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Total Members Voted: 28

[RAM]

Don't you need to evil alignment to get your own race as favored enemy ? Or that was some other game ?

That was 3rd edition, this is 3rd-and-a-half edition...

Dunno if anime-esque stuff is allowed (I've heard of some DMs demanding western-styled art for characters)

That is idiotic.

Anyway, I should be ready for a session in a day or two, once I get the hang of maptools. Does anyone have a tutorial on how to use the tools for combat? All I've found is Maptools tutorials.

Well it is idiotic to allow anything western but disallow anything from Japan, but it does make a certain amount of sense to want a consistent artistic style through-out the setting. Of course, that would pretty much require that the D.M. provide all artwork, or at least provide several examples.

I will provide an example of some macro complexity. As for Maptools outside of macros? Holding space-bar can point at something. Control-z is handy for revoking anything you draw on the map, as the deletion tools are a little wonky. Most of the panels can be moved, reduced to a button, resized, and added or removed. It operates by changing the mouse mode. So if your mouse refuses to interact with the map, then you may have inadvertently switched to 'examine' mode. If you want to draw racial slurs against giants on the side of a fellow adventurer's wagon prior to reaching a heavily-patrolled stretch of road then you will want the 'drawing' mode. There is also a mode for putting in fixed shapes which is useful for area effects such as spells...
I suggest choosing a subdirectory for holding all your tokens, create the directory, put some images(preferably formatted) in it, then selecting "Add Resource to Library..." from the "file" menu in Maptools. The subdirectory will now be visibly in the library panel and you can drag images from the library onto the map. You can use Tokentool to format the images, I do not believe that they need to be formatted, but Tokentool will make certain that there is some transparent space around the token to see what the terrain underneath it is and will make it square so that it isn't distorted or uneven... You can also download tokens, but the range is not comprehensive and they have their own style, which could contrast with the feel of the game... Oh, and you cannot just put a "<" into chat, it will try to encode it. "<insert name here> walks into a bar." prints "walks into a bar.", "1<2" prints "12", and "<s>RUN AWAY!!!</s> I say, this beast is surely unworthy of our attentions, let us depart to find more noble endeavours." prints "RUN AWAY!!! I say, this beast is surely unworthy of our attentions, let us depart to find more noble endeavours.". There is a sequence for printing a '<' but I do not recall it and macro code will not interpret it as a < either...

Here is an example of a hit point adjustment macro in a few parts.

Code: (Base_HP) [Select]

[macro.return=10+3+4+3+4]This is the Base_HP macro, it reports the total amount of hit points from dice rolls and any other comparatively fixed source such as feats.
 I used an underscore in the name because I will want to use this macro's name in code, and code doesn't like spaces in its names...
 The "[" and "]" brackets indicate that the enclosed text is code and should be processed as such. anything that isn't code will be considered to be just a normal message.
 macro.return is a variable that can be transferred between macros. It goes away when the macro ends, so you can't use it as permanent storage, but it lets one macro use another, which is useful if you want lots of macros to do one specific thing.
 "=" indicates that the preceding item should be made equal to the following item. In this case it causes "macro.return" to become equal to the result of "10+3+4+3+4", or 24.

Code: (Hit_Dice) [Select]

[macro.return=4]As above but with different data.

Code: (get cured) [Select]

/me
[h,MACRO("Base_HP@TOKEN"):""]
[h:base_HP=macro.return]
[h,MACRO("Hit_Dice@TOKEN"):""]
[h:hit_dice=macro.return]
[h:before_HP=HP]

[h,if(base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice>hit_dice):maximum_HP=base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice;maximum_HP=hit_dice]
[h:error=input("amplitude|0|Amount cured")]
[h:abort(error)]
[h:abort(isNumber(amplitude))]

[h,if(before_HP+amplitude>maximum_HP&&maximum_HP>before_HP):HP=maximum_HP]
[h,if(maximum_HP>=before_HP+amplitude):HP=before_HP+amplitude]

