DnD4E : Level 2 without TPK, Gratz

Alecthar

It's actually really easy to do. I've got some textures for a dungeon floor, a few textures I put together with GIMP that do an admirable job of making walls, and several objects like tables and chairs. I'm sure with some time I could find some rubble and maybe some gaping holes in the dungeon floor and whatnot.

Edit: The best part is you can set it all up ahead of time then switch between any of the maps that are saved to that campaign file.

Edit Again: Oh, and there a few changes you should probably make to your preferences, like making the default grid size 64, the default units per cell 1, and the Movement Metric ONE_ONE_ONE. The first change ensures that tokens scale correctly with the squares, the second 2 make sure that movement is counted correctly.

Stormgale

I have (let me check) about 3-4 gigs of stuff, its just going to take me a while to learn and Itll be like pringles
Once I pop I wont be able to stop

Alecthar

When you do put a campaign together, Storm, don't forget to change the states. If we're going to use those, you'll have to change some names here and there to the new 4E stuff.

Edit: I think there's a maximum of like 11 unique states, but there's also colored halos around the tokens to be used as well. They would probably be particularly useful for marking targets.

Stormgale

Alecthar wrote: »

When you do put a campaign together, Storm, don't forget to change the states. If we're going to use those, you'll have to change some names here and there to the new 4E stuff.

Edit: I think there's a maximum of like 11 unique states, but there's also colored halos around the tokens to be used as well. They would probably be particularly useful for marking targets.

Aye, It'll be a learning experience

Figgy

I don't understand this. Why doesn't someone just customize maptools for D&D 4E and leave it at that for everyone? It seems everyone has to do their own leg work every time they want to start a campaign.

Vars

Damn, Alecthar.. Just damn.. that stuff is all sorts of awesome. Our combat should be much more streamlined with that stuff. Lots of gratitude for your efforts.

Trying to find a decent picture of an Eladrin or Elf wizard has been a painful experience, of which I don't think my eyes will ever fully recover from. I ended up just grabbing that one out of the player's handbook.

Casual Eddy

Sounds interesting alecthar, looking forward to it!

DevoutlyApathetic

Figgy wrote: »

I don't understand this. Why doesn't someone just customize maptools for D&D 4E and leave it at that for everyone? It seems everyone has to do their own leg work every time they want to start a campaign.

Intellectual Property rights. Wizards can't say much if you code some stuff that happens to accurately model the behavior of 4th edition D&D. If you start to distribute it they will notice and if you make any money from it (even just to pay distribution costs) they will rape you out of your mind.

Of course the real question is why Wizards doesn't just drop a fat stack of cash on Maptools creator to solve their game table issues. I suspect part of that answer is the suits want 3D tables and frankly that's just stupid. The increase in cost of the graphical assets is just too prohibitive.

Torgo

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

Figgy wrote: »

I don't understand this. Why doesn't someone just customize maptools for D&D 4E and leave it at that for everyone? It seems everyone has to do their own leg work every time they want to start a campaign.

Intellectual Property rights. Wizards can't say much if you code some stuff that happens to accurately model the behavior of 4th edition D&D. If you start to distribute it they will notice and if you make any money from it (even just to pay distribution costs) they will rape you out of your mind.

Of course the real question is why Wizards doesn't just drop a fat stack of cash on Maptools creator to solve their game table issues. I suspect part of that answer is the suits want 3D tables and frankly that's just stupid. The increase in cost of the graphical assets is just too prohibitive.

Wizards wants to get into the business of selling virtual monster miniatures for a 3D table to cash on $Pokemon.
[/4e Conspiracy]

The campaign I play in is going to try to use Maptools and pass around the campaign file via email simultaneously while tracking actions of players in a PBP (They don't want to change their forum software to allow things like maps to be posted inline).

As in, you tell people your moves on Maptools on the PBP, move the token, then pass it to the next guy in the initiative. This will let people do PBP for story bits, but Maptools for combat, while still not requiring anyone to be online at the same time.

