5E Character Sheet
Character Sheet Overview
The 5e character sheet is comprised of several individual sheets organized by tabs along the right hand side. The sheets contain the following information.
Main: Character Class and level, abilities, hit points, wounds, saves, defenses, speed, senses, and overview of common combat totals.
Skills: Skill details.
Abilities: Feats, special abilities, class features and traits, proficiencies and languages.
Inventory: Equipment, coins and encumbrance.
Notes: Character background details, appearance and notes.
Actions: Weapon and spell details
If you have any of the modules for the various official D&D Class packs, or the Complete Player's handbook, you can drag and drop the links for items such as class, race, background, equipment and more onto the appropriate locations on the character sheet to automatically copy the text with the link included for later reference. In addition, Fantasy Grounds will also add race, background or class level appropriate abilities to your character's ability tab automatically and for races, it will automatically adjust stat bonuses. Any such automated functionality will be written to the Chat window so you can see what was added.
The remainder of this article is divided into a tutorial walk-through of creating a character and a reference section. Use the index above to jump to any part of the article.
NOTE: The screenshots in this article were made using the Wizards Theme which you will have available if you have any of the official D&D 5e products. You can select this theme at the campaign load screen by checking the dot next to '5e Theme - Wizards'. If you do not have this theme then the icons on your screen will show differently but they will still be in the same location as the ones shown in my screenshots.
New Character Sheet
To create a new character first bring up a new character sheet. To do this click the PCs button at the top of the right hand menu and in the window which opens click the brown edit button at the bottom, then the green add button. Alternatively right click in that window and select create item.
Building a Character With Official D&D Class Packs
In order to demonstrate many of the features of Fantasy Grounds as well as outlining a suggested method of creating a character that automates as much as possible and gives a highly functional character sheet let's create a Dwarven Cleric. Along the way we'll also find out what all the buttons, boxes and crosses you find scattered about do.
Add Ability Scores
Unlike the method detailed in the Player's Handbook (PHB) we're going to start with the character's ability scores. To edit an ability score click in the box of the ability you want to edit and type in the new number. So go ahead and edit the numbers to give the character the following abilities from top to bottom; 14,12,13,10,15,8. We are using the standard array here but obviously you can use whatever method you want to determine your character's abilities. Once you have finished you will notice that Fantasy Grounds has taken those scores and adjusted various other aspects of the sheet such as saving throws, initiative and perception and if you look at the Skills tab you'll find some numbers in the 'Total' column as well. Any time that you alter your abilities Fantasy Grounds will recalculate such dependent scores; so for example if you're Wisdom increased to 16, giving you a +3 instead of a +2 bonus any saving throw or skill which relied on Wisdom would increase by one point, as would your perception.
Add Race
Next up we'll enter our race into the sheet. If you haven't already done so open up your class pack or PHB by clicking on 'Library' down the right hand side of the screen, click on the 'modules' button at the bottom left of the window which pops up and find the module in the list. Double click the module to open it and close the module activation window. You'll see the module you opened listed in the left hand side of the library; click on it to open it and a content list will appear down the right hand side of the window. We are going to enter the Race of our character next so find 'Races' in the list and then click on 'Dwarf'.
You will now be looking at a page of information about Dwarves; scroll down right to the bottom until you find the very last entry 'Subrace'. Click on this to open up a new page and you will see two possible subraces. The one we are interested in is 'Hill Dwarf' because such a dwarf gives us a bonus to Wisdom and that ability is important to Clerics. In order to get the race into our character sheet drag the icon next to 'Hill Dwarf' and drop it into the 'Race' section at the top right of the Main tab of the character sheet. Once you have done this you'll notice that several things have happened. The chat window shows that a whole host of information has been entered into the character sheet automatically. Your character's CON has increased by 2 points to 15, WIS has gone up to 16, speed has been entered into the character sheet and Darkvision has appeared under senses. If you check the abilities tab a number of Traits have been added. Beside the traits you can click the little icon to bring up information about the trait and if you click on the icon next to Hill Dwarf you'll find it links to all of the information about Dwarves.
Add Background
Next thing we want to do is add a background to our character. Go back to your library and click on 'Backgrounds' to bring up the index. The one we want is 'Acolyte' so go ahead and drag the icon beside the name into the 'Background' section of the character sheet. Once again you'll notice that Fantasy Grounds has added more information automatically. Click on the 'skills' tab and you will see that the little stars beside the skills 'Insight' and 'Religion' have turned yellow. This indicates that your character is proficient in those skills and you will note that the bonus in the 'Total' column reflects this. You can click on the little star next to any of the skills to make the character proficient in that skill; if you click again you can double the proficiency, again for half proficiency and again for not proficient. Each time you click the bonus to the skill will change to reflect the level of proficiency.
Add Class
We are now, finally, ready to get our class into the sheet; back in the library, click on classes and drag 'Cleric' into the 'Class & Level' section on the Main tab of the character sheet. You will get a pop up asking you to select two skills. We already got 'Insight' and 'Religion' from our background so let's select 'History' and 'Medicine'. Click on the tick and another selection box will appear. This time select 'Life Domain' and click the tick to finish. As before many changes have automatically been made. We now have hit points, more class features, some proficiencies and languages. Also note that the stars next to WIS and CHA saving throws have lit up showing that we have proficiency with saving throws involving those abilities.
Get Equipment
Let's now switch our attention to our character's equipment; click on the Inventory tab and note that Fantasy Grounds has filled in the boxes for maximum weight and Lift,Push,Pull based on our character's strength ability. Go back to your library window and find 'Equipment' on the index page and click it. This brings up a sub menu; go ahead and click 'Weapon' to bring up the weapon table. Scroll down until you find 'Warhammer' and drag the icon beside it into the inventory tab. While we are here give the character a light crossbow; drag it across just like you did the Warhammer.
Close the weapons window and go back to equipment and open up 'Armor'. Our Cleric can use Heavy Armour and shields so let's give him some Chain Mail and a shield; find those in the Armor table and drag them across. Now, close the Armor table and open up 'Adventuring Gear'. Find and drag across 'Crossbow bolts(20)', 'Amulet'(under Holy Symbol) and an 'Explorer's pack'.
