**************  MAKECHAR  Re-package by Brian E. Gross  *****************

Created September 1, 1995

You may contact me at imposter@vnet.ibm.com with questions or comments.

This is a self-extracting ZIP package of Bill Seurer's excellent MAKECHAR
program.  I have made some additions and several modifications to the various
.DTA files.  Since some changes are rather extensive, I recommend installing
this package in a new directory and running it from there until you can resolve
any conflicts between these files and your previous set.

This set of files is certainly not perfect, but I have cleaned up many problems
as I found them.  Here is a list of the modifications that I remember making:

1. GURPS:Voodoo support - I created a .DTA and .GEN file to cover Voodoo.
                          (VOODOO.DTA and HORROR.GEN)

   Notes: 1) To handle the progression of Voodoo rituals (2 points/level),
             I used the support written for Martial Arts Maneuvers (MA/H).
             The cost for the first level of improvement is only 1 point,
             using this method, but I was willing to accept that to get
             automatic handling of the levels.
 
          2) All Powers are prefixed by a number.  This indicates the first
             level of Initiation that allows this Power. This must be managed
             by the GM/player, there is no automatic prereq checking for ads.

          3) The Powers: Spirit Ally, Spirit Advisor and Spirit Ally Group,
             do not have costs themselves.  These are only placeholders
             to remind the player. For the real costs, also purchase the
             appropriate Voodoo Ally advantage.

          4) There is a sample Voodoo character (Angelique) that demonstrates
             how difficult it is to build a viable 100 pt character that has
             level 3 Initiation. :-)
 
          5) I don't know if this was the designer's intent, but I created a
             version of Vever Drawing skill for each type of Ritual Magic skill.
             It felt right to me since almost all cultures have some tradition
             of magical symbols.

2. Modifier support for major sets of advantages - previous versions of BASIC.DTA
           have stated that Modifier support is not fully implemented, but I 
           found that it is.  Therefore I converted most advantages that were
           written as long lists of variations on a theme (Patrons, Allies,
           Enemies, Reputation, etc.) and converted them to using Modifiers.

   Notes:  1) To access Modifiers, take the ad/disad you want, highlight it, then
              press the space bar.  From the menu, select M-Modifiers.  This will
              present a list of Modifiers for that ad/disad.  Highlight the one
              you wish to work with and press enter.  This will give another menu
              of the levels of modification you can select. To get the details on
              the effect of each mod level, press the space bar rather than enter.

           2) There is a minor bug in the screen handling for Modifiers.  Once
              you have selected a mod level, you cannot just go back and select
              a different Modification for that ad/disad.  You must back out to
              the actual ad/disad itself, hit the space bar on it again and 
              reselect M-Modifiers.

           3) To help with the conversion to using Modifiers, I have included
              BASICO.DTA and OPTBASCO.DTA that have both the old ad/disads and
              the new ones with Modifiers.  Use these to convert your characters
              then switch to the new .DTA files with just Modifiers.
             
3. Martial Arts support - some minor fixes were made to clean up MA support:

           1) There is a minor bug in Makechar that prevents a MA Maneuver from
              defaulting from another MA Maneuver.  This caused a problem with
              the Kicking Maneuver.  Therefore, I made Kicking an actual skill
              (P/A) and this works reasonably well.

           2) The Agressive Parry maneuver defaults as (2/3 Karate)-4.  I was
              unable to find a way to make this work with Makechar, so I just
              made AP's default 1/2 Karate.  This is actually accurate in the
              12-27 Karate skill range.  Lower than this and AP is not useful
              anyway and higher than this you probably won't be using it at
              default anyway -- you'll have put at least some points into it.

4. ST = Hit Points and HT = Fatigue support, plus support for disassociating
              Will from IQ (basing it on 10 instead).

           1) I've changed the Extra Hit Points and Extra Fatigue advantages
              in BASIC.DTA to modify the opposite Bonus.  Switch them to use
              the official system.

           2) I've created the Add Hit Point advantage and the Remove Hit Point
              disadvantage.  They cost zero and shift points, one at a time,
              between the Hit Point and Fatigue counters.  Use Add HP when ST is
              higher than HT and Remove HP when ST is lower than HT.  They are
              in OPTBASIC.DTA.

           3) I've created the Add Will advantage and the Remove Will disadvantage.
              They cost zero points and adjust the Will counter.  Use Add Will
              when IQ is less than 10 and use Remove Will when IQ is higher than 10.
              They are in OPTBASIC.DTA.


That's about it for major modifications.  You'll find minor changes throughout the
set of files.  Let me know how well this set works for you.  --  Brian  E. Gross