cfi2017/StatBlockTutorials.md

## StatBlockTutorials.md

      
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              StatBlockTutorials.md
            
          
    Stat Block Conversion Tutorials

This page will show you how to convert statblocks from various different formats into others.
Formats and Systems


CritterDB
CritterDB is a relatively new service that offers bestiaries to store and public stat blocks in. Easily create a stat block and have it displayed a great way. Personally, this is my go to when creating new creatures and critters. A major advantage of this format is that while you can convert from this format to any other, you can not convert back to it.
Homebrewery or GM-Binder
Both Homebrewery and GM-Binder are great when it comes to easily creating documents that look like they could be written by wizards themselves. They make use of the markdown format, which makes both reading, writing and editing easy, even for machines.
Roll20
We all know Roll20, the go-to platform for running D&D games online. While it doesn't officially support importing stat blocks automatically, there are various user scripts out there to add that functionality.
Avrae
Avrae is a discord bot that provides various utilities like initiative tracking or simple lookups for discord servers.

Conversions


CritterDB -> Homebrewery
CritterDB -> Avrae
Homebrewery -> Roll20

CritterDB to Homebrewery

(or, probably, GM-Binder)
Converting a stat-block from CritterDB to Homebrewery is about the easiest thing imaginable. All it takes is the click of a button.
All you need to do to achieve this is choose a creature in homebrewery and select export. Then select export to natural crit and click copy to clipboard.
You will then be able to paste the stat-block into a homebrewery editor.
Keep in mind that if you want to modify that pasted stat-block to have a wide format, you will need to add three underscores below the three underscores at the top of the statblock:
___

becomes
___
___

CritterDB to Avrae

Exporting a CritterDB stat block to Avrae is a little bit more complicated than clicking a button, but also easily doable. Infact, using Avrae, you can import entire bestiaries at a time.
First, choose the bestiary you want to import. Now publish it by pressing the publish button at the top of the page.
Keep in mind that if you want to import a bestiary into Avrae, it needs to be public. Anybody will be able to see it.
Next, go to your published bestiary and copy the link. Once you've done that, go to Avrae.

Using the command !bestiary import [link] you can import a bestiary.
Using the command !bestiary update you can update the active bestiary (yes, you can have multiple bestiaries). Keep in mind that you will have to re-publish the bestiary if you make any changes.
Using the command !bestiary [bestiary name] you can switch your active bestiary.
Using the command !bestiary list you can show a list of all your current bestiaries.

To show a stat block, simply use !monster [name]. Creatures added this way will also be supported by initiative tracking.
Homebrewery to Roll20

This step requires some set up. Make sure you have the following installed:

Tampermonkey (Chrome) / Greasemonkey (Firefox) extension
BetteR20 5eTools Userscript (Make sure to open this after Tampermonkey/Greasemonkey are installed)


Go to this page.
Paste your stat block in the left and click "Parse". You can paste another and click "Paste and Add" to add it to the bottom of the previously converted one.
You will need to host the output json somewhere in order to be able to use it in Roll20. The easiest for this is to use Pastebin or a Github Gist (like this one).
Go to Roll20 and join your game.
Go to your settings panel (top right corner) and choose Import by Category > Monsters. Then choose Custom below that and enter the url pointing to your converted stat block.
Finally, press import. You can now choose the stat blocks you want to import to the game.