tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503209456913230022024-03-05T04:36:15.141-05:00Bear It D&DA repository for information and links relevant to our D&D Campaigns and an <a href="https://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2020/02/index-what-is-on-bear-it-blog.html">INDEX</a>.Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-78367132987589410842021-12-04T16:10:00.002-05:002021-12-05T07:56:54.459-05:00D&D 5E: Druid Shape Shift and FoundryVTT<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVfm8p7c0mNkZ19coeWBtVMauCWV-BKD1okOPu16SBObOG5-pVQ-bT7SajQkgVlgEEzz1TM5IbjdxdrI9fyaJ7kPraaIexoJ_NIZVyFpQ00xRabUQPZWuKnuoafNCu6BVu_8mExPPj2loTv4zkc8drxMdEVFYH9JY3EhQqtfZ9gc9-nMNS0E1efXyO=s850" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="850" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVfm8p7c0mNkZ19coeWBtVMauCWV-BKD1okOPu16SBObOG5-pVQ-bT7SajQkgVlgEEzz1TM5IbjdxdrI9fyaJ7kPraaIexoJ_NIZVyFpQ00xRabUQPZWuKnuoafNCu6BVu_8mExPPj2loTv4zkc8drxMdEVFYH9JY3EhQqtfZ9gc9-nMNS0E1efXyO=s320" width="320" /></a></div>My games seem to always include at least one player as a Druid, who inevitably love their <b>Wild Shape</b> ability. As we are now playing on FoundryVTT, understanding how wild shape can be made to work in this VTT is essential. <br /><p></p><p>The rules for this ability are available on DnDBeyond, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/classes#WildShape" target="_blank">Wild Shape</a>, I'll save some bits and not reiterate them here. There are also multiple guides out there on how to use wild shape, I'll link to one on D&DBeyond here: <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/635-druid-101-wild-shape-guide" target="_blank">Druid 101: Wild Shape Guide</a>. </p><p>The challenge I am looking at is how I want to make the ability operate in my games. That's what I will be diving into in this post. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">I've started my dive by looking for existing guides, modules of macros. I soon learned that FoundryVTT has some useful portion of this ability implemented in the base code. The trick is to learn how to use it, and also to prune out cruft imported from my campaign's earlier life on Roll20.</span></h1><h1 style="text-align: left;">12/5/21 Update -- Oh, That Was Easy</h1><p>Sometime in the not-too-distant past, the DnD5E implementation on FoundryVTT was taught how to play nice with transformations such as wild shape. Generally, it's pretty obvious with just one step that utterly fooled me. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Here are the key steps for the GM:</h4><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Create actors (NPC are fine) for the shapes that will be assumed.</li><li>Give players at least observer (I need to verify this) access to the actors that can be shifted into.</li><li>Relax.</li></ol><p></p><h4>Here are the key steps for the Player to transform:</h4><div><ol><li>Open your character sheet.</li><li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Drag the actor whose shape will be assumed from the Actors Directory (Right Sidebar)</li>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Drop the actor on your open character sheet</li>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Deal with the huge pop up that appears</li>
<ol>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Ignore the many irrelevant choices above the horizontal line</li>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Check the <b>Transform All Linked Tokens</b> box.</li>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Click the <b>Wild Shape </b>button</li>
</ol>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Observe your newly baked character sheet and close it</li>
<li style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Use your transformed token normally.</li></ol><div><span style="font-family: Times;">An example is inserted below.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOrMZB-VnniKjWFum0EdNQREACmb2wguX0jrYzmS5BmpfbcTFld311yWd88XK1lZ7afKVvAz4_XVENbJIrL7wZIDpw0alzjnfFQfg3iKUmKQSpYjHUEfJhvpF3yo9YbF2fGYoiEd1e_hM5YlF1RvvzlnU0eM2fUWRhPtD79LXT5-KsVugQePj9zCAY=s1546" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="1546" height="578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOrMZB-VnniKjWFum0EdNQREACmb2wguX0jrYzmS5BmpfbcTFld311yWd88XK1lZ7afKVvAz4_XVENbJIrL7wZIDpw0alzjnfFQfg3iKUmKQSpYjHUEfJhvpF3yo9YbF2fGYoiEd1e_hM5YlF1RvvzlnU0eM2fUWRhPtD79LXT5-KsVugQePj9zCAY=w640-h578" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">To end the transformation:</h4><div><ol><li>Open your character sheet</li><li>Click the <b>Restore Transformation</b> choice on the sheet's top bar. </li></ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgk9zv0dsVusXST9xUheuvAVrWUtAENKt_SR_OqEYmHK9V2gWzb9sp6cmf4E_mnvud41ewNLlUY41IUB10-DC8eBc6GRTO1lEao4JCjA4GNODJGCPMUdSBuhwwd-25b10EYes2_YRJ0miH623_WxSndQouWEGAb3b4LRVOELKtRk40nXiMxXXT57uOU=s1486" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1486" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgk9zv0dsVusXST9xUheuvAVrWUtAENKt_SR_OqEYmHK9V2gWzb9sp6cmf4E_mnvud41ewNLlUY41IUB10-DC8eBc6GRTO1lEao4JCjA4GNODJGCPMUdSBuhwwd-25b10EYes2_YRJ0miH623_WxSndQouWEGAb3b4LRVOELKtRk40nXiMxXXT57uOU=w640-h608" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Additional Notes</h2></div><div>The transformation mixes the characteristics of the druid and the new shape per the rule book, taking the higher of skills, saves, adding the attacks of the new form and hiding spells, and so forth. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know what it does with a high-level druid who can cast from animal form. That's something I'll deal with it ever becomes a problem in my game (not an issue in Curse of Strahd ending well below that level).</div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span><!--more--></span><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">The remainder of this post is obsolete. I'll leave it here, in case it has any historical relevance (or someone is running ancient Foundry Code, like 6 months old.</span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Mister Weaver's Video</span></h2><div><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">Mr. Weaver posted a very relevant video on April 12, 2021. It's a bit stale in Foundry's frantic development work, but it seems the most on-point from what I have found. I'll follow the link to the vid with my notes taken while watching it. </span></strike></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="368" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oNSTTnqZP1c" width="481" youtube-src-id="oNSTTnqZP1c"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(0:20) Wildshape as described requires the D&D 5E Rule System. ✓</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(0:30) Wildshape is integrated into the 5E rule system. Just drag a creature from the Actor's Director (right sidebar), drop it on the Druid's character sheet, and click the wildshape button.</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(1:00) Wildshape feature allows transform without digging into the side bar.</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(1:25) Click <b>Restore Transformation,</b> from the top bar of the character sheet to shift back from the creature form to base, humanoid form. </span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(1:39) <b>Allow Polymorphing</b> must be checked in System Settings for DnD5E</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(1:50) <b>Midi-QoL </b>is needed. These settings need to be on: (1) Add macro to call on use, (2) Auto apply item effects to targets.</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(2:03) Players must be allowed to <b>Create New Actors</b> and <b>Create New Tokens</b> in the Permission Configurations. Players also need <i>control</i><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>over any actors that they will wildshape into (not clear what permission setting that actually maps to).</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(2:20) Need two macros added. Both are available from <a href="https://github.com/MisterHims/DnD5e-WildShape" target="_blank">DnD5e-WildShape</a>. They need to be added as script macros.</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(3:25) Add macro to the Wildshape from SRD. Action type utility and <b>On Use Macro</b> should be pointed to the newly created wildshape macro.</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">The macros name a folder that must contain all of the shape shift forms allowed. It's <i>beasts</i> in the example.</span></strike></li><li><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">(4:08) Sometimes the <i>temporary </i>polymorphed creature sticks around and needs to be manually deleted from the <i>beasts</i> folder.</span></strike></li></ol><div><strike><span style="color: #cc0000;">Doesn't look too bad. I'll take a shot at implementing it. </span></strike></div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Implementing Mister Weaver's Approach</h1><div>Well, I snagged the macros. Installed them, applied some polish, and then discovered that they last worked for Foundry 0.7.9 (current version is 0.8.9) and now spit errors all over the place. While they look way impressive, they need serious help, or I need a different approach. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-73354829975271035162021-11-28T06:50:00.006-05:002021-11-28T07:54:45.586-05:00Occultist's Coven Familiar Bond in a Barovia FoundryVTT Game<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQyu2fuQMnI1Tjuot1B3G9XOH5bJHpLABWEtKjmDco1jqlPYav4GIIgUHmH_POeAdPzGV7lQvXHW4Ykvg6jhvE1w1zGmhY4lkCgf_W1dYFRC91QYeYT0RYwlq0obq3V1BFahzFMknSKuYTlSmAVb6ig6_XBqCdgS5rDll-ENEowIp-b8bsPc5AHg2r=s674" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="674" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQyu2fuQMnI1Tjuot1B3G9XOH5bJHpLABWEtKjmDco1jqlPYav4GIIgUHmH_POeAdPzGV7lQvXHW4Ykvg6jhvE1w1zGmhY4lkCgf_W1dYFRC91QYeYT0RYwlq0obq3V1BFahzFMknSKuYTlSmAVb6ig6_XBqCdgS5rDll-ENEowIp-b8bsPc5AHg2r=s320" width="320" /></a></div> One of my players in my Curse of Strahd campaign just started a character based on <a href="https://www.gmbinder.com/profile/kibblestasty" target="_blank">KibblesTasty's</a> homebrew <a href="https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-M-WtrKeZNFdEXq0MKXw" target="_blank">Occultist v1.1</a>. We've moved it from Wisdom-based to Intelligence as the group has zero intelligence-centered characters and it feels right for someone to be <i>smart</i> in a group trying to survive in Barovia, and as a largely arcane caster it seems appropriate for the character to push intelligence. <p></p><p>A more challenging portion of the character has been the Familiar Bond options available to the three coven's defined in the post of the class. Specifically, how to implement one of them in a FoundryVTT based campaign without making them annoying. </p><p>In this post, I'm going to briefly consider each of the three and then dive deeper into what seems like the best-fit ability. <br /><span><br /></span></p><a name='more'></a><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span>Familiar Bond</span></h1><p></p><p><span>At 3rd level, the Occultist can acquire a familiar that comes powered up with one of three special abilities. They are as follows:</span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Green Coven - </b>When you complete a long rest, your familiar gains illusory duplicates equal to your Wisdom modifier. These persist until destroyed by taking damage or you complete a long rest. The illusory duplicates cannot take any actions, but move and act like your familiar during your turn, staying within 30 feet of you or it. At the end of your familiar's turn or when it takes damage, it can swap places with an illusory familiar. If it does this as a result of taking damage, the illusory familiar is destroyed but the familiar takes no damage. Illusory duplicates are immune to damage while within 5 feet of you. You can assume illusory familiars are in the witch's space unless otherwise specified.</li><li><b>White Coven - </b>When you complete a long rest, your familiar gains temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier + twice your Occultist level. While your familiar has any temporary hit points, as a reaction to a creature within 30 feet of it being attacked, you can have your familiar teleport to that creature and give it some of its temporary hit points (minimum one). If the familiar has no temporary hit points remaining, you cannot use this reaction.</li><li><b>Black Coven </b>- As a reaction to a creature within 30 feet of your familiar hitting with an attack, you can have your familiar subtract 1d4 + half your Occultist level (rounded down) from the attack roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature makes its roll, but before the DM determines whether the attack roll succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its damage. It can do this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, regaining all uses after you complete a long rest.</li></ul><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span>Green Coven </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span>The green coven ability creates a cloud of copies of the familiar. Adding potentially five more tokens to encounter maps that all need to stay with 30 feet of the owner. Managing that many tokens is not something that anyone should relish which means they are likely. to be assumed to be hanging around the owner unless one is going to be used to provide mobility to the familiar with its teleport ability. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;">With most/all of the copies handled as an assumed presence (immune from damage) near the ower they really just become a pool of instant reincarnations of the familiar. This is easy enough to manage in FoundryVTT as a resource pool, but having familiar with 6 lives may not sit well with the GM or other players at the table. It's just odd to have a familiar that just can't die. </p><p style="text-align: left;">We have been playing this ability and have taken to mostly annoying it as the extra tokens are just a lot and what seems like infinite familiar lives feels annoying (to all but the owner of the familiar).</p><h3>White Coven </h3><p>The white coven ability amounts to a pool of temp hit points that can make the familiar much more sturdy and allow it to act as essentially a life-transference emergency healer. At 8th level with a capped primary stat the familiar would be packing 18 temp hit points, significant, better than it might appear on its face as they are applied as a reaction which with fast-forwarding would likely be after damage application and not after an attack / before damage is applied. This would likely amount to a familiar able to save some number of characters from fatal wounds on a very timely basis. </p><p>Implementing this in FoundryVTT wouldn't be very hard, though it might be implemented as reactionary healing as the damage will have already been applied in a fast-forward game setting. It becomes more complicated when damage is truncated at zero on attacks that drop a creature below zero. This opens up a can of mathematical or manual worms that might best be avoided. </p><p>Overall, this is a very useful ability as it is likely to keep several characters standing in tough fights and it has some implementation challenges. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Black Coven </h3><p>This ability is quite similar to a Lore Bard's Cutting Words. It shares a number of features that make it challenging in a fast-forward FoundryVTT setting.</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Reaction</b> - Always a bit fun to deal with in FoundryVTT as automation approaches leed to a pop-up for the player on every attack, until used each round and a delay for everyone else. </li><li>Use <b>after </b>attack roll <b>before </b>success/failure or damage roll - This time is pretty literally non-existent in FoundryVTT with fast-forwarding forcing a change to the ability or elimination of fast-forwarding. </li></ol><div>The idea behind two is likely to force a bit of a guessing game on the Occultist player. They can't be certain if their ability will make a difference and they don't know the stakes; was it a high damage roll? This creates an interesting gameplay element that FoundryVTT steps on hard if it is applied after the attack is resolved. </div><div><br /></div><div>From my experience with Lore Bards, cutting words often is handled after the attack in question is completed. There is still a game tension as the variability in cutting words is high. That isn't the case with this ability, which I think is the core of the problem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Since this ability is so close to Cutting Words, I think a direct comparison of them might be helpful.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Black Coven vs Cutting Words</h2><div>First, a recitation of RAW Cutting Words:</div><div><blockquote>Also at 3rd level...When a creature that you can see within <b>60 feet</b> of you makes an <b>attack roll</b>, an <b>ability check</b>, or a <b>damage roll</b>, you can use your <b>reaction</b> to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and subtracting the number rolled from the creature’s roll. You can choose to use this feature <b>after the creature makes its roll,</b> but before the DM determines whether the attack roll or ability check succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its damage.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: left;">Cutting Words has a longer range, 60 vs 30 feet, but it is from the Bard, not the familiar making this seem like a wash. Effectively the same from a power perspective. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Cutting Words can be applied to ability checks and damage rolls in addition to attack rolls. Flexibility is a good thing, though the ability is most often used against attack rolls giving a slight edge to the Lore Bard.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Both abilities are to be applied after the attack roll (presumably with an announced result on the d20) and before the result is calculated (not that big a deal as players typically have a good idea of what's going to be a hit or miss after a round or two) or damage rolled (this is more important). Implementing either in a fast-forward environment is going to force the ability to be applied after the fact, boosting the power of each. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The boost is dependent on the predictability of the ability's usage. The bard will be rolling a single inspiration die (d6 to d12) which has a huge variability while the occultist will be adding a d4 to half of their level making the effect highly predictable for mid to high-level characters. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGs8jj3UItZ0EBTZRBE6A9F1YP3PqP3TohemzmVyU3eRIroq-JTNcuo7T9q56JtpFk0ZMC8bW1EiqEd2z_IIZVk-LAqCDK-Lg_ISeVXQhCKBg7VwJ7x0tyXAXGCrOuGuV_-R4x_000sGBAKH16fUFTxX6kJFmpRYHqYHoqDzm9lbCpZeCXAY0kNGlp=s1176" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="558" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGs8jj3UItZ0EBTZRBE6A9F1YP3PqP3TohemzmVyU3eRIroq-JTNcuo7T9q56JtpFk0ZMC8bW1EiqEd2z_IIZVk-LAqCDK-Lg_ISeVXQhCKBg7VwJ7x0tyXAXGCrOuGuV_-R4x_000sGBAKH16fUFTxX6kJFmpRYHqYHoqDzm9lbCpZeCXAY0kNGlp=w304-h640" width="304" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The range of results and impact of each ability is vastly different, with the Occultist's ability at most levels being far, far more powerful. The accompanying table shows the minimum, average, and maximum results for both of these abilities at various levels. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The bard <i>wins</i> this comparison only at levels 1 & 2, with lower, significantly lower impacts at higher levels. A 10th level bard when choosing to use cutting words can anticipate something between a 1 and a 10. The equivalent occultist is looking at values ranging from 6 to 9. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This gives the occultist a huge boost in applying the ability only when it matters if it is done after the attack is resolved. Heck, it is a huge benefit if it is handled RAW with some uncertainty on the front end. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I see two problems with the Black Coven's ability:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Minimal variability in the roll,</li><li>Very large numeric impact.</li></ol></div><div style="text-align: left;">The lack of variability plays poorly if attack results are announced before the application of this ability. This is exacerbated by using Fast Forwarding in FoundryVTT. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The numeric impact is out of line with the bounded accuracy of 5E. Mid to high-level Occultists are rocking minimum/average modifiers much higher than anything else in the game. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Combining these two results in nigh on absurd power five times a day...the Occultist can make the five most significant (non-critical) attacks of a day become misses. This puts the Divination Wizards near godly Portent ability to shame.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Looking at the numbers, believe the Occultist's and Bard's abilities are similar mechanically, but the Occultist is vastly more powerful and problematic. All of this ignores the fact that the Bard has other uses for inspiration dice which reduces the number of cutting words in some situations below the uses the Occultist has. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">How to Fix the Occultist?</h2><div style="text-align: left;">I don't much like any of those abilities in my game environment. Green is annoying and the other two are super powerful in a fast-forward world. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My player has suggested giving the occultist a passive debuff effect on attacks or hits that imposes a small penalty on her target's next attack. That is easy to implement in FoundryVTT and if small enough not a big power swing, though even a -1 or -2 on the next attack applied over a bunch of attacks in a day has a big average impact. Sadly, this approach seems awfully boring. It's not likely to result in any <i>hero</i> moments, just disappearing into the game mechanics. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm tempted to just replace the whole occultist calculation with the bard's inspiration die progression. The variability of that approach makes allowing it after the attack is fully evaluated a real choice for the player, with the exception of an attack that just barely hit. While the much lower average impact of the bard's ability is in keeping with bounded accuracy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Step Further</h2><div style="text-align: left;">The essential effect of having the player choose to use this ability after the roll and before the results are announced is the introduction of uncertainty. The player knows if the d20 roll was good enough to maybe or perhaps certainly to hit the target before they commit to using the ability but they don't know for sure and they don't know the stakes (was it a high or low damage roll). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Allowing the ability to be invoked after the attack eliminates that uncertainty and with it one of the tasty gameplay elements. But what if we could retain some interesting uncertainty on that choice. Perhaps the ability just fails 15-25% of the time? That might make the choice more interesting. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVTlUPU9dU7oXNOAd7X7H1V4SyXQ2ba_QboZXlflUlwDAOGBAk_Lvo-gdEtmewX2OKsmbsXbZfHNsF-8OmOLHO5R0sFLHyv_QCpWpIXgNfRt92zMS0uTCPTJD_EKM77OHDPoNTzXfJQeiCLhPDh_3GkZGrS1xv0qwc1y_lyHak9BVLHLhMYY7hGVCK=s498" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="498" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVTlUPU9dU7oXNOAd7X7H1V4SyXQ2ba_QboZXlflUlwDAOGBAk_Lvo-gdEtmewX2OKsmbsXbZfHNsF-8OmOLHO5R0sFLHyv_QCpWpIXgNfRt92zMS0uTCPTJD_EKM77OHDPoNTzXfJQeiCLhPDh_3GkZGrS1xv0qwc1y_lyHak9BVLHLhMYY7hGVCK=w320-h235" width="320" /></a></div>Consider a boost to the size of the die rolled for the effect, a d4 becomes a d6, a d6 becomes a d8, a d8 becomes a d14 (a VTT isn't restricted to a physical die's reality concerns), and so on. A larger die increases the variability. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But the average result is significantly bumped up by this. That d8 averaged 4.5 but the mythical d14 pumps out an average of 7.5, or 3 points higher. Well, to keep the average in line, apply a penalty of that average shift. A d8 roll becomes a d14 - 3 which still averages 4.5 but has a 21% chance of yielding zero or less (which is equivalent to zero since it would never be used on a missed attack).<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This chance of zero or less is a rough approximation of the uncertainty eliminated by allowing the choice to be made after the attack is completed. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The larger die roll does increase the maximum possible result, which might be interesting, but is likely irrelevant as players will most often use this when an attack just barely hit. But still, more variability isn't bad and this is a bit of an upside.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think this best be thought about a bit longer. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-57831179124902224262021-11-19T07:31:00.002-05:002021-11-19T07:31:09.334-05:00Implementing Party Loot in FoundryVTT<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHa5qs2-8dK9-F8Od64g8eLRgmb28tX2LlGewsnwkgdJQtZvflLpuXYM2-fZ4umHRTt7hhU_y3FI4ecqwS5X8OmX_6Z7e-RlVlINpBzR6a1rKsll5O92VWOpwaQcLMRzs1LFPLQ8UO3evrFKenCs282gL4caxYQv5W-mq1AinihabtnDOpv7N89XHX=s840" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="840" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHa5qs2-8dK9-F8Od64g8eLRgmb28tX2LlGewsnwkgdJQtZvflLpuXYM2-fZ4umHRTt7hhU_y3FI4ecqwS5X8OmX_6Z7e-RlVlINpBzR6a1rKsll5O92VWOpwaQcLMRzs1LFPLQ8UO3evrFKenCs282gL4caxYQv5W-mq1AinihabtnDOpv7N89XHX=w187-h186" width="187" /></a></div>Group loot has been a thing since the first days of D&D. Back then, a single player might be charged with keeping a paper tally of the groups transactions and occasionally paying for items or making distributionsto the party. Of course, that player would occasionally lose the paper record causing the DM to loose hair (again) and generally upsetting any semblance of an economy in the game.<p></p><p>With advancing technology, that paper list has typically moved to digital form. My most recent implementation has been with a shared googles sheets file. That eliminates the lost paper problem, but leaves the inventory disjoint from the game, especially when using a VTT such as Foundry. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: left;">Enter Loot Sheet NPC 5E</h1><p><a href="https://github.com/jopeek/fvtt-loot-sheet-npc-5e" target="_blank">Loot Sheet NPC 5E </a>is a module for FoundryVTT that "<i>...adds an additional NPC sheet which can be used for loot containers such as chests. It also allows spells to be automatically converted into spell scrolls by dragging them onto this sheet."</i></p><p>In practice, this allows the introduction of a new <i>party member</i> to the VTT group that can hold those shared items and coins that have not yet been distributed. This seems absolutely amazing. No longer do I (as a GM) need to track the group's horde on a spreadsheet or worry that the group is not actually tracking their resources. Using such a character makes the tracking process rather automatic, though I had a few questions about how it works, thus this posting.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Converting an Entity to a Loot Sheet</h2><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgb_7X1Z7NI2nkWnT-ES-DJ8s45XkwSWXHP6Gize18kpt7jWMxsuxwUUWsETpy8Opj76bJ8mIz6c8B5WTUVHka3ksr6VQBSNzNwixtkONbnrASl4z8DHZY4ysqvqkfaFGIBhqfsWAec3KJ7BrKq9bQxZhgJaOZZxoitA0YRIOF4bWKNGTAmrGqE7ASk=s1126" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1126" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgb_7X1Z7NI2nkWnT-ES-DJ8s45XkwSWXHP6Gize18kpt7jWMxsuxwUUWsETpy8Opj76bJ8mIz6c8B5WTUVHka3ksr6VQBSNzNwixtkONbnrASl4z8DHZY4ysqvqkfaFGIBhqfsWAec3KJ7BrKq9bQxZhgJaOZZxoitA0YRIOF4bWKNGTAmrGqE7ASk=w400-h188" width="400" /></a></div>My first question was how to convert an entity to a Loot Sheet. As it turns out it is super easy and reversible. When viewing an entities detail page, there is a gear icon and the word sheet on the window title bar. Clicking that pops a dialog that allows the selection of a sheet style to be used for viewing the page. <p></p><p>Checking <b>dnd5e.LootSheet5eNPC</b> and saving the selection performs the conversion. After this is done, the NPC will display in the loot sheet format making monetary and item transactions possible.</p><p>It's worth noting that the <b>Default 5e NPC Sheet</b> conceals any coins on an NPC but they are still there. This means that any NPC can be setup to have items that can be made available to the party for <i>looting</i> by converting the sheet type and likely setting appropriate permissions. </p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Setting Loot Sheet Permissions </h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhncUSHMx48gZo98fiOH7dQtgBe9ViTodjOoSEnbRnMKJG9BbQWO7M4T_GCtb7dv95wKo9u4bYnL4xDdvI8UVbZ7RYy4jTenOKjzPq_VMGV4q3IvCmPe9QDzV1qATk2qwzasEmYhA1B05O6djMBQkvzxg0UmaGEDDKtsyvtugFFgCl4BLWZO1Zr4d9D=s512" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="512" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhncUSHMx48gZo98fiOH7dQtgBe9ViTodjOoSEnbRnMKJG9BbQWO7M4T_GCtb7dv95wKo9u4bYnL4xDdvI8UVbZ7RYy4jTenOKjzPq_VMGV4q3IvCmPe9QDzV1qATk2qwzasEmYhA1B05O6djMBQkvzxg0UmaGEDDKtsyvtugFFgCl4BLWZO1Zr4d9D=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Access to the Loot Sheet entity can be set through standard FoundryVTT methods or conveniently via a set of click boxes on the left side of the sheet under the <b>Permissions</b> header. There are three levels of access to a <b>Loot</b> type of sheet:<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Owner</b> (Check mark) - Access (take) items and share coins</li><li><b>Observer</b> (Eye Icon) - Can look at inventory but can only purchase items from a <i>Merchant</i> type sheet. </li><li><b>None</b> (Open Circle) - None</li></ul></div><div>Both Owner and Observer level permissions qualify for a share of distributed coins when that option is used.