Whilst you were doing all this you may have noticed that the weight of all this gear has been accumulated for you in the box marked 'current' in the encumbrance section. To the right of the 'WT' column you'll see a line of symbols. If you click on these symbols it will cycle through three options 'equipped', 'carried' and 'not carried'. If an item is 'not carried' then it will not be added to the character's encumbrance. If an item of armor or a shield is noted as being 'equipped' then those items will be used in the Armor Class calculation. More information on this below. You can also click any of the icons to the extreme right of any item in the list to get more information about them and finally if you flip over to the 'Actions' tab you'll find that Fantasy Grounds has added the weapons to the weapons list along with their attack and damage rolls.
Hit points, Armor Class and Experience
It is time now to revisit the main tab and sort out one or two things.
At the far end of the line where it says 'Cleric 1' you will see a small symbol, a magnifying glass. You'll see that there are several of them scattered around the character sheet. This symbol indicates that there is a dialog box into which you can input or edit information, so go ahead and click on this one now. The only thing we want to do here at this time is click on the box under 'next level' and type in 300, being the XP required to advance to level 2. Don't change anything else and close the dialog.
In the middle of the sheet you will find another little magnifying glass right next to AC; go ahead and click it to open up the Combat Calculation dialog. We are interested in the row of boxes at the bottom prefaced by 'Armor'. If you have followed this guide you should see that then the character should have an Armor Class of 18. This is automatically calculated from the items equipped by the character; in this case chain mail (AC 16) and a shield (AC +2). The calculation also takes account of any Dexterity bonus (or restriction to that bonus) based on the type of armor - in this case none. Note also that the 'Stealth Disadvantage' check box has been ticked because we have heavy armor equipped. Any stealth checks we make will now be at disadvantage.
Whilst you have this dialog open, make sure the star next to 'Proficient?' is yellow (it should be since that is the default). This is telling Fantasy Grounds that we are proficient with the armor we are wearing and so don't suffer any penalties. If the star isn't yellow for some reason click it until it is. Go ahead now and close the dialog.
At the very bottom of the screen you will find your character's hit points total. Note that Fantasy Grounds has taken account of the character's 'Dwarven Toughness' feature and added in an additional hit point given her a total of 11. Below that you will find another magnifying glass next to 'HD'; click it to open the health calculation dialog. The health calculation is only made when a character uses hit dice to recover hit points during a short rest. There's nothing we need to do here so you can just close the dialog down again.
Domain Spells
Our Cleric can cast spells so our next step is to add some spells to the Actions tab of our character sheet. Clerics have two sources of spells; the first comes from their Domain and the rest come from the plain fact that they are a Cleric. Domain spells are always prepared and don't count towards the number that the cleric can prepare in any one day. For this and other reasons we want to separate out the Domain Spells on the Actions tab. First thing is to open the 'Abilities' tab and then click the icon next to 'Life Domain' under 'Features'. This page has a list of Spells and Features which the Cleric receives because they chose the Life Domain. Leave this page open and switch over to the 'Actions' tab.
Down at the bottom right of the Actions page you will see a small brownish dot with a white line through it. This is an edit list button and you will find them all over the place. Click on this one now and you will see two new buttons have appeared. The sword icon is used to create new weapons (we'll come to this later), but the one we want is the star button which creates a new power. Click on it and you will see a new line has appeared headed 'Powers' and underneath it a box with <<name>> and another blank one beside it. Click on the blank one and type in 'Domain Spells' and press the TAB key. This has changed the title of the power to 'Domain Spells' and we can now drag the two first level Domain spells Bless and Cure Wounds from the Life Domain page. It is important that you drag the two spells onto the bar which says 'Domain Spells'. You will see as you drag the spells that each of them creates a new line with the name of the spell on the left and the name of the power on the right. We don't need the line with <<name>> in it any longer so click the little red circle with the white line through it twice to delete it.
Next we want to organize our 'Domain Spells' power so that Fantasy Grounds can automate the casting of these spells using the correct attack rolls and saving throws. To do this click on the magnifying glass at the end of the 'Domain Spells' heading. In the dialog which opens up you will see a little sword icon next to 'Group type'. Click the sword and it will change into a book. Below that click the box next to 'Ability' until it reads 'Wis'. The 'Attack' and 'Save DC' boxes should read 'Base' - leave them as they are. Now close the dialog.
Effects
You may have noticed that when you dragged the Cure Wounds spell onto the sheet that a small button with a red cross on it appeared next to a line which said 'Heal' 1d8. You might also have noticed that when you subsequently altered the 'Ability' in the dialog that the text changed to 1d8+3. If you read the Cure Wounds spell you will find that when you cast this spell on a character they recover wounds equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting modifier. What Fantasy Grounds has done is cleverly 'read' the spell when it was dragged into the character sheet and tried to interpret what it found and translate that into a form that the program can use to automate the casting of the spell. Our Cleric can now click the red cross and whoever is the target of his spell will be cured of 1d8+3 wounds. This is called an effect and effects are one of the most powerful features of Fantasy Grounds.
Effects are used to automate much of the actions your character can take in combat. See the 5E Effects article for more information. In almost every case when you drag a spell onto the actions tab the effect will be created for you. Not every spell however will require an effect since Fantasy Grounds can't automate absolutely everything and in any case many spells are 'Theatre of the Mind' type spells and an effect is therefore inappropriate.
Get more spells
We can now sort out the rest of our Cleric's spells. We need to give her 3 cantrips and she can prepare 4 1st level spells. To access our spell list open up the library and then click on 'spells' in the right hand side, then click on 'Cleric' from the list that appears. Another list appears showing all the Cleric spells available. Drag the following cantrips into the Actions tab Guidance, Sacred Flame and Spare the Dying. From the first level spell list drag in the following Command, Detect Magic, Healing Word and Shield of Faith.
