Building your own content for GenesysRef is quite simple. There are lots of features baked in that will style everything for you automatically, all you as the author have to do is write your content and upload it using the Collection Manager.
On this page, anywhere you see the term "item", know that it is referencing a single data object. For example, the Athletics skill is an item, the Backpack gear is an item, and the Skeleton adversary is an item.
You can learn more about JSON here, but in short, JSON is a data format that is easily transportable and readable by websites. Every collection of items on this website is written in JSON and I have created this guide to help everyone with a good reference for how your own content should be written.
If you would like to start working from a template, you can download any .json file from the Collection Manager. Simply follow along with the guide here and create your own content. Don't forget to remove the demo items you don't want! After downloading the demo, none of the content will be formatted. If using Microsoft's VSCode, pressing alt + shift + F should fix that. If using another editor you may have to look up the specific controls for doing such.
For creating your own content, I would strongly suggest using any sort of dedicated JSON/code editor such as VSCode mentioned above. You can also find many options online such as https://jsoneditoronline.org/. Both options are free and provide syntax support.
For extra help you can use our json schemas as well. When editing JSON with a text editor (such as VSCode), using a schema will give you access to suggestions and error highlighting. Simply add the $schema property shown in the adjacent codeblock to the top of your collection.
If you would like to use an existing collection as a reference, you can find all published collections linked on the GenesysRef collections database.
{
"$schema": "https://silentarctic.github.io/schemas/schema.json"
}A homebrew file name should be an exact match of the file's _meta.source.json property (see below). For example, a collection titled "Conquest: A Guide to Fighting" might have a file name of "conquest-a-guide-to-fighting.json" and a json value of "conquest-a-guide-to-fighting".
Every homebrew json file needs a _meta property. This contains metadata for the content that is used throughout the website and is very important.
{
"_meta": {
"source": {
"json": "realms-of-terrinoth",
"full": "Realms of Terrinoth",
"abbreviation": "RoT",
"language": "English",
"color": "#A75A0E",
"url": "https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/genesys/products/realms-terrinoth/",
"version": "2021.7.17",
"authors": [
"Fantasy Flight Games"
],
"releaseDate": "2 April 2018"
},
"filters": {
"settings": [
"Terrinoth"
],
"magicSkills": [
"runes",
"verse"
],
"optionFeatureType": [
"craftmanship",
"material"
],
"optionFeatureClass": [
"implement material"
]
},
"defaultItemSettings": [
{
"name": "fantasy",
"source": "crb"
},
{
"name": "Terrinoth"
}
]
}
}Property
Data Type
Description
source*
source object, see below
Source meta data used for tracking and creating items correctly.
filters
filters object, see below
Custom filter properties.
defaultItemSettings*
Default settings for each item. Can be overridden by the item's optional "settings" property. If your collection has a mixture of different settings such as the EPG, set this as an empty array.
* denotes a required property.
Property
Data Type
Description
json*
string
kebab-case title of your homebrew. This is used to differentiate your data from everything else and must be unique.
full*
string
The full name of your homebrew, with correct casing.
abbreviation*
string
The abbreviated name of your homebrew, used in reference tags and shown as the source. Use colons to separate title/subtitle. Underscores are reserved for translation files.
language
string
The collection's language, spelled out. Defaults to English.
color
string
The hex-color of the abbreviation when displayed in tables and headers. Please make sure the color is readable in all color schemes. Defaults to black/white based on theme.
url
string
Web address of your homebrew. Can link to drivethrurpg, or any other website at which your product is located.
version*
string
Version of your homebrew. You can use an actual versioning system, but I suggest using the most recent date it was updated.
authors*
array
List of authors of your homebrew. Can be one to one hundred.
convertedBy
array
List of people who converted the collection from PDF/etc to GenesysRef JSON format.
releaseDate
string
Source release date. Please use the format: D Month YYYY.
Property
Data Type
Description
settings
array of strings
Unique settings used in this document.
magicSkills
array of strings
Unique magic skills used in this document.
optionFeatureType
array of strings
Unique option feature types used in this document. Strings must be lowercase to filter properly.
optionFeatureClass
array of strings
Unique option feature classes used in this document. Strings must be lowercase to filter properly.
talentPrereqs
array of strings
Unique filters for talent prerequisites.