<br /><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Splitting Coins</h2><div>One of the nifty features of this module is the ability for the GM to split coins from the loot sheet. A question that immediately popped into my head was how to handle odd coins? What happens when 7 coins need to be distributed to 4 characters. I opted to run a quick test and found a happy answer.</div><div><br /></div><div>To test this, I did the following:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Put 7 copper pieces into my Party Loot <i>character</i>, </li><li>Made sure that my four player characters had access (the check box for Joe B's Muriel Vinshaw is a PC type character that I use for testing FoundryVTT features from a player perspective) to the sheet, </li><li>Opened the sheet of one player and noted her coin count (zero),</li><li>Positioned them and took a screen snap of the situation. </li></ol></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLRsaP0BlqZI_z6t7ziLmslxEx1vNnlr-OwTTkTv_vET6w2_DIX6S4l--TEkkGkaijj2G5DPvSFnaUYJ5hHrpvNwcGViv8yABWAEVtWvbwAFHqix3s9nu1Ux8lb15c_OWUJalReHLJwWRrfpvjjTKLNhIYd1q_BcYY_9ApxbLh34JHZAbdZbrCCGxZ=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1792" data-original-width="2048" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLRsaP0BlqZI_z6t7ziLmslxEx1vNnlr-OwTTkTv_vET6w2_DIX6S4l--TEkkGkaijj2G5DPvSFnaUYJ5hHrpvNwcGViv8yABWAEVtWvbwAFHqix3s9nu1Ux8lb15c_OWUJalReHLJwWRrfpvjjTKLNhIYd1q_BcYY_9ApxbLh34JHZAbdZbrCCGxZ=w640-h560" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I observed that the sheet was offering a <b>Coin Distribution</b> of Copper: 1 each, suggesting the result I was hoping to see. That is, distributing 4 of the 7 copper coins and hopefully keeping 3 in the Party Loot. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I clicked that <b>Split</b> button and immediately the screen displayed what I hoped for:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cai'lee gained 1 copper piece and, </li><li>Party Loot retained the 3 coins that could not be split 4 ways.</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Exactly what I was hoping to see. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjL6-yG3roHyvi0gG4cuYtiIr5BnUublG0n0DbQuLSloUwXODzbBB5nz9PhtffPIodyN0aw6d2UWF7nbNPfEsrrkKVHGSfb3Bwt0QlkKpEj0aad5ls0yxbHLX58hLu1MjIG9TLiFMcCUZMyLkZsprwrOnifiR64yIGVgVKLZVo0000oBgAjdHrsMa3Y=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1787" data-original-width="2048" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjL6-yG3roHyvi0gG4cuYtiIr5BnUublG0n0DbQuLSloUwXODzbBB5nz9PhtffPIodyN0aw6d2UWF7nbNPfEsrrkKVHGSfb3Bwt0QlkKpEj0aad5ls0yxbHLX58hLu1MjIG9TLiFMcCUZMyLkZsprwrOnifiR64yIGVgVKLZVo0000oBgAjdHrsMa3Y=w640-h558" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Now, all I have to do is convert the spreadsheet record into appropriate items to drop into Mister or is that Miss Party Loot?</div></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-60731482482172216652021-10-23T11:41:00.003-04:002021-10-24T10:45:44.829-04:00Implementing Vampiric Bite and Regeneration<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDboV-TLF39Y7BZgHNSJmiFrBV5LTT_-QQCQyxpyYmhEiad_V2r5caOO-fEm9UELNd6sqP7I-x-P0uG2FGvzE-JWa48e8-4X068Fqcv5u6kbWx4OK8CbjpSu3jgUU1FkmeoA2-Ab_OjKnQuCmmGKjwu5TC3XrdjNk8xkcsfRQOnZbRgQdR4Pvf8vMu=s312" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="312" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDboV-TLF39Y7BZgHNSJmiFrBV5LTT_-QQCQyxpyYmhEiad_V2r5caOO-fEm9UELNd6sqP7I-x-P0uG2FGvzE-JWa48e8-4X068Fqcv5u6kbWx4OK8CbjpSu3jgUU1FkmeoA2-Ab_OjKnQuCmmGKjwu5TC3XrdjNk8xkcsfRQOnZbRgQdR4Pvf8vMu=w200-h180" width="200" /></a></div>I am in the midst of trying to migrate my Curse of Strahd game from Roll20 to Foundry. I am using <b>Midi QOL </b>to automate damage applications so that I don't lose <i>function </i>from what Roll20 did for me. A bunch of things has gone very smoothly, but I am a bit stuck on two of the vampiric abilities:<br /><p></p><p><b>Vampiric Bite</b> -- <i>On hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the vampire regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest </i>-- I'd like to automate the self-heal component and maybe even the mac hit point reduction, though, I'm totally ready to accept just the self-heal portion. <i> </i></p><p><b>Regeneration</b> -- <i>The vampire regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and isn't in sunlight or running water. If the vampire takes radiant damage or damage from holy water, this trait doesn't function at the start of the vampire's next turn</i> -- The conditions seem a bit convoluted for automation, so my current goal is just to create a simple action that does self-healing. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>My first step was to search for relevant articles or posts and bounced into a couple of somewhat relevant items which I'll dig through below. I have posted to Reddit and Discord asking about this, but that will take a while to produce results, if it produces results, so on with my slog. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">YouTube Video</h2><p>Mr. Weaver's YouTube video titled: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNAjzGMHuQQ" target="_blank">Foundry VTT Improving Your Game With Item Macros</a> seems set to get me closer to my goal(s). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="312" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gNAjzGMHuQQ" width="482" youtube-src-id="gNAjzGMHuQQ"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Mr. Weaver includes some useful information in his notes below the video, which I will incorporate here for ease of reference:<div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>Here are some of my personal screenshots for my MIDI-QOl settings: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/SEVzrLV" target="_blank">Crymic's Midi Qol Settings</a></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>Crymic has gone over some of the more advanced features and setups of macros on his Youtube page. Additionally, his Patreon page includes macros for commonly used spells such as Green-Flame Blade, Viscous Mockery, and more. Many of these macros are free to use but become available to patrons first. Please consider supporting Crymic’s Youtube channel as well as Patreon if you are able. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://gitlab.com/crymic/foundry-vtt-macros" target="_blank">Crymic's Foundry VTT Macro Repository</a></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq4rNr29UZIkwRy8x9URmUw" target="_blank">Crymic's YouTube Channel</a></div><div><a href="https://www.patreon.com/crymic/posts" target="_blank">Crymic's Patreon Postings </a> </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">The following modules are assumed by these macros:</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>MIDI-QOL </li><li>libwrapper</li><li>Combat Utility Belt (for some macros) </li><li>Item Macro</li><li>About Time/Times Up (To handle duration) </li><li>Dynamic effects using Active Effects </li></ol></div></blockquote><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Vampiric Bite's Healing Effect</h2><p>The damage portion of Vampiric Bite is simply handled with a basic melee attack. The challenge is the siphon healing bit. I found one of Crymic's macros that has a self-healing siphon ability: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/nourishing-fire-48602716?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copy_to_clipboard&utm_campaign=postshare" target="_blank">Nourishing Fire</a>. That seems worth a try. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Implementing Nourishing Fire</h3><p>I'll try to follow Crymic's instructions to implement Nourishing Fire (though I'll be giving it to an Actor who has no business having it). </p><p>The first step is to create a Feature and call it Nourishing Fire:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqQULPG72K5u3eJfcRQJ3oF8ckzkPGp4NdT8ZDlqdQhR-g5GJKeXzmfeqQzB0cboPQMyIfr_WZ5beH3HQ3ASqYHnRgcbpVYNdRFXpD9sJxXytDQcbq4tbv2z1r2z2gfJLiMtRNdA7BX9qRGi-UsMU1dDD1i-3rRLQIE4U-tqPnwflWF4wSmOMVJjhR=s646" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="646" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqQULPG72K5u3eJfcRQJ3oF8ckzkPGp4NdT8ZDlqdQhR-g5GJKeXzmfeqQzB0cboPQMyIfr_WZ5beH3HQ3ASqYHnRgcbpVYNdRFXpD9sJxXytDQcbq4tbv2z1r2z2gfJLiMtRNdA7BX9qRGi-UsMU1dDD1i-3rRLQIE4U-tqPnwflWF4wSmOMVJjhR=w200-h175" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Click the Items Directory Icon (suitcase in the top-right menu), <br /></li><li>Click <b>Create New Item</b>,</li><li>Enter a name for the feature,</li><li>Set type drop down to <b>Feature</b>,</li><li>Click the <b>Create New Item</b> to finish creating the item entry.</li></ol><div>It only needs a description and an icon. Leave everything else as is. </div><div><br /></div><div>The only other implementation instruction that Crymic offers are two comments in the macro: </div><p></p><p></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><p>// Midi-qol on use. </p></div><div><p>// Create a feature called Nourishing Fire. This will auto grab the card details and spit them out when done.</p></div></blockquote><p>I also have the body of the macro, but where to put it and how to hook it to something is less than immediately obvious. I've signed up as a patron of Crymic and will be tossing him some questions, I'll post my results here.</p><p>Apparently, the secret sauce I was missing was:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Paste the macro into the <b>Item Macro</b> of the attack (top of the item window),</li><li>Add ItemMacro to the <b>On Use Macro</b> of the attack's detail page.</li></ol><p></p><div><p></p><p>That doesn't get me all the way home, but it is encouraging. </p><h3>Pre-Existing Solution?</h3><p>My Reddit post pointed me toward a video by <i>The Stunty DM</i> that appears to address my exact issue, down to choosing the same vampire spawn (Anastraysia) to build it around. The YouTube video is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQUt7TwLAc" target="_blank">Foundry VTT - Vampire HP Drain Macro</a>. The Macro Is posted at: <a href="https://pastebin.com/AhBjhf1a">https://pastebin.com/AhBjhf1a</a>.</p><p>To implement this as part of a Vampire's Bite, I believe the steps are:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Remove the secondary (necrotic) damage from the <b>Bite</b> attack (macro will handle this),</li><li>Create the macro by pasting either into a separate macro or as an Item Macro within the attack,</li><li>Put the macro to be used in the <b>On Use Macro</b> field (ItemMacro if embedded), </li></ol><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Done!</h2><p>That video pointed at the exact solution I needed. I added some comments and my bite macro was finished. I then cut it way down and I have a Regen macro as well. </p><p>Three Cheers for <a href="https://www.patreon.com/crymic/posts" target="_blank">Crymic's Macros</a>! ! !</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-65442445844755670962021-10-12T10:46:00.005-04:002021-10-24T10:46:00.928-04:00Foundry Macros - Writing My First (with some understanding)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhB-Gr1jyv5J5LlLeXEanbzxtwpix1H9MV9KWq1azCT3B-nLKtWmDjLRRhZ27VTgor4J4zOnECZZLSYe0qYYzStnnKkoYXqiEQbFm526yVhGa5lv0UpqTACn0ZeG7z6x0RtLF-vjr_snLSnnZ5r1SZ0SJ3ItsBXq8tv0AKtJQstEEMm4dWNRDGqhkjf=s840" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="840" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhB-Gr1jyv5J5LlLeXEanbzxtwpix1H9MV9KWq1azCT3B-nLKtWmDjLRRhZ27VTgor4J4zOnECZZLSYe0qYYzStnnKkoYXqiEQbFm526yVhGa5lv0UpqTACn0ZeG7z6x0RtLF-vjr_snLSnnZ5r1SZ0SJ3ItsBXq8tv0AKtJQstEEMm4dWNRDGqhkjf=s320" width="320" /></a></div>I've been fiddling with macros and javascript relative to Foundry VTT for a few days now. It seems a good time to <i>write </i>my own. By that I mean go through the steps following closely in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9xIX-c5lOSHQ_qa3KKzTTg" target="_blank">spacemandev's</a> footsteps in his YouTube video, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HSCybI0txc">FoundryVTT Macros 101</a>.<p></p><p> I'll try to note the <i>interesting </i>bits as I go through the process. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: left;">Visual Studios Code</h1><p>My first non-obvious task was to obtain a copy of Visual Studios Code, which is available at no cost for PC, Mac, and Linux environments at this site: <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/nodejs" style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">code.visualstudio.com</span></a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">. </span></span>I basically did the obvious to install it and get it started. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAgCPNEYnILx9qe98r1a5gPa-pXCS0yt1zxnwI8UhVNo-6zrk8n0soJcu-_2G_PEWLQUYmUAewjAZAeYGCwdNA-EBWBKn71tCkgAhlKHz-5ncW9vzYmQu4g4RYcCsFYKsvVGers6l-rq3SZFAzn9OpfuT_Tefbnzyv2oqdHalrGUuuAQ0pJh-G1JaO=s1160" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1160" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAgCPNEYnILx9qe98r1a5gPa-pXCS0yt1zxnwI8UhVNo-6zrk8n0soJcu-_2G_PEWLQUYmUAewjAZAeYGCwdNA-EBWBKn71tCkgAhlKHz-5ncW9vzYmQu4g4RYcCsFYKsvVGers6l-rq3SZFAzn9OpfuT_Tefbnzyv2oqdHalrGUuuAQ0pJh-G1JaO=w400-h239" width="400" /></a></div>One rather obscure step though -- open a copy of <i>foundry.js</i> in a window of VSCode seems to be necessary to enable the yummy completion lists. WARNING: Do not change that file. I think the window containing foundry.js can be closed after it is loaded and things will still work. I've not really verified that. <br /><p></p><p>The file can be found at (on a Mac): <span style="font-family: courier;">FoundryVTT.app/Contents/Resources/app/public/scripts/foundry.js</span>. Because I am aware of my own fat fingers, I made a copy of the file and put it in the folder I use for Foundry-related coding tasks. I'll have to manually update that at some point, but I can't destroy my actual running system.</p><h1 style="text-align: left;">General Coding Process</h1><p>My workflow will (at least initially) mimic Spacemandev. That is I will write the code in VSCode so I can leverage the help it can provide and then do a cut'n'paste into Foundry to execute it. A couple of handy steps:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Toggle Developer Tools with opt-cmd-i</li><li>View the console by clicking the console tab</li><li>Clear the console of old messages by clicking the do not enter symbol (top left of console)</li></ul><h1 style="text-align: left;">Interacting with the Console</h1><div>The console can be used to view (and change) important pieces of information. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEa_J303Q6nEwnfuzY2qPSs4eC749CApYz30gPj_U7uEZUDZCq5gA1XO5Bs8_H1Qv_hF0fszA2v0dX4YPaJuGa6uWL71yhGDzp3cWhNfP5u1DikS88Ch2zSOeAB-8FIAkZySQICjQDl43yXXXWJ4rFHFDu-6Aj50ndD7QdR_NF2pAopfnE4d_iJvZx=s798" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="798" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEa_J303Q6nEwnfuzY2qPSs4eC749CApYz30gPj_U7uEZUDZCq5gA1XO5Bs8_H1Qv_hF0fszA2v0dX4YPaJuGa6uWL71yhGDzp3cWhNfP5u1DikS88Ch2zSOeAB-8FIAkZySQICjQDl43yXXXWJ4rFHFDu-6Aj50ndD7QdR_NF2pAopfnE4d_iJvZx=w320-h186" width="320" /></a></div>It can be used to explore the defined data structures. One commonly accessed is the <b>game</b> object that contains a swarm of important information. </div><div><br /></div><div>Typing <i style="font-weight: bold;">game.</i> will cause a drop-down completion list such as the one shown on the right to appear. This is telling you about the next level of definition within <i style="font-weight: bold;">game</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Typing <i style="font-weight: bold;">game.actors</i> and hitting enter will give a list of all the actors in the game world. This can be used to view the actual data model and discover what the magical dot eliminated things actually are called and what they currently contain. </div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">Obtaining Roll Data (for Chat Macros)</h1><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgD4aBIVkMeoq3apSn1nKtKBOKA3McX1SbYtNENZms-rpXdmQzhnzArf7iEUQnQeDtWgdTlUBRqSDfwt2YvYd_e3cqCbBGjbdR8XtnrK9Pk7Q_4SGZtvSBS20gD_loHO0U_PeyOoWp-qvxkSbsVCpPDJCQi4OTdWdACElTW8kiDVOhX7FupuKPiymuk=s1190" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1190" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgD4aBIVkMeoq3apSn1nKtKBOKA3McX1SbYtNENZms-rpXdmQzhnzArf7iEUQnQeDtWgdTlUBRqSDfwt2YvYd_e3cqCbBGjbdR8XtnrK9Pk7Q_4SGZtvSBS20gD_loHO0U_PeyOoWp-qvxkSbsVCpPDJCQi4OTdWdACElTW8kiDVOhX7FupuKPiymuk=w400-h250" width="400" /></a></div>A quick little script macro can be used to view the roll data associated with a token. This script macro:</div><div><blockquote><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: courier;">console.log(token.actor.getRollData());</span></blockquote></div><div>This allows a view into the data for the selected actor (note: the macro as written has no error handling, it fails if a token is not selected. The partial screen capture here shows the model partially opened. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This particular token has a 13 strength (value) and a strength mod of 1.</div><div><br /></div><div>This can be used in a <i>script </i>macro to add that mod to a roll. The script macro would read: </div><div><blockquote><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: courier;">/r d20 + @abilities.str.mod</span></blockquote></div><div>This macro will roll a d20 and add the token's strength modifier to the result. The funky @ symbol is a way to refer to the currently selected token in a chat macro. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Setting Up Wrapper Code to Act on Each Selected Token</h2><div>So far, I've been tracking spacemandev's video, now I want to branch out and create a macro that does something with each selected token and includes some error handling. </div><div><br /></div><div>My first dip was just creating a macro that can spit out the names of the tokens and their associated actor within the generic wrapper I posted in a preceding post. That macro goes as follows:</div><p></p><div style="background-color: #1e1e1e; color: #d4d4d4; font-family: Menlo, Monaco, "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; white-space: pre;"><div><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"Launching JGB's Macro to Affect selecetd tokens"</span>);</div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;">/************************************************************</span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> * This simple macro will spit out the name of each selected</span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> * token and its actor. Just as a demonstration. </span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> ************************************************************/</span></div><div><span style="color: #dcdcaa;">main</span>() </div><div><span style="color: #569cd6;">async</span> <span style="color: #569cd6;">function</span> <span style="color: #dcdcaa;">main</span>() { <span style="color: #6a9955;">// async isn't required here, if it is, consider await</span></div><div> <span style="color: #569cd6;">let</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">tokens</span> = <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">canvas</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">tokens</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">controlled</span>;</div><div> <span style="color: #c586c0;">if</span> (<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">tokens</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">length</span> > <span style="color: #b5cea8;">0</span> ){</div><div> <span style="color: #c586c0;">for</span> (<span style="color: #569cd6;">let</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">token</span> <span style="color: #569cd6;">of</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">tokens</span> ){</div><div> <span style="color: #569cd6;">let</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">actor</span> = <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">token</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">actor</span></div><div> <span style="color: #6a9955;">// The following code is intended to affect each token selected.</span></div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">token</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">name</span>); <span style="color: #6a9955;">// The token's name</span></div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">token</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">actor</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">name</span>); <span style="color: #6a9955;">// The token's actor's name</span></div><div> }</div><div> } <span style="color: #c586c0;">else</span> {</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">ui</span>.<span style="color: #9cdcfe;">notifications</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">error</span>(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"No token selected."</span>);</div><div> }</div><div>}</div></div><div></div><p></p><div>The macro works, in that it provides an error message if no tokens are selected and it prints names, tokens, and actors to the console. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Stipping Trash from Prototype Token Name </h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtH1A47mTRaXOPqW6aSwyiKmLOBp8YPn6oVcQjTUBMdw0ceOpoYbVhYbJMMzzZ_DKv688ibtA1IaUck7dTmWG8Mqc1uhTnUH2GZX9iwO23xMnRjGBZMaXuplKTXDkHcsJ5b-lrr0tHoBYqhDfd_1hW8X7T3avTszvzbwoEb-o-Qq_y5qU3Ts_-t9aK=s1200" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1200" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtH1A47mTRaXOPqW6aSwyiKmLOBp8YPn6oVcQjTUBMdw0ceOpoYbVhYbJMMzzZ_DKv688ibtA1IaUck7dTmWG8Mqc1uhTnUH2GZX9iwO23xMnRjGBZMaXuplKTXDkHcsJ5b-lrr0tHoBYqhDfd_1hW8X7T3avTszvzbwoEb-o-Qq_y5qU3Ts_-t9aK=w400-h293" width="400" /></a></div>One of my "known issues" with the campaigns I have imported from Roll20 is that a large number of my <i>generic</i> monsters ended up with prototype tokens with names of the form:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> Name %%NUMBERED%%</span></div><div><br /></div><div>That is a result of some Roll20 coding (hacking, I suppose) to implement a numbered token system. Something that Foundry provides as part of the standard package.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, I brought in the baggage and now want to be able to get rid of it. If I can manage to just strip the extraneous "<span style="font-family: courier;"> %%NUMBERED%%</span>" out of the prototype of the selected token(s), this shouldn't be an issue. </div><div><br /></div><div>After considerable effort, we failed to find a way to update the prototype token, though we did manage to <i>fix</i> the on-screen token's name with the following code block:</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: #1e1e1e; color: #d4d4d4; font-family: Menlo, Monaco, "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; white-space: pre;"><div> <span style="color: #6a9955;">/*******************************************************</span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> * The following block of code affects selected tokens.</span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> * In this case it is replaces Token Name with Actor Name</span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> *******************************************************/</span></div><div> <span style="color: #c586c0;">if</span> (token.name.includes(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"%%NUMBERED%%"</span>)) { </div><div> console.log(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"Found a %%NUMBERED%%"</span>); </div><div> let goodName = token.actor.name.toString(); </div><div> token.document.update({name: goodName}); </div><div> <span style="color: #6a9955;">/*******************************************************</span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> * End of code block affecting each token </span></div><div><span style="color: #6a9955;"> *******************************************************/</span></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Actually fixing each bad prototype token can be done by:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Open the Prototype's Token Dialog,</li><li>Delete the extraneous %%NUMBERED%% from the <b>Token Name</b> field,</li><li>Click the <b>Update Token </b>button.</li></ol><div>Not a great result, but some manual effort will do the trick at the situation should not repeat for me. </div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Adding in a Dialog to Modify Action Loop</h2><div>With partial success under my belt, I want to try using a dialog to alter the actions performed to each selected token. The objective of this exercise will be to apply healing to tokens, but not allow the token to exceed its maximum health. </div><div><br /></div><div>My starting point is a YouTube video posted by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4juelcO0ctQCHNNu88HBfg" target="_blank">Cédric Hauteville</a>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koa4EAY2grA" target="_blank">Foundry System Dev - Part 8 : Dialog boxes and system settings</a>. As well as a much simplified dialog posted on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/FoundryVTT/comments/lao88t/dialog_windows/" target="_blank">Reddit</a>. I found Cedric's example too intense and instead choose to build off of a <a href="https://foundryvtt.com/api/Dialog.html" target="_blank">different snippet</a>. Embedded below so I can be sure to find it again:</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: #1e1e1e; color: #d4d4d4; font-family: Menlo, Monaco, "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; white-space: pre;"><div><span style="color: #569cd6;">let</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">d</span> = <span style="color: #569cd6;">new</span> <span style="color: #dcdcaa;">Dialog</span>({</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">title</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">"Test Dialog"</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">content</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">"<p>You must choose either Option 1, or Option 2</p>"</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">buttons</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> {</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">one</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> {</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">icon</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">'<i class="fas fa-check"></i>'</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">label</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">"Option One"</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #dcdcaa;">callback</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> () <span style="color: #569cd6;">=></span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"Chose One"</span>)</div><div> },</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">two</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> {</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">icon</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">'<i class="fas fa-times"></i>'</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">label</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">"Option Two"</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #dcdcaa;">callback</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> () <span style="color: #569cd6;">=></span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"Chose Two"</span>)</div><div> }</div><div> },</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">default</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #ce9178;">"two"</span>,</div><div> <span style="color: #dcdcaa;">render</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">html</span> <span style="color: #569cd6;">=></span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"Register interactivity in the rendered dialog"</span>),</div><div> <span style="color: #dcdcaa;">close</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">:</span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">html</span> <span style="color: #569cd6;">=></span> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">console</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">log</span>(<span style="color: #ce9178;">"This always is logged no matter which option is chosen"</span>)</div><div> });</div><div> <span style="color: #9cdcfe;">d</span>.<span style="color: #dcdcaa;">render</span>(<span style="color: #569cd6;">true</span>);</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>The above has four possible results from user action:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Select the first button </li><li>Select the second button</li><li>Click the X on the dialog to close it</li><li>Hit <b>esc</b> on the keyboard to close it. </li></ol></div><div>It also uses those nasty arrow functions, which actually do seem to work better than the style I have been using. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet another example <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/FoundryVTT/comments/ingerr/macro_for_updating_npc_token_hp_javascript_helps/" target="_blank">Macro for updating npc token hp</a> from Reddit is linked here. His <i>fixed</i> macro is buried down several posts in that thread.</div><div><br /></div><div>My trick will be to figure out how to have it:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Give the token's name, current and max health, in a text field, </li><li>Query the user for how much health to add and </li><li>Then to add the allowed amount of health up to the token's max health.</li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-16638320292169939972021-10-10T10:44:00.011-04:002021-10-11T12:39:06.736-04:00Foundry Macros -- Getting a Start<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUoV55b0qSOtKzMoSPaT2g7dvhT4tBUlJ1DcpktodkVvDcXyBBeRb6mjZ3H1zqnhOtf9M8lLxQSFeMDQ09jAKlk3YPqW9I1al2V9jRKZde-CrHighzzDs3omL9c_fS0sx4J1kw2wN5YS6aH8lsVqyPpwawpHmZmAqIhWMbLCjmNn0if1-lJ9hFmlQZ=s840" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="840" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUoV55b0qSOtKzMoSPaT2g7dvhT4tBUlJ1DcpktodkVvDcXyBBeRb6mjZ3H1zqnhOtf9M8lLxQSFeMDQ09jAKlk3YPqW9I1al2V9jRKZde-CrHighzzDs3omL9c_fS0sx4J1kw2wN5YS6aH8lsVqyPpwawpHmZmAqIhWMbLCjmNn0if1-lJ9hFmlQZ=w320-h160" width="320" /></a></div>The task I've taken on, migrating an existing Curse of Strahd campaign that has been running in Roll20 for about a year with a lot of amazing automation that Jon engineered for us places a fairly high bar. <p></p><p>I need Foundry to pretty much be as good as our Roll20 environment across the board. Foundry Macros appear to be much more powerful and robust than those offered in Roll20...but we have a couple of years of patching over warts and automating our game system. </p><p>This posting focuses on my learning the Foundry macro ropes, largely indexing resources that I expect will make my journey easier. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">FoundryVTT Macros 101</h2><p>My first surge of understanding resulted from watching a YouTube video posted by <i>spacemandev</i>. The YouTube video is here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HSCybI0txc" target="_blank">FoundryVTT Macros 101</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-HSCybI0txc" width="480" youtube-src-id="-HSCybI0txc"></iframe></div><br /><p><i>Spacemandev</i> posted the five macros he intended to highlight in the video, though he only actually covered one (turns out things go slower when explaining or if you don't understand). The source code is on <a href="http://github.com">https://github.com/spacemandev-git/fvtt-tutorials</a>. </p><p>His video uses Visual Studio as a development environment, which seemed really useful. That software is currently offered at a very reasonable price of <i>free</i> on <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/nodejs" target="_blank">code.visualstudio.com</a>. I have grabbed and installed it on my apple silicon mac. I'll come back later and read their page on <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/?dv=darwinarm64" target="_blank">Getting Started</a>.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0FODR5sD_MDcps7e5rbKw_H4Q4UjV3KUupK74wi0D89Af-qo7iSuzK2FwNti36XzjScjWCFkllUImce7LGh0VxYR7yVKxmnuSRpFJeStxtJtFEp_XRMytr4Fp5AUn3Yi4A5-qSBbJDuNwpy0UTPKk-4A2PKO3Mq6iY8FhY671_rlLwOGybruUiYEC=s566" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="566" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0FODR5sD_MDcps7e5rbKw_H4Q4UjV3KUupK74wi0D89Af-qo7iSuzK2FwNti36XzjScjWCFkllUImce7LGh0VxYR7yVKxmnuSRpFJeStxtJtFEp_XRMytr4Fp5AUn3Yi4A5-qSBbJDuNwpy0UTPKk-4A2PKO3Mq6iY8FhY671_rlLwOGybruUiYEC=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Launching the Console</h4><p>One key learning is how to open the console from the keyboard of a Mac: <b>Option-Command-I</b> (It's just <b>F12</b> on a PC -- ok, PC implementation wins this one. Side note, the video gives the incorrect hotkey for the Mac.</p><p>The console can also be launched from the application menu (top of Mac screen), FoundryVTT, Toggle Developer Tools.</p><p>There is an amazing wealth of options in those tools. The console itself being the place the info/warning/error messages end up as well as informational bits created by commands like: <span class="pl-smi" color="var(--color-prettylights-syntax-storage-modifier-import)" face="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 47); font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;">console</span><span class="pl-kos" face="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 47); color: #24292f; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;">.</span><span class="pl-en" color="var(--color-prettylights-syntax-entity)" face="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 47); font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;">log</span><span class="pl-kos" face="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 47); color: #24292f; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;">(</span><span class="pl-s" color="var(--color-prettylights-syntax-string)" face="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 47); font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;">"Hello World"</span><span class="pl-kos" face="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 47); color: #24292f; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;">).</span></p><h2>Macros 102</h2><p><i>Spacemandev </i>posted a followup video that goes into how to roll results in a macro in another YouTube video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S7HjMN52I4" target="_blank">Macros 102</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0S7HjMN52I4" width="480" youtube-src-id="0S7HjMN52I4"></iframe></div><br /><p>In this video, he delves into his <a href="https://github.com/spacemandev-git/fvtt-tutorials/blob/master/attackMacro.js">attackMacro.js</a>. I've not watched the 50-minute long vid, yet, but I suspect it will be well worth the time. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">How to Act on One or More Selected Tokens</h2><div>I ran across an effort by <a href="https://www.foundryvtt-hub.com/community/profile/talidor/" target="_blank">Talidor</a> on <a href="https://www.foundryvtt-hub.com/community/development-development-macros/common-macro-tasks-patterns/" target="_blank">Foundry Hub</a> to post common macro tasks in a generic and documented manner. He started the thread on Nov 2, 2011. Unfortunately, it didn't go very far other than his seemingly excellent example that I will embed here for (at least) my future reference. </div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">(<b>async</b> () => {</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> <b>var</b> tokens = canvas.tokens.controlled;</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> <b>if</b> (tokens.length > 0 ){</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> <b>for</b> (<b>let</b> token of tokens ){</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> <b>let</b> actor = token.actor</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> // some code which modifies the actor or token</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> } <b>else</b> {</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> ui.notifications.error("No token selected.");</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">})();</span></div></div></blockquote><p>As I look at that snippet, several equations pop into my non-JavaScript brain. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What's that <u>async</u>?</h3><p>Apparently. the <b>async</b> more or less declares that this block can be executed asynchronously (out of order). When ordering is important, use that <b>await</b> prefix to force execution before the following code. That's trippy to me, I've never created code that could run out of order. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What's up with <u>var</u> and <u>let</u>?</h3><p>They both look like variable declarations with the assigned initial values. I found a page that delves into these Javascript constructs on <a href="https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/var-let-and-const-whats-the-difference/" target="_blank">freecodecamp</a>. I need to read that page. I think the net is that <b>var</b> is an old implementation, the snippet likely could have just used <b>let</b>.</p><p>Here is a summary of the three declarations from <a href="https://love2dev.com/blog/javaScript-var-let-const/" target="_blank">Love2Dev</a>.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>var - has function level scoping and can change the value reference</li><li>let - has block level scoping and can change the value reference</li><li>const - has block level scoping but cannot change the value reference</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;">What's that funky wrapper?</h3><p></p><p>My watching of <i>spacemandev</i>'s videos makes sense of the opening and closing lines of bizarre-looking characters. They are what seems to be <span style="font-family: trebuchet;">one</span> of two schools of formatting. <i>Spacemandev</i> advocates the following wrapper style"</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;">main()<br />async function main(){<br /><span> </span>// Code goes here.<br />} </span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div> </div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The above is calling a function that, curiously, is defined after it's called, which is a-ok in Javascript he says. Well, it sure looks better and doesn't fill me with to much confusion, so I've found a key style element for my future use. </span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">My Wrapper for the Task</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Assuming I understand the above, I prefer the following as a generic code wrapper:</span></div><div> </div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: courier;">main()</span> </span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"><b>async</b> function main() {</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> <b>let</b> tokens = canvas.tokens.controlled;</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> <b>if</b> (tokens.length > 0 ){</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> <b>for</b> (<b>let</b> token of tokens ){</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> <b>let</b> actor = token.actor</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> // some code which modifies the actor or token</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> }</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> } <b>else</b> {</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> ui.notifications.error("No token selected.");</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"> }</span></div></div><div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;">}</span></div></div></blockquote><p>I'll be trying that out in the not too distant future. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Some Handy Websites</h2><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><a href="https://foundryvtt.wiki/en/development/resources" target="_blank">Foundry VTT Community Wiki</a></b> - Variety of resources, including many links to other resources. </li><li><b><a href="https://foundryvtt.com/api/" target="_blank">Foundry API Documentation</a></b> - Official (I think) docs on the API</li></ul><div>I currently am using VSCode and started with the boilerplate provided by this tutorial: https://foundry-vtt-community.github.io/wiki/System-Development-Tutorial-Start-to-Finish/ Added the folder to VSCode's workspace and went from there.</div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Drink Health Potion Source Code</h2><div>Below is the source of the Drink Health Potion scrapped from github so that I have it in one place. It's here for sure reference, but prettier on <a href="https://github.com/spacemandev-git/fvtt-tutorials/blob/master/drinkpotion.js" target="_blank">github's site</a>. </div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;">main()</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;">async function main(){</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> console.log("Hello World")</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //Is a token selected? If not, error</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> console.log("Tokens: ", canvas.tokens.controlled)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> if(canvas.tokens.controlled.length == 0 || canvas.tokens.controlled.length > 1){</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> ui.notifications.error("Please select a single token");</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> return;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> let actor = canvas.tokens.controlled[0].actor</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //Does the token have a health potion? Otherwise error</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> console.log("Actor: ", actor);</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> let healthpotion = actor.items.find(item => item.data.name == "Health Potion")</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> if(healthpotion == null || healthpotion == undefined){</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> ui.notifications.error("No Health Potions left");</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> return;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //If token is max health if so, don't do anything</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> if(actor.data.data.health.value == actor.data.data.health.max){</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> ui.notifications.error("Actor already at max health");</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> return;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //Subtract a health potion</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> await healthpotion.update({"data.quantity": healthpotion.data.data.quantity - 1})</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> if(healthpotion.data.data.quantity < 1){</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> healthpotion.delete();</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //Increase token health</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //// New Health is going to be grater the max health</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> ////// If so, we want the new health to max </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> let newHealth = actor.data.data.health.value + healthpotion.data.data.attributes.hp_restore.value</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> if(newHealth > actor.data.data.health.max){</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> newHealth = actor.data.data.health.max</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> }</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> //update the actor health</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> await actor.update({"data.health.value": newHealth});</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"> ui.notifications.info(`${actor.data.name} drank a health potion`)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;">}</span></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-86864970709286392542021-10-01T10:06:00.011-04:002021-10-10T11:50:59.444-04:00Installing and Initial Learnings with Foundry VTT<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CdBI27U0CS4V0nJyRgYkeow5lY5oFOKFJdwjxrvc0bMBTWOzFNn5sIzeE8A6wHhh2N-0RlWWhX5qIQHbPPtLURazpaMgxcfgEdcM_DxZgIVjrfwCkGINYdAGnWtyFLClO2_Pi8j9frM/s512/fvtt-solid-512.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CdBI27U0CS4V0nJyRgYkeow5lY5oFOKFJdwjxrvc0bMBTWOzFNn5sIzeE8A6wHhh2N-0RlWWhX5qIQHbPPtLURazpaMgxcfgEdcM_DxZgIVjrfwCkGINYdAGnWtyFLClO2_Pi8j9frM/w200-h200/fvtt-solid-512.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I received Foundry VTT for my birthday. So, of course, I just have to mess with it. I am in the process of installing it on my Mac and will be taking notes into this posting of things that I encounter that peak my interest. No overarching organization, just things as I learn them.<p></p><p>Before getting into the process, I'll take a stab at why I am looking at transitioning from Roll20 to a different VTT. Following are my major issues that I hope Foundry will alleviate without introducing a new set of issues:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Speed - Roll20 is not fast, changing maps is a significant delay.</li><li>Search - The ability to search inside the journal is just bizarre. It <i>helpfully</i> most of the tabs that don't contain matches, leaving me with a bunch of folders that may or may not contain hits. This results in exploration of the file tree by the Colombus method (blindly clicking things until I happen upon something)</li><li>UI Consistency - The click an ability displays it to the player while clicking a spell displays in chat (or maybe the other way around). This and similar features make learning Roll20 difficult.</li><li>Text Formatting - OMG there are multiple ways to do this, with location of the text changing the method. Making it all worse, the formatting tools work sometimes and rarely in the way that I would predict.</li><li>Monthly subscription - I don't like paying a sub fee for this service</li><li>Speed - Did I mention that the game can be slooooooow?</li></ul><div>Ok, so on with the show...</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">Admin Password</h2><div>Since the software runs locally, the admin password is significant. Somehow mine got set on install to an unknown value. I managed to fix this by deleting the password file and restarting everything. The password is stored in encrypted form in the fie (I use a Mac): </div><div><br /></div><div>~/Library/Application Support/FoundryVTT/Config/admin.txt</div><div><br /></div><div>On restart, I was able to enter a new admin password using the Configuration on the initial screen. Which appeared as shown below:</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9zPVHm-PsBcBi7T8nYvzHj5UWlRw_3p1GuVspkINdpJZAJYVICZgq_txZVXl77RIoaTjVT8BMQJsAyllnbyylZP1NdtTJ2Bdr7GYNG0U1rJEEoEMRoP12Cp6H81mj_qEUmbkAr8RTJQ/s2038/Menu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2038" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9zPVHm-PsBcBi7T8nYvzHj5UWlRw_3p1GuVspkINdpJZAJYVICZgq_txZVXl77RIoaTjVT8BMQJsAyllnbyylZP1NdtTJ2Bdr7GYNG0U1rJEEoEMRoP12Cp6H81mj_qEUmbkAr8RTJQ/w640-h470/Menu.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Game Paused</div></h2></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KHvB5Q5Qxdq9NvGXJGW0XeiTuJZU2S9aMCLMKlhkdp-gFrSwmNM2MuER6egt7D2VuTin4Za7pYetWEmfiZx8eQulAuVfpiGwEO-55VRocqwzYdcEbS5t35Teb5XTT_32qV5hqomEFDE/s592/Screen+Shot+2021-10-01+at+10.10.06+AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="592" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KHvB5Q5Qxdq9NvGXJGW0XeiTuJZU2S9aMCLMKlhkdp-gFrSwmNM2MuER6egt7D2VuTin4Za7pYetWEmfiZx8eQulAuVfpiGwEO-55VRocqwzYdcEbS5t35Teb5XTT_32qV5hqomEFDE/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-10-01+at+10.10.06+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>When I loaded my first game, a preconfigured module offered at no cost, I was frustrated for a few minutes because I couldn't get things to happen. Then I noticed a <b>Game Paused</b> message in the bottom middle of the map. </div><div><br /></div><div>A bit of searching revealed that, by default, the GM can pause/unpause the game by tapping his/her space bar.</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, this freezes the game for the players, allowing the GM to stop movement, for example when a player stumbles upon an encounter or needs to do some setup and doesn't want the players moving about the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>This initially annoying feature addresses one of my Roll20 annoyances that I hadn't bothered to put on my list of issues, figuring it was <i>just the way it is<b>.</b></i></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Moving the Viewed Area of the Map</h2><div>Moving the viewed area on the screen is a critical function for large maps and for the GM. Doing this in Foundry is as easy as holding a <i>Right Click</i> on the mouse and dragging it across the screen. Super speedy. </div><div><br /></div><div>The mouse wheel can be used to zoom the map in/out as needed. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">General Navigation Controls</h2><div>Foundry has posted a web page showing some <a href="https://foundryvtt.com/article/controls/" target="_blank">basic keyboard controls on their website</a>. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Moving a Token</h2><div>Tokens can be moved using the up/down/left/right arrows, of course. They can also be dragged and dropped with the mouse. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I much more often want to do is map out a measured path, so I know where a token is moving and that how much of its movement it has used up. There is a method in vanilla Foundry to accomplish this involving the ruler and cmd/left-clicks and perhaps some other voodoo that I have yet to be able to puzzle out. </div><div><br /></div><div>I ran across a mod, DRag Ruler, that seems to address my frustration, so, time to digress into installing my first mod.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Adding My First Mod</h2><div>My first step was creating a spreadsheet where I can track the modules that I investigate and perhaps use. I'll put this on Google Sheets and make it publicly readable, <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UEMtONZpy9uf4XDEV_zU-Sj4Dxig4lHEUl6anAibU-g/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">HERE</a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Adding Drag Ruler</h3><div>Since I was running the game, I needed to use the following steps:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Esc</b> and select <b>Return to Setup,</b></li><li>Select <b>Add On Modules</b> from the menu along the top of the top up window,</li><li>Click <b>Install Module </b>button on the lower left,</li><li>Filter Packages looking for <i>ruler</i> using the search box (gotta love working search features),</li><li>Click <b>Install</b> button to the right of the Drag Ruler Module,</li><li>Read popup stating that a prereq module, <b>Socketlib </b>is not installed,</li><li>Click button to install both modules,</li><li>Close the install window and check out the listed <b>Add-on Modules</b>.</li></ol></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Activating Drag Ruler</h3><div>To make it actually work within a given game world, the following steps seem necessary:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Launch the game world,</li><li>Click the Game Settings (tiny triple gear symbol in the top right part of the screen),</li><li>Select <b>Manage Modules </b>button from the menu that appears down the right side of the screen,</li><li>Click on the desired modules (image below shows screen at this step),</li><li>Click <b>Save Module Settings.</b></li></ol></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMckIS5YokE6MWZ1jyfCMSl4RSxtbTE68ZGzmbUmcNBEY125fcm_fESsLsR7JCvJc5k2TSKdFHF_bvlWrO9k269mVLkY07ZFAmRjcn0epZk_bgabuRm-4SYCxQsIMmh7vrGDoKRCgSrpE/s1976/Screen+Shot+2021-10-01+at+11.32.28+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1576" data-original-width="1976" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMckIS5YokE6MWZ1jyfCMSl4RSxtbTE68ZGzmbUmcNBEY125fcm_fESsLsR7JCvJc5k2TSKdFHF_bvlWrO9k269mVLkY07ZFAmRjcn0epZk_bgabuRm-4SYCxQsIMmh7vrGDoKRCgSrpE/w640-h510/Screen+Shot+2021-10-01+at+11.32.28+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">What Drag Ruler Does</h3></div><div>The module author described the function:</div><blockquote><span style="color: #741b47;">This module shows a ruler when you drag a token or measurement template to infrom you how far you've dragged it from it's start point. Additionally, if you're using a grid, the spaces the token will travel though will be colored depending on your tokens speed. By default three colors are being used: green for spaces that your token can reach by walking normally are colored green, spaces that can only be reached by dashing will be colored red and spaces that cannot be reached with the token's speed will be colored red. If you're using a gridless map the ruler color will change to convey this information.</span><br /></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">It seems pretty awesome in use. Here's what the three-color paths look like in my playpen:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqH4Jhr9ulhgcBQqu-JdMBnQqqiAl7jCYNJmYxB1PHwlGjxThiYctqwWYvVD3iRlVf_L52_k-nUIAz6tnzGW2HMlbcujdPa3G2-KnQqfw-gPC3sK4vhe1ceVaSPR34TfaG1-BXnMeOvNA/s2048/Move.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1574" data-original-width="2048" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqH4Jhr9ulhgcBQqu-JdMBnQqqiAl7jCYNJmYxB1PHwlGjxThiYctqwWYvVD3iRlVf_L52_k-nUIAz6tnzGW2HMlbcujdPa3G2-KnQqfw-gPC3sK4vhe1ceVaSPR34TfaG1-BXnMeOvNA/w640-h492/Move.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;">Setting up Trouble in Dessarian Valley</h2><div style="text-align: left;">A key part of my transition is being able to move existing campaigns from Roll20 into Foundry. My first test subject is my completed campaign titled Trouble in Dessarian Valley. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My first step was to use kakaroto's <a href="https://github.com/kakaroto/R20Exporter" target="_blank">R20Exporter</a>. I actually did this first and can't recall all the steps, but they were clearly outlined in Kakaroto's documentation. The only thing I want to emphasize is that it works as an extension of Chrome (not Safari, not Firefox). I didn't try it with Edge, I suspect that would be fine, but not a current issue.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The next step is to convert it to Foundry and load it up. This time, I need to use kakaroto's <a href="https://github.com/kakaroto/R20Converter" target="_blank">R20Coverter</a>. That tool sits behind a Patreon paywall, so I will be signing up and then nabbing it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The actual process of importing it is surprisingly straightforward. I made what felt like pretty obvious choices and it was all good in a matter of 10 minutes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Updating Name and Bar Visibility</h2><div style="text-align: left;">It wasn't long till I ended up unhappy with health bars always hidden and names always visible, which seems to be the only option after an import. I ran into a Macro point at by a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/FoundryVTT/comments/gmvzwe/is_there_a_way_to_mass_edit_token_properties/" target="_blank">Reddit thread</a>. The macro it references is embedded below:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: courier;">// Update all tokens on the map so that the name shows on hover and the bars always show.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">// Display Modes: ALWAYS, CONTROL, HOVER, NONE, OWNER, OWNER_HOVER</span></div></blockquote><div></div><div></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: courier;">const tokens = canvas.tokens.placeables.map(token => {</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> return {</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> _id: token.id,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> "bar1.attribute": "attributes.hp",</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> "bar2.attribute": "attributes.ac.value",</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> "displayName": CONST.TOKEN_DISPLAY_MODES.OWNER_HOVER,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> "displayBars": CONST.TOKEN_DISPLAY_MODES.OWNER</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> };</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">});</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">canvas.scene.updateEmbeddedEntity('Token', tokens)</span></div></blockquote><div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">The above would have to be edited to set different values. The options are the same as in the pull-down menu on the Token/Prototype Token Settings: OWNER, ALWAYS, HOVER, OWNER_HOVER. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since I want the global setting to be hover for "anyone," I changed the OWNER_HOVER to HOVER and it worked. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I still can't actually understand the above in its entirety. but it is handy that it worked. I will, of course, want to understand what is happening so I can generalize things. More in future posts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></blockquote>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-8931250046453491922021-05-12T12:14:00.000-04:002021-05-12T12:14:10.849-04:00Battlemap Cobblestoning (Campaign Cartographer)<p>The first set of my Vallaki maps had grey streets, suggesting a paved surface that just didn't work. They were quite bright and made the town feel too modern I think. I changed that to a more appropriate brown aiming at a dirt (mud since, you know Barovia) surface. That's the form I published the whole set with, dirt or mud streets and paths.</p><p>Then Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/PrideComprehensive37/">PrideComprehensive37</a> asked about an alternate rendering with cobblestone main streets. I hadn't tried that, so I took a stab at it. I like the result, so I am redoing the whole set with cobblestone roads as well as adding <a href="https://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2021/05/adding-mist-to-campaign-cartographer-map.html" target="_blank">mist</a> and generally <a href="https://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2021/05/battle-map-gloomification-cc3.html" target="_blank">gloomifying</a> things. </p><p>This post outlines the steps I'm going through to cobble the roads. </p>
