What is an Effect?

One of the most powerful features of the built into Fantasy Grounds rulesets is effects. It is also, judging by the number of forum posts, the area where most users find the learning curve steepest. In Fantasy Grounds an effect is anything which gives the character either a bonus or penalty of some kind to a dice roll they are about to make. In order for the effect to be properly executed the character must be on the Combat Tracker (CT) and either they or another actor must make a dice roll which involves the character. Effects are checked when a character attacks, does damage, makes a saving throw (including death saves) or makes an ability or skill check. Effects are also checked when that same character is attacked, damaged, has a saving throw, ability check or skill check forced on them (such as from a spell).

Automatic Effects and Conditions

Some conditions (Shaken, Panicked, Frightened, Staggered) are created automatically for you in the Starfinder ruleset by dragging and dropping from the source material such as the Core Rulebook. The conditions will show up for you under your Spell action tab and can be dragged to a target in the Combat Tracker or on a map to apply the condition.

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For advanced effects, these will often need to be created one time and then reused when needed. For example the spell Resistant Armor provides two alternate effects and you choose which one applies when you cast it. The spell grants either physical protection against slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing damage - or - it provides protection against up to three different types of energies. You can right-click on the Spell, choose Add Spell Action and then choose Add Effect. Edit it to fit as needed, as shown below.

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Click on the magnifying glass to adjust the duration, targeting effects, etc. If you chose acid, electricity, and sonic, you could code it as a single effect like shown below. You could also make a separate effect for each energy type and just click the three you choose whenever you cast the spell.

You apply the effect by dragging it to your target on a map or in the Combat Tracker.

In the case of NPCs effects appear on the Combat Tracker when the NPC is placed there either from the NPC list or from an encounter. This action causes Fantasy Grounds to attempt to parse the information contained in the NPC sheet and create the effects. Most of the standard NPCs from the Monster Manual will, when dragged to the Combat Tracker, create any necessary effects so that the DM can use them. Again, not everything will create an effect either because one isn't required or Fantasy Grounds doesn't have a way to create one. For more details see the 5E NPCs and Encounters and the section below on the wording used to create NPC effects.

Creating Effects - Player Characters

In the player Character sheet effects are created in the actions tab. An effect can be added to an existing power or if no power exists a new one can be created.

• Click on the 'Edit List' button at the bottom right hand side of the Actions Tab and then click on the 'star' icon to create a new power group. You can also right click on an existing power and select 'Create Item'

• Type a name into the new line where it says <<name>>. This will be the name of the action that you are going to create. You can also type into the right hand box to give the power group a name.

• Note that the Power Group now has a magnifying glass at the right hand side. You can click on this to bring up the power group dialog and here you set the ability which this power group will use for any attacks, saving throws and bonuses for all of the actions that you set within this power group.

• Now right click on the new line created above to bring up the radial menu and select 'Add Action'. This will bring up a submenu which allows you to create the following:

  • Add Cast: this allows for an attack roll to be made against the target or forces the target to make a saving throw - or both

  • Add Damage: As it's name suggests this allows for the creation of a damaging effect to apply to the target

  • Add Heal: Create a healing effect

  • Add Effect: This adds an effect to the target. This can be almost anything from applying a simple condition such as poisoned to a whole series of statements which might apply to the target.

• Whichever you choose a new line will be created with a small magnifying glass beside it. Click the magnifying glass to open up the dialogs associated with each effect type.

Cast Dialog

• The first section is concerned with attacks. Click the words under 'type' to cycle through the (self explanatory) options, ranged, melee or none.

• Under 'Base' click to cycle through the options:

  • Attack: This refers to the attack that will be used by the Caster.

    • None - This attack uses an other method, such as a Saving Throw

    • M (KAC) - This attack uses a Melee attack that targets Kinetic AC (KAC)

    • R (KAC) - This attack uses a Ranged attack that targets Kinetic AC (KAC)

    • M (EAC) - This attack uses a Melee attack that targets Energy AC (KAC)

    • R (EAC) - This attack uses a Ranged attack that targets Energy AC (EAC)

    • CMB (CMD) - This attack uses your Combat Modifier Bonus to target Combat Modifier Defense

  • Caster Level Check: Adjust if you have a modifier to your standard CL check for this spell or ability

  • SAVE: Define how the Saving Throw Difficulty Class (DC) is set

    • The Ability is set to None, Fort, Reflex, or Will

    • The DC is set to your Class DC, your Class/2, or a fixed value

    • You can add a bonus or penalty to the DC calculation

  • ON SAVE: How Damage will be applied based on whether or not the target made their Saving Throw

    • Blank - the target will take no damage on a successful save

    • Half on Success - the target will take half damage on a successful save

Damage Dialog

• Click the 'Edit List' button and then the green 'Add Item' button to create a new line.