Will this:
A) Work well
Fail spectacularly
C) Need strict posting and lots of DM effort to make work at all
D)???

Alecthar

Okay, I've got mine done, Eddy's done, and Devoutly's halfway done. Currently there are macros to:

• Gain/Lose HP and Temp HP
• Gain/Lose/Set Healing Surges (the lose surges macro doesn't actually heal you, I didn't want to make that automatic because of situations where you might spend surges as part of a power or as a penalty)
• Roll Initiative (Rolls initiative, places you in the Initiative Roster and sorts the roster)
• Roll Skill checks (asks what Skill you're rolling then for modifiers and rolls a d20 plus the modifiers)
• Take a Short/Extended Rest (resets powers, extended resets dailies as well and restores HP/Action Pts. etc.)
• Gain/Lose Action Points (didn't bother to make this an input macro, figured just adding 1 at a time was sufficient)
• Macros to roll attacks and damage for most powers. The macros ask for input on attack and damage modifiers, multi-target power macros ask for the number of targets. Every one of the Avenger's macros will ask how many attack rolls to make (Oath of Enmity is supposed to roll 2 rolls, not reroll the first, so I'm going to accurately incorporate that into every power macro for the Avenger).

I didn't macro powers like Warlock's Curse and Oath of Enmity. I figure that a chat notification from players that you're marking a target somehow is enough.

A general note on macros, if you cancel one of the input windows, to cancel using the macro, you'll have to cancel through a couple extra ones as the macro will fail to provide an initial definition for a variable, and once it sees it further down the macro it will try again to have you tell it what it is. So when you hit cancel you'll have to do it a couple times. I'm not certain if there's a way to avoid this, I just started earlier today.

Edit: Guroth finished, moving on to Erevar.

Stormgale

Torgo wrote: »

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

Figgy wrote: »

I don't understand this. Why doesn't someone just customize maptools for D&D 4E and leave it at that for everyone? It seems everyone has to do their own leg work every time they want to start a campaign.

Intellectual Property rights. Wizards can't say much if you code some stuff that happens to accurately model the behavior of 4th edition D&D. If you start to distribute it they will notice and if you make any money from it (even just to pay distribution costs) they will rape you out of your mind.

Of course the real question is why Wizards doesn't just drop a fat stack of cash on Maptools creator to solve their game table issues. I suspect part of that answer is the suits want 3D tables and frankly that's just stupid. The increase in cost of the graphical assets is just too prohibitive.

Wizards wants to get into the business of selling virtual monster miniatures for a 3D table to cash on $Pokemon.
[/4e Conspiracy]

The campaign I play in is going to try to use Maptools and pass around the campaign file via email simultaneously while tracking actions of players in a PBP (They don't want to change their forum software to allow things like maps to be posted inline).

As in, you tell people your moves on Maptools on the PBP, move the token, then pass it to the next guy in the initiative. This will let people do PBP for story bits, but Maptools for combat, while still not requiring anyone to be online at the same time.

Will this:
A) Work well
Fail spectacularly
C) Need strict posting and lots of DM effort to make work at all
D)???

Might be an idea for the Server to just be hosted 24/7 (or at least during combat) so people connect, make their move, then log off, then the next guy does the same

Casual Eddy

how long do you think saturday's run will be, if you could give a rough guesstimate

Stormgale

Casual Eddy wrote: »

how long do you think saturday's run will be, if you could give a rough guesstimate

Same length of time as last i would say, though it is a bit of a slugfest so it could be longer

Alecthar

Vars, I don't see a Spellbook choice on your character sheet. If you could tell me what your spellbook choice is, that would be awesome.

As for switching powers with your spellbook, I'm adding a different macro group. All your dailies will be in the Spellbook macro group. Every time you take an extended rest, drag your power selections into the Powers group. Delete them when you take another rest and switch powers.