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</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div>The process for doing this is straight forward:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Add the desired cobblestone bitmap to the drawing (SS5: Streets Cobbles Dark in my case)</li><li>Replace the bitmap used for the main road surface</li><li>Adjust the "dirt" I placed as a semi-transparent overlay on the ROAD 2 layer just above (below) the ROAD sheet</li></ol><div>I adjusted the scale of the dirt layer to something like 40, 50 to make it look less regular across the map.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhl9uqpyya-x03XMvM1xfpNmlrudDBzmsaKXdORAAzQBdIs_H-0Q1Sz2m9jZqZbYVI73ayt-LIweMnfKj3bgt6A5VWHK4lMUcbbBTQp_kbJLsItpQmG5YXKEpfu6_gw6frNn3vx-ibqFc/s891/Cobbling+Texture+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="891" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhl9uqpyya-x03XMvM1xfpNmlrudDBzmsaKXdORAAzQBdIs_H-0Q1Sz2m9jZqZbYVI73ayt-LIweMnfKj3bgt6A5VWHK4lMUcbbBTQp_kbJLsItpQmG5YXKEpfu6_gw6frNn3vx-ibqFc/w640-h442/Cobbling+Texture+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adding the Cobblestone Texture Entry to the Drawing<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw-bliHqo4DTDpZwxpAxsN0E3LDjy_P2Pr86Vx9IUMxOaDQfjwSocFwD5aSKAU8JpjO2FtDl7URiYk6RafP4VzhRXeSYStP8hhxQxH5MQDloTXP0fhvsybDid6zbIKliVl1B4ADyc1Vw/s1366/Cobbling+Testure+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1366" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw-bliHqo4DTDpZwxpAxsN0E3LDjy_P2Pr86Vx9IUMxOaDQfjwSocFwD5aSKAU8JpjO2FtDl7URiYk6RafP4VzhRXeSYStP8hhxQxH5MQDloTXP0fhvsybDid6zbIKliVl1B4ADyc1Vw/w640-h366/Cobbling+Testure+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selecting Bitmap to be Used for New Texture<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqR_L9chYnWWkf8yjHJKNK1KY06JaPSF3IUULMx-494SVh0FtRGFxk39IGbjqdGzU8fSoUrd5thGYoi2w8QNTjXTs4mmMM9IQj1EDgG-N_eM2_pzXK51D1KwJSyjPVz77fqQH2vhRMe3A/s892/Cobblestoning+Dirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="892" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqR_L9chYnWWkf8yjHJKNK1KY06JaPSF3IUULMx-494SVh0FtRGFxk39IGbjqdGzU8fSoUrd5thGYoi2w8QNTjXTs4mmMM9IQj1EDgG-N_eM2_pzXK51D1KwJSyjPVz77fqQH2vhRMe3A/w640-h580/Cobblestoning+Dirt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adjusting Opacity of Road 2 Sheet </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
<!--Side By Side Image Template ENDS Here--><br /><br />Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-69026640365314751322021-05-12T09:35:00.000-04:002021-05-12T09:35:31.151-04:00Battle Map Gloomification (CC3+)<p></p>The most common complaint about my series of Barovian maps is that they are too bright, almost cheerful looking, which is really wrong for the setting. I made the maps with the Dungeons of Schley (SS5) using the sheet effects pretty close to standard. That makes for bright, easy-to-read maps that are, in fact, rather out of character for Barovia. <div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKbnzdcoPaQH85oni-zkIT3mvFwCFcKWNp-YAzfhBw1PHQ0uPFeOEEW45VuLHGBqdvlnNyCjIihqfFCdB4PwR4_YJ36BTxZ0CsrutAZ2Np9D_2FIPEXSgJOz6h-RBq3cmk4tJRIHduo4/s1228/Gloomification+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKbnzdcoPaQH85oni-zkIT3mvFwCFcKWNp-YAzfhBw1PHQ0uPFeOEEW45VuLHGBqdvlnNyCjIihqfFCdB4PwR4_YJ36BTxZ0CsrutAZ2Np9D_2FIPEXSgJOz6h-RBq3cmk4tJRIHduo4/s320/Gloomification+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above: Original "Bright" Image</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>My first attempt at fixing this was to use Photoshop as a post-processor where I reduced saturation and darkened mid-range and dark colors to make it what I called Gloomy. While that worked, at least after a fashion, adding a post-processing step is something to be avoided. I just don't want to add extra steps to what is already a time-intensive task. </div><div></div><div>My current approach is to set some global effects inside of CC3+ to achieve pretty much the same thing without the baggage of a trip through PhotoShop. </div><div><br /></div><div>This post shares the settings and shows the results in the two snips of the Mourning Gate area in this article. </div><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><p></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK1mA52SB3MVBdIIarQYz3qmQWrHbtPID2E_0e3muKcR-1ACWlSjqndEDyZW094SqvWl0jKMNPZqPLoXGBw1N2KMw-RJDGDnIBPIrREn07LEjojdpIMEnDoxPZ5BoaBmGba7LNrpW33U/s1242/Gloomification+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK1mA52SB3MVBdIIarQYz3qmQWrHbtPID2E_0e3muKcR-1ACWlSjqndEDyZW094SqvWl0jKMNPZqPLoXGBw1N2KMw-RJDGDnIBPIrREn07LEjojdpIMEnDoxPZ5BoaBmGba7LNrpW33U/s320/Gloomification+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above: New Gloomy Image</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Sheet Effects Used</p><p>This is suprisingly easy in CC3. Just:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Go to the <b>Drawing Sheets and Effects</b> menu,</li><li>Activate Sheet Effects (if not already on),</li><li>Click <b>Whole Drawing</b> for scope,</li><li>Add a <b>Adjust Hue/Saturation</b> effect,</li><li>Set the Hue, Saturation, Lightness as desired,</li><li>Ok and Ok to apply the change.</li></ol>One thing to note, the saturation is (of course) implemented backwards from other graphics programs. A higher positive number results in a less saturated (more grey image).<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsbbh0L9pxLcr6HB9Mc5JXhWsgPTTSGyhvYdLhi_kpY5zk_YR2f1YJUMsUyH_yWP75wmqpFQ9JoDFn8t1RM6Qe-EMVnIMkMxAIkvuEcH_Ok5tOiDp3xRfr1bE0A3HWcSA8sV8eVrGLQc/s870/Gloomification+Global+Effects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="870" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsbbh0L9pxLcr6HB9Mc5JXhWsgPTTSGyhvYdLhi_kpY5zk_YR2f1YJUMsUyH_yWP75wmqpFQ9JoDFn8t1RM6Qe-EMVnIMkMxAIkvuEcH_Ok5tOiDp3xRfr1bE0A3HWcSA8sV8eVrGLQc/w640-h590/Gloomification+Global+Effects.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-26791391505388360302021-05-11T15:32:00.002-04:002021-05-26T11:56:23.864-04:00Adding Mist to a Campaign Cartographer Map<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKV5IyAIaV_NN87M9RRNI2-6OScO2QE83XXvBoy3DneGOED7oBruQFobYHxov3owIOt-xsQ8JTUJjgHWfBongY44Q3zVt87BnR-urYvuSZOmuU13BAzpvtj7aCPFN5Evt0pUW7ZRA6cM/s1000/Mist+Effect+Off.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1000" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKV5IyAIaV_NN87M9RRNI2-6OScO2QE83XXvBoy3DneGOED7oBruQFobYHxov3owIOt-xsQ8JTUJjgHWfBongY44Q3zVt87BnR-urYvuSZOmuU13BAzpvtj7aCPFN5Evt0pUW7ZRA6cM/w320-h214/Mist+Effect+Off.jpg" width="320" /></a> Recently, I have been drawing a lot of Barovian maps. That land is heavily misted, it's a major story element that really could use more presence on the maps I have drawn. </p><p></p><p>Initially, I ignored this element as the mists are going to change dramatically over time and not showing any, maximizes visibility for the battle map at the cost of flavor.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6AnmWje_SdOfKYR0CXUYYvyO8k8XG8KYyK14TdeYafV8_WinoJPIbhknfvsCBmVUX3CCK-bWyxkOm0YxRk6mL5FL4seBYR_za-FTZFsJyaqyLAxp0m1829jQpCINabcdUsAtL-zNlXQ/s988/Mist+Effect+On.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="988" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6AnmWje_SdOfKYR0CXUYYvyO8k8XG8KYyK14TdeYafV8_WinoJPIbhknfvsCBmVUX3CCK-bWyxkOm0YxRk6mL5FL4seBYR_za-FTZFsJyaqyLAxp0m1829jQpCINabcdUsAtL-zNlXQ/w320-h213/Mist+Effect+On.jpg" width="320" /></a>I decided I had to have mists in the bathhouse that I located on one of the maps so I muddled through and developed a technique that works for me. Allowing a quite misty appearance without necessarily obscuring all of the details. </p><p>At the request of a fellow CoS DM, I have taken on the task of updating the maps to have cobblestone major roads. While I am at it, I have opted to add some misty areas to the maps. This post highlights how I am going about that.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><hr /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>Obtaining Tile Fill</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhb37z4BI1MjXIh77H2kWQQmneeL21q9oEiwqBP-SYIUeEfkYV5CIdPKWgRGTl9-0vNnG9QMog5EB0wUJ3neRZBfcFKnbbFWBNV8bE_x8eRmvsumqZKO54WeZezesxzmwtDcaOSlCaQU/s682/Mist+Fill+Style.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="682" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhb37z4BI1MjXIh77H2kWQQmneeL21q9oEiwqBP-SYIUeEfkYV5CIdPKWgRGTl9-0vNnG9QMog5EB0wUJ3neRZBfcFKnbbFWBNV8bE_x8eRmvsumqZKO54WeZezesxzmwtDcaOSlCaQU/w400-h369/Mist+Fill+Style.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The first step is to add an appropriate fill to the drawing. I've only found one that works, but that is all we need. It is part of <a href="https://rpgmaps.profantasy.com/cartographers-annual-september-issue-2/" target="_blank">Cartographer's Annual: September (2015) Issue</a> -- <a href="https://rpgmaps.profantasy.com/tag/dracula-dossier/">Dracula Dossier</a> which I have installed in the conventional location. </div><div><br /></div><div>To add it, I needed to select the <b>Fill Style Properties</b> and start a <b>New </b>fill which I creatively called MIST. </div><div><br /></div><div>I set the scaling a bit larger than the default 10, as shown in the accompanying screen snap. This was to reduce the number of repeats of the tile. I used 15, but something more like 50 is also fine, it really depends on the map and how visibible repeated <i>tiles </i>will be. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gKs7uPypWdoU8qqiWnuoXPP11KcTq4gXeN73JJqnzULCus8Et3cv99KKZ8TBnLCqXFAohd8EyHQ-yJOJL9gdAV5ISudlyKQNMzkyJzo-Ax2lCujDR2L09ssw_P7XQKvPV5avApcWI40/s1363/Mists+Tile+Location.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1363" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gKs7uPypWdoU8qqiWnuoXPP11KcTq4gXeN73JJqnzULCus8Et3cv99KKZ8TBnLCqXFAohd8EyHQ-yJOJL9gdAV5ISudlyKQNMzkyJzo-Ax2lCujDR2L09ssw_P7XQKvPV5avApcWI40/w400-h230/Mists+Tile+Location.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The key step is to use <b>Find</b> to select the tile to be used for this new fill pattern. </div><div><br /></div><div>In this case, the bit maps are located in CC3Plus/Bitmaps/Tiles/Dungeon/ Annual Dracula Dossier as shown in the screen snap. I picked the VH (very High) pixel density version, to maximize pixel information as I knew I was going to stretch the tile larger than intended as the dungeon texture was being used in what is really a city map.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the MIST tile pattern is added it can be used in the drawing.</div><div><br /></div><div><h2><span><!--more--></span>Adding Mist Layers (CC3+ Sheets)</h2></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3dPkbq1MPJLt2n0ZHCI4s7nGsag91Plqbfm5ctitHkE5IsiSWcxFY0JTh6UE6FAHJ25wPhCoBLt3qGl9EEICDQT5Nz7PD7Zhk8iSJNejh9twMXVj4ZuVQHQBerGIokO-UGkCh0-CiR4/s874/Mist+Transparency+Effect.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="874" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3dPkbq1MPJLt2n0ZHCI4s7nGsag91Plqbfm5ctitHkE5IsiSWcxFY0JTh6UE6FAHJ25wPhCoBLt3qGl9EEICDQT5Nz7PD7Zhk8iSJNejh9twMXVj4ZuVQHQBerGIokO-UGkCh0-CiR4/w400-h375/Mist+Transparency+Effect.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Mists will want to be on one or more layers, make that sheets. </div><div><br /></div><div>...time for a digression, CC3+ names the concept that PhotoShop and essentially all other graphics programs call <i>layers</i>, <b>sheets</b>. I have never gotten my head wrapped around this other than to remember that CC3 uses the term in what, to me, is exactly the wrong way. Ok, back to topic... </div><div><br /></div><div>In my sample snippet at the top of this post, I used two layers so I could have denser mists in the corners. I position the MIST and MIST 2 sheets logically below, which keeping with CC3 tradition is above the ROOF and TREES layers. This was done to make the tall objects appear above the mists. In my final image (not shown here) I moved MIST 2 to below the TREE layer, dangit, below the TREE sheet so that it would appear above the Trees it covered and partially obscure them.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7PbsXnk2nWbkk2qzFdkEvMN8juPchXy9koOA6zW5Tr9ghpgylX6uQRsdqlYj5h9utX7tHjYMoJiemRGmlTyiWHd_d-g6jrKLRYMKkv8d3qBI1d6j-iGU-WUSmmM7V19EP8HFyzi2r7E/s877/Mist+Edge+Fade+Effect.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="877" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7PbsXnk2nWbkk2qzFdkEvMN8juPchXy9koOA6zW5Tr9ghpgylX6uQRsdqlYj5h9utX7tHjYMoJiemRGmlTyiWHd_d-g6jrKLRYMKkv8d3qBI1d6j-iGU-WUSmmM7V19EP8HFyzi2r7E/w400-h371/Mist+Edge+Fade+Effect.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div>For both of the MIST sheets, I added a Transparency and Edge Fade Effect. The values I used are visible in the accompanying screen snaps. My goal was to make the mists apparent but not impede the usability of the battle map. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><h2><span><!--more--></span>Adding Actual Mists</h2></div>Once the Sheets and Fill are added, it's a simple matter of making them active and then adding filled objects to the map to appropriate places.<div><br /></div><div>One thing to note, the mists will need to extend off the edge of the map at least as far as the edge fade effect if you want them to reach the map edges without fading when printed. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;"><!--more--></span><span style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">Adding Some Clouds</span></div><div><p style="text-align: left;">In addition to the mists which are a bit map overlay, symbols of clouds can be used. I found some that I like using in CC3Plus / Symbols / Dunjinni Archives / BL12_Dressing Clouds. They can be rotated and scaled as appropriate to create some more localized obscurement. </p><div>The Dunjinni Archives can be installed along with other art assets packaged by the Vintyri Project. This is discussed on ProFantasy boards, <a href="https://forum.profantasy.com/discussion/6307/csuac-2-0-for-cc3-released" target="_blank">CSUAC 2.0 for CC3+ Released</a>. I use these assets frequently and recommend they be installed to supplement what is provided with CC3+. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6AnmWje_SdOfKYR0CXUYYvyO8k8XG8KYyK14TdeYafV8_WinoJPIbhknfvsCBmVUX3CCK-bWyxkOm0YxRk6mL5FL4seBYR_za-FTZFsJyaqyLAxp0m1829jQpCINabcdUsAtL-zNlXQ/s988/Mist+Effect+On.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><br /></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-86681047556996633012021-05-11T08:35:00.004-04:002021-05-11T08:37:06.327-04:00Undead Fortitude (Roll20 Implementation)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggK4yl_wSKTV-YoM-TdNVW2zfVvqX5vJ3rKrsA_S6ka6uF_Tv4Xj9QwCdGQjdNlhrf1j6i28leGoG8ZJNdDtAUOqBTbeFgcSU-sf8UNQnvNrXXiJ-0_dFv1fAVNl2Stu5CgopxK-el-LU/s586/Screen+Shot+2021-05-11+at+8.13.38+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="586" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggK4yl_wSKTV-YoM-TdNVW2zfVvqX5vJ3rKrsA_S6ka6uF_Tv4Xj9QwCdGQjdNlhrf1j6i28leGoG8ZJNdDtAUOqBTbeFgcSU-sf8UNQnvNrXXiJ-0_dFv1fAVNl2Stu5CgopxK-el-LU/w320-h173/Screen+Shot+2021-05-11+at+8.13.38+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div> Undead Fortitude is one of those niche abilities that can occur never or often in a game. As I have been running Curse of Strahd, I've had it occurring a lot. The math is easy, but I'm lazy and want as few button clicks as possible. Well, my laziness has been rewarded thanks to a thread I discovered on <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/8566134/undead-fortitude-macro">app.roll20.net</a>.<p></p><p>A user by the name of <a href="https://app.roll20.net/users/162065" target="_blank">keithcurtis</a> posted a macro that enables a 1 click, 1 data entry path to displaying the actual DC and the relevant saving throw. Pretty nifty!</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPyg_R4UmGr5QtUR2ZG_vLUMtU4MmkqT-ibchZdBOcLfoxUVoPp1PNRHenslOCapzWhN-yhegryFMAqmQiH8_T9ioIqp411kMYnbphT7pvHUPCH4lLXj3oe6iw7qAyf965HOevegFFOc/s706/Screen+Shot+2021-05-11+at+8.13.24+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPyg_R4UmGr5QtUR2ZG_vLUMtU4MmkqT-ibchZdBOcLfoxUVoPp1PNRHenslOCapzWhN-yhegryFMAqmQiH8_T9ioIqp411kMYnbphT7pvHUPCH4lLXj3oe6iw7qAyf965HOevegFFOc/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-05-11+at+8.13.24+AM.png" /></a></div>The process for using the macro is as follows:<p></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Select the creature that was hit, I'll assume a zombie</li><li>Use the Nifty-Macro™ (I add it as a Token Action making it a one-click option)</li><li>Enter the damage taken in a single <i>killing</i> blow</li><li>Hit <b>Return</b> or click <b>Submit</b> button</li><li>Read the result in the chat window.</li></ol>Ok, it's actually five steps, but it is drop-dead (get it!) simple. <p></p><p>The use of the macro is shown in the accompanying screen snap. </p><p>The text of the macro is shown below. Remember that it is entered on a single line, so beware of gratuitous carriage returns that might be added via the olde cun'n'paste technique. </p><pre style="background-color: whitesmoke; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.42857143; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; overflow: auto; padding: 9.5px; word-break: break-all; word-wrap: break-word;">&{template:npcaction} {{rname= @{selected|character_name}}}{{description=**Undead Fortitude DC**= [[5+?{How much damage taken?}]]}}
%{selected|npc_con_save}<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></pre><p>As I mentioned, I like it to show up in the token's action bar, so add the macro text as shown below.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJWYUOD8tsYQDkYj4vHRSHWi7aEYTlJurm_2dx5HewQ-JQMwxaEC7B9W9uGs3xypvtHL3E6BIDDcAtnLnh2GFpfTME24D7-9EPfGzGOJ1mgQkrVoTY4el9wP9MuiADXEhw_5fg78d9ug/s1702/Screen+Shot+2021-05-11+at+8.11.28+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1702" data-original-width="1670" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJWYUOD8tsYQDkYj4vHRSHWi7aEYTlJurm_2dx5HewQ-JQMwxaEC7B9W9uGs3xypvtHL3E6BIDDcAtnLnh2GFpfTME24D7-9EPfGzGOJ1mgQkrVoTY4el9wP9MuiADXEhw_5fg78d9ug/w629-h640/Screen+Shot+2021-05-11+at+8.11.28+AM.png" width="629" /></a></div><p></p>Alternatively, create a macro on your account (I called mine: Undead_Fortitude) and link to it from an <b>Ability</b> with something like <b>#Undead_Fortitude</b>. <div><br /></div><div>I'm now looking forward to quicker, easier handling of undead fortitude rolls in my game. </div><div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-72591955486871019682021-03-30T22:18:00.010-04:002021-05-11T08:37:19.885-04:00Swarms of Medium or Small Creatures<p>Work in Progress...</p><p>D&D 5e has plenty of swarms most of which are medium (1 space) swarms of tiny creatures like: <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-rot-grubs" target="_blank">Rot Grubs</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-ravens" target="_blank">Ravens</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-insects-wasps" target="_blank">Insects (Wasps)</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-rats" target="_blank">Rats</a>, <a href=" https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-bats" target="_blank">Bats</a>, and quite a few more. </p><p></p><div>The only non-tiny creature, medium swarm I have found is the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/skeletal-swarm" target="_blank">Skeletal Swarm</a>, which is a Large (4 space) swarm of medium sized creatures, which sticks closely to the pattern of the other swarms. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a DM, I have bumped into situations where I have a <i>large</i> group of relatively low powered small or medium sized creatures creatures that are more powerful than the typically nearly trivial individual member of a swarm. These groups could be productively lumped into a swarm to speed play. I want to explore how I might do this in my games in this posting -- essentially, how to make something like a mob of villagers a single swarm instead of a bunch of individuals to manage. </div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">RAW Swarms</h2><p></p><p>The standard 5e swarms operate as if they are a single monster. They remain 100% effective as they take damage until they run out of hit points as other creatures do. They stay together have a defined (small) number of attacks. They really are one creature that has some unusual characteristics, typically: </p><div><p></p><ul><li><b>Damage Resistances:</b> Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing</li><li><b>Condition Immunities:</b> Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned</li><li><b>Swarm</b>. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny creature. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.</li></ul><div>That's it. Not a lot special about a swarm. The resistance to normal melee damage likely represents the difficulty of hitting many small targets with a single attack. The condition immunities reflect the many individuals that would make effects like charm that work on a single creature ineffective. The ability to fit through small spaces and share spaces also makes sense, though it opens up a grey area of the swarm ending its turn in a space where it doesn't fit, still, not a big deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, RAW swarms are easy to deal with if, perhaps less than satisfying.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">My Swarms</h2><div>I want to be able to handle large numbers of villagers, twig blights, and other small or medium creatures relatively easily. A few weeks ago I posted to Reddit on how I was planning to handle <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/m9elfq/general_vallaki_info_related_to_jezs_battlemaps/" target="_blank">mobs of villagers in Vallaki</a>. I'm thinking I will generalize and simplify what I spelled out for that special case here to handle other types of creatures.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mob of Villagers </h3><div>I defined a creature (effectively a Roll20 token) named <b>Mob of Villagers</b> that represents "X" villagers. The mob is composed of a specified number of villagers, each of which has 4 hit points (they are commoners). The overall creature has X times 4 total hit points. I defined some features that parallel the standard swarm and a few that extend it:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mob</b>. The Mob of Villagers can move through any opening large enough for a medium creature to pass through. The Mob of Villagers can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>If the Mob of Villagers regards a creature as an ally or a neutral entity, the creature can move through the Mob of Villagers's space without impeding movement or incurring damage. If the Mob of Villagers regards a creature as an enemy and the creature tries to move through the Mob of Villagers's space, they must succeed on a DC 14 Athletics contest to do so and the spaces occupied by the Mob of Villagers are considered difficult terrain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each time a hostile creature ends its turn within the Mob of Villagers's space, they take 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Strength in Numbers</b>. Upon reaching 75% hit points, the mob looses effectiveness as indicated in multiattack action. If reduced to 50% health, the Mob becomes a Group of Villagers.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mob Mentality</b>. Any creature attempting to sway the mob by charismatic means has disadvantage on their ability check. If a spell is used to affect the mob's mindset and requires a saving throw, the Mob has advantage on the roll. Attempts to sway the mob with violence or Intimidation automatically fail and attract the mob's wrath.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>One of Many</b>. Single target attacks can inflict no more than 4 points of damage (dropping one villager).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Self Help</b>. The Mob of Villagers has advantage on melee range actions as a member of the group will help the actor.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Multiattack</b>. As long as Mob of Villagers has more than 75% health (72 hp) it makes four attacks per turn. When at or below 72 health, three attacks can be made. The Mob of Villagers can make no more than two melee attacks against anyone target and may not repeat attacks in a round.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also included a few complications, such as changing creature type at a certain number of members representing the mob being reduced in size. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fundamentally, I am thinking that a "swarm" packs more creatures into a space than is standard, so a swarm of medium creatures would have 2, maybe 3 per space that normally holds 1. Small creatures might stuff 4 into that space. Any time the swarm is less dense than <i>normal</i>, that is one creature per space, the swarm would contract (e.g. large becomes medium) or dissolve into individual entities. </div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Generalized Swarm</h3><div>I really like some elements of the Mob I defined. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Specific count of creatures</li><li>Single target damage capped to a mean individual's hit points (One of Many)</li><li>Reduced number of attacks as counts reduces</li></ul><div>Some of the other elements seem ripe for simplification, especially changing the creature details (Mob to Group). </div></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm thinking these basic characteristics make sense:</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Damage Vulnerabilities. </b>AOE damage effects </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Condition Immunities</b>. charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Swarm. </b>The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a individual members. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Strength in Numbers</b>. The swarm can have as many as 4 medium/small members per space (huge 36, large 16, medium 4). The size of the swarm may be reduced when it "fits" a smaller space and must be reduced when it drops to 1 per space for a given size swarm (huge to large at 9, large to medium at 4). The swarm converts to individual(s) when one remains, unless it disbands sooner.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Swarm Mentality</b>. Any creature attempting to sway the swarm by charismatic means has disadvantage on their ability check. If a spell is used to affect the mob's mindset and requires a saving throw, and the spell can affect all the members of the swarm the swarm has advantage on the save attempt (e.g. Hypnotic Pattern). Attempts to sway the mob with intimidation automatically fail and attract the swarm's wrath.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>One of Many</b>. Single target attacks can inflict no more than the number of hit points of an individual (dropping one), critical hits can do twice the damage of an individual (killing two members of the swarm).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Behind my Friends. </b>The swarm is not subject to disadvantage when using ranged weapons in melee range.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Self Help</b>. The swarm has advantage on melee range actions, athletics checks and other abilities where a member of the group may reasonably help.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Multiattack</b>. The swarm may take an attack action for every 4 (round up) members of the swarm each turn, but no more than one attack may <i>originate </i>from any given space (limiting the number of attacks the swarm may use against individual targets). [Count:Attacks -- 36-33:9, 32-29:8, 28-25:7, 24-21:6, 20-17:5, 16-13:4, 12-9:3, 8-5:2]</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Trample</b>: As a free action, the swarm may trample (typically doing 2d4 bludgeoning damage) each prone creatures in its space(s). The swarm may move into a space occupied by a prone creature as part of its move and remain there.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Trip</b>: The Swarm may attempt to trip (knockdown) one adjacent creature no larger than one category larger than individual members of the swarm. The target must beat a [STR SAVE] with a disadvantaged Athletics or Acrobatics check. If the swarm succeeds it may move on top of the creature.</div><div><br /></div><div>The stats of the swarm should likely be adjusted from an individual. I see swarms as typically stronger than individuals as a helping hand is likely to be there when needed. A swarm may also be less intelligent or wise as group think seems to make people a fair bit dumber. </div><div><br /></div><div>The swarm needs some type(s) of melee attack, likely a ranged attack of some sort and may have a grapple and knockdown option as that seems appropriate for a swarm. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Defining a Swarm of Twig Blights</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiY0GEhEe0DUWbY3pffsNQ33JgHgKOpGXVweaSirLfr7IAx_ar-kzOkYkQK7WemBVBIuIU73ohDMQzx7gV-45R2uzAFhE86AHNJ08o0CRygm-lj5rq7nLcxFYjv8yGg-dKDWfuncdpMmQ/s1304/Screen+Shot+2021-03-31+at+8.04.05+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1304" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiY0GEhEe0DUWbY3pffsNQ33JgHgKOpGXVweaSirLfr7IAx_ar-kzOkYkQK7WemBVBIuIU73ohDMQzx7gV-45R2uzAFhE86AHNJ08o0CRygm-lj5rq7nLcxFYjv8yGg-dKDWfuncdpMmQ/w400-h191/Screen+Shot+2021-03-31+at+8.04.05+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>To test the above, I will attempt to define a useful Swarm of Twig Blights, something that I anticipate being quite useful in Curse of Strahd. </div><div><br /></div><div>Twig Blights are <b>Small</b> plants that tend to be used in large groups. They seem like a creature that would naturally group up into a swarm and work closely together, so they seem ideal. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'll drop the information into <a href="http://Tetra-Cube.com" target="_blank">Tetra-Cube.com</a>'s stat block creator as a trial, basically combining the Twig Blight standard info with the characteristics defined above. Using <a href="https://iadndmn.neocities.org/CRcalc.html" target="_blank">/u/ItsADnDMonsterNow's CR Calculator</a>, I estimated CR at 3. Here's the statblock I came up with:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Mlm1LwSBfBdDIXfvPCBFAV4N_7G7qqztz_qhG4mRoSt8Ep4i0r5oBmgIYWXsXFKvpGazoc91-jXcOvTWoSyu1eQ8YyzdS9_a3UwK4_BukGGQ8vGtHo6yxwdvCHjz4H_mmYw8M2_p0tM/s1868/Screen+Shot+2021-03-31+at+11.07.32+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1868" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Mlm1LwSBfBdDIXfvPCBFAV4N_7G7qqztz_qhG4mRoSt8Ep4i0r5oBmgIYWXsXFKvpGazoc91-jXcOvTWoSyu1eQ8YyzdS9_a3UwK4_BukGGQ8vGtHo6yxwdvCHjz4H_mmYw8M2_p0tM/w640-h542/Screen+Shot+2021-03-31+at+11.07.32+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>The resulting swarm is a bit less dangerous than the 16 individuals offensively; although, it is more able to apply that damage to a small number of targets because of its more compact nature. </div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, this seems to be promising. Now to create tokens.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Creating Swarm Tokens</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>To do this, I nosed about the Internet until I found an image that seemed appropriate for a token of these critters. I took that image, removed its background and stacked a few copies with some variations to make something that looked a bit more like a swarm. <br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>My next step was to run it through <a href="http://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/" target="_blank">Token Stamp 2</a>, setting a background color and a 12 sided border that I will subsequently use to create numbered tokens in photoshop so that I will end up with a series of numbered tokens, the numbers intended to indicate the number of individuals in the swarm.</div><div>After the tokens were created, saved as transparent PNGs, I uploaded them all to Roll20 and created a rollable table with the images in order so that the count can be changed. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKS5LOf0VRKIo8iquYrC1t7IuUlLGu7qIBGJ2QhMAJcm8waxLn4vq7dgYmnAbQUgSnIaIw4plhrZ-fQ39Q0PwAwGF1oUtzPUZ793iK8TX0CCh9FgIR38MW9P3Vy8lvzKK5J949VL4O2Q/s2048/Screen+Shot+2021-03-31+at+12.34.03+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1623" data-original-width="2048" height="509" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKS5LOf0VRKIo8iquYrC1t7IuUlLGu7qIBGJ2QhMAJcm8waxLn4vq7dgYmnAbQUgSnIaIw4plhrZ-fQ39Q0PwAwGF1oUtzPUZ793iK8TX0CCh9FgIR38MW9P3Vy8lvzKK5J949VL4O2Q/w640-h509/Screen+Shot+2021-03-31+at+12.34.03+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Creating Swarm in Roll20</h2><div>With the token made, I duplicated the closest facsimile I could find (Mob of Villagers) and started editing. All rather mundane stuff, except for a few things that allow for mostly automatic token selection and sizing.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Attributes and Abilities</h3><div>The attribute <b>NumberInSwarm</b> needs to be added to the creature's sheet. The initial value is not important as it will be managed by the macros. The maximum (second) value needs to be the maximum number of individuals represented by the token. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my example, I'll be setting this to 12 / 36 as I plan to have 12 individuals in most twig blight swarms at the start and a max of 36, which is most significant for controlling token size transition point. </div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Current Health</h3><div>The current health of the token implies a number of individuals and should be set appropriately when the creature is used. </div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Take-Damage Ability</h3><div>This is the big kahuna of the setup, a large macro attached to the swarm's sheet. This was written by Jon; I believe it is quite creative. Here is the text of the macro for a Twig Blight Swarm. I'll discuss it a bit further below. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">!token-mod {{</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> --set</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> bar3_value|[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> width|[[[[{[[([[[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]/@{selected|bar3|max}]]-0.0001]])d1]],[[{[[(1d[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]]])-<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">16</span></b>]],0}>1]],1}>1]]*70]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> height|[[[[{[[([[[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]/@{selected|bar3|max}]]-0.0001]])d1]],[[{[[(1d[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]]])-<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">16</span></b>]],0}>1]],1}>1]]*70]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>currentside|[[{[[@{selected|NumberInSwarm|Max}-[[floor((@{selected|bar3|max}-[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]])/<span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b>4</b></span>)]]]],[[0d0]]}kh1]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> --order</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> toback</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">}}</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">!setattr --name Swarm of Twig Blights --NumberInSwarm|[[{[[@{selected|NumberInSwarm|Max} - [[floor((@{selected|bar3|max}-[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]])/<span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b>4</b></span>)]]]],[[0d0]]}kh1]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">/desc The Swarm took [[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]] damage. [[{[[[[floor((@{selected|bar3|max}-[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]])/<b style="background-color: #fcff01;">4</b>)]]-[[@{selected|NumberInSwarm|max}-@{selected|NumberInSwarm}]]]],0}kh1]] of them were killed. It now has [[@{selected|NumberInSwarm|Max}-[[floor((@{selected|bar3|max}-[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{?{How much damage?},@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]])/<b style="background-color: #fcff01;">4</b>)]]]] left.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Roll20's language isn't exactly elegant, but it gets the job done. There are very few lines in the above code, if you are using it, be aware that many of the apparent line breaks are phantoms. </div><div><br /></div><div>The code asks the user for the damage taken, figures out how many individuals are left in the swarm, and sets the height and width of the token. A full-strength token will be <i>huge, </i>at half, it will be reduced to <i>large</i> and at 16 hit points (4 individuals) it will be reduced to medium-sized. </div><div><br /></div><div>The macro is hardcoded for creatures that have <span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b>4</b></span> health and a breakpoint to medium-sized of <b style="color: #ff00fe;">16. </b>Those numbers can be changed as needed.</div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Reset-Swarm Ability</h3><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes the token will end up with the wrong height or width for proverbial reasons (seems to be a Roll20 bug dealing with a race condition). Other times the token's health may be adjusted causing the token to be out of sync. This ability is a slimmed-down version of Take-Damage that just recalculates and sets the token size and side. It can be used to fix the occasional trip into the weeds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is the full text of this ability:</div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">!token-mod {{</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> --set</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> bar3_value|[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> width|[[[[{[[([[[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]/@{selected|bar3|max}]]-0.0001]])d1]],[[{[[(1d[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]]])-<span style="color: #ff00fe;"><b>16</b></span>]],0}>1]],1}>1]]*70]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> height|[[[[{[[([[[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]/@{selected|bar3|max}]]-0.0001]])d1]],[[{[[(1d[[[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]]]])-<span style="color: #ff00fe;"><b>16</b></span>]],0}>1]],1}>1]]*70]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>currentside|[[{[[@{selected|NumberInSwarm|Max}-[[floor((@{selected|bar3|max}-[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]])/<span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b>4</b></span>)]]]],[[0d0]]}kh1]]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> --order</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"> toback</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">}}</span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">!setattr --name Swarm of Twig Blights --NumberInSwarm|[[{[[@{selected|NumberInSwarm|Max} - [[floor((@{selected|bar3|max}-[[@{selected|bar3}-[[{0,@{selected|bar3}}kl1]]]])/<b style="background-color: #fcff01;">4</b>)]]]],[[0d0]]}kh1]]</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">That's it, not simple, but rather slick.</span></div><div><p></p></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-38313222344938196432020-12-11T13:37:00.002-05:002021-05-11T09:05:13.468-04:00Campaign: Travels in Barovia<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfPoG09CODv4mBPYRGse1PlCHwZDO_3SotJrvdhWvfWAQ8iGDxgWQNlFikhfgpiBCneLrBcN8APHH_u3_C7yb_Y1HKvEIvAj1saJGUylOYnEF_XlfBLq7MB_RSkxaGA0-3kEjeaGAEfI/s2048/Ravenloft+Beyond+Village+of+Barovia.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="2048" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfPoG09CODv4mBPYRGse1PlCHwZDO_3SotJrvdhWvfWAQ8iGDxgWQNlFikhfgpiBCneLrBcN8APHH_u3_C7yb_Y1HKvEIvAj1saJGUylOYnEF_XlfBLq7MB_RSkxaGA0-3kEjeaGAEfI/w400-h223/Ravenloft+Beyond+Village+of+Barovia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Joe is planning to host a campaign set in Barovia, a land lost in time, currently under the stewardship of one Count Strahd von Zarovich. Strahd has quite a history in the worlds of D&D, some of what the players may have heard is likely true, other portions may turn out to be myths. This posting is intended to share some links intended to be useful for the campaign and do a bit of a level set, especially to provide guidance for character creation and setting of some expectations. <p></p><p>The campaign setting is reasonably described as dark Gothic horror rather than a more typical heroic fantasy setting. To quote from Wikipedia:</p><blockquote><p><i>Gothic fiction, which is largely known by the subgenre of Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature and film that combines fiction and horror, death, and at times romance. ... Another well known novel in this genre, dating from the late Victorian era, is Bram Stoker's Dracula</i> <br /></p></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;">Campaign Links & Resources</h2><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>House Rules (to be reviewed/updated during session 0): <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1baMsNSy5u6hEoyTJKZUQvLVpN1oa0_-H/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Version 3.0</a></li><li>Session Notes and Group Treasure: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PvmGyjBPb3lzo3id6x-KB1mdxajqmUCr3sZzfBXKWZY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Travels in Barovia -- Player Notes</a></li><li><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iGtZHCjRYNQVPBsV6Fd2-v2Go8RAkIS-/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Session 0 Notes</a> <br /></li></ul><p>The player notes document requires permission to access. Please request that, if you are a player in the game, which will give you edit authority to the file. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p> Following subject to further revision as of 12/11/2020<br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Campaign Level Setting<br /></h2><p>Barovia is not a vanilla D&D setting, certain important aspects of it will only be discovered over time, but I think it is important that the players -- not the characters -- have a baseline understanding before starting the game.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Most inhabitants of the realm are human and xenophobic,</li><li>PCs are generally from the area of Faerûn near Waterdeep/Dessarian Valley,</li><li>PCs do not start as heroic adventurers, though they likely have potential,</li><li>Barovia is a harsh land, poor decisions or even bad luck can lead quickly to death, <br /></li><li>Mature themes are part of the setting (suicide, infanticide, drug addiction, slavery, rape, etc.), </li><li>Certain NPCs are pivotal to the story, </li><li>Time flows differently in Barovia than Faerûn,</li><li>Sandbox structure allows players freedom, freedom to make good or bad choices.<br /></li></ul> <div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Character Creation & Background<br /></h2><p>Because the game is planned to be played with four players and the module is designed for 4 to 6, initial stats should be set with the <i>improved array</i> from the house rules: 17-15-13-13-11-9 or 33 point buy, with no more than one stat over 15.</p><p>Some other important tidbits:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Characters do not need to start with any bonds between them, in fact I would rather if they all begin as strangers to each other. </li><li>While I would like to use the <i>I Know a Guy</i> rule from my house rules, it is not relevant in this setting, as the players know no one native to this land. </li><li>Multi-Classing requires a trainer or mentor, which may not be available.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/cos/appendix-a-character-options#HauntedOne" target="_blank">Haunted One</a> campaign specific background is available.</li><li>Character concepts focused on expected opponents are fine. <br /></li></ol><p>I'd like the players to build their characters in consultation only with the DM to the degree feasible. I would like the opportunity to supply input on character concepts and appropriateness for the setting. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Background</h3><p>Normally I love reading well crafted backstories on characters in my games. The prose really gives a character a former life that can matter in a campaign. Because this game will rip the characters from everything they have known and its deadly nature, I think we are well served to avoid big text backstory documents for this game. Instead, I ask for short answers to what is basically a checklist, so that I have information on:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Name</li><li>Race</li><li>Gender <br /></li><li>Height</li><li>Weight</li><li>Hair Style/Color</li><li>Eye Color</li><li>Skin Color/Description <br /></li><li>Identifying Marks (Tattoos, Birthmarks, etc) </li><li>Family Situation (parents, siblings, orphan, what have you)<br /></li><li>Hometown (where the character considers themselves to be from -- Faerûn locations)</li><li>Profession/Background (before heading to Barovia)</li><li>Faith (<a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/scag/welcome-to-the-realms#TheGodsofFaern" target="_blank">gods of Faerûn</a> venerated, if any) <br /></li><li>Attitude toward alcohol, drink(s) of choice</li><li>Traits/Ideals/Bonds/Flaws (standard 5E type things, though feel free to improvise)</li></ul><p>I imagine other things may be useful, but that seems like the minimum I'd want to be known without making an out-sized investment in developing a long backstory for characters who really have never been on an adventure. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Starting Gear</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Characters will start with <i>standard</i> gear typical of the specific character's class. I suggest just using a predefined bundle, but if you want to buy items, or do a few swaps, feel free. Let me know if you have a family heirloom or some such in mind and I can help define how that works in Barovia.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Anticipated Game Startup and Flow<br /></h2><p>I am hoping that we can have a session 0 via Discord to review house rules, talk a bit about some of the themes of this dark setting to make sure we are mutually aware of limitations the participants would like to have on the game.</p><p>How often we play, how long, and in what format needs to be discussed. I think the campaign might work as a hybrid of Roll20, Discord with Video, and most importantly Face to Face. Roll play is absolutely essential to this setting, to me that requires being able to see faces and reactions. There are portions that would benefit from Roll20's ability to give limited vision and handle large encounters. That leaves me wanting to be able to use both styles dependent on likely content for the week. </p><p>After Session 0, I want to run a series of individual sessions 1's. Each player will have a short adventure, really more of a meeting and some role play (with no anticipated combat) that will bridge the character from their starting situation to where the campaign proper begins. This can actually happen before the character is fully defined, allowing a player to form some details during a private session. </p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Meta Game Knowledge</h2><p>Ravenloft is a classic D&D setting. As such, it is not surprising for players to have some meta-knowledge about it. I'm hoping to explore any preexisting understanding during the private session 1's so that I can build the world appropriately. This may include asking the player to careful exclude meta-knowledge from character actions. </p><p>During play there will be times where one or more character is not aware of happenings that would be <i>off camera</i> to them. I anticipate allowing associated players to quietly listen in on those events to avoid what could be extended times in a cone of silence, and then managing this meta-knowledge away from their charater. At some points, where hidden knowledge is particularly impactful, I may choose to impose a cone of silence.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Magic in Barovia</h2><p>Barovia is a unique place. A place where some things are different than what party members are accustomed to. This may manifest in multiple ways.</p><p>One significant one is that some magic works differently, cosmetically, or perhaps functionally. Those differences will need to be discovered. For now, I just want players to be aware that there are differences.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Flora and Fauna of Barovia<br /></h2><p>The land known of Barovia is relatively small and sheltered from the Realms. As such, the range of creatures and plants is somewhat limited. What those limits is something that will need to be investigated to be understood. This limited variety will affect some aspects of the game. As examples, the following may be affected:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Shapechangers</b> -- Taking the form of a creature never seen is difficult at best, obvious at worst, </li><li><b>Polymorphs</b> -- Obtaining familiarity with creatures may be challenging, </li><li><b>Summonings</b> -- Creatures that don't exist in an area may not be summonable, </li><li><b>Familiars</b> -- Same as summonings.</li></ul><p>The variety of plants will also be limited. Their effect on the game may largely be cosmetic, but it will exist.</p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Scaling of the Challenges</h2><p> The world presented in Curse of Strahd has distinct elements of a sandbox. There are portions (e.g. the start) that are railroading, but largely players have choices. That isn't to say that all of the choices are feasible, as the difficulty of encounters largely do not scale with the level of the party. It is incumbent on the players to pay attention and take calculated not foolhardy risks; gather information and then set a course that they think might be successful.</p><p>That said, I believe it is incumbent on the DM to adjust the difficulty of the campaign to the group's size and composition. I ask that the players don't try to over optimize their characters. I'm looking for interesting characters who will fit into the world of Barovia with appropriate abilities but without a min-max focus. <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-28792434550901084432020-12-07T15:16:00.001-05:002021-05-11T08:38:53.989-04:00Feat: Mage Slayer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5-sO2MRImYLw_sz7pjIjGbX4UHLdfrzpClNkj_S8LOwKUCNctLnh_hwZTAMvwMORPMU27mb5-q_u6MuZ1g4yjLGRDOrINXvF4r1th50uirAziCyX1HvmKgZ0KYXh6Iq9kp14t8RaiNo/s266/images.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="190" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5-sO2MRImYLw_sz7pjIjGbX4UHLdfrzpClNkj_S8LOwKUCNctLnh_hwZTAMvwMORPMU27mb5-q_u6MuZ1g4yjLGRDOrINXvF4r1th50uirAziCyX1HvmKgZ0KYXh6Iq9kp14t8RaiNo/w143-h200/images.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><p></p><p>There is a <i>nifty</i> feat titled <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats/mage-slayer" target="_blank"><b>Mage Slayer</b></a> which seems clearly intended to make melee characters effective at shutting down casters or at least noticeably better at that task.<br /></p><p>By RAW the Mage Slayer when he/she is nose to nose (within 5 feet) of a caster can poke that caster as a reaction to a spell cast. Disappointingly, the mage slayer must politely wait for the cast to complete before making his/her attack. </p><p>That wait can be rather disappointing if the caster decided to polymorph the mage slayer into a slug, teleported away, or any of a myriad casts that disable the mage slayer's ability. </p><p>I'd think the mage slayer wouldn't patiently wait for the spell to complete, he or she would smack the caster and hope to fizzle that spell before it completes. This posting considers how to make that work in 5E (hint: a house rule).<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Before trying to improve the situation, lets make sure the RAW is in front of us, so here it is: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;">Feat: Mage Slayer<br /></h4></blockquote><blockquote><p>You have practiced techniques useful in melee combat against spellcasters, gaining the following benefits:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When a creature within 5 feet of you casts a spell, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.</li><li>When you damage a creature that is concentrating on a spell, that creature has disadvantage on the saving throw it makes to maintain its concentration.</li><li>You have advantage on saving throws against spells cast by creatures within 5 feet of you.</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">Lets suppose we just add a single additional bullet to the RAW ability:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">When you damage a creature in the act of casting a spell, you may force a (normal) concentration check to complete the spell. </span> <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">The use of the word <i>may</i> is important in the above, as the mage slayer may force a normal concentration check on the spell being cast, which will cause it to fizzle and drain a spell slot -or- wait to completion and force a disadvantaged concentration check to break a concentration spell. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I'd go a bit further and allow the Mage Slayer to stack a free "identify cast" in the same manner used for counterspell as this is the melee equivalent of that spell. This is outlined in <a href="http://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2020/02/counterspell-and-knowing-what-is-cast.html">Counterspell and Knowing What is Cast</a> posting.<br /></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-47489005322128525742020-12-07T10:49:00.005-05:002021-05-11T08:41:35.096-04:00Exhaustion and Fatigue<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguH6g1g2fK4bY1L0zaUQK5_jT7TgLph4kjRH7zG7mHhGejbtP8g0sWZyTat2E3C3dWYlfACBapNtJTfXMA8KMVt5lhlYlscRgqN8oBbpy_fUcwTAczKXaZLY8c2hoI3cejwLljsS-dx7U/s381/D5kA71bW4AI0-ty.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguH6g1g2fK4bY1L0zaUQK5_jT7TgLph4kjRH7zG7mHhGejbtP8g0sWZyTat2E3C3dWYlfACBapNtJTfXMA8KMVt5lhlYlscRgqN8oBbpy_fUcwTAczKXaZLY8c2hoI3cejwLljsS-dx7U/s320/D5kA71bW4AI0-ty.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Exhaustion is described in the Player's Handbook in <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/appendix-a-conditions#Exhaustion" target="_blank">Appendix A</a>. I read it as being rather clear and understandable as well as punishingly debilitating.<p></p><p>The high level of punishment is my driver for this post. Exhaustion is used in 5E as a penalty for extended forced marches, long term exposure to extreme conditions, chases of a minute or so duration and a few other things.</p><p>Recovering from exhaustion requires a long rest to <i>heal</i> one level, meaning that a character that has pushed forward for days and reached 5 stacks of exhaustion is going to need 5 days of rest to fully recover. That is a lot, but it is an extreme level of exhaustion from great and extended effort. A chase, run RAW, can result in that same level of exhaustion in 8 rounds, less than a minute of running. This implies that a far number of people running a quarter mile sprint end up incapacitated for the better part of a week before they are back to normal and suggests that longer sprints are just impossible. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Activities that Risk Exhaustion</h2><p style="text-align: left;">I'm thinking it should be possible to separate the activities that risk exhaustion into those that cause short-term or long-term consequences. As examples:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Trudging across the antarctic on foot risks bone numbing long term exhaustion,</li><li>Running a quarter-mile sprint typically cause nothing more than short term fatigue.</li></ul><p>I'll enumerate some of the exhaustion risks in 5E. I likely have missed something, but this seems a good sampling: </p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Not having a long rest in a day (or longer) -- <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/xgte/dungeon-masters-tools#Sleep" target="_blank">Xanther's Guide to Everything: Sleep</a></li><li>Hunger / Thirst -- <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/adventuring#FoodandWater" target="_blank">PHB: Food & Water</a><br /></li><li>Extreme weather conditions -- <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/adventure-environments#Weather" target="_blank">DMG: Weather</a></li><li>Walking for more than 8 hours in a day -- <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/adventuring#Speed" target="_blank">PHB: Speed (Forced March)</a></li><li>Certain Diseases -- <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/running-the-game#Diseases" target="_blank">DMG: Disease </a></li><li>Chasing for more than 3 rounds -- <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/running-the-game#Chases" target="_blank">PHB: Chase</a> <br /></li><li>Some special abilities, e.g. <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/barbarian#PathoftheBerserker" target="_blank">Barbarian: Path of the Beserker - Frenzy</a> </li></ol><p>I can see the first 5 of these being able to impose an extended disability requiring days to recover from. In the extreme all of these can result in death. That leaves me feeling Exhaustion as written is a good fit for these. They are very punishing and should generally be avoided.</p><p>The last two of my sample triggers for exhaustion are just entirely different. Sprinting for a minute causes very few people to drop dead. A barbarian who rages needing a day to recover and possibly dropping dead from using a class ability seems wacky. </p><p>I feel a need for something like exhaustion, that is a bit less punishing, can't directly cause a death and most importantly is easier to recover from. Something that reflects the fatigue we feel after intense but short term physical effort.</p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Defining Fatigue</h2><p>I've talked myself into wanting to define a new condition, similar to <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/appendix-a-conditions#Exhaustion" target="_blank">Exhaustion</a> that I will call Fatigue. I first wrote about Fatigue in my posting on the Chase mechanic. I'll be going back to revise that to refer to this definition. At this point, I'll define Fatigue, modeled on Exhaustion like this:</p><h4 class="quick-menu-2" data-content-chunk-id="eeff01b3-9253-48c6-ac6b-980b4fece594" id="Exhaustion" style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyYyG_DyXKrjfN_ZwQY9ZpHoWMPbaGAgOifv8eCILnSrEEU_HCdZhdAh-QBXJkXLHS_6F9ghHn3fhBV8-dVkuaBGACFwsmlNjFC7djUqc3-RwyhAwG51aZEDOyBXntuLXhwSWZKRHGsA/s1068/Screen+Shot+2020-12-07+at+10.33.41+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="1068" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyYyG_DyXKrjfN_ZwQY9ZpHoWMPbaGAgOifv8eCILnSrEEU_HCdZhdAh-QBXJkXLHS_6F9ghHn3fhBV8-dVkuaBGACFwsmlNjFC7djUqc3-RwyhAwG51aZEDOyBXntuLXhwSWZKRHGsA/w400-h175/Screen+Shot+2020-12-07+at+10.33.41+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Fatigue</span></h4><span style="color: #2b00fe;">