As you are doing this you will see that Fantasy Grounds automatically organizes the spells into their own categories. You will also notice that quite a few of the spells create effects when dragged into the sheet. If you look at the Sacred Flame spell you will see that two effects have been created, the first which will force the target to make a saving throw and the second to do damage. Make sure that the 'Save' is shown as DEX DC 13 in the box. If it isn't click on the magnifying glass at the right hand side of the Spells (Cantrip) row and Click on the 'Ability' box until it says 'Wis'.
Note also that Fantasy Grounds has allocated our Cleric two spell slots in the Spell Slots section of the actions tab. These can be checked when the Cleric uses one of her spells. NOTE: Fantasy Grounds does not automatically check off spell slots when a spell is cast; this is a manual operation which needs to be done by the player.
Add a new Weapon
If you look at the top of the 'Actions' tab you'll see the character's weapons. When we dragged these into the inventory Fantasy Grounds automatically calculated the attack rolls and damage rolls for these weapons. It recognized the weapon's type (melee or ranged) and correctly used DEX for the attack modifier for the Crossbow and STR for the warhammer. The latter weapon is a 'versatile' weapon which means that it can be used either as a one handed or a two handed weapon. At the moment only the one handed version has been entered, but since using it in two hands does more damage our Cleric might want to use it like that. So let's add in that option.
Click the little brown button at the very bottom of the sheet and this time click on the sword icon. This creates a new weapon under 'Weapons' at the top of the screen. Click on the line and type in 'Warhammer (two handed) and press tab. Now click on the little magnifying glass at the end of the row to bring up the weapon dialog box. Click on the brown button on the 'DAMAGE' line and then on the green button which appears. Drag a 10 sided dice into the 'Dice' box and in the 'type' box type 'bludgeoning'. Close the dialog and click the brown button at the bottom of the screen to finish editing.
NOTE: Creating a weapon like this in the actions tab does not add it to the inventory; so it is generally better that the DM create the weapon in 'items' and add it to the player's inventory. See the 5E Item Sheet for more information.
Creating Effects
If our Cleric does use her warhammer two handed then whilst she is doing so she won't have the benefit of her shield. We therefore need to recognize this somehow. There are a number of ways to do this but let's create an effect to handle the situation. On the Actions tab click the brown button and then the star to create a new power. In both the <<name>> box and the one next to it type in 'No shield' and press tab. Now right click on the 'No shield' line you just created and select 'Add Action' and then 'Add Effect'. Click the magnifying glass to bring up the dialog and type in AC:-2 into the modifier box. In the box next to 'Targeting' click the word 'Targets' until it changes to 'Self' and leave everything else as it is. Now close the dialog. When our Cleric is using her weapon two handed she can click on the little running man icon next to this effect and until it is removed she'll suffer a -2 penalty to AC. Note that this doesn't change the AC in the character sheet but Fantasy Grounds takes account of the -2 when checking to see if an attack roll hits.
One of the abilities granted by our race is Dwarven resilience. This gives us an advantage when we save against poison attacks and resistance to poison damage. We can create an effect to handle the poison resistance. Once again click on the brown button and then star icon to add a new power. Call this one Dwarven resilience (both boxes). Right click on the new line created, then 'Add Action' then 'Add Effect' and then click the magnifying glass to open the dialog. In the box type RESIST: poison;. Change the 'Targeting' to 'Self'. Leave everything else as it is and close the dialog. Now when the character clicks on the running man icon the effect will be placed on them and Fantasy Grounds will automatically handle the resistance to poison damage. Note that, despite what is shown in the graphic, we can't set up an effect to give us advantage for a poison saving throw. This is largely because there is no such thing as a save vs poison per se in the 5e ruleset. The saving throw would be a constitution save (in this case) and we can't set up an effect to deal with a saving throw which would give advantage against a specific type of damage.
Finish off Abilities
Let's go to the Abilities tab now and finish off anything we need to do here. Under traits we can see that we have Dwarven Combat Training and under traits we have a Bonus proficiency (Heavy Armor). We can just leave these as they are but if you want to you can edit the proficiencies on the Abilities tab to reflect this. Click on the 'Armor' line and edit out 'Light Armor, medium armor, shields' and replace it with 'All, shields'. Below on the Weapons line, add in 'battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer and warhammer'. These are purely cosmetic changes.
Down at the bottom you can see that we have to choose a couple of languages. Edit out 'Two of your choice' and add in two more languages each on a separate line; let's say Orcish and Giant.
Next up let's look at tool proficiency. Our Cleric can choose to be proficient in any of the tools mentioned, so let's go ahead and assume we pick 'Smith's tools'. Go ahead and add 'Smith's Tools' at the end of 'Tool proficiency'. The text tells us we can add our proficiency to any checks made whilst using these tools. If you open the skills tab you'll note that there isn't a skill for Smith's Tools (or indeed any tool). This is largely because tools aren't tied to a particular ability. However for the sake of this tutorial let's create one. You'll see our old friend the brownish button at the bottom of the Skills page, click it and you'll see a green cross has appeared up at the top of the sheet. Click it to add a new line and in the 'Name' column type in 'Smith's Tools'. Let's say we will use DEX as the ability so click the 'STAT' box until DEX appears, then click the star to the left of the skill to make our Cleric proficient in the skill. Click the brown button to finish editing.
The final ability which we need to deal with is 'Disciple of Life'. This adds a bonus to any healing spells we cast, so we need to edit any healing spells to take this into account. Back on the 'Actions' tab we see we have two healing spells Cure wounds and Healing Word. Next to the Cure wounds spell click the magnifying glass to open the effect line (you don't need to do this if you can already see the effect line), and then click the magnifying glass beside the Heal to open up the dialog. We get a bonus of 2 + the spells level and since Cure wounds is a level one spell the total is 3. Click on the 'Bonus' box and type in 3. Close the dialog and do the same for Healing Word.
Notes
Open the notes sheet and you will find a number of editable fields. I'll leave you to fill in Gender, Age, Height, Weight, Alignment and Faction. All of these can be edited by clicking on the line and typing in whatever you want. Note that your size has been automatically entered when you dragged in your race. (NOTE: If you are creating a character whose race allows for them to be treated as Large for the purposes of carrying more weight you can change the size here to 'Large'. This tells Fantasy Grounds to recalculate the carry weight etc in the Inventory tab to the correct figures. Changing the size here doesn't affect anything else.)
For personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws you can just type in whatever you want here too but you can also use the information in your 'background'. Click on the main page and then click on the little icon next to 'Acolyte' to open your background sheet. If you scroll down you'll see several tables linked at the bottom of the sheet. Click on 'Acolyte Personality Trait' and a table will pop up. Click the dice icon at the top of the table and look in the chat window for the result. Now drag the little icon against the number you rolled into the personality trait part of the notes. You can go ahead and do the same for the Ideal, Bonds and Flaws.
Finishing Touches
Go back to the main tab now and click on the line below 'NAME' and give your character a name. Now click on the box on the top left of the page. This will open up the portraits folder and what you have in here will depend very much on what products you have. Double click any of the brown bags you see to open it up and then double click on the portrait you want.
NOTE: Click the folder button in the portrait selection window to add new portrait files for consideration. Close and reopen portrait selection window to see the new options. Portraits larger than 70x70 are not needed, and may increase portrait upload/download times.
Note that the portrait also appears on the top right of the sheet too. You may be able to change this by clicking on the 'Tokens' button in the bottom right of your screen. Again what appears here will depend on what products you own. If there is nothing there then click the 'Modules' button on the dialog and find any token modules in the new window. Open them by dragging the little book icon to the left. When you close this window any token bags will then appear in the tokens window. Type in 'Dwarf' or Cleric' in the search bar to see what comes up and once you find one you like drag it onto the top right of the sheet and drop it over the portrait that is there.
NOTE: The tokens available to players is controlled by the GM. By default, when a GM adds your character to the combat tracker, a token will be created automatically based on your portrait. (if any)
Using the Character Sheet
Now that we have seen how to create a character we need to know how to use the sheet within Fantasy Grounds in a real game of Dungeons & Dragons. We'll go through each of the tabs and pick out the pertinent information.
Main Tab
Make an ability check by double clicking over any of your ability scores. You can also click and drag from the score and drop the dice into the chat window to make a roll. In fact any box you see with a small dice in the bottom left hand corner indicates a roll-able dice.
Make a saving throw by double clicking or drag and dropping any of your saving throw scores.
Make initiative rolls by double clicking or drag and dropping the box under 'INIT' in the middle of the sheet.
Make a death saving throw by clicking or drag/dropping the dice icon down at the very bottom of the sheet. Note that if the DM has selected the option for automatic death saving throws these will be done automatically when your turn comes around on the Combat Tracker.
Expend a Hit Dice to heal by double clicking on the dice icon next to HD at the bottom of the sheet. If you are wounded you will heal whatever number you roll plus your constitution bonus. The number on the dice shows how many HD you have left; if you use your last one the dice will disappear from the box and you will no longer be able to roll.
Check your wounds, maximum hit points and temporary hit points by looking at the boxes at the bottom of the screen. All of these boxes are editable.
Wherever you see a little '+' at the top right of any box - such as initiative, perception, saving throws - you can give your character a temporary bonus or penalty to the score. To do this hover your mouse over the box until you see a hand icon. Then, whilst holding down the CTRL key, move the middle mouse button up or down. A small bubble will appear with a number in it. Any rolls you make will now include that bonus or penalty. This can be removed by repeating the procedure until the bubble goes away.
Record the fact that you have been given inspiration by the DM by clicking the little circle below 'INSP' on the top right of the sheet. Note Fantasy Grounds does nothing with this; it is there simply as a visual reminder. Once you've used it, manually uncheck the box. This check box appears on all of the other tabs as well and can be edited from any of them. Another thing to note is that when your character has inspiration a yellow star will appear over their portrait in the top left of the screen as a visual reminder that you have inspiration.
On level up drag whatever class you want to level up in into the 'Class and Level' line of the character sheet. Multi-classing is fully supported. Whenever you level up Fantasy Grounds will do the following:
Add in any new class features, or traits into the Abilities tab.
Increase proficiency value should this be appropriate e.g from level 4 --> 5. This will automatically change all skills and any other values such as attack rolls which are reliant on proficiency
Increase hit points by the average value for the class plus CON modifier. e.g. A Cleric with CON of 15 would gain 7 (5+2) additional hit points per level. Note: Players are not restricted to accepting this, they can manually adjust the hit points on level up however way they want simply by editing the max hit points.
For spell-casting classes the number of available spell slots shown in the Actions tab will update to reflect the change.
A list of changes that have been made or added to the character sheet will show in the chat window
By clicking on the little star icon at the bottom right of any SAVES box a character can be made proficient in any saving throw. Fantasy Grounds automatically makes the relevant saves for each class proficient when the class is dragged into the sheet.
In the center of the sheet are two editable lines where the character can record Special Moves and Special Defenses. The character could record such things as Flying Speed (Draconic Ancestry Sorcerers) here. The information here is only for information purposes.
There are three additional dialogs which can be accessed from this sheet by clicking on the little magnifying glasses beside Level, AC and HD.LevelThe XP box shows the current XP and will automatically accumulate from information added to the party sheet by the DM. The 'next level' box is used to enter the XP required for the next level. Note Fantasy Grounds does not use these numbers in any way, they are purely informational. The second part of the dialog can be used to manually enter a new class and level or edit an existing one.ACThis opens the Combat calculation dialog and can be used to edit initiative, speed and Armor. In the case of armor the '2nd' box would be used for cases such as the Monk's unarmored defense ability. Click through the options until the correct Ability shows. (This calculation should be made automatically by Fantasy Grounds and therefore only exceptionally will manual intervention be required.)HDThe health calculation is only used when a character uses up hit dice to regain health during a short rest. The Stat box defaults to 'base' which means that the CON bonus will be added to the roll. The '2nd' box is used for any instance where a character might get the bonus from a second ability to hit points and the 'Misc' box is a legacy from D&D Next where certain classes could get bonus dice for this roll. Neither of these extras are used in 5e so both these boxes should remain empty.