Alecthar

Update on the MapTools token front:

As you can see here, the display has a few new things added, and a couple of consolidations. All defenses appear on one line, Surge value appears next to your number of surges, and TempHP is now integrated into the display for total HP.

I've finished all four of the tokens on display there (Clockwise from top left, Alden, Guroth, Erevar, Dal'Sharam) and I'm moving on to the last 2. I've changed some of the calculations and properties, the behind the scenes math is a little more robust and complicated, but that shouldn't matter from the player's perspective. There are a few new macros for gaining XP, setting XP, and Leveling Up.

Vic and Erchamion: if you'd like a specific token picture it'd be awesome if you could post it up here right quick, otherwise I'll use a generic Goliath pic and the generic Avenger pic.

Vic

Alecthar

Awesome, thank you.

Alecthar

Okay, I didn't include macros for a lot of the powers that don't actually involve rolls, a few of them I did, but not a ton. Also, most of the macros only mention any rolls and any damage the attack does. If the attack has other effects it generally doesn't mention them. So, make sure you know what your powers do, the macros just roll for you.

Alecthar

Okay, just Aldarion left.

Alecthar

Okay, done and done. Tokens, Assemble!

Damn I'm good.

You can find all 6 in a handy zip file here.

To get them into Maptools, extract them somewhere, and add that directory to your resource library in Maptools. From there you can drag and drop them in. After that you should be good to go.

Stormgale

Alecthar truly is a God amongst men, round of applause for the man :P

Erchamion

Sorry, I didn't have a chance to post at work, but the default Avenger picture is what I was planning on using anyway.

Awesome work and thanks.

DevoutlyApathetic

Alright, I feel like a jerk but Alecthar you really need to learn to love the [t:] roll command.

Alecthar

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

Alright, I feel like a jerk but Alecthar you really need to learn to love the [t:] roll command.

It's good that you feel like a jerk. That should tell you something about what you just said.

But seriously, I have my prefs set to use tooltips for all inline rolls. So if for whatever reason you prefer not to do that, feel free to suck it the fuck up and deal with it for at least the next 2 or 3 days.

Edit: That obviously wasn't particularly nice, and for that I apologize, but I'm pretty burnt out on the macro writing at the moment (fucking Acid Arrow I swear to god) so I'm not inclined to go back to every roll and add that property. I'll probably get to it in the next couple days, so until then I'd recommend changing your preferences to go with tooltips.

DevoutlyApathetic

I'm not ungrateful Alecthar, really you've done a shitload of work and I respect that.

I'm editing mine now, I can easily go through and do the others as well. Really I was trying to prompt a discussion on it, making you aware of it, and finding out if people want it done.

t in the dice roll command compresses the results to a single number while allowing all the detail to be viewable with a mouse over. Things look so much less cluttered without it.

Alecthar

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

I'm not ungrateful Alecthar, really you've done a shitload of work and I respect that.

I'm editing mine now, I can easily go through and do the others as well. Really I was trying to prompt a discussion on it, making you aware of it, and finding out if people want it done.

t in the dice roll command compresses the results to a single number while allowing all the detail to be viewable with a mouse over. Things look so much less cluttered without it.

I know, I'm going for "irritated, but humorous". There is a preference you can change to have rolls that appear in the chat default to the tooltip style you speak of. Feel free to edit the macros to get tooltips that way if you like. If you want the tooltips, don't want to edit macros, and don't feel like changing your prefs, your only option is to deal with it for now, because I'm not sifting through all the rolls in all the powers to add that property until (at the least) we're done with this weeks session.

DevoutlyApathetic

Alecthar wrote: »

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

I'm not ungrateful Alecthar, really you've done a shitload of work and I respect that.

I'm editing mine now, I can easily go through and do the others as well. Really I was trying to prompt a discussion on it, making you aware of it, and finding out if people want it done.

t in the dice roll command compresses the results to a single number while allowing all the detail to be viewable with a mouse over. Things look so much less cluttered without it.