has been healed by [e:amplitude], taking them from [e:before_HP] to [e:HP] hit points.
[h,if(maximum_HP>0):bar.Health=HP/maximum_HP] I don't care about spaces in the macro's name because this is a macro that should not be used by other macros. You may want a macro for healing that can be called by other macros, but that would likely have little or no text of its own...
 /me changes the output format, I really don't advise using it but I wanted to show it off. You can get a list of these commands by typing "/help" into the maptool chat. Such commands must occur at the beginning of a macro, and cannot occur in a macro that is called by another macro. It is polite to use /self to start a macro you are testing so that you do not spam the chat with macro output. It is even more polite to have all your macros finished and tested before the game session starts...
 The first h means 'hidden' and indicates that the results of this code should not be printed to the chat.
 Commas , are used to separate roll options, whether something is a roll option or not is best left to the wiki...
 MACRO is a function roll option that calls another macro.
 The brackets () are used in two main ways, one is to contain calculations, 1+2*3 is not equal to (1+2)*3, and the other is to set input for a function(or roll option...). In this case it is the latter, and everything within the brackets applies to the MACRO roll option.
 Quotes "" or '' can be used to indicate text within code. "arg" prints ""arg"", [arg] asks you for the value of arg and prints your reply, ["arg"] prints "arg". Once a text string is started with a quotation mark it will continue until it hits another quotation mark, if it is started with an apostrophe it will continue until it hits another apostrophe, you can use this to put one or the other into code. For example: ["The protagonist's voice"+' uttered "Lolcats for'+" sale, get'em while"+' they haz cheezeburger.".'] should produce the text "The protagonist's voice uttered "Lolcats for sale, get'em while they haz cheezeburger."."...
 The text string "Base_HP@TOKEN" has meaning dependant upon the MACRO function roll option. Base_HP is the name of the macro to be run. TOKEN indicates, I believe, that the macro to be run is on the currently selected token. And @ separates the two. The order of everything, and probably capitalisation are all important. I suspect that TOKEN does not need to be capitalised, but as a general rule capitalisation is always important.
 The : separates things called roll options from the rest of the macro, you should only ever have one within a single pair of square brackets.
 The empty set of quotes at the end of the MACRO code are a text string with no text in it. The space there can include data that will be inherited by the "macro.args" variable within the called macro. I don't have any data that I need to pass on to the Base_HP macro and a pair of quotes with nothing between them is as close to nothing as I can get while actually putting something there, and I suspect that it will complain if I leave the spot completely blank...
 [h:base_HP=macro.return]: macro.return contains the data passed on from the called macro, in this case Base_HP. I like to save the contents of macro return to a different variable as soon as I have called a macro as it makes things more readable and less likely to be overwritten but with a little creativity you could generalyl get away with skipping this step.
 HP is one of the variables stored on the token's properties list.
 Empty lines are pretty much free and just there to make it easier to find things. By the first one I have set base_HP to the fixed hit-point offset, the value of hit_dice to the character's hit die total, and before_HP is the number of hit points that the token had at the start of the macro.

 if is a roll option that makes a decision. If the statement in the brackets is true, then it performs the action after the : and skips the one after the ;. if the statement is false then it instead does the reverse. If there is no ; then it will do nothing if the statement is false.
 floor is a function that rounds down. Constitution is a token property. * is the multiplication symbol used in computer programming.
 The evaluation symbols are: == says that the values are equal which is different from = which causes them to be equal. > states that the former value is greater then the latter. >= states that the former value is greater than or equal to the latter. != declares that the two values are not equal. < is untrustworthy and should be avoided. && says that both the statement before it and the statement after it are true. || states that at least one of the statements is true.
 [h,if(base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice>hit_dice):maximum_HP=base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice;maximum_HP=hit_dice] roughly translates to "without mentioning it, if the base hit points added to the constitution modifier(multiplied by the hit dice of course) are greater than the character's hit dice then set the maximum hit points to the base hit points plus the bonus hit points from constitution, otherwise the hit point maximum should be set at least as high as the total hit dice."
 input is a function that creates a dialogue panel and its value is set based upon whether the cancel or ok button was pressed to exit it. If you want to use input then you should really review the wiki page for all the options. For a brief over-simplification: It has a single input, a text-string, which is divided up into multiple entries using pipe symbols(|). The first entry is the variable which will receive the data, the second entry is the default value, and the third entry is the question that will be asked.
 abort is a function that stops the macro immediately if the value(in this case error) is zero. This ends the macro here if the cancel button was pressed.
 isNumber is a function that tests whether a variable is numerical. If amplitude is not a number(which would be awkward) then the macro stops here.

 If the healing would take you over your maximum, then it heals you to your maximum, unless you were already over your maximum...
 If the healing will not take you over your maximum, then it is added to your hit points.

 Plain text is just plain text, printed to the chat panel. I could have put the whole line between quotation marks... meh [e:"has been healed by "+amplitude+", taking them from "+before_HP+" to "+HP+" hit points."] like that...
 bar.Health is a variable that is linked to the token's health bar, the creator of the campaign can add or remove bars so you could have bar.Altitude, bar.PowerPoints, bar.NegativeLevels, bar.Sanity, bar.BloodLoss, bar.LimbDamage, or all sorts of other bars, but they do quickly become crowded. 0 is empty, 1/2 is half-empty(Or half-full if it is measuring negative levels), 1 is full, and 1+1/2, 3, 4, and 5 are also all full.
 Basically this line sets the character's health bar to their current hit points divided by their maximum hit point, unless their maximum hit points are zero for some reason...

