen\system\bio\names <– This is where the list files for random name determination are located

- C:\pcgen\system\specials <– This is where the list files for determining what bonuses stack and what special abilities are granted at various levels is located

- C:\pcgen\templates <– This is where all the character & party sheets are located. These sheets are set up to accept information directly from PCGen to print out

## Giving Credit where Credit is Due

Giving credit to the proper source from which a specific class, feat, spell, race, etc. came from is crucial.

It not only gives the creator credit for their work, but it also lets the user know where it came from.

Hopefully PCGen will be used as a sort of marketing tool by both gaming companies and by users - you can load sources based on material you don’t own, and can generate characters based on that information, but you don’t quite get enough information to use it accurately or completely without actually buying the source material.

This way PCGen can whet your appetite for the kinds of options that are available if you purchase book xyz.

My hope is that users will not have given much thought to purchasing some book until they decided to play with it in PCGen, and discovered that they really liked what they saw and went out and bought that book.

Since PCGen doesn’t give all the details about the various options, it’s important that it be easy to look up for those who do own the books.

Giving credit to the creators and letting users know where the option came from if they want to look it up is all accomplished via the SOURCE: tag which is available in all the main lst files.

The SOURCE tag in all list files and comes in 3 varieties;

- SOURCELONG - This is for the full company and source material name
  e.g. SOURCELONG:Dominant Game Publisher - System Reference Document

- SOURCESHORT - This is the books 3-10 letter short name
  e.g. SOURCESHORT:SRD

- SOURCEWEB - Is the URL of the publisher/source material
  e.g. SOURCEWEB:HTTP://www.rpgpublisher.com/

All 3 of these tags MUST appear in ALL pcc and lst files*.

In the PCC file, the `SOURCExxx` tags must be on separate lines:

`SOURCELONG:Dominant Game Publisher - System Reference Document`

`SOURCESHORT:SRD`

`SOURCEWEB:HTTP://www.rpgpublisher.com/`

In LST files, the `SORCExxx` tags must be on one line, separated by a tab delimiter:

> `SOURCELONG:Dominant Game Publisher - System Reference Document` <tab> `SOURCESHORT:SRD` <tab> `SOURCEWEB:HTTP://www.rpgpublisher.com/`

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