Last night, Wild Card Creator Public Beta 1 was released. As the previous update promised, custom character sheets, better printing, and the simple ability to take Edges like New Power multiple times were added.

Character Output

By popular demand, you can now export to the official Savage Worlds character sheet, which is included with Wild Card Creator. It’s the Explorer’s Edition one, not the Deluxe one unfortunately. I’d love to add the Deluxe one, but unfortunately Pinnacle has never released a form-fillable version of it. As soon as they do, I’ll add support to it.

You can now print in much more interesting ways, and use a print preview to see it before you print. The basic, no-frills stat block now lets you include a character portrait on the left or right side for a basic stat block. But if you want to create something more fancy, you can use HTML and CSS to create some interesting character sheets, or use one of the character sheets provided. Below is an example of “Tables”, a character sheet that I created (named such because of its heavy reliance on HTML tables), which is included with Wild Card Creator:

I’m sure others could do better, but this gives you an idea of what can be done with these custom sheets. If anybody makes a sheet that they’d like to share, I’m willing to host or link to it.

If you would rather just use an existing form-fillable PDF rather than making a custom HTML/CSS file, you can now add those too. The processes for both are currently experimental and you’re going to need to go under the hood to do it (for the form-fillable PDF, this involves creating a mapping file that allows Wild Card Creator know what to put in each field). I’ve documented the process for adding them here. If you are feeling adventurous and want to try it out, give it a go and please give me feedback on how I can make it better.

Roadmap

I’d like to lay out the road map for Wild Card Creator. The version has changed from “Backer Beta” to “Public Beta.” This name change means two things: first, Kickstarter backer levels are no longer available through PayPal on JourneymanGames.net. Second, this is the point where I really feel like Wild Card Creator is just about ready for the public. It’s still a beta and there are (increasingly fewer) rough spots, so I’ve sold it for a cheaper price than I will when it is released. All of you of course will be getting the final version for free.

The Public Beta period is going to be a relatively short one. The focus will be less on adding new features and more on getting settings added (expect core books for Deadlands Noir, Agents of Oblivion, Hellfrost, and Shaintar in the next update). My goal that I’m shooting for is to have Wild Card Creator “go public” by GenCon (I’ll be there for the weekend by the way, say hi to me if we meet). At that point, Wild Card Creator will be considered a complete product, although I will certainly be adding settings, fixing bugs, and adding features as I see fit.

Once the final version is out (and a we’re sure the big bugs are squashed), I’ll start burning CDs for those who ordered one. Speaking of which, you may have noticed that I haven’t collected addresses for those yet. I realize people move and, had I collected addresses several months ago, I would have probably sent things to the wrong spot. The Wild Card Creator CD will include a final version of Wild Card Creator, all of the artwork and NPCs, and maybe a few extras on there.

NPCs from backers are going to start being distributed with Wild Card Creator (potentially as a secondary download). If you submitted a character info sheet to me way back when (mostly Heroic and Legendary backers), I should be able to take care of it and I’ll contact you if I have any issues building your character. If you did not need to submit a character info sheet to me (mostly Seasoned and Veteran backers), you’ll just need to create a character in Wild Card Creator and e-mail it to me. Instructions for that will be forthcoming.

Anyway, that’s enough of an update: go download the latest version of Wild Card Creator!