• Drag dice and drop them into the 'Dice' box for the damage amount. For example if the damage is 2d6; click and hold a d6, then right click to add a second dice and then drop into the box below 'Dice'.

• Click on the box below 'Stat' to cycle through the options. Once again 'Base' will feed off whatever ability was set in the Power Group.

• Add any bonus to the damage if this is relevant. Note that this is not the bonus from the ability being used but any bonus that might be available from a magic weapon for example.

• Enter the type of damage that the effect will do. Note multiple damage types can be entered separated by a comma.

• You can continue to add new lines for more damage if this is relevant.

Heal Dialog

• Select the target of the heal by clicking through the options in 'Targeting'. 'Self' will only heal the caster. Targets will heal any target selected including the caster if he is selected.

• Cycle through the options under 'Type'. 'TEMP' will give the target temporary hit points, 'HP' will remove wounds from any targets selected by the character using the cast.

• Click the 'Edit list' button and then the green 'Add Item' button to add a new line.

• Drag dice into the dice box in the same way as described above.

• Select a stat if appropriate in the stat box by clicking through the options. Again 'base' will use the ability from the power group. There are also options to add level, proficiency or class.

• Enter a figure for any bonus to the heal.

• More lines can be added if appropriate

Effect Dialog

• The Descriptions/Conditions/Modifiers line is where you enter your effect. Almost anything can appear here including 'dummy' text. More information on how to create effects in this box is given below.

• The Duration information is specified in time units. Click on the 'RND' word to cycle through the available time unit intervals (RND = Round, MIN = Minute, HR = hour and DAY = day). If the effect should never expire, enter a zero value or leave blank. Otherwise, enter a number to indicate how long until the effect expires using the selected time units.

• Click on 'Targeting' to select whether the effect should apply to the caster (self) or to targets.

• Click through the 'Expend?' options. This determines whether the effect can expire based on usage (i.e. expended), in addition to duration. The options are as follows:

  • Never: The effect will never be expended, and the length of the effect is only governed by the duration.

  • On Next Action: The effect will be expended on the next relevant action. So if the effect is a damage effect then it will be used up when the player next rolls for damage.

  • On Next Roll: The effect will be expended immediately on the next relevant roll made by the character. For example if the effect modifies both attack and damage the effect will be used up on the next attack or damage roll. If there are several targets then each of the targets will be affected by the roll not just the first.

  • Once per modifier: The effect will continue until a roll has been made involving all of the modifiers in the effect. For example if there is an effect which applies to both attack and damage. The attack part will only be used on the first attack even if the character makes several subsequent attacks. The effect will then be expended completely once a damage roll has been made.

Case Study - An Effect that Modifies your Attacks

So let’s take a look at just one of the possible modifiers that you can use to create effects that target the Attack (ATK) modifier. As its name suggests this modifies a character’s attack roll. Normally an attack is made by rolling a d20 but a variety of situations and spells can add or subtract from the number rolled.

Let’s start with a simple example, where the character has a spell cast on him which gives him a +1 to hit. This effect is written ‘ATK: 1’ (without the quotes). In longhand this is telling Fantasy Grounds to add 1 to the d20 dice roll when a player rolls to attack. The value after the modifier ATK can be a number or a dice value and either can be positive or negative. So we could have all of the following ATK: -1d6, ATK: 4, ATK: -2, ATK: 1d4. The format as you can see is always the modifier (ATK) followed by a colon ‘:’ followed by the value ‘1d4’.

We can also specify a player’s attribute bonus as the value for the modifier. The format for this is ‘ATK: [XXX]’, where XXX represents STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS or CHA. ‘ATK: [WIS]’ will add the players Wisdom modifier (whether positive or negative) to the attack roll. We can also use the negative form ‘ATK: [-WIS]’ to reduce the roll by a specific ability modifier. We can even modify the attribute by halving or doubling it; ‘ATK: [HWIS]’ will add half the wisdom modifier to the roll and ‘ATK: [2WIS] will add double the wisdom modifier. Note that square brackets '[]' are used around the ability modifier. In addition to ability modifiers the character's level [LVL] or proficiency [PRF] or class level [BARBARIAN] can be used as a modifier.

