Reference - Effects

The following sections details the conditions, modifiers and other components which can be used to create effects within the 2e ruleset. A number of examples are also provided to help users get started.

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.

It needs to be noted that not every modifier can be used in this way.

Effect String 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 STR: -[1d6] would apply a random 1-6 minus value to the strength of that n/pc.

• 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.

Effect Conditions

• The following are built into the code and can be applied to a character or NPC either via an effect from the character sheet or Combat Tracker or by applying it from the effects button in the UI.

• Not case-sensitive.

Effect 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.

• Values between brackets [] will be mathematically processed when effect applied by an actor. For example “AC: [1d3+2]”, “ATK: [$LEVEL/3]”. $LEVEL = replaced with highest level of the character, $ARCANE or $DIVINE will be replaced with arcane or divine spell level. Class name can also be used such as $PALADIN, $BARD/etc and it will be replaced with the class that matches the name.

Modifier Macros