</span><p data-content-chunk-id="22304968-ffa9-4722-9bbc-b7bbbc21796a" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Some
special abilities and extended effort, such as chases and beserker frenzy, can lead to a
special condition called fatigue. Fatigue is measured in six
levels. An effect can give a creature one or more levels of fatigue,
as specified in the effect's description.</span></p><p data-content-chunk-id="22304968-ffa9-4722-9bbc-b7bbbc21796a" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">If an already fatigued creature suffers another effect that causes fatigue, its current level of fatigue increases by the amount specified in the effect's description.<br /><br />A creature suffers the effect of its current level of fatigue as well as all lower levels. For example, a creature suffering level 2 fatigue has its speed halved and has disadvantage on ability checks.<br /><br />An effect that removes fatigue reduces its level as specified in the effect's description, with all fatigue effects ending if a creature's fatigue level is reduced below 1.<br /><br />Finishing a short rest reduces a creature's exhaustion level by 3, provided that the creature has also ingested some drink. Finishing a long rest removes all levels of fatigue, provided that the creature has also ingested some drink. </span></p><p>
I think this creates a short term disability similar to Exhaustion that is largely corrected by a short rest. This makes more sense to me than the days long recovery period caused by a short but strenuous run. It may also be useful as a potential risk from other activities where exhaustion is just too extreme.</p><p>It also makes Barbarian Berserker a tad more attractive, which seems like a good thing.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-47728121058859506832020-12-05T17:11:00.003-05:002021-05-11T08:41:47.362-04:00Average Adventurers are Anything But Average (in D&D 5e)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc31Ve0eP4DlcA58RBHCeRaQo2BKObXPGAGfabxGbhP-h8sn8Sldd8d347Z9ieSmKH4Tdqp9gilKKFQM8ggnB5gGi_aDj5Vpgjrmd2CwKPE7XkQsoIpsA62rhtf2farKWXAgNsP32h6P4/s1280/maxresdefault.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc31Ve0eP4DlcA58RBHCeRaQo2BKObXPGAGfabxGbhP-h8sn8Sldd8d347Z9ieSmKH4Tdqp9gilKKFQM8ggnB5gGi_aDj5Vpgjrmd2CwKPE7XkQsoIpsA62rhtf2farKWXAgNsP32h6P4/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>One of the first issues facing any new campaign is how the characters will be created. I believe there are actually two issues that tend to be addressed a bit sloppily together when it comes to establishing character stats: (1) The technique to come up with values, and, (2) how to make the characters heroic, or amazing, or simply better than average - as the player who wants to play a below average character is fairly rare. <p></p><p>A similar issue also arises on hit points and in some games critical hits. Both of these aspects are oh so tempting to buff to make the player characters feel more heroic. </p><p>While the DM can always, with effort, scale challenges to fit any inflated "heroic" party, that just seems unnecessary to me. The game system also tends to break more easily at its limits. A character with multiple 20s in stats is going to be taking feats which when stacked can result in synergies that are both <i>fun</i> (for some) and game-breaking for everyone.</p><p>In this post I will be spelling out my view on the following topics, generally advocating an <i>average</i> approach, which given that adventurers are far, far from average, is actually heroic. </p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Starting Stats</li><li>Hit Points per Level</li><li>Critical Hits <br /></li></ol><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Starting Stats</h2><p style="text-align: left;">The PHB defines three methods for initial stats:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Roll 4d6, sum three, place in any stat, repeat six times;</li><li>Arrange stats from the standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) as desired;</li><li><a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/step-by-step-characters#AbilityScorePointCost" target="_blank">Point buy</a> with higher scores costing more.</li></ol><p>I intensely dislike the first one as it assures players start with different resources and encourages the "tossing" of inadequate results until acceptable stats are obtained. This typical has a player unhappy that they have too many low values or not enough high numbers to make a viable, they appeal to the DM who often ok's rolling another character. The cycle can of course repeat. Eventually, we have a character who is well above average for new characters and primed to push the boundaries of the game. I could go on, but I'll stop here and point out that I don't allow this technique, period.</p><p>The standard array is pretty darn standard. I like this idea for simplicity and working well in 5E's world of bounded accuracy. Many races have a +2 and a +1 bonus, so this array might become 16-16-13-12-10-8 which would usually make a prime stat 16, CON or DEX 16, the other 13 and the other three get what is left. That's not bad. I've often allowed the use of what I call the <i>improved array</i>: <span style="color: red;">17-15-13-12-10-8</span>. This array makes it possible to get those desirable stats even higher while keeping the low end low. <br /></p><p>Point buy allows for more customization while keeping things fairly much in range. The standard 27 points allows a start with three strong stats: 15-15-15-8-8-8 or a rather flat:13-13-13-12-12-12, or anything in between including the standard array. The budget can be changed, often inflated to make more "heroic" characters. Overall, it just feels unnecessarily complicated providing a bit of choice. </p><p>Point buy doesn't allow higher than 15 starting stats. If the table of costs was extended, a stat of 16 might cost 11 and 17 might cost 13 points. This in turn, implies a <i>budget </i>of 33 to purchase those stats. I suppose this could be referred to as <i>improved point buy</i>, the general method of obtaining the improved array of stats.</p><p> I end up feeling ok with either the normal or improved array or point buy for starting stats, though for simplicity, I favor the standard array. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Odd vs Even Stats</h4><p style="text-align: left;">One thing to note when looking at stats is the mile stone effect of reaching even values. The way most of the modifiers work, each even number is exactly as good as the odd value one higher, e.g. a 10 and an 11 are both a +1 to related skills. The standard array has a pair of odds which are tangibly improved by a racial bump, while my improved array has three odd values. This allows most races to leverage their stat bonuses to better modifiers. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The major outlier, the standard old human with +1 to all six stats gets no benefit out of most of those increases with the standard arrays. Standard humans who use point buy can arrange to have more of their stats with odd values to benefit from their racial bumps. I really like this effect. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Extending the Point Buy Table</h4><p style="text-align: left;">As I mentioned earlier, I can imagine an extension of the PHB's table to allow 16 and 17 stats with costs of 11 and 13 respectively. Extending the table allows more extreme stat arrays like: 17-17-9-8-8-8 at 27 points or 17-17-14-8-8 at a 33 point budget. Stats like that would make a MinMaxer smile and make me sad, so I need some more restrictions, perhaps: <span style="color: #2b00fe;">No stat over 15 unless the stat buy budget is at least 33 points and then only one is allowed. <span style="color: black;">That to some degree forces spending of points on other stats. </span></span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="color: black;">Sweetening the Fixed Arrays </span></span><br /></h4><p style="text-align: left;">Another way to encourage the fixed array vs point buy would be to make them a bit over budget. If this is done on the low end, it doesn't really affect player power and could reward that lowly human by making more stats odd to start with. I think I want to go with a rules statement much like this:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Initial stats will be set by party size to be either (DM sets budget, player choices method):</span></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Standard Array (15-14-13-13-11-9) or 27 point buy,</span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Improved Array (</span><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">17-15-13-13-11-9) or 33 point buy, only one stat over 15 allowed.</span><br /></span></li></ol><p style="text-align: left;">In both cases the arrays are three points over budget by bumping the lowest stats up to odd values, not a lot of help, but a bit of a reward for working with spread of abilities. <br /></p><p>My preference will be the standard array with a group size of five or more players. Improved array for lessor numbers.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Hit Points Per Level</h2><p style="text-align: left;">By RAW all characters start off with maximum hit points on their first hit die at first level, a Fighter will always have 10 plus his CON modifier hit points at 1st, a Wizard will have 6, etc. That is a solid change from earlier versions of D&D where rolling a one at first level was very possible and likely a death sentence for the character. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Hit points gained at levels beyond one are, by RAW, a straight die roll. That can easily lead to good or bad luck results, though, in the long run it tends toward average results. The small sample size of rolls (no more than 19 and often far fewer) makes really sturdy or fragile characters all too likely. </p><p style="text-align: left;">RAW does allow an alternative to take the average (rounded up) result from each hit die rolled while leveling up. This results in a Fighter with a d10, gaining 6 hit points each time they level up. This results in a calculable hit point total (no wondering if you remembered to roll a die or maybe did it twice leveling up) and it avoids extreme results which is good for game balance.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Its tempting to take both systems as I have done in the past in an attempt to make it better. Allow the player to roll and if it is better than average use that, otherwise the fixed value is used. This avoids really low results and allows for the fun die roll. The problem is it inflates hit points per level for the characters. That 10th level fighter (with a con of 11... don't ask) would have the following hit points with the three systems:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Standard Rolling: 60 average (19 to 100) hit points </li><li>Fixed Gain: 64 hit points<br /></li><li>Hybrid Described: 73 average (64 to 100) hit points</li></ul><p>The straight rolling system allows a really wide range. This creates pressure to allow low results to be rerolled which inflates the HP total of the character. The hybrid raises the character's hit points on average 15% and upto 56%. Both of these approaches devalue in game healing and force the DM to adjust the difficulty of encounters. </p><p>I am not a fan of either effect, so I want to go with Fixed HP gains per level.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Critical Hits</h2><p style="text-align: left;">Critical hits are fun. Roll that Nat 20 and you're going to do something awesome, like double damage! But wait, what if you roll snake eyes right after that awesome critical hit? That pretty much sucks. It's also totally possible by RAW:</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><i>When you score a critical hit, you get to roll extra dice for the
attack's damage against the target. Roll all of the attack's damage dice
twice and add them together. Then add any relevant modifiers as normal.
To speed up play, you can roll all the damage dice at once.</i></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">A snake-eye'ed critical hit is the driving reason for a variety of different rules for dealing with the damage. Here are versions I have seen in use:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Double the result of all dice rolled, </li><li>Roll all the dice twice (RAW),</li><li>Roll all the dice twice with a minimum result one more than max of normal hit,</li><li>Roll the normal dice and add the maximum that can be obtained on the dice.</li></ol><p>Approach 1 is optimally bad as it increases the odds of a snake-eye'ed roll and of a max. I'm done thinking about that one.</p><p>Approach 2 is exactly RAW. It increases the average damage, but still allows the unlikely double one roll.</p><p>Approach 3 forces crits to be more damaging than normal hits without increasing the probability of a massive damage roll. About half the time crits will be one higher than a max hit. </p><p>Approach 4 guarantees impactful critical hits. It significantly increases the probability of double weapon max damage. This creates opportunity for very swingy damage which is generally bad for survival of our heroes. </p><p>Approach 5, which I didn't list as I refuse to do it, would be critical hit tables typically with devastating results possible up to and including instant kills. While this can be <i>fun</i> it is bad for the players and difficult for the DM as a more extreme approach.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Why Swingy Damage is B-A-D</h4><p style="text-align: left;">Our heroes are involved in many many encounters through out a campaign. They win most of the encounters, rarely being killed and hopefully having few if any TPKs. This means on average, the heroes win their fights. The DM typically sets encounter difficulty such that the party winning is likely. This is all generally a good thing and works out well. </p><p style="text-align: left;">If the players get lucky with crits they win more quickly than expected, at worst this leads to an anticlimax, which likely does not negatively affect the arc of the game. If the monsters get lucky with crits players can easily be killed, for example an Adult Red Dragon on average bites for 26 damage, but can crit for 72 a big ouchie.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Big monster crits can quickly put the DM in a quandary, choosing between dead player(s) and fudging the dice. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Buffed Criticals Favor Certain Damage Types<br /></h4><p style="text-align: left;">All of the approaches that raise the average damage of a critical hit favor weapons and attacks that can critical hit. This helps monsters with larger attack die the most, characters with melee weapons and spells that roll to hit die. This devalues all of the "roll a save" type attacks in the game. The same type of attacks that already suffer from a dearth of methods to strengthen them as far as damage goes. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Any time something is buffed everything else gets comparatively weaker, sometimes in unexpected ways. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">My Preference as DM</h3><p style="text-align: left;">I prefer approach 2, 3, 4 in that order and refuse to allow 1 or 5. </p><p style="text-align: left;">RAW handling of criticals (approach 2) is most favorable to the players and easiest for the DM. It does allow the dreaded snake eyes but it has much less chance of a player being sliced into bits by one lucky hit and doesn't devalue caster damage.</p><p style="text-align: left;">If the players really want 3 or 4, I'll play the campaign that way knowing that any character killed by a critical has signed his or her own death warrant.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-38366195802310594742020-11-30T09:44:00.005-05:002021-05-11T08:41:53.665-04:00Light, Darkness, and Darkvision...ok, mostly Darkvision<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVsjirosSWaGqIReMGzb6hxOiff4yYIrLgPO6vgLsxZXIVzjX7UVjhNFR5Xa_smq_Ps3ZZ6YVlU78wS4bTF54kkpE6VHfxZkuUJW2U-j-OlD6zqDslXaK70HcXOnUYh7Gsxh5SR7IxXM/s402/2015-06-11-22-32-06.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="402" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVsjirosSWaGqIReMGzb6hxOiff4yYIrLgPO6vgLsxZXIVzjX7UVjhNFR5Xa_smq_Ps3ZZ6YVlU78wS4bTF54kkpE6VHfxZkuUJW2U-j-OlD6zqDslXaK70HcXOnUYh7Gsxh5SR7IxXM/w320-h189/2015-06-11-22-32-06.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>You just can not see in the dark. Well, unless you are playing D&D 5E as one of the something like 70% of races that have Darkvision. <p></p><p>Darkvision is pervasive in D&D 5E. Most of the playable races have it, almost all of the monsters have it. Tasha's even introduced an option to let everyone have it. It is just pervasive.</p><p>I've seen many adventuring groups with one poor human being lead around in the dark by his group mates who refuse to light a light. Presumably there are whole underground cities with nary a light source to be had...hmm, that just doesn't jib with typical fantasy world visions. It also makes dungeon delving a different thing than what I want to run. So, I'm going to look deeper into this topic in this post and make sure I know how I want to handle this topic.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Before delving into the dark, I want to provide some links that I reviewed while thinking about this topic and then a bit of RAW extracting to set a level playing field.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Web Links on the Topic</h2><div>I'm far from alone by being bothered or confused about light/dark/vision in 5E. Here are some sources that I reviewed:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/just-about-sick-of-darkvision.453827/" target="_blank">Just About Sick Of Darkvision</a>, posted on Morris's Unofficial Table Top News in 2015. The author delves into how absolutely common darkvision is and how it seems to imply absurdities in world design. </li><li><a href="https://theangrygm.com/ask-angry-seeing-in-the-dark/" target="_blank">Ask Angry: Seeing in the Dark</a>, posted by (of course) the Angry GM. Angry rants quite a bit before concluding that the effect of light in game is highly dependent on the DM. </li><li><a href="https://nerdomancerofdork.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/a-treatise-on-darkvision/" target="_blank">A treatise on Darkvision</a>, posted by the Nerd-O-Mancer of Dork. The author's approach is to eliminate the dark part of darkvision and replace it with something closer to low light vision.</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhcjHnFHW8" target="_blank">Darkness, Light, and Vision: Dungeons and Dragons 5e Rules Explained,</a> video by the Dungeon Dudes in 2019. The dudes review the rules, share opinions and suggest a couple of house rules. </li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sto1TA1hw2U" target="_blank">Darkvision in 5E D&D:: What's the DEAL?</a>, video posted by Complex Games Apologist in 2020. The apologist talks around the subject mixing common sense with rules while poking a bit of fun at the Dudes for seemingly taking the rules to mean what they say.</li></ul>After all of that reading and watching, I feel better informed and I am certain that the community is not in agreement on how to best handle this topic.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Rules As Written (RAW)</h2><div>This is basic stuff, it is addressed in the basic rules.</div><div><div></div></div><blockquote><div><h4><a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/adventuring#VisionandLight" target="_blank"><i>Vision and Light</i></a></h4><div><i>The most fundamental tasks of adventuring--noticing danger, finding hidden objects, hitting an enemy in combat, and targeting a spell, to name just a few--rely heavily on a character's ability to see. Darkness and other effects that obscure vision can prove a significant hindrance.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured. In a <b><u>lightly obscured area</u></b>, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><b><u>A heavily obscured area</u></b>--such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage--blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/appendix-a-conditions#Blinded" target="_blank">blinded</a> condition when trying to see something in that area.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The presence or absence of light in an environment creates three categories of illumination: <b>bright light</b>, <b>dim</b> <b>light</b>, and <b>darkness</b>.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><b><u>Bright light</u></b> lets most creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide bright light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of illumination within a specific radius.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><b><u>Dim light</u></b>, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><b>Darkness</b> creates a heavily obscured area. Characters face darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical darkness.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b><u><i>Darkvision</i></u></b></div><div><i>Many creatures in fantasy gaming worlds, especially those that dwell underground, have darkvision. Within a specified range, a creature with darkvision can see in darkness as if the darkness were dim light, so areas of darkness are only lightly obscured as far as that creature is concerned. However, the creature can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.</i></div></div><div></div></blockquote><div>The above references the blinded condition that is defined as follows:</div><div><blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>Blinded</i></h4><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>A blinded creature can't see and automatically fails any ability check that requires sight.</i></li><li><i>Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have disadvantage.</i></li></ul></div></blockquote><div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmO94HDA7D9g88AoCSnSYeIPy4Q8nyMWyo2by4PLp8nxReEhvK-R8DMja9Mq7ap6IOJiw8SAkAZwJhfzA8YT-8XHOSuRqAIjqyyZXlRvvq6lZe5k_pr-1B7TV2MZ-sV4lgUsuV4VbcjU/s870/Screen+Shot+2020-11-30+at+8.22.57+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="870" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmO94HDA7D9g88AoCSnSYeIPy4Q8nyMWyo2by4PLp8nxReEhvK-R8DMja9Mq7ap6IOJiw8SAkAZwJhfzA8YT-8XHOSuRqAIjqyyZXlRvvq6lZe5k_pr-1B7TV2MZ-sV4lgUsuV4VbcjU/w200-h154/Screen+Shot+2020-11-30+at+8.22.57+AM.png" width="200" /></a></div>Beyond those rules there are a large number of different light sources which provide bright light with a given radius and dim light a bit further. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The rules as written contain both a couple of things that bother me and tend to gloss over potential issues of operating in Dim Light. I want to dive into those just a bit before addressing how I intend to handle this topic.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Normal Darkness Blocking All Vision</h3><div>The bit of the rule that states: <i>A heavily obscured area--such as <b><u>darkness</u></b>, </i><i>opaque fog, or dense foliage</i><i>--blocks vision entirely. </i>Implies that an observer standing on a hill top can not see the fires of a camp at the base of the hill because of the darkness between his position and the fire. The second sentence has a slightly different meaning, applying only to things in the area, which seems to not be what was intended as things like fog and dense foliage block vision both where they are and to anything further away in that direction.</div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing through darkness is easy, seeing something in darkness is hard. RAW just totally misses that mark. </div><div><br /></div><div>The rule makes a lot more sense if the word, <i>magical, </i>is inserted in front of darkness and <i>or beyond</i> is added at the end. Doing so gives me the following, hopefully more intuitive house rule:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Vision and Light: A heavily obscured area--such as <b><u>magical</u></b> darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage--blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see something in <b><u>or beyond</u></b> that area. <b><u>Normal darkness only affects objects within it.</u></b></span></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Two Blind Combatants</h3><div>The rules on the blinded condition when applied to two combatants in the dark gives them each advantage and disadvantage which results in them fighting normally. This seems wrong. I'd expect two people groping about in the dark to take a little longer to land telling blows. It also negates a possible benefit of AOE damage in darkness which doesn't need to see its target. </div><div><br /></div><div>While 5E is rigorous on advantage and disadvantage being offsetting. Sometimes that feels wrong, though it is a vastly simplifying choice that I think must be retained. If I just insert the necessity to see a blinded target to have advantage, I get to the result I want something like this:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Blinded, change second bullet too: Attack rolls against a <b><u>blinded</u></b>, <b><u>visible</u></b> creature have advantage. <b><u>A blinded</u></b> creature's attack rolls have disadvantage.</span></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Reining in Darkvision</h2><div>After digging into the rules, I feel I have reinforced the importance of picking a character race (there are tons of them) blessed with darkvision as an ability. From what I have gathered darkvision is barely more than zero cost in terms of race trade-offs, races that have it lose essentially nothing for having the perk. TCoE in an optional rule, says that Darkvision is equivalent to one skill -- I can't imagine not taking darkvision at that cost and with the way it is normally handled. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've read several posters who advocating stripping it from most races, or nerfing it with limitations such as only working in dim light. That is an appealing idea to me. Others have suggested making it universal, but I like using darkness in dungeons as one features of a dark deep place. Darkness just seems like an important thing, something I don't want to hand wave away.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Effect of Dim Light</h4><div>An alternative is to really dig into that bit on what dim light provides and makes sure there are meaningful limitations on it. </div><blockquote><div><i>In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, ... creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.</i></div></blockquote><div>Reading that narrowly, it's not much of an issue. It only applies to active perception checks, no big deal. That is the way it is usually treated. What if, instead it is read much more broadly, interpreted to mean it is difficult to see in dim light. That's really not much of a stretch and could result in quite a few other disadvantages to operating in dim light:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Passive Perception subject to a -5 penalty, </span><span>(essential disadvantage on a passive check)</span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Double movement cost in unfamiliar areas, </span>(footfalls must be watched more carefully)</li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Reading is difficult or impossible, </span>(Ink on a page is nothing more than shadows)</li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Traps may be impossible to see, </span>(Is that a pit ahead or just floor, can't see well enough to tell)</li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Stealthy movement is at disadvantage or 1/2 (again) speed.</span></li></ul></div><div>There may be other disadvantages too operating in dim light, but that is a start. Limitations like these make sense to me and support the low cost of having darkvision by making it less powerful; which, in turn encourages use of some light source providing bright light.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Vulnerability of Darkvision</h4><div>I can also imagine allowing certain <i>attacks</i> to focus on darkvision. Suppose a creature traveling in darkness using darkvision is popped with bright light. That flash of light coming into existence would be very much blinding, presumably more so than to a non-darkvision creature exposed to the same effect. Might the creature be <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/appendix-a-conditions#Stunned" target="_blank">stunned</a> for a round and <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/appendix-a-conditions#Blinded" target="_blank">blinded</a> for a few more (d6) if they fail a DEX save? </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm considering the following house rule (creating a flash-bang tactic without the bang):</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A creature using darkvision in the dark suddenly subject to bright light must make a DEX save or be blinded. At the end of each round, a CON save may be made to restore vision. If daylight is used, stunned for one round and then blinded on failure. Creature is blinded for 1 round on successful save.