In the case of ATK: 1d4 this will add a 1d4 to any attack roll that the player makes. However we can restrict this to just certain attacks by including a descriptor to the effect. Let’s say that we can only get a bonus on melee attacks; in that case our effect is written ‘ATK: 1d4, melee’. The descriptor is added after the value and separated by a comma ‘,’. Now when used on a character only melee attacks will benefit from the additional dice. If we substitute ‘ranged’ for ‘melee’ then only ranged attacks will get the benefit.

We can go even further and limit the benefit to only opportunity attacks. The format for this is ‘ATK: 1d4, opportunity’. Now FG needs to know when you are making an opportunity attack so when you make the attack hold down shift as you do so. If the player has the effect on him then he will get the bonus to the throw but otherwise nothing happens.

The following are all examples of effects which can be created using the ATK modifier

• ATK: 1d4 - Will apply a 1d4 bonus to the attack roll.

• ATK: [-STR] - Will apply a negative equal to strength modifier to the attack

• ATK: [HLVL], melee, opportunity - will apply half the character's level only to melee opportunity attacks.

• ATK: 1d6, ranged - will apply a 1d6 bonus to only ranged attacks

• ATK: [2CON], melee - will apply twice the CON modifier to any melee attack.

• ATK: [MYSTIC] - will add the character's cleric level (only) to the attack. This is useful for multi-classed characters where the bonus relies on the class level rather than the overall level.

Combat Tracker

When an effect is applied to an actor in the combat tracker, some additional fields are available to the DM.

• Active State: By default, an effect is set to always be active (i.e. On). The active state can be toggled to Skip or Off. If set to Skip, the next application of the effect will be skipped, and then the effect will be set to On again. If set to Off, the effect will no longer be applied to rolls, but will remain in the CT.

• Duration: When the main duration field is set to Start/End Turn values, an additional field will be shown to track the initiative number when the duration should start/end.

• Applied By: The active actor will be used as the source actor of an effect, and shown in the lower right of the effect entry. If no actor is active, then this field is hidden. To set the source actor of an effect, drag the name field of a CT actor onto the label field of a CT effect entry. The source is usually just informational, but may occasionally be used to support advanced effects (such as Marked). Click on the Applied By field to clear the source actor.

• Targets: By default, effects are applied to relevant rolls for all targets. However, some effect components can be targeted (such as attack and damage modifiers). A targeting button is shown next to each effect entry, and can be dragged onto a CT entry or CT-linked token to specify that the effect is targeted to a specific actor or set of actors. Additional options to target all allies or enemies are available by right-clicking on the targeting button. The Targets field is hidden unless targets are defined. Click on the Targets field to clear the targets.

Effect Targeting

As described above in the dialog for Spell/Ability Effect there is a box for ‘Targeting’ which can be set either to ‘Targets’ or ‘Self’. It is important to understand that this isn’t asking you to tell Fantasy Grounds who the target of the effect is but rather where the effect should reside.

If we take a simple case of a character that has set up an effect to deal some extra damage, DMG: 1d6. It is the character who is the beneficiary of this additional damage (not the creature who is going to take it) and so when creating the effect the character needs to set the ‘Targeting’ box in the dialog to read ‘Self’. When the player clicks the action button to apply the effect it will correctly be set on the character even if he has a number of enemies targeted on the Combat Tracker (or none at all).

On the other hand suppose we have some spell or ability which means that an enemy gets disadvantage on attack rolls DISATK:. Clearly there’s no use this effect sitting on the character; it must be placed on an enemy and so when setting the targeting we make sure that it reads ‘Targets’.

So when setting the ‘Targeting’ to ‘Targets’ or ‘Self’ we need to think about what the effect is setting out to achieve, who should benefit or who should take the penalty. Once you have sorted that out you should be able to work out on which creature that effect should be sitting.

There is another layer of depth however to the effect system built into Fantasy Grounds – effect targeting. This concept is probably best illustrated with another example and we’ll use the wizard cantrip True Strike. This spell tells us that on your next turn you gain advantage on your first attack against the target of the spell. Let’s say our spellcaster is up against 6 Goblins and he is going to cast the spell on Goblin 3.