Right click on the sheet to bring up a context menu. This will allow you to close or minimize the sheet. NOTE: the screenshot shows the DM context menu which also allows for the selection of a long or short rest.
Skills Tab
To make a skill check double click the roll-able box or click and drag the dice into the chat box.
Skill bonuses are automatically calculated based on ability scores and any proficiencies the character class has.
To the left of the skill name is a star which will change state depending on how many times it is clicked. It cycles through proficient, double proficient, half proficient and not proficient. This allows full control over the various proficiencies different classes or characters may have.
Miscellaneous bonuses (such as might accrue from a magic item) can be typed into the 'MISC' boxes beside each skill.
Click the icon to the extreme right of the skill to bring up details of the skill.
Note the little marker beside the Stealth skill which indicates that it is a special skill and if 'Armor disadvantage' has been checked in the AC dialog on the main tab this skill will be rolled with disadvantage.To create a new skill
Right click on the skill list and choose 'Create new item'
Type in a name for the skill
Click on the 'STAT' box until you get the correct ability on which you want to base the skill
Click the little icon on the extreme right and type in a description of the skill and how it should be used.
Set the relevant proficiency level by clicking the star as appropriate.
Abilities Tab
This tab is divided into several sections and what resides in this area will depend on your class, race, background and level. All of the information in this sheet is for information purposes only (but see languages below).
Each line can be clicked upon and fully edited.
If there is an icon at the end of the line this can be clicked on to get more information. You can edit this description by clicking the unlock icon at the top right of the page.
To create new entries click the brown button at the bottom of the sheet and then on one of the green buttons that appear against the various headings.
You can also drag entries for feats, features and traits from any Core class pack directly into this sheet.
You can delete entries by right clicking on it and selecting delete, or by clicking the edit button at the bottom of the sheet and then clicking twice on the red button next to the entry you want to delete.
Ensure that languages are correctly spelled and entered since as from v3.1.4 Fantasy Grounds use this information to determine whether a character can understand a language being used by the DM. If the character does understand the language then a translation of what is being said will appear in chat. If the character has not set their languages correctly then this will interfere with this process. The DM will be able to guide you on what languages are available and how to enter these on the character sheet.
Inventory Tab
Equipment, weapons, armor and tools can all be dragged from their source and dropped into this sheet.
The top part of the sheet under equipment is divided into columns:
# the number of the particular item carried. This number can be edited. Note: Fantasy Grounds doesn't automate usage (since it can't know this), so if the character uses equipment that would be used up (such as a torch) the usage has to be recorded manually.
NAME: This is the name of the item and can be edited.
LOCATION: This is used to indicate where the item is kept on the character. You can type whatever is appropriate such as Right Hand, Legs, Feet etc. You can also type in the name of a container such as a Backpack and the items will be grouped up in that container.
WT: This is the weight of a single copy of the item. Note if the character has more than one copy this number does not change but see encumbrance below.
Carried/Equipped: This row of icons shows whether the item is carried, equipped or not carried. If the item is armor or a shield then if the icon is set to 'equipped' that item or shield will be used to calculate the character's Armor Class. If an item is 'not carried' then it is not added to the character's encumbrance total. This is useful for setting up such things such as pack horses. Add a new entry called 'Pack horse' and set the icon to 'not carried'. Now enter 'Pack Horse' into the location for any items that the character uses his pack horse to carry and make sure the 'Carried/Equipped' icon is unchecked. This can also be used for things as a Bag of Holding, Wagon, Mule etc etc.
Icon: Click on this to get further information on the item
New items can be created manually:
Click 'Edit list' and then 'Add Item' to bring up a new line. (If items already exist you can also right click and select 'Create Item').
Type in a name and give the item a weight.
Amend the number carried as necessary and if desired type in a location.
Designate the item as carried, equipped or unequipped.
Click on the icon at the right hand side to bring up the New Item Dialog.
In the 'type' field enter the type of item desired. You can type anything you want here but to keep things consistent use the headings found in the PHB and/or the DMG; so Magic Item, Treasure, Adventuring Gear, Weapon, Armor etc.
If you enter 'Weapon' or 'Armor' into this field more options become available.
The subtype field can contain anything you want but again for consistency it is suggested that you stick with the PHB and/or DMG descriptions; so Simple weapon, Light Armor, Wand, Rod, Potion. Gemstone, Artwork etc.
For all items enter a cost, weight and a description as desired.
For weapons users can also enter a bonus (this will add whatever you put in here to attack and damage rolls), damage e.g 1d6 piercing, and properties. The properties should be consistent with descriptions in the weapons table of the PHB, so finesse, two-handed, light, ammunition, versatile etc.
For armor enter an AC bonus, Dex bonus (Full, max 2, max 3 or none), Strength restriction (the minimum STR needed to wear the armour) and in properties enter stealth disadvantage if appropriate.
See screen-shot below for examples of created items.
NOTE: If it is desired that new items be available in another campaign it is better that the DM create these items via the 'items' menu button. See the 5E Item Sheet article for more information.
The treasure section reasonably enough records the treasure carried by the character.
Each of the boxes will fill up with coins of different values and accumulate from the party sheet when the DM distributes treasure. The player can edit any of the boxes manually as well, when spending gold for example.
Players can also enter treasure items below the coin slots simply by typing into the blank line. Pressing return brings up a new line.
Encumbrance is calculated at the bottom of the sheet.
The left hand side records the maximum carry and Lift, Push, Drag maximum weights are. Note if the DM is using the variant encumbrance rules then 'Encumbered' and 'Heavy' boxes will also be present.
The right hand box is the current carried weight based on the items carried.
This encumbrance is fully calculated so for example if 10 torches each weighing 1lb are carried the weight will be 10lb. This weight changes dynamically whenever an item is added or deleted, the number of a particular item carried changes or the encumbrance box is checked or unchecked against a particular item.
Note: These numbers are there for the players reference only, Fantasy Grounds does not use these numbers automatically to, for example, make a heavily encumbered character roll attack rolls at disadvantage.