I know, I'm going for "irritated, but humorous". There is a preference you can change to have rolls that appear in the chat default to the tooltip style you speak of. Feel free to edit the macros to get tooltips that way if you like. If you want the tooltips, don't want to edit macros, and don't feel like changing your prefs, your only option is to deal with it for now, because I'm not sifting through all the rolls in all the powers to add that property until (at the least) we're done with this weeks session.

..........:oops:

So I managed to miss the humor and make the thread all "serious" like.

I had no clue that was a chat option, that is so much easier. (t: doesn't like that COUNT roll.) I'll go back to my corner.

Alecthar

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

Alecthar wrote: »

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

I'm not ungrateful Alecthar, really you've done a shitload of work and I respect that.

I'm editing mine now, I can easily go through and do the others as well. Really I was trying to prompt a discussion on it, making you aware of it, and finding out if people want it done.

t in the dice roll command compresses the results to a single number while allowing all the detail to be viewable with a mouse over. Things look so much less cluttered without it.

I know, I'm going for "irritated, but humorous". There is a preference you can change to have rolls that appear in the chat default to the tooltip style you speak of. Feel free to edit the macros to get tooltips that way if you like. If you want the tooltips, don't want to edit macros, and don't feel like changing your prefs, your only option is to deal with it for now, because I'm not sifting through all the rolls in all the powers to add that property until (at the least) we're done with this weeks session.

..........:oops:

So I managed to miss the humor and make the thread all "serious" like.

I had no clue that was a chat option, that is so much easier. (t: doesn't like that COUNT roll.) I'll go back to my corner.

Nah, you're good, it wasn't that funny to begin with. Long day, being a jerk. Tired. Sucky. That's how I'm rollin' atm.

Anyway, yeah, preferences makes it slightly easier. I'll see whether I can figure the COUNT rolls out, mainly because I'd like to have the tooltips be default for folks that don't have their prefs set. It just won't happen right now. I honestly completely forgot about it due to having my prefs set like that.

Edit: To make [t:] work with the COUNT rolls it has to look like this: [t, COUNT...]. When you use more than one of the options, you separate them with a comma.

Edit 2: Oh good christ, the inputs expand too. Ugh, that's a lotta "t".

DevoutlyApathetic

Alecthar wrote: »

Nah, you're good, it wasn't that funny to begin with. Long day, being a jerk. Tired. Sucky. That's how I'm rollin' atm.

Anyway, yeah, preferences makes it slightly easier. I'll see whether I can figure the COUNT rolls out, mainly because I'd like to have the tooltips be default for folks that don't have their prefs set. It just won't happen right now. I honestly completely forgot about it due to having my prefs set like that.

Edit: To make [t:] work with the COUNT rolls it has to look like this: [t, COUNT...]. When you use more than one of the options, you separate them with a comma.

Edit 2: Oh good christ, the inputs expand too. Ugh, that's a lotta "t".

No worries.

You just need to put "[t, COUNT" and then the rest for it to work. A little trial and error and that seems to work.

We just need to make sure we tell Stormgale or his eyes are going to glaze over after the first Scorching Burst...

Alecthar

Yeah. I could probably cut down on the macros here and there. As you go along, the later tokens have the most streamlined macro language, because I was basically accumulating knowledge about stuff as I went along, learning new stuff mostly when I hit roadblocks.

Like the Set Level macro is huge because (and I'm sure there's an easier way to do this) I had to add an if clause for all the levels up through 30, to modify the XP for the next level.

And if Erevar casts an expanded Acid Arrow, someone's chat window's gonna go kersplat.