Based on the above we need to figure out who is going to benefit from this spell and clearly it is the caster and so the ‘Targeting’ of the effect needs to be set to ‘Self’. So we set up an effect ADVATK: and set the targeting to ‘Self’. We click on the action button and it places the effect on the Wizard. However there’s a problem because we have just given our Wizard advantage on every attack roll he makes against any Goblin, not just Goblin 3.

What we need to do then is target this effect only at Goblin 3 and we do this by holding down SHIFT and dragging the effect onto Goblin 3. You will see that when you do so the effect appears on the Wizard (because we set the targeting to Self) not on Goblin 3. Now our Wizard will only get advantage on an attack against Goblin 3.

A similar kind of situation arises with the Hex spell which allows the caster to get an additional 1d6 necrotic damage against whomever the spell is cast upon. We create the effect DMG: 1d6 necrotic; and set the targeting to ‘Self’. When cast shift-drag the effect onto the target. Now, only against that target will the caster get the additional damage.

It needs to be noted that not every modifier can be used in this way. Modifiers which can be make use of effect targeting have a ‘T’ in the ‘Notes’ column in the tables below. For convenience these are ATK, AC, DMG, Invisible, RESIST, VULN, IMMUNE, COVER, SCOVER, ADVATK, DISATK, GRANTADVATK, GRANTDISATK.

A Word on Syntax

As has been seen from the notes above there is a syntax which must be followed so that effects will work successfully.

• Modifiers need to be followed by a colon ':' if you intend to have anything after them such as a number, dice etc. If the colon is missed then Fantasy Grounds assumes that there is nothing to follow. Thus if the effect requires nothing after the modifier the colon can be missed out.

• Some modifiers can accept descriptors. These must follow the dice or number separated by a comma. For example ATK: 1d6, melee

• If the modifier is to be modified by a player stat then that should be enclosed in square brackets '[]'. For example SAVE: [CHA]

• Effects can be chained together but each must be separated by a semi colon ';'. For example AC: 1; ATK: 1; DMG: 1d6

• You can add a description to an effect ending in a semi colon. For example Bless; SAVE: 1d4; ATK: 1d4. this is useful for reminding players what the effect is.

• A special tag '!' can be used as a kind of logical NOT. For example the effect "RESIST: bludgeoning, piercing, !magic" creates an effect which allows whoever has the effect to resist damage from bludgeoning or piercing weapons provided they are not magical. If they are magical then all of the damage will get through. Other useful delimiters are !silver and !adamantine.

Spells and Constitution Saving Throws

In many cases when a Spellcaster casts a spell they must maintain concentration on that spell for the duration. If, whilst concentrating on a spell, the spellcaster takes damage they must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 10 or half the damage whichever is greater. On a failure concentration on the spell is lost. Fantasy Grounds can handle this automatically provided that the effect is affixed with ;(C). If the caster who is concentrating on the spell takes damage Fantasy Grounds will make the appropriate saving throw and on a failure remove any effects from any actors who are being influenced by the spell.

So, for example, if an effect is created for the Bless spell then it should be ATK: 1;SAVE: 1;(C)

Reference

The following sections details the conditions, modifiers and other components which can be used to create effects within the 5e ruleset. A number of examples are also provide to help users get started.

Conditions

• Not case-sensitive.

• Do not stack.

(T) = Effects can be targeted to only apply to conditions against certain opponents

Modifiers

• Format: [tag]: [dice/number] [descriptors]

• Case-sensitive

• If colon missing, assume no dice, numerical modifier or descriptors.

• Modifiers stack as long as their bonus type is blank or unique. If two modifiers have the same bonus type, only the larger value will be used.

• When applying effects from PC sheet powers, bracketed ability tags ([STR],[DEX],...) can be added to the modifier dice and numerical portion to adjust by current PC attribute modifiers. The ability tags can be set to negative ([-INT]), half ([HWIS]) or double ([2CHA]).

(D) = Dice and numbers supported for value attribute
(N) = Only numbers supported for value attribute
(-) = Neither number nor dice supported for value attribute
(T) = Effects can be targeted to only apply to modifiers against certain opponents

[bonus] = alchemical, armor, circumstance, competence, deflection, dodge, enhancement, insight, luck, morale, natural, profane, racial, resistance, sacred, shield, size
[range] = melee, ranged
[damage type] = acid, cold, electricity, fire, sonic, force, negative, positive, adamantine, bludgeoning, cold iron, epic, magic, piercing, silver, slashing, chaotic, evil, good, lawful, nonlethal, spell
[ability name] = strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, charisma
[skill name] = any skill name
* = Multiple entries of this descriptor type allowed.