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Certain spells can be crafted in "dark" light, visible only to creatures using dark vision. Some of these would be:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dark Illusions (any variety)</span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dark Hypnotic Pattern</span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dark Color Spray</span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dark Shroud - Cantrip similar to Light but creates an area that negates darkvision <br /></span></li></ul></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A dark variety would need to be prepared as normal, taking up a spell slot.</span></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Active Darkvision</h4><div>The vulnerabilities suggest a need to be able to turn on/off dark vision. I imagine this to be essentially something like a lens that a creature either has active or not. I will typically assume darkvision to be active, but:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A creature with darkvision can activate/deactivate it with a free action. </span></div><div> </div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Seeing Further in the Dark</h2><div>RAW ignores reflections and further light sources. That is sensible in that the topic can get waaaay complicated, but it is something I think worth mentioning and jotting down a basic ruling on.</div><div><br /></div><div>First everyone assumes they can see a light source a long way off. That totally makes sense, the amount of detail is of course attenuated by distance, but a <i>normal</i> eye can see pretty much any light source that is in its line of sight. They can also see objects revealed by that light to the degree allowed by distance.</div><div><br /></div><div>Second, reflective objects can be noticed far beyond the light cast by a source and generally usable. How much further? Well, that is pretty situational. I think I'll start with a double a light source's dim light circle and increase from there. Objects that gather/concentrate light (e.g. eyes with darkvision) are visible as glints of light at twice again the distance. Distance to the reflections can only be roughly guessed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Third, an object in darkness but silhouetted by a more distant light source is apparent to an observer who would see what appears to be a shadow without details. The observer may target such a target at disadvantage as distance in this situation is hard to estimate accurately. </div><div><br /></div><div>Attempting to put these rather common sense based thoughts into rule-speak, I get the following:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><u>Extended Vision in the Dark</u></b>: (1) Distant light sources are visible if in LOS and objects they illuminate may be seen. (2) Reflective objects <i>glint</i> at twice or more the distance from the light source. Objects that are especially good at gathering and concentrating light (darkvision eyes) <i>glint</i> at four times the lights radius. Distance to a <i>glint</i> can only be guessed imposing disadvantage on any attacks. (3) Silhouetted objects can be seen and targeted at range with disadvantage.</span></div><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-12324248799800184942020-11-29T15:25:00.001-05:002021-05-11T08:42:25.130-04:00Inspiration - A Non-Inspired Rule per RAW<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMI7lkjqzZIArM_JRHWhIzFnCNNRsKHjFodxVDtY-O1msqi_ERt3h6Tj4RXD02DCVePecKChyphenhyphenjE5yR9IYAA27P0fCMU6rnRgX8Xkjraq0uVsAEPFOBeLeCYV1fE1Oy9O3K7x_bY5DSk8/s1040/Inspiration.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1036" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMI7lkjqzZIArM_JRHWhIzFnCNNRsKHjFodxVDtY-O1msqi_ERt3h6Tj4RXD02DCVePecKChyphenhyphenjE5yR9IYAA27P0fCMU6rnRgX8Xkjraq0uVsAEPFOBeLeCYV1fE1Oy9O3K7x_bY5DSk8/w200-h200/Inspiration.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>D&D 5E didn't add many new elements; it largely streamlined and simplified mechanics that have been in one or more of the earlier versions. Inspiration is one of the brand new items. It essential provides the DM an ability to give any/all player(s) a virtual cookie, a reward, in the form of advantage on a future roll of his/her choice. <p></p><p>The idea seems really solid. Give the DM something other than Gold, Magic, or XP with which to reward players. Sadly, the actual rule works out to be a tad bit uninspiring. </p><p>In this post, I will take a closer look at the rule, discuss a bit of info from the web and define how I want to try handling Inspiration in my next campaign. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">Inspiration as Defined in RAW</h2><p>Inspiration as defined in the Player's Handbook is rather straightforward. I'll include a shortened version below. </p><blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Inspiration</u> </b></h4></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>Inspiration is a rule the game master can use to reward you for playing your character in a way that’s true to his or her personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw....</i></p></blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"><u></u></h4><blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"><u>Gaining Inspiration</u></h4><p><i>Your DM can choose to give you inspiration for a variety of reasons. Typically, DMs award it when you play out your personality traits, give in to the drawbacks presented by a flaw or bond, and otherwise portray your character in a compelling way. Your DM will tell you how you can earn inspiration in the game.</i></p><p><i>You either have inspiration or you don’t - you can’t stockpile multiple “inspirations” for later use. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"> <u>Using Inspiration</u></h4></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>If you have inspiration, you can expend it when you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending your inspiration gives you advantage on that roll.</i></p><p><i>Additionally, if you have inspiration, ... , you can give up your inspiration to give that character inspiration.</i></p></blockquote><p> While this is a nifty concept, I end up having trouble with it for several reasons. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Issues with RAW Inspiration</h2><div>There are two major issues for me:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>When to Award Inspiration</li><li>Players remembering that they have Inspiration</li></ol><div>Awarding inspiration for play that fits a characters personality traits, ideals, bond, and (or) flaw sounds fine, but it assumes the characters have all written down reasonable information for these *AND* that the DM remembers them. For me, that is asking a lot, too much. I am unlikely to remember a handful of those characteristics and frankly I'm not all that interested in trying to reinforce these aspects of the character sheet. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my currently running Campaign, Trouble in Dessarin Valley, I have been using a rule suggested by the AngryGM in his article titled: <a href="https://theangrygm.com/take-the-suck-out-of-inspiration/" target="_blank">11 Ways to Take the Suck Out of Inspiration in D&D</a>, option 1: Angry’s Awesome Inspiration System. In a nutshell, this approach lets all of the characters start each session with inspiration that they can spend as they like in that session. The premise being they are all heroes and therefore reasonably inspirational. He also defines a setback system that allows for additional inspiration though that system is too much work for too little reward to appeal to me. While this does fix both of my issues with RAW it ends up negating the reward element and just becomes a standard character ability.</div><div><br /></div><div>That leaves me unhappy with RAW and dissatisfied with my current approach. I need something different.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Different Inspiration </h2></div><div>At its root, Inspiration is a reward the DM can give to a player for <i>good</i> play. I'm tempted to strip it back to that and allow players to essentially nominate other players for inspiration. Maybe something more like this (only affects gaining Inspiration):</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">At any time the DM may award a character with <i>Inspiration</i> (if he/she doesn't currently have it) for good play, usually specifically role-play but a brilliant tactical idea is fair game. Players may nominate other players via a private message to the DM, the DM may act on nominations as seems appropriate. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>This returns the reward aspect, makes it not just an automatic thing and allows players to assist in making the call as to when Inspiration should be awarded.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Effect of Inspiration </h2><div>In practice I have been allowing players to opt to use Inspiration after the fact, that is they roll, don't like the result and use Inspiration for what amounts to a reroll. That is not correct per RAW, but it feels right to me as merely granting advantage makes Inspiration fairly unimpressive.</div><div><br /></div><div>This leads me to amending the Using Inspiration rule: <span style="color: #2b00fe;">A player may choose to use Inspiration after seeing the result of their roll. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Some games may allow inspiration to be used in other ways. For now, I am satisfied with allowing an after the fact <i>advantage</i> roll to be made. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-60305428363864357382020-11-29T11:16:00.002-05:002021-05-11T08:42:06.985-04:00Chase Scenes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPti2p0XZitIheEpoYhvGEx1CL9faMel_Z2fwnNuwsDH400H8KjgQewYui_FgISOHSHOxkuTTBewmfY7YrlOOHJNDoVUQZ_6-vQXDISBmY9bmUK4Gisr-zJBG4T_K5wg_rxeuuCYi_lk/s1191/pursuit-ten.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPti2p0XZitIheEpoYhvGEx1CL9faMel_Z2fwnNuwsDH400H8KjgQewYui_FgISOHSHOxkuTTBewmfY7YrlOOHJNDoVUQZ_6-vQXDISBmY9bmUK4Gisr-zJBG4T_K5wg_rxeuuCYi_lk/s320/pursuit-ten.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The assassin fires a crossbow bolt through the window, landing a bolt in the chest of her target. He then leaps from the balcony and attempts to escape into the crowd hoping that his slight lead over the party will be enough to get away....What follows could be an interesting chase event or just a simple counting of distances with a predetermined result just playing out as difference in speeds. I've DMed such an event rarely but never had I been happy with the way it worked. <p></p><p>I ran across a post on <a href="http://oldschoolroleplaying.com" target="_blank">oldschoolroleplaying.com</a> that reviews the history of pursuit rules in D&D. I think it makes an interesting read. In this post, I will look at how chases are defined in RAW and consider a couple alternative rules. <br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">Chase as Defined in DMG</h2><p>The Dungeon Masters Guide, Chapter 8 has a section on <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/running-the-game#Chases" target="_blank">Chases</a> that makes for a fairly simple process; though, it creates confusion for a fairly significant part of the player base. </p><p>The whole section is predicated on the observation that a strict comparison of speeds results in a totally predictable outcome after a calculable number of rounds -- boring. The chase rules in RAW are intended to make this a more interesting event. </p><p>Here's my boiled down view of RAW:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>A chase begins when the quarry attempts to flee and at least one creature attempts to pursue,</li><li>Track the distance between the quarry and the lead pursuer (closest at start of each round),</li><li>Participants in chase, can perform one action and move each round,</li><li>Dash actions can be freely used 3+Con Bonus times. After that a DC10 Con check must be passed to avoid a level of exhaustion,</li><li>Attacks can be made with an action as normal. <b>Opportunity attacks are not allowed between participants in the chase, </b></li><li>If the quarry is able to break LOS with ALL of the pursuers, he/she may make a free Dex(stealth) check opposed by the passive perception of the pursuers. Advantage/disadvantage per <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/running-the-game#EndingaChase" target="_blank">Escape Factors</a> table in the DMG. Success ends the pursuit, </li><li>At the end f each round, each participant roles on an appropriate Chase Complication table, </li><li>Pursuit ends when the quarry is forced to combat, exhausted, hides, or the pursuers give up. </li></ol><div>That's all pretty simple in keeping with typical 5E rules. Though the bit about exhaustion takes a long time to come into effect, typically 6 or so rounds (longer than most pursuits) and is rather brutal requiring a long rest to recover each level -- a less than one minute chase could lay up a creature for four days to completely recover. That bit just doesn't work for me.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Alternative Chase Rules</h2><div>As is often the case, quite a few people have tried to step in to offer alternative systems when RAW seems underwhelming. Three of which are linked below:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Hipsters & Dragons: <a href="https://www.hipstersanddragons.com/new-chase-mechanics-5e-dnd/" target="_blank">How To Run a Chase in 5e D&D…. Step by Step Rules!</a></li><li>GM Binder: <a href="https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-L4auGJhU46JKe53iZ7J" target="_blank">Revised Fifth Edition Chase Rules </a></li><li>Old Dungeon Master: <a href="https://olddungeonmaster.com/2015/01/17/dd-5e-quick-reference-chase-rules/" target="_blank">D&D 5E – Quick Reference – Chase Rules</a></li></ul></div><div>The first two replace the DMG rules in whole, creating rather more complete and complex systems. At this point, I'm not thrilled about using either of these and will not be looking at them further. </div><div><br /></div><div>The third is really just an extension of the RAW rules which seem solid to me. Ronny (apparently the old dungeon master himself) retains the seemingly unlikely to be used but brutal exhaustion rules that still bother me. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Exhaustion in a Chase - Fatigue</h2><div>Exhaustion potentially setting in in 3 + Con Mod rounds makes it seem unlikely to be a factor, but if it is a long rest to recover each level is just a brutal punishment for what seems like being winded by a sprint. The idea is sound but the time required is so long and the cost so steep as to make it seem unworkable. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I want is something that is a bit easier to trigger and much easier to recover from. That leads me to wanting to define an alternative status to exhaustion to represent different levels of fatigue from sprinting. I'm going to call it exactly that, Fatigue. </div><div><br /></div><div>Edit 12/7/20: I've posted a separate article focused on Fatigue, as such, I have stricken my brief definition of fatigue in this post and refer the reader to me post on <a href="http://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2020/12/exhaustion-and-fatigue.html" target="_blank">Exhaustion and Fatigue</a>.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><strike>Fatigue behaves very much like exhaustion, it has levels with stacking effects, but can be completely recovered by taking a short rest (Breather recovers up to 3 levels). Here are the levels of fatigue I intend to use:</strike></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><strike>Disadvantage on Ability Checks</strike></li><li><strike>Speed Reduced by 5</strike></li><li><strike>Speed Reduced to Half </strike></li><li><strike>Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Saving Throws</strike></li><li><strike>Speed Reduced to 5</strike></li><li><strike>Speed Reduced to 0</strike></li></ol></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">After CON modifier rounds of pursuit, a DC10 Con check must be passed each round to avoid accumulating a level of Fatigue.</span></div><div><strike><br /></strike></div><div>I think this addition to the Old Dungeon Master's rules results in something close to RAW which I think is even better -- that is what I plan to use. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-15426308167278540462020-11-28T15:37:00.000-05:002021-05-11T08:42:35.321-04:00UA Class Features and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE)<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIQAPdcRXd8rsrfO_ooXmsMoMHnm5YyYlabUiuj8RBVeyOzEv5-0sLldOT3T4iwcfmC-P398bZjXAdnnRKUfBg2sWQXQ92zoQrV-yXEWu83FiZj87GKzXre6FPmEEkQTwEXTHiK7K1dA/s1145/tasha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1145" data-original-width="936" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIQAPdcRXd8rsrfO_ooXmsMoMHnm5YyYlabUiuj8RBVeyOzEv5-0sLldOT3T4iwcfmC-P398bZjXAdnnRKUfBg2sWQXQ92zoQrV-yXEWu83FiZj87GKzXre6FPmEEkQTwEXTHiK7K1dA/w266-h320/tasha.jpg" title="Tasha" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasha Contemplating</td></tr></tbody></table> TCoE includes a large number of class specific options. Each class has a number of <b>OPTIONAL</b> Class Features and then a handful of new subclasses. </p><p>Tha Class Features are most, but by no means all of the features specified in the 2019, <a href="https://media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downloads/UA-ClassFeatures.pdf" target="_blank">UNEARTHED ARCANA Class Feature Variants</a> article. They will be the focus of this posting.</p><p>The subclasses are a combination of new and retreaded information. Many of them have previously been specified in various Unearthed Arcana articles. Some are from campaign source books, such as Artificer from Eberron and Bladesinger from the Sword Coast. I've not looked in detail, but I presume that some tweaks have been made and that the TCoE version, as the newest is the default RAW definition. I'm not going to look further at the subclasses unless a game setting suggests one as useful or a player wants to play one.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">TCoE Class Features</h2><p>Tasha offers a number of enhancements to the various classes. On a quick look, all of them appear to provide potentially useful enhancements to each class without significantly altering the <i>power</i> of each class. As such, I am inclined allowing any and all of the class features specified. I'll step through a summary for Bards and Wizards as an illustration of what is included.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bard Optional Class Features</h4><div>Tasha provides three additional features. One of which is nice in that it provides a wider selection of spells -- Helpful. One generalizes the Magical Inspiration effect to make it apply to casters as it does melee characters -- about time. While the last allows occasional changes to abilities otherwise baked in at character creation -- helpful, but very limited. </div><div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Additional Bard Spells</b>: 15 spells added to the Bard list. A few of which are new in TCoE. All of which are thematic for bard's dealing with illusion, mental manipulation, healing, and sustenance. </li><li><b>Magical Inspiration</b>: Allows the possessor of a Bardic Inspiration die to use it for additional damage or healing to a single target affected by a spell that they cast. </li><li><b>Bardic Versatility</b>: At levels that grant an ASI, the Bard may move expertise from one skill to another -or- replace a Cantrip with a different one from the Bard list. </li></ol></div><div>All of these make sense to me and I will absolutely allow them. Bardic Versatility being available only at ASI levels (4, 8, 12, ...) is so restrictive that I would be inclined to allow its use more generously, perhaps once on leveling in each spell range, 2-4 then 5-8, etc. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><h4>Wizard Optional Class Features</h4><div>Tasha provides only two additional features for wizards. </div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Additional Wizard Spells</b>: 23 spells newly accessible by wizards. Most (19) of these are new in TCoE. A few are additions to the Wizard list from other classes. </li><li><b>Cantrip Formulas</b>: allow the wizard to swap out one wizard cantrip for another at the end of every long rest. </li></ol><div>More spells options should be welcomed by any Wizard, clearly not a break through though. Cantrip flexibility is handy, allowing the Wizard to tailor spell load out to situations, totally in keeping with typical Wizard strengths and building on them. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">UA Class Feature Variants</h2><div>The UA article I referred to at the beginning of this post contains much the same information, offering even more options for some/most/all of the classes. I read TCoE as canonization of portions of the UA information into RAW and rejection of portions excluded by the powers that control RAW. The net is that I will not recognize any feature specified in the UA version of this information without a deeper look and possible toning down of that feature. </div><div><br /></div><div>To better understand what was in UA, lets look at the two classes examined above.</div><div><br /></div><div><h4>Bard UA Class Feature Variants</h4><div>The UA Class features are similar to TCoE. Three features, one similar, one exactly the same, and one with a similar name that is totally different.</div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Additional Bard Spells</b>: 22 spells newly accessible by Bards. A good portion of these were carried forward into TCoE. Some, mostly seemingly from Xanathar’s Guide, have been dropped from the Bard additions.</li><li><b>Magical Inspiration</b>: Exactly the same in TCoE.</li><li><b>Spell Versatility</b>: Similar name, totally different. This allowed a Bard to swap one known spell for any other Bard spell of the same level after a each long rest. </li></ol></div><div>The interesting one here is spell versatility. UA offered an absolutely awesome ability that totally eliminated one of the major restrictions on Bard spell casting - limited spell inventory - making them the equal or better of Wizards in this regard. This always struck me funny (and I love to play Bards); to the point that I used it rarely in games allowing it as it strikes me as OP. </div><div><br /></div><div>I still like the idea of allowing a Bard to slowly morph their spell inventory but what UA offered just seemed game bracingly powerful if leveraged fully. I'm happy to see it go, but tempted to bring something back to make the Versatility feature a bit more useful. Perhaps allow a spell to be dropped at the end of a Full Rest and allow an ability check to fill an empty spell slot at the beginning of a Full Rest. Perhaps a CHA check against DC 8 + Spell Level to fill the empty spell known slot. </div><div><br /></div><div><h4>Wizard UA Class Feature Variants</h4><div>The UA Class features are very similar to TCoE, although weaker:</div></div><div><ol><li><b>Additional Wizard Spells</b>: 4 spells newly accessible by wizards. All are are additions to the Wizard list from other classes and are carried forward into TCoE. </li><li><b>Cantrip Versatility</b>: allow the wizard to swap out one wizard cantrip for another each time they level. </li></ol></div><div>TCoE as would be expected added a lot more spells, most of them brand new to the wizard list. In this case TCoE is a simple superset of the UA feature.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cantrip Versatility as defined in UA allows some flexibility, though restricting it to leveling opportunities makes it seem rather un-wizard like. TCoE makes this ability far more accessible and in keeping with Wizard abilities. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Overall Reaction </h2><div>I haven't stepped through all of the classes, but from those that I have looked, TCoE seems to have done a good job of capturing the essence of UA and toning down the most powerful elements. I feel fairly confident in banning the UA Class Variants at this point and allowing the TCoE features for classes. </div><div><br /></div><div>The one bit where I would like to retain a bit of UA excluded by TCoE is spell flexibility for Bards, Sorcs, and presumably any other class that has a fixed spell list. I'm considering the following as an experimental house rule:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Classes with fixed spell lists (e.g. Bard, Sorcs) can <i>swap </i>spells by dropping a known spell at the end of a <a href="https://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2020/11/rests-revisited.html" target="_blank">Full Rest</a>; the known spell list will then be one below the maximum. The character can subsequently try to add a new spell from their class list by a casting stat ability check that must beat a DC of 8 plus the spell level at their next or subsequent Full Rest.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The above approach would make swapping spells much more of an effort while still leaving it possible to achieve. I'm not sure on the base difficulty, perhaps it should be a higher bar or some other expense should be attached to make this more of a big deal. For now, it is an idea. </div><div> </div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-56000098012134697232020-11-28T10:45:00.002-05:002021-05-11T08:42:45.120-04:00Rests Revisited & Revised<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_FJ0s69z3FJxyLP-a0Nph1f7KPM_HnF3Rtdo8bpSZ87iAnT4ruH8isWHoLfoC70WyGFd637u2lZKkWCC_hm0OdBv3KOwRT4EJFhYpR98eym9QNrNAfXvS9CFJGztMyyYf8pPd32YOMZ8/s720/rest.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_FJ0s69z3FJxyLP-a0Nph1f7KPM_HnF3Rtdo8bpSZ87iAnT4ruH8isWHoLfoC70WyGFd637u2lZKkWCC_hm0OdBv3KOwRT4EJFhYpR98eym9QNrNAfXvS9CFJGztMyyYf8pPd32YOMZ8/s320/rest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Back in July 2020 I put together some <a href="https://bearitdnd.blogspot.com/2020/07/rests-breather-short-long-full.html" target="_blank">thoughts on rest durations</a> and effects in response to an interesting video I watched. The author of that video suggested several changes, some of which resonated with me while others seemed like change for changes sake. <br /><p></p><p>In this post I am will spell out the experimental home rule, subject to refinement and further change, that I would like to implement in my next game to define four levels of rests:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Breather (10 minutes)</li><li>Short Rest (1 hour)</li><li>Long Rest (8 hours)</li><li>Full Rest (12+ hours in safety)</li><span><a name='more'></a></span></ol><h2 style="text-align: left;">Goals of This Rule</h2><div>Before delving into the specifics, a few words on what I am trying to achieve with these changes:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Allow non-ritual casters to gain something while a caster does his thing, <br /></li><li>Make hit dice a bit easier to use,</li><li>Make hit dice more valuable,</li><li>Make ht dice harder to recover,<br /></li><li>Eliminate <i>miracle healing</i> via sleeping a bit with your head on a rock.<br /></li></ol></div><div>I believe what I will outline below achieves the above without introducing many unintended consequences or complications.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Breather</h2><div>This new type of rest is intended to support goals 1, 2, and 3.</div><div> <br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A breather is an uninterrupted (no combat, no side tasks) 10 minutes rest, characters can <i>borrow</i> up to half of one benefit of a short rest from their next short rest, rounded down.<br /></span></div><div> </div><div>Examples: Use 1/4 (rounded down) of their hit dice -or- a warlock might choose to recover 1/2 of their spell slots -or- a monk might recover 1/2 of expended Ki point, etc. In all cases the benefit claimed during a Breather must be returned at the next longer rest and no more than one Breather can be taken between longer rests. <br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Short Rest </h2><div>Nothing changes other than deducting any benefit used during a preceding breather.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Long Rest</h2><div style="text-align: left;">This change to Long Rest goes to goal 3, 4, and 5. The healing benefits of a long rest are: <br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Characters do not receive an automatic full heal, <br /></span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">They may spend all of their available hit dice, (RAW)</span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">They recover no more than 1/2 their total hit die, (RAW)<br /></span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Do not recover levels of exhaustion and,</span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">May not resolve other conditions at the DM's discretion.</span> <br /></span></span></span></li></ul><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">This is essentially the </span></span></span><a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/dungeon-masters-workshop#Healing" style="color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Slow Natural Healing</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> option from RAW. Quoting just the last part of RAW: <i>This optional rule prolongs the amount of time that characters need to recover from their wounds without the benefits of magical healing and works well for grittier, more realistic campaigns.</i></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><i> </i></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Excluding exhaustion recovery from a standard long rest makes the bone numbing condition harder to clear and thus longer lasting. </span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><i> </i><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">The houserule changes to Long Rest are thus:</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"></span></div><div><ul><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Do not receive an automatic full heal, <br /></span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Do not recover levels of exhaustion and,</span></span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">May not resolve other conditions at the DM's discretion.</span></span></span></span></span></li></ul></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Full Rest</h2><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">A Full Rest is an <i>extended,</i> <i>comfortable, safe </i></span></span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">rest, perhaps at an inn, homestead, or other secure camp site. Those three adjectives are intended as follows:</span></span></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><b>Extended</b> - at least 12 hours.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><b>Comfortable </b>- area used for the long rest must provide comforts appropriate to those taking the rest. A typical noble likely requires a nice bed and some good food, a peasant perhaps just a straw mattress, mutton, and some quiet, a barbarian could enjoy a dry(ish) cave and small camp fire. The idea being this is comfort relative to an individual.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><b>Safe </b>- The area must provide the feeling of safety and security. Maintaining a watch, being prepared for combat, are the antithesis of this. H</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">uddling inside a Tiny Hut with hostiles outside also does not qualify.</span></span></span> </span></span></span></li></ul><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Someone engaged in a full rest who is forced into combat is assuredly surprised for at least one round.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"> </span></span></span><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">After completing a full rest, </span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">characters