Code: (temporary hit points) [Select]

[h,MACRO("Base_HP@TOKEN"):""]
[h:base_HP=macro.return]
[h,MACRO("Hit_Dice@TOKEN"):""]
[h:hit_dice=macro.return]
[h:before_HP=HP]

[h,if(base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice>hit_dice):maximum_HP=base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice;maximum_HP=hit_dice]
[h:error=input("amplitude|0|Hit points gained")]
[h:abort(error)]
[h:abort(isNumber(amplitude))]

[h,if(maximum_HP+amplitude>before_HP&&before_HP>=maximum_HP):HP=maximum_HP+amplitude]
[h,if(maximum_HP>before_HP):HP=before_HP+amplitude]

I have received [e:amplitude] temporary hit points, taking me from [e:before_HP] to [e:HP] hit points.
[h,if(maximum_HP>0):bar.Health=HP/maximum_HP]Same thing but with a bit of an adjustment to the if statements to reflect how temporary hit points work. Ideally temporary hit points would be tracked separately, which would be difficult without a token property. There are ways to be sure, but they require a certain amount of tinkering that isn't entirely polite... It is worth noting that i haven't actually tested these macros at this point...

Code: (receive damage) [Select]

[h,MACRO("Base_HP@TOKEN"):""]
[h:base_HP=macro.return]
[h,MACRO("Hit_Dice@TOKEN"):""]
[h:hit_dice=macro.return]
[h:before_HP=HP]

[h,if(base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice>hit_dice):maximum_HP=base_HP+floor(Constitution/2-5)*hit_dice;maximum_HP=hit_dice]
[h:error=input("amplitude|0|Hit points lost")]
[h:abort(error)]
[h:abort(isNumber(amplitude))]

[h:HP=before_HP-amplitude]

I am now hosting [e:amplitude] new hit points worth of damage, taking me from [e:before_HP] to [e:HP] hit points.
[e,if(before_HP>-10&&-10>=HP):"<br><b>Congratulations on crossing the -10 threshold!</b>"]
[h,if(before_HP>-10&&-10>=HP):state.Dead=1]
[e,if(HP>maximum_HP*2):"<br><b>Congratulations! Your temporary hit points currently exceed your normal hit point total!<b>"]
[h,if(maximum_HP>0):bar.Health=HP/maximum_HP]Once again, taking damage is subtly different, of not is that I used the e roll option that makes sure to print the results to the chat panel and that I threw in some HTML code, specifically <br> to perform a new-line+carriage return and <b> followed by </b> to print important details in bold.

[Sirus]

That would be...7pm (19:00 for you 24 hour types) my time. That'd be good most any day for me, so let's see who else volunteers for that time.

Ninja-RAM: That's all Greek to me

[Hanslanda]

@RAM: It makes sense, but I can't shake the feeling I'd need a Calculus textbook to work them.

[TherosPherae]

I am available from 3:00 to 18:00 GMT on days I work. Mondays and tuesdays I am free all day, pretty much.

I think I could pull those times if we started early, but I'm not going to be up much past 6:00 GMT.

Also, RAM, I have very little idea what any of that means.

[RAM]

Well, it is, basically, programming, which is, basically, a different language. I tried to explain it all so that someone could slowly work their way through and translate each bit until they understood how it worked, but I admit that it is a touch verbose and technical and would be glad to answer any question on it. But mostly it is for people who want complex macros. A simple

Code: (first attack) [Select]

hit: [t:1d20+4]
<br>damage: [t:2d6+4]Will work for most purposes...


Most of the time the maths is pretty simple. There are a few technicalities, like the difference between == and = or what all the boolean operators are, or that computers use 2*2==4 instead of 2x2=4 but most of the actual reasoning behind it is fairly simple things like "Temporary hit points don't stack, so I shouldn't add them to my current hit points if I am already over my normal maximum." and "Gaining temporary hit points shouldn't cause me to lose hit points.". The maths itself rarely gets beyond multiplication.

[Heron TSG]

I'm good for any time, basically.

Also, how would I call upon my character's stats in macros?

I believe you just have to enter the stats into the relevant boxes when double-clicking the token. (In the stats tab.) After that, you should be able to refer to them by name in the macro. If you were a GM and could create more stats than those currently present, you could also refer to those by name. (Useful if we were using a system where there was a Sanity score and such like that.) Your character sheet looks fine.

@Sirus - They can only cast 3 0-level spells, but they start with the knowledge of all of them and three (plus bonuses based on stats) 1st level spells.

@RAM/Hanslanda - It seems that Hans is indeed in a minority as far as the times are concerned. Perhaps he and you could switch places, with RAM becoming a DM and Hans playing when he can?

[Sirus]

Alright, I had a question about bards (and it's kinda relevant to something Putnam said).
Here's what the SRD has to say about bonus spells:

When Table: The Bard indicates that the bard gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Charisma score for that spell level.