Vars

When I put the token in maptools, I don't get all of the stats or health beside the portrait like you seem to have on your client. The only thing showing up is AC. Health appears if I input it manually in the edit token window, but no luck with getting the defences to show up. The health I input manually also doesn't seem to be affected by the macro buttons you made. I'm probably not getting something, any suggestions as to how I can get it to show up pretty like yours and maybe fix the health?

Alecthar

Hmmmm. Lemme check out a few things.

Edit: Okay, here's the problem. The Campaign Properties are kinda a big deal here. I forgot to include them in the .zip

Go to Edit -> Campaign Properties, then highlight "Basic," delete everything under it and copy-paste this in:

*Level (Lvl):1
*XP:{XPGain}/{NextLevel}
ToughnessTier:0
ClassHPValue1:0
ClassHPValue2:0
XPGain:0
NextLevel:1000
Strength (Str):0
StrengthMod (StrMod):{floor((Strength - 10)/2)}
Constitution (Con):0
ConstitutionMod (ConMod):{floor((Constitution - 10)/2)}
Dexterity (Dex):0
DexterityMod (DexMod):{floor((Dexterity - 10)/2)}
Intelligence (Int):0
IntelligenceMod (IntMod):{floor((Intelligence - 10)/2)}
Wisdom (Wis):0
WisdomMod (WisMod):{floor((Wisdom - 10)/2)}
Charisma (Char):0
CharismaMod (CharMod):{floor((Charisma - 10)/2)}
*HP:{HitPoints}/{HPDerived} + {TemporaryHP}
HitPoints:{HPDerived}
HPDerived:{(ClassHPValue1 + Constitution) + (ClassHPValue2 * (Level - 1)) + (ToughnessTier * 5)}
TemporaryHP (Temp HP):0
*Surges:{SurgeNumber}/{SurgeMax} ({SurgeValue} HP)
SurgeMax:0
SurgeNumber:0
SurgeValue (Surge Val.):0
*AC/Fort/Ref/Will:{AC}/{Fortitude}/{Reflex}/{Will}
AC:0
Fortitude (Fort):0
Reflex (Ref):0
Will (Will):0
*ActionPoints (Action Pts.):0
*Speed:0
*Elevation (Elv)
Description (Des)

Don't forget to hit Update.

That should fix the problem. Stormgale should copy paste those properties into the Campaign Properties of his Campaign, either under Basic, or in an entirely new one. You can change which set of properties you use by editing the token, going to the Config tab, and selecting a different set of Properties from the drop-down menu.

Vars

That worked. It looks great and the health increases and decreases correctly. Awesome, thanks.

Do we all have to have the exact same version of maptools as well? If so, we should make sure we all have the same one. I've got 1.3.b56 which came out on the 22nd.

Are we using maptools or gametable tomorrow? (oh god why am I asking so many questions.)

Stormgale

Alecthar, have a hug you look like you need one, thanks alot for the work though

Alecthar

I'm using 1.55, but I can grab the newest version.

Stormgale

Alecthar wrote: »

I'm using 1.55, but I can grab the newest version.

Im currently building the Map in 1.54 ill check if I can just bring the map and tokens over to a new version

Alecthar

Okay, I was fiddling with the tokens when I realized that some of them lacked the XP and Levelling Up macros. I added those in, grabbed a sweet set of campaign properties (includes the necessities for making the tokens work along with a bunch of custom states that are really excellent) and put the tokens up here.

Oh, and I added a button for Curse, Oath, and Marking for Alden, Aldarion, and Garn. Those will apply the corresponding state to the selected token when you use the macro. There are buttons next to them that clear those states from selected tokens.

Also, it should be noted that my intention was for you to be impersonating your token as you use the macros. This will ensure that they output correctly.

DevoutlyApathetic

:whistle: do do do do :whistle:
:whistle:sitting in vent, waiting for you:whistle:
:whistle:sitting in vent, waiting for you....:whistle:

Casual Eddy

i'll be there at one, i need to get my car

Vic

Whoops, I completely lost track of time. Coming in right now, sorry!