Special Components

• Examples: FAIL, AURA, ...

• Unique format for each tag

• Case-sensitive

Conditional Operators

• Not case-sensitive

[alignment] = LG, LN, LE, NG, NE, CG, CN, CE, lawful, lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral good, neutral evil, chaotic, chaotic good, chaotic neutral, chaotic evil, good, evil
[size] = F, D, T, S, M, L, H, G, C, fine, diminutive, tiny, small, medium, large, huge, gargantuan, colossal
[creature type] = aberration, animal, construct, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, outsider, plant, undead, vermin, air, angel, aquatic, archon, augmented, chaotic, cold, demon, devil, earth, evil, extraplanar, fire, good, incorporeal, lawful, living construct, native, psionic, shapechanger, swarm, water, dwarf, elf, gnoll, gnome, goblinoid, halfling, human, orc, reptilian
* = Multiple entries of this descriptor type allowed.

PC Specific Notes

NOTE: These tags can only be used for effects specified on the PC Actions tab of the character sheet. They will not work from the campaign effects list or combat tracker. The numerical values will be calculated when the effect is applied to the combat tracker.

When applying effects from the Actions tab of the PC sheet, special tags can be inserted to provide numerical bonuses based on the PC's current attributes.

Examples

Good

• ATK: 2 sacred

• SAVE: 1

• DMGO: 2d6

• DMG: 1d6 cold

• RESIST: 5 fire; RESIST: 5 cold

Bad

• RESIST: 5 fire,cold

PC Sheet

• RESIST: 2 [WIS]

• ATK: [-DEX]

• DMG: 2d6+1 [CON]

More

Specific Character Ability Examples

• If the Duration, Target, and Expend are not called out, then the default is:

  • Duration=0 (Zero indicates effect should not expire.)

  • Targeting=Targets

  • Expend=Never

Solarian Abilities

Mechanic Abilities

Envoy Abilities

Operative Abilities

Specific Feat, Item and Weapon Examples

Automating Effects on NPCs

FG latches on to certain key words and phrases in traits and actions and creates effect from those words which then appear on the Combat Tracker. For users wishing to create their own NPCs the following contains guidance on how to create these effects.

Weapon Attacks

• Basic Melee Weapon Name. Melee Weapon Attack: +x to Hit [reach 5ft., one target]. Hit: x (ndn + x) <type> damage.

• Basic Ranged Weapon Name. Ranged Weapon Attack: +x to hit, [range n/n ft., one target]. Hit: x (ndn +x) <type> damage

• Two handed option Weapon Name. Melee Weapon Attack: +x to Hit [reach 5ft., one target]. Hit: x (ndn + x) <type> damage or x (ndn) <type> damage if used with two hands.

• Melee or Ranged Melee Weapon Attack: +x to Hit [reach 5ft., one target]. Hit: x (ndn + x) <type> damage or Ranged Weapon Attack: +x to hit, [range n/n ft., one target]. Hit: x (ndn +x) <type> damage

• Multiple damage types Hit: x (ndn+x) <type> damage plus x (ndn+x) <type> damage

• Other Damage Types Hit: x (ndn+x) <type>, <magic>, <adamantine>, <silver>, <cold-forged damage> damage

Saving Throws

• Basic Save The target must make a DC x <ability> saving throw.

• Save for half damage The target must make a DC x <ability> saving throw, taking x (ndn+x) <type> damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

• Save against only one damage type Hit: x (ndn+x) <type> damage and the target must make a DC x <ability> saving throw taking x (ndn+x) <type> damage on a failure and half as much damage on a successful one.

Conditions

The parser will recognise all of the standard conditions listed in the PHB at appendix A except for exhaustion.

• Basic Condition effect the target is <condition>

• Prone condition the target is knocked prone

• Save vs condition The target must make a DC x <ability> saving throw, and on a failure the target is <condition>

• Multiple conditions The target is <condition> and <condition>

• Duration the target is <condition> until <the end of your next turn> / <for x rounds> / <for x minutes>

Damage

• Basic Damage The <NPC> takes x (ndn) <type> damage or The <NPC> takes x <type> damage

• Extra Damage The <NPC> does an extra x (ndn) <type> damage

• Ongoing Damage Hit: x(ndn+x) <type> damage and the target takes x(ndn+x) <type> damage at the start of each of its turns