Action Tab - Inventory Tab
Action Tab - Edit Inventory Items
Notes Tab
This is purely informational text for your character. You can drag results from background random tables to the appropriate slots if desired, but the values are purely text. Languages are used by Fantasy Grounds to enable the DM or other players to communicate via the chat box in another language. To ensure that this feature works properly type the languages known each in a separate line and make certain that the spelling is correct and that the language is one which the DM has available. Output in whichever language is chosen via the small language selector at the bottom of the chatbox will in a particular font (chosen by the DM) and will only be translated to those characters that know the language.
Actions Tab
This Actions sheet is where characters will spend the majority of their time during combat. It can be divided up into three distinctive parts, Weapons, Spells and Powers.
Weapons
Weapons appear on this list when:
Players drag and drop weapons into the character's inventory.
A weapon is dragged and dropped directly into the Actions tab (in which case it is also added into the inventory. If a weapon already exists in the actions tab then no new entry will be created in the actions tab but another instance of the item will be added to the inventory).
A weapon is manually created by using the list edit function or by right clicking and selecting 'Create Item'. See below for details on how to create a new weapon.
If a weapon has the 'versatile' property it can be used either one handed or two handed. Fantasy Grounds automatically creates the one handed version only. The two handed version must be created by the player.
If you click the magnifying glass to the right of the 'WEAPONS' header line you open a dialog where you can edit the crit range of melee and ranged weapons and specify additional dice for melee and ranged weapons on a critical hit. Note that this will apply to all weapons of the type selected and not just single weapons which might have such special abilities.
In 'preparation' mode (see below) an icon to the left of the weapon line shows if the weapon is carried, equipped or unequipped. Only weapons which are noted as equipped will appear here in 'Combat' mode.
If a weapon is automatically added by drag/dropping:
The weapon type will be recognized by Fantasy Grounds and an icon showing melee, ranged or thrown will appear next to the attack roll. If a weapon can be used either in melee or from range (such as a dagger) two entries will appear one for each possibility.
If the weapon is a ranged weapon (or can be used in that way) an 'Ammo' box will be created below the weapon name. Entering a number into this box will cause that number of check boxes to appear beside it.
The weapon's attack roll will be computed based on the default ability for the type of attack (STR - melee, DEX - ranged), and will include the character's proficiency bonus.
The weapon's damage roll will also be computed using the default ability modifier, and will also show the damage type.
If a weapon has the 'finesse' property Fantasy Grounds will use whichever ability (STR or DEX) has the best bonus to calculate attack and damage rolls.
If the Dungeon Master's Guide is available and a weapon is dragged from the magic items list into the player's inventory then any magical bonuses to attack and damage rolls will also be correctly computed by Fantasy Grounds.
Additionally if the weapon has a property such as 'magic' or 'silver' this will be automatically added to the damage line, thus allowing the weapon to overcome immunities or resistances to it's damage type.
Note: Fantasy Grounds defaults all weapons entered in the actions tab by dragging and dropping to proficient. This is indicated by the small yellow star in the bottom right of the attack roll box. Click this to make the character not proficient should this be the case.
To make an attack roll:
For a weapon attack to be effective the character must have been properly placed on the Combat Tracker (the DM will do this) and must have a target selected - See the 5E Combat Tracker article for details of how to do this.
To make the attack double click on the Attack dice. You can also drag this dice into the dice roller (chat window) or you can drag and drop it directly onto a target either on a map or on the Combat Tracker.
If you hold down SHIFT whilst making the attack (either by clicking or drag/dropping) you are telling Fantasy Grounds that this is an opportunity attack.
If the attack uses ammo (such as a bow) then one of the ammo check boxes will be automatically checked off. If the character has no ammo left the attack roll will still be made but a message indicating that the character has run out of ammo will be displayed in the chat box. NOTE: If you use the attack from a hot key ammo depletion will not be automatically calculated.
Fantasy Grounds will now calculate your hit roll, taking account of all relevant bonuses and penalties. It depends on what options the DM has chosen how much information you will see in the chat window about the roll. One way or another you will find out if you hit the target.
To make a damage roll:
As with attack rolls the character must be properly placed on the Combat Tracker and have a target selected.
Double click the damage box or drag the damage box into the dice roller, or onto a target in the Combat Tracker or a map.
If you scored a critical hit from your attack roll Fantasy Grounds will automatically roll all the additional dice needed. If, for some reason, you want to roll critical damage manually hold down the SHIFT key as you make the roll or drag/drop the dice.
Fantasy Grounds will then apply the damage to the target taking account of any resistances or immunities that the target might have.
Creating a weapon
There are any number of reasons why it will be necessary to create a new weapon for a character. Let's look at how we can create a new magical weapon The Sword of Awesome. This magical sword has a +1 bonus to hit and damage, does a critical hit on a 19 or a 20, rerolls 1's or 2's when rolling damage, does 2d6 slashing and 1d8 fire damage.
Open the weapon dialog by right clicking in the weapons part of the Actions Tab and selecting 'Create Item'
Type in the name of the weapon in the 'Name' box.
In the properties box type in 'reroll 2, crit range 19' (without the quotes). The properties box would normally contain the information shown in the properties column of the weapons list in the PHB. These two properties 'reroll #' and crit range #' (where # stands for any number) are special properties built into Fantasy Grounds. As you have probably guessed 'reroll 2' will reroll one's and two's and 'crit range 19' extends the critical range of the weapon to 19 or 20.
In the 'stat' box click through the options to obtain the ability modifier you want to use for the attack roll. By default a melee weapon such as this uses the strength bonus for attacks. However if, for example, the weapon had the 'finesse' property then you could use dexterity and obviously would do if the character's dexterity bonus was higher than strength. Some character classes can also use abilities other than the default for attack rolls and this is where you would record that. Since this is a melee weapon let's just make it strength. NOTE: one other point, one of the options is 'Base' and that just means default. So if the weapon is a melee weapon and your character uses strength for attack rolls then 'Base' will use strength in the calculation.
In the bonus box type in '1' since this weapon gets a +1 bonus to hit.
The yellow star, which is lit up by default, indicates proficiency with the weapon. Obviously if the character is not proficient with the weapon you should click on the star to ensure the attack roll is correctly computed.