Question is, how can I tell if I have a high enough Charisma score for bonus spells-per-day?

[TherosPherae]

Question is, how can I tell if I have a high enough Charisma score for bonus spells-per-day?

Same place I found out if I have enough Wisdom for extra Cleric spells.
Right here.

And it looks like you have enough for an extra first-level spell and an eventual extra second-level spell.

[Putnam]

I'm good for any time, basically.

Also, how would I call upon my character's stats in macros?

I believe you just have to enter the stats into the relevant boxes when double-clicking the token. (In the stats tab.) After that, you should be able to refer to them by name in the macro. If you were a GM and could create more stats than those currently present, you could also refer to those by name. (Useful if we were using a system where there was a Sanity score and such like that.) Your character sheet looks fine.

@Sirus - They can only cast 3 0-level spells, but they start with the knowledge of all of them and three (plus bonuses based on stats) 1st level spells.

@RAM/Hanslanda - It seems that Hans is indeed in a minority as far as the times are concerned. Perhaps he and you could switch places, with RAM becoming a DM and Hans playing when he can?

Ah--and what about skills and such? Could I add all those to my token beforehand, save it, then call upon them later in macros for rolls etc.?

(I'm really enjoying this macro thing )

[Sirus]

Question is, how can I tell if I have a high enough Charisma score for bonus spells-per-day?

Same place I found out if I have enough Wisdom for extra Cleric spells.
Right here.

And it looks like you have enough for an extra first-level spell and an eventual extra second-level spell.

Thanks. So much stuff on that website, about all I can find easily are the class and race pages

[Heron TSG]

@Putnam - You could do that, but without DM powers it's not really possible. A simple workaround would be to define a variable labeled "Move_Silently" or similar as whatever your ranks were, add your dex bonus [floor(Dexterity-10)/2)], and any other relevant bonuses.

(The floor function makes it round down. I used the syntax from b76, which is a bit out-of-date and may be different in b87. Check the macro wiki for proper function use.)

[RAM]

Also, how would I call upon my character's stats in macros?

I believe you just have to enter the stats into the relevant boxes when double-clicking the token. (In the stats tab.) After that, you should be able to refer to them by name in the macro. If you were a GM and could create more stats than those currently present, you could also refer to those by name. (Useful if we were using a system where there was a Sanity score and such like that.) Your character sheet looks fine.

@RAM/Hanslanda - It seems that Hans is indeed in a minority as far as the times are concerned. Perhaps he and you could switch places, with RAM becoming a DM and Hans playing when he can?

Ah--and what about skills and such? Could I add all those to my token beforehand, save it, then call upon them later in macros for rolls etc.?

(I'm really enjoying this macro thing )

Your character's properties have names, and those names should automatically be recognised in macros. try making a macro with the following content:
 [HP=GFSDCXSD]
It should see the keyboard mashing and ask you for the value of it and then assign that value to your character's HP property. You could then make a macro with content of:
 I'll give you [HP] reasons not to kill me!
And it'll use the HP value in the macro.
Note that characters have a set list of properties based upon their classification and the campaign. By default their is only one classification and it only has the following:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Strength
Dexterity
Constitution
Intelligence
Wisdom
Charisma
HP
AC
Defense
Movement
Elevation
Description

I have had some difficulty of late making it to my D&D sessions, and my maptool seems to close down at random, and I couldn't host games the last time I tried, but my situation has changed since then and I may be able to now, and most of my ideas are based upon my own setting, and I would tend to have my own rules, such as permitting psionics, but I might be able to run a campaign starting in one of the planes, the elemental plane of air seems like a good place for psionics...

Well, there are several ways of doing skills, but almost all of them are time consuming. The easiest is to just fudge it, I have a macro that asks for the name of the skill and the bonus and then adds some descriptive text to explain that I am using a skill. You could make an individual macro for each skill, which would be time-consuming... you could make a macro that asks which skill you are using, and which ability you are using, and stores all the skill bonuses internally, which would be time consuming, complicated, and difficult to update. Or you could make two macros, one which has a simple interface to update all your skills and then saves them to a third macro that it creates, and another that references that third macro and just asks you which skill you are using. This last one would be a mammoth task and I gave up about 1/3rd of the way through. But I might try again... I personally recommend that you create individual macros for about 5 skills that you use often and have another generic skill macro for all the others that you have to put in the bonuses manually...

[RAM]

Not hat anything that involves permanently saving variables in macros requires a certain amount of D.M. permission.

[Doomblade187]

Oh, I thought 0:00 GMT was Sunday Midnight.... Ah well. I can still make a lot of Saturdays but may have to miss up to one a month.

[anzki4]

Maybe DM's should just provide preferable time for them and then every player chooses which one fits them better? (I mean if we have two groups, they don't need to be at the same time?)