gain 1 hit die of temporary hit points in addition to complete health
and other recovery functions of a RAW long rest.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">In addition to a full nights sleep, some activity is allowed, preparing meals, light exercise, reading, and similar. <br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Exhaustion Risk <br /></span></h2></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">If characters push too long, too hard without a break, they risk </span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">levels of </span></span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><a class="tooltip-hover condition-tooltip" data-tooltip-href="//www.dndbeyond.com/conditions/4-tooltip?disable-webm=1&disable-webm=1" href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/appendix-a-conditions#Exhaustion">exhaustion</a></span></span><a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/appendix-a-conditions#Exhaustion" style="color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">. </a></span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> Borrowing from<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the</span></span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/adventuring#Speed" target="_blank">forced march</a> rules
of the PHB: For e</span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">ach additional hard day without a break beyond two days, each character
must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of the day. The DC is
10 + 1 for each day past 3 days. On a failed saving throw, a character
suffers one level of <a class="tooltip-hover condition-tooltip" data-tooltip-href="//www.dndbeyond.com/conditions/4-tooltip?disable-webm=1&disable-webm=1" href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/appendix-a-conditions#Exhaustion">exhaustion</a>. This can result in exhaustion cropping up on day 4 of an extended expedition.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> </span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Hard day means a day of significant sustained effort. Eight hour days of marching, ready for combat, carrying a full set of of adventuring gear qualify as hard days. Traveling for eight hours, with most gear on a pack animal or cart, or riding an appropriate transport for a fair part of the day, and being able to rest in relative safety is not a <i>hard day</i>. </span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222;">This house rule intends to reward the use of pack animals and/or travel at a slower pace.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br /></div><h2>Rules Speak Statement</h2><p>Now, to put this into a concise form for inclusion in my house rules document:<br /></p><p><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Four distinct levels of rest are being used. <br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;"></span></span></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Breather</b> is an uninterrupted (no combat, no side tasks) 10 minutes rest, characters can <i>borrow</i> up to half of one benefit of a short rest from their next short rest, rounded down. </span></span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Short Rest</b> - No change, other than repaying any Breather benefits.<b> </b></span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Long Rest</b> - Characters do not full heal. They may spend all of their hit dice. They recover no more than 1/2 their total hit die at the end of the rest. Long rests do not recover levels of exhaustion and may not resolve other conditions at the DM's discretion. <b> </b></span></li><li><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Full Rest </b>- An extended (12 hour), comfortable, safe rest. At the end of the Full Rest characters gain 1 hit die of temporary hit points. </span></li></ol><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Extended Activity Exhaustion Risk</b> - If characters push too long, too hard without a break, they risk levels of exhaustion. For each additional hard day without a break beyond two days, make a CON saving throw at the end of the day. The DC is 10 + 1 for each day past 3 days. On a failed saving throw, a character suffers one level of exhaustion. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"></span></div><div><h2>Revised 12/09/20 </h2>This post has generated some discussion, which has lead me to want to
revise and clarify a bit. I am doing that now, changing the above
insitu rather than posting a third article on this topic or adding a
revision addendum here. </div><div> </div><div>The most significant changes being elaboration on what qualifies as a long rest and crisping of the extended activity risk rule to not require a full rest to avoid exhaustion, just a break in pace. <br /></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></p></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-33460531614533937372020-11-27T17:55:00.001-05:002021-05-11T08:43:01.187-04:00Character Creation and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE)<div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzsmg1-wi81jPcwzxa8dtfAixJgfLlVKsOkEa6yifRsXxatf94DyXUvDx8RMFdFoO-jom-e9vm-08Y9sxmhFsLXENrQWrDQVTgIQQFCHA9DmZRD5559uuzLj8lc9dv_liyJy3jAz52xE/s299/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzsmg1-wi81jPcwzxa8dtfAixJgfLlVKsOkEa6yifRsXxatf94DyXUvDx8RMFdFoO-jom-e9vm-08Y9sxmhFsLXENrQWrDQVTgIQQFCHA9DmZRD5559uuzLj8lc9dv_liyJy3jAz52xE/s16000/Unknown.jpeg" /><br /></a></div><p></p>Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, the most recently published rule book contains a lot of additions of this and that. A fair number of those additions are formalization of what has previously been UA or specific campaign material. What I am looking at in this post is all new defined in a section titled <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tcoe/character-options#CustomizingYourOrigin" target="_blank">Customizing Your Origin</a> that basically (optionally) throws the entire D&D rule book out the window. It allows assignment of stat bonuses to any stat, changing languages, even adding darkvision to any character all as <b>OPTIONS</b>.<div><br /></div><div>This post will discuss the customizing origins rules in TCoE as I see them and outline what I will typically be allowing in my games. </div><span><a name='more'></a><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">What Tasha's Allows</h2><div>The new rules allow additional flexibility on three major elements of character creation.</div><div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Ability Score Increases</b> - Any plus to stats from racial or sub racial choice is allowed to be applied to any stat as long as the bonuses aren't stacked. That is a race with a +2 and a +1 can't have a +3 to a single stat. </li><li><b>Languages</b> - Starting languages can be freely selected from a list of languages specified in TCoE which may be changed by the campaign DM. </li><li><b>Proficiencies</b> - Various swaps are defined as allowable in a table. It enables skill for skill replacement as well as trading things like armor proficiency for a weapon or tool. </li></ol><div>After defining that flexibility, TCoE defines a thing that they call <b>CUSTOM LINEAGE</b> which is very much a roll-your-own race. It allows a player to define the racial characteristics of his/her character including: </div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Creature Type</b>. - Appearance and whether you resemble any of your kin.</li><li><b>Size </b>- Small or Medium (your choice).</li><li><b>Feat</b> - One feat of your choice for which you qualify.</li><li><b>Variable Trait</b> - One of the following: (a) darkvision or (b) proficiency in one skill.</li><li><b>Languages</b> - Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate.</li></ul><div>Any preconceived notions of <i>race</i> can definitely be tossed out the window by these <b>OPTIONAL</b> rules.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">My Thoughts on These Options</h2><div>My gut reaction to these is pretty close to hell to the no. I realize that having racial differences in D&D can be socially problematic. The terminology is unfortunate. To me, D&D racial differences would be more accurately described as D&D species differences. While different Human Races have unfortunately, historically been assumed to be different in various ways not supported by science; different species do have lots of defining characteristics...Gorillas are stronger than humans and not quite as intelligent. In most D&D worlds I have explored Orcs are stronger than humans; Dwarves are hardier than humans and so on. I am not seeing that as a problem in general. </div><div><br /></div><div>I suspect TCoE is trying to allow a solution to the racial stereotypes built into the game. I have stated, I don't see this as a problem, so TCoE is literally trying to solve a non-problem for me with these rules. That leaves me inclined to not use the entire section. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, I am a proponent of choice when it is supported by good role play, so I will look at these rules from that angle and see what I'm inclined to allow.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ability Score Increases</h3><div>Changing stat bonuses around with complete freedom seems to appeal to MinMax players and certain role-play justified character builds. I don't want the MinMaxer at my table in general, but I do want to allow role-play justifications. So, I think this is my view point:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">ASI flexibility from TCoE is allowed <b>IF</b> a good RP justification is provided to and accepted by the DM</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Languages</h3><div>I don't see this as an issue. Allowing this flexibility is unlikely to be an issue, so:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Language flexibility from TCoE is allowed, subject to review by the DM</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Proficiencies </h3><div>This section makes great sense to me as it allows a race that has a proficiency that is doubled up by a class proficiency to swap for something that might be useful. This just seems sensible. The table of options makes sense so: </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Proficiency</span> <span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;">flexibility from TcoE is allowed</span></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">CUSTOM LINEAGES</h3><div>This reads as carte blanche for anyone to craft their own race and seems like an irresistible draw for the MinMaxers. There are just too many possibilities here and I have no desire to go down this road, so:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Custom Lineages</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;">from TCoE is not allowed</span></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Summary of Rulings</h2><div><br /></div><div>I am putting this in my home-brew rules language as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><u>Customizing Your Origin from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Rules</u></span></div><div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">ASI flexibility allowed <b>IF</b> an acceptable RP reason is provided;</span></div></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;">Language flexibility is allowed, subject to review;</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Proficiency</span> <span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;">flexibility is allowed;</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Custom Lineages</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe;">are not allowed.</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div>Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-5991194604761384062020-07-08T17:33:00.003-04:002021-05-11T08:43:11.106-04:00Rests: Breather, Short, Long, and FullI've long been bothered by the high power of the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/ddvram/adventuring#LongRest" target="_blank"><b>Long Rest</b></a> the relative weakness of <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/adventuring#ShortRest" target="_blank"><b>Short Rests</b></a> in my D&D 5E games. It always seems that if a place for a short rest can be found, a place of a long rest is only slightly more elusive. A group on an extended delve need only find that lovely niche to hide in for eight hours and they are miraculously fully healed and rejuvenated.<br />
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I'm not alone in this thinking, as I was just pointed at a video by a guy calling himself the dungeon coach. First a link to his video and then my reactions to some elements. Finally, what I think I would like to do in my games.<br />
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Also, here is a link to his offering on <a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product_info.php?products_id=319451&it=1&SRC=Newsletter_FPW_button" target="_blank">DMGuild</a>. I'm going to avoid reiterating all of his ideas, only repeating what is required to put my thoughts in some context. </div>
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My Reactions</h2>
I think his basic ideas are sound. Short Rests seem in need of help and Long Rests are just super useful. The idea of a FULL rest (perhaps a town rest) seems like a nice addition and an incentive to actually camp in a safe place when you can.<br />
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Short Rest</h4>
On the other hand some of the changes he enumerates seem almost like change for change's sake and have a ripple of unintended consequences. Example: Monks recover all of their Ki points at a short rest, so the shortening of time required for a short rest makes them considerably more powerful in a similar manner to how it helps warlocks and does nothing for some other classes. Sure, those issues can be fixed piece meal, but that seems like a lot of changes.<br />
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Breather </h4>
Perhaps a cleaner solution is the introduction of a shorter short rest. I'll call it a <b>Breather</b>. This is a 10 minute, uninterrupted rest that allows for use of 1/4 of a character's hit dice but does nothing else. To keep it under control, I might limit it to one breather between rests and hit die spent during a breather count toward the number allowed to be rolled in the next rest. This keeps the total hit dice available to 1/2 the total per short rest but allows access to some without needing an hour of downtime. <br />
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Long Rest </h4>
Getting rid of the full heal at a long rest seems like a really good idea. It makes hit dice a valuable commodity, in line with magical healing. Changing the duration of a full heal seems a bit pointless. Sure 6 hours in less than 8 and only needing 3 hours of "sleep" is a heck of a lot less than 6 hours, but to me it is a change that seems intended to fix what isn't at all broken.<br />
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The fact that a long rest only recovers 1/2 of a character's hit dice means that the second hard adventuring day should start to see a tightness of healing available. That barbarian with outrageous health will not have hit dice to heal the second days damage as easily and could be an issue for any group healers. A third hard day will likely see the party start with nearly no hit dice. This seems full of win.<br />
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The idea of asking what people talk about during the long rest seems independent of duration. It's not a bad idea, just not something that I think needs to be codified in any type of rule. <br />
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Full Rest</h4>
This seems like a solid idea as well. It's the rest at the Inn. It fully rejuvenates the group and gets everything back. Perhaps it is what is required to level up; I'm thinking that might feel better than the training interlude that I have been using (one of the optional rules). The duration required and other circumstances seem best left murky. Let the group roll with this as events transpire.<br />
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My Ideas for Implementation</h2>
I suppose I've rather telegraphed the bits that I think should be implemented in a (my) game. I'll try stating them in close to rule form (changes only):<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Breather</b> - a 10 minute rest that allows use of 1/4 of a character's hit dice, minimum of one. No more than one between longer rests. </li>
<li><b>Short Rest</b> - No change, other than counting any hit dice spent at a Breather against the next short rest.</li>
<li><b>Long Rest</b> - Characters do not full heal. They may spend all of their hit dice. They still recover no more than 1/2 their total. This is essentially the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/dungeon-masters-workshop#Healing" target="_blank">Slow Natural Healing</a> option from RAW. Long rests do not recover levels of exhaustion and may not resolve other conditions at the DM's discretion. </li>
<li><b>Full Rest</b> - This is a long rest in a safe place and/or with creature comforts. It may, at the DM's discretion take significantly longer than 8 hours, perhaps days or more. At the end of he Full rest characters gain 1 hit die of temporary hit points. If the characters push too long between Full Rests, they can be required to make CON saves to avoid levels of <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/appendix-a-conditions#Exhaustion" target="_blank">exhaustion</a>. Dipping into the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/adventuring#Speed" target="_blank">Forced March</a> rules of the PHB, perhaps each additional hard day past the first counts in the same way as an extra hour of movement making the DC become higher. So the third day is a DC11 CON, then a DC12, etc., this could result in some exhaustion cropping up on day 3 of an extended expedition. </li>
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I think the net of these house rules would be to make hit dice more valuable and encourage occasional town rests. This seems a good thing. The Full Rest "rules" are only partially baked. I think a lot of discretion here makes sense. I'm intending them only to apply to deep dives in a dungeon or extended stressful engagements not to riding a wagon on a road in a caravan. <br />
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<br />Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-41585767769237037472020-05-18T17:11:00.002-04:002020-05-18T17:12:18.911-04:00Monster Maker<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYnAPicRpHZ8QZWD5t_rouFJZ6OfTZNi8YjNsmxDnz3HMr-uQJNfISuMTrEom2gmZq_sjpxzI5CdfDqaRYvrpDswjmtybbHl8VNZsm6OvIwk4HS93qU7QAUOFGSCz-hVHm6Wh_RFVNPY/s1600/monster_maker_preview_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYnAPicRpHZ8QZWD5t_rouFJZ6OfTZNi8YjNsmxDnz3HMr-uQJNfISuMTrEom2gmZq_sjpxzI5CdfDqaRYvrpDswjmtybbHl8VNZsm6OvIwk4HS93qU7QAUOFGSCz-hVHm6Wh_RFVNPY/s200/monster_maker_preview_1.jpg" width="154" /></a>There has been some considerable excitement in these parts surrounding the use of GiffyGlyph's Monster Maker. This post is a pointer to it and a few supporting notes.<br />
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Home Page for the tool: <a href="https://giffyglyph.com/monstermaker/" target="_blank">giffyglyph.com/monstermaker/</a><br />
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The system the author is introducing substitues <b>Monster Points</b> for D&D 5E's rather bastardized <b>CR </b>ratings for building challenging encounters. It also provides an easy to use custom moneter building UI that crafts useful monster cards.<br />
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Overall this seems like amazing stuff. Something that I look forward to using. So much so I have added a link for the app to the side bar in the DM section.<br />
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The Grimore </h2>
The section of the website labeled as the <a href="https://giffyglyph.com/monstermaker/rules/" target="_blank">Grimore</a> is a set of pages that describe the system and provide examples with some overall structure. This seems like the place to start in understanding what is offered here. Reading from the Introduction through the Building an Encounter seems like a good starting point and not all that many pages.<br />
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The PDF</h2>
There is a giant PDF, quite pretty, and very long. It seems to be the same information from the Grimore just in a flat PDF form. Probably better for offline reading, but lacking the links, harder to use when online.<br />
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The App </h2>
This is the <a href="https://giffyglyph.com/monstermaker/app/" target="_blank">heart of the system</a>, a web based system that makes it all work. It is where critters are defined and seems drop dead easy to use, after getting past the many customization options. I've not used it, yet, but it seems well worth a look. <br />
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The cards once created offer a Download as PNG button. This downloads a file which is pretty much perfect for tossing onto a notecard text file and printing. This exactly fits my "workflow" for creating creatures to be used face to face. Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250320945691323002.post-36491650613277018572020-05-18T13:44:00.004-04:002021-05-11T08:43:26.990-04:00Drawing Roofs for Battlemaps<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa1_OAJ6wA9EM9jAFaqs9rNl-QIOGqgdasrh48BK_UvBifYZ4irzBpQe1SSSM3zM6pomuD5LIyR7-bPflc0JyDjPWMib8Hdx4P-hKaJhhv9b4W2xo73LkLF8nuZztBOsnrIDh3whmaJ0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-05-18+at+1.40.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="596" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa1_OAJ6wA9EM9jAFaqs9rNl-QIOGqgdasrh48BK_UvBifYZ4irzBpQe1SSSM3zM6pomuD5LIyR7-bPflc0JyDjPWMib8Hdx4P-hKaJhhv9b4W2xo73LkLF8nuZztBOsnrIDh3whmaJ0/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-05-18+at+1.40.24+PM.png" width="320" /></a>Roofs are a critical element of some battlemap drawings, my current focus with Campaign Cartographer. While a lot easier to deal with than crenelations and arrow slits, there are some tricks of the trade so to speak that I have been trying to acquire. This posting will summarize my findings so far.<br />
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Here is a barn roof that I drew with this information. <br />
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My illustrating need is for rooftops seen from above. Most recently in the context of my Summit Hall map project. <br />
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In essence, the process is:<br />
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<li>Draw a set of polygons that compose the roof area. Make sure one is used for each area of the roof with a different slope.</li>
<li>Fill the polygons with an apprpriate bit map or maps (look in the city designer folders for likely suspects)</li>
<li>Use the <b>Shaded Polygon (Angle by Edge)</b> tool and select the lowest edge of each polygon. This will set some pretty good initial shading. Pitch and Angle can be set when applying this tool, or in a follow up step.</li>
<li>If you want to adjust the Angle after applying the basic Shaded Polygon tool, you can use the <b>Change Shade Angle</b> subtool. This controls the angle of the effect. More is a following paragraph. </li>
<li>The subcommand, <b>Change Shade Pitch</b>, can be used to adjust the pitch of the roof which dramatically alters the shadowing effects. </li>
<li>Use the <b>EDITSHADING </b>command (keyboard only) to further fine tune each polygon if needed. This command can also be used to adjust the angle of fill which has applications in other areas. </li>
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Angle</h4>
Here is an extract providing more background on Angle setting. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Shaded Polygon (Angle By Edge) automatically sets the shade angle based on the edge you clicked on, this greatly simplifies the task of getting this value correct. If you used the regular Shaded Polygon command, you would have needed to provide the angle yourself instead. The angle can later be changed by using the Change Shade Angle command, or through the EDITSHADING dialog. </blockquote>
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The appropriate shading angle for a roof is the angle perpendicular to the angle of the lower edge, in the direction from the lower edge to the upper edge. </blockquote>
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Pitch </h4>
The Pitch setting is the angle of the roof. Zero being totally flat, 90 being vertical, something in between usually being appropriate on the Sun side. I think negative values work on the side away from the sun. Here is an extract providing more background <br />
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By default, the Shaded Polygon (Angle By Edge) uses a roof Pitch of 45 degrees. If you wish to use a different value, simply type it in on the command line before clicking on the polygon edges. You can also change the pitch of the roof later with the Change Shade Pitch command, or through the more advanced EDITSHADING command. </blockquote>
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More Reading </h2>
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One helpful background source article for my learning in this area, was a post titled: <a href="http://rpgmaps.profantasy.com/making-new-house-symbols-in-cc3-by-sue-daniel-part-1/" target="_blank">Making New House Symbols in CC3+ by Sue Daniel</a> on the ProFantasy boards.<br />
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Another post, <a href="http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=7788" target="_blank">Command of the Week - Shaded Polygons (Week 49)</a> is also worth a read when working with roofs. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg9j0evqQbS21c04og5l7cxm9oSMeUq1ZoIfd_gXerq_ACFjEkh4Fj81IRmVvrE3TViI1AXrqox3g2I-F9-bfhTD1eWEc56PzyPMhHHQRy1fWJH2VLKBJySFzkQTocDI3o6W0dCDVh_0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-05-18+at+1.41.21+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="602" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg9j0evqQbS21c04og5l7cxm9oSMeUq1ZoIfd_gXerq_ACFjEkh4Fj81IRmVvrE3TViI1AXrqox3g2I-F9-bfhTD1eWEc56PzyPMhHHQRy1fWJH2VLKBJySFzkQTocDI3o6W0dCDVh_0/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-05-18+at+1.41.21+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
One final thing if you managed to read this far, below is an image with a partial roof cutaway (thanks to Color Key sheet effect) of that barn.Jeznarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18234512004359616733noreply@blogger.com0