Now click the little brown edit button to bring up a little green cross, and click it to add a new line.
Click on a d6 and while still holding it right click to add another die so that you have 2. Drag the two dice and drop them onto the small dice box in the line you just created.
Again you will see a 'Stat' box and again you can click on this until you get the stat you want for the damage rolls. Again it defaults to base and unless the character uses some ability other than the default one just leave it at base.
Type '1' into the bonus box since the weapon gets an extra point of damage for being so awesome.
In the damage line we need to type in the damage type. Normally we would just need to type in 'slashing' but this is a magical weapon and we need to tell Fantasy Grounds all about that. So type in 'slashing, magic'. Now when Fantasy Grounds is looking to compute damage it will correctly deal full damage to creatures that have resistance or immunity to damage from non-magical weapons.
Now click on the green cross again to add another new damage line.
Our weapon does an extra 1d8 fire damage so pick up a d8 and drag it into the dice box of the new line.
This time we don't need to alter the 'Stat' box and you will see it's showing nothing. This is correct since we only get to add the ability modifier once, so leave this box as it is.
We don't get any bonus to this damage either since again we only get one +1 bonus, so leave the bonus box empty.
Now type 'fire' into the damage type.
All that remains is to stand back and admire our magnificent new weapon in the actions tab.
NOTE: If the weapon is to be used as part of a treasure parcel then it should be created as an item by the DM - see the 5E Item Sheet for more information.
Spells
A new line headed 'Spells' is created in the actions tab when a spell-casting class is added to the main tab.
If a second spell-casting class is added a new spell casting group will be created for that class.
Spells are added to the actions tab by either being created by the user or by dragging and dropping from the source material. The latter method is highly recommended.
In the case of multi-classing into more than one spell-casting class it is important that spells are dragged and dropped into the correct group.
When dropped into the Actions tab spells will be separated automatically into their correct level, within their group.
As far as is necessary, Fantasy Grounds will automatically 'parse' the spell and create one or more effects allowing the attack, damage, healing, saving throws and effects to be applied automatically to the target. Not every spell has or needs effects - especially those spells which are 'Theatre of the Mind' in nature.
A number of possible icons could be present depending on what the spell does. To use any of them make sure that both caster and target is on the Combat Tracker and that a target has been selected. A single click will then cause the action to take place.
The possible icons and their function are:
This 'casts' the spell onto the target. A cast can cause an attack to be made or a saving throw to be forced on the target. | |
This is used to make an attack on the target. The detail after the button tells the user whether the attack is ranged or melee and the bonus or penalty to the attack. Note: that this is performed automatically if the 'cast' button is used. | |
This forces a saving throw on the target. The boxed text indicates the type of saving throw to be made and the difficulty of that save. If the target takes only half damage on a successful save then an (H) will appear after the DC. Note: this will be performed automatically if the 'cast' button is used. | |
This is used to allocate damage to the target. The line following the button shows the number and type of dice which will be thrown, any bonus or penalty that might apply and the damage type. | |
Using this button will heal the target of wounds. The line following the button details how many and what type of dice are thrown together with any bonus or penalty. | |
This applies the effect, shown in the box following the button, to the target. |
Spell Power Group
When the first spell is dragged into the Actions tab it will create a new Spell power group (Spells (Cantrip), Spells (Level 1)) etc.
Provided the class has already been dragged into the main tab of the character sheet the correct ability modifier for that class will have been allocated to the group automatically.
By clicking on the magnifying glass on any of the header lines the power group dialog can be opened and edited.
In the ability box click through the options until the correct ability modifier for the class shows.
The 'Attack' box defaults to 'Base' and if the correct ability is shown in the 'Ability' box then this does not need to be altered. However it can be edited to show the exact ability if this is desired. The large yellow star shows that the character can use their proficiency bonus in the calculation of the attack roll. Uncheck this if for some reason they should not get this bonus. The additional box is used to enter any bonus that the character might have to any of their spell attacks such as from a magic item.
The 'Save DC' box also defaults to 'Base' and can also be left as is, if the Ability option is correct. Again the proficiency star can be unchecked if proficiency is not available and the additional box can be used to record any bonus to the saving throw DC from a magic item.
In the final box of the dialog the number of spells that the character can prepare can be noted in the box provided. NOTE: Fantasy Grounds does not use this box to limit the number of spells that the character can have either in the character sheet or prepared. However it is necessary to have an entry in this box so that unprepared spells are hidden in combat mode - see below for more information.
Spell Slots and preparation
The number of spell slots that a caster has available are noted as small circles above the spell groups.
Fantasy Grounds does not automatically check off spell slots when a spell is cast because the caster has the option of casting some spells in a higher level slot and the program cannot know that. Therefore when the player casts a spell they must check off the appropriate slot manually.
When the player takes a long rest (or in the case of certain classes a short rest) all spell slots are recovered. If spell slots are recovered by any other means (such as the Wizard's Arcane Recover trait) then this must be done manually, again because Fantasy Grounds cannot know what the player's intentions are.
If the character is multi-classed then the correct number of spell slots are automatically calculated in accordance with the rules in the Player's Handbook.
Players can manually change the number of spell slots by first clicking the 'Mode' box down at the bottom of the page until 'Preparation' appears and then editing the numbers under each spell level.
Whilst in preparation mode note that there is a small check-box beside each spell (except Cantrips). By checking these boxes the player can determine which spells she will prepare.
When the Mode is now changed to 'Combat' a star symbol will show next to prepared spells. Additionally if a number has been entered into the spells prepared meta data section of the spell power group any unprepared spells will be hidden.
If the player has entered a 'prepared' number in the Spell Power Group then when she uses her last spell slot all spells (except Cantrips) will be removed from the actions tab.
NOTE: By entering a number here any unprepared spells will also be hidden in combat mode as well as having the above effect.
If the character is a Warlock (or a multiclass character has some Warlock levels) then instead of (or in addition to) spell slots they will have 'Pact Magic' slots. These operate in the same way as spell slots in terms of usage and recovery.
Create A New Spell
Players have the option to create new spells. To illustrate this let's create a Poison Bolt of Awesome. The spell is a ranged attack spell which causes 3d6 poison damage on a hit. We are going to allow half damage if the target passes a DEX saving throw. Also the target will be poisoned for 1 minute and take ongoing 1d6 damage:
Click on the edit list button at the bottom of the page. If a spell group of the correct class and level exists click the green button on that group header line to add a new entry or click on the 'Add Power' button.
Enter a name for the spell in the <<name>> box of the new line just created. If the right hand box is blank type in a descriptive name for the group you want to create.
If you have created a new power group click on the magnifying glass to edit the Ability to the correct stat (let's make it INT) and change the sword icon to the spell book.
Right click on the spell and choose 'Add Action' and then 'Add Cast'.
Click on the magnifying glass to bring up the spell dialog.
In the attack box click the options until 'Ranged' is shown. Leave the 'Base' box as 'Group Atk +' since we have already told Fantasy Grounds that the Ability for this group is INT. We don't have any bonus so we can leave the bonus box blank.
In the SAVE section click the 'Type' box until it reads 'DEX' since this is the type of save we want to force. Again we can leave the other two boxes as they are.
In the 'Damage' box under the 'On Save' section click until it shows 'Half on success'.
Now close the dialog and right click once again on the spell and choose 'Add Action' and this time select 'Add damage' and then click the magnifying glass on the new line.
Click the little brown editing button and then the green one to add a new line. Grab and hold a d6 and then right click twice to add two more d6 to the total and drop the lot into the dice box.
We don't need to do anything with the 'stat' or 'bonus' boxes, but we do need to type in 'poison' into the damage box. Now close the box
Create a final action for the spell by right clicking, select 'Add Action' but this time select 'Add Effect'.
Click the magnifying glass and in the modifiers box type in 'DMGO: 1d6; poisoned'.
In the Duration section change enter '1' in the box and click 'RND' until it reads 'MIN'
Now close up the dialog and you are done. Take comfort in the fact that not every spell will be as complex as this; the author choose it just for illustration.
Edit a Spell
Existing spells can be used as a template for new spells. To illustrate this let's edit the Cure Wounds spell so that it does 1d10 points of healing rather than 1d8.
Drag the Cure Wounds spell from the source into the actions tab. Note that this creates a Heal effect for 1d8.
Click on the little icon at the end of the line to bring up the spell description.
Click the lock icon at the top right hand corner of the sheet to allow the spell to be edited. Edit the name at the top of the sheet to reflect the change
Edit 1d8 in the spell description so that it now reads 1d10.
Lock the spell up and close the dialog. Note that the Heal still shows 1d8.
Right click over the spell and select 'Re-parse Spell Actions' from the radial menu to update the actions; the 1d8 now changes to 1d10.
Some spells allow for casting it at higher levels for more damage or higher heals. To handle this right click on an existing entry and select 'Add Action' and then 'Add Damage' or 'Add Heal'. Now click the magnifying glass beside the new line and complete the dialog with the additional dice that you get for casting at a higher level.
NOTE: If you click the icon for a blank spell this spell sheet can be filled in with the information required for the spell and if the wording is correct Fantasy Grounds should be able to automatically parse the spell. As an example see the screen shot below for the description of the Poison Bolt of Awesome we created above and how Fantasy Grounds parsed it when we selected 'Re-parse Spell Action'
Action Tab - Reparsing a spell
Action Tab - Parsing a spell from text
Powers
The final group which can appear on the Actions tab is powers. These are generally everything which is not a weapon or a spell; it could include Traits from the character's race or class, feats, class features, magic items and a great deal more. Powers can also be set up to keep track of such items as a Monk's Ki points, a Sorcerer's sorcery points or a fighters Superiority dice.
To set up a new power group click on the edit list button at the bottom right hand side of the tab and select 'Add Power', or if there are already powers right click and select 'Create Item'
This will create a new line; in the left hand box type in a name for the power. In the right hand box type in a name for the Power Group.
Once a Power Group has been added then new traits or powers can be added to that group, either by using the edit list button and then clicking on the green 'Add Item' button on the Power Group line, or by right clicking and selecting Create item.
Click on the magnifying glass at the end of the Power Group line to bring up the editing dialog.
Users can toggle the sword or spell icon below the Power Group name to show whether this is a spell or attack group.
Click on the box next to 'Ability' to cycle through the various abilities that can be set for this group. Once set all attacks and saves will use this ability to calculate attack and save DCs. Attack and save DCs can also be individually set by clicking on the 'Base' box and cycling through the options. If either of these are set to 'Base' then the the attack or save will use the ability shown in the 'Ability' box.
The yellow star indicates proficiency in the attack or save for the power group. Click this to remove if the character is not proficient.
A number can be entered into the box beside the star to give a bonus to attacks or save DC if the character has such a bonus form, for example, a magic item.
Users can also set up a number of uses for the Group by number of uses per day, per rest or once.
Power Group Example
As an example of how to set up a Power Group let us create one for a Monk's Ki powers.
Begin by creating the group as above. In the left hand box type in 'Flurry of Blows' and in the right hand box type in 'Ki Powers'
Click the magnifying glass on the header line to bring up the power group dialog.
Monk's Ki powers use WIS as the ability modifier so click the 'Ability' box until it shows 'Wis'.
In the 'Uses' box type in 2 and click the box which says 'Daily' until it reads 'Rest'
This has set up the number of Ki points available to 2 per short rest. You will see two small tick boxes have appeared beside the 'Flurry of Blows' entry.
Right click on the line 'Flurry of Blows' and select 'Create Item'. Type in 'Patient Defence' into the left hand box and 'Ki Powers' into the right hand one and press tab.
You will see that this line jumps into the group and two check marks also appear beside it.
Now add the third power 'Step of the Wind' in the same way.
If you now click any of the check boxes you'll see that all the check marks grey out for the first row of ticks. Clicking any other tick causes the entire group to disappear showing you have used up all of your points. The group will return when you take a short rest and the check marks will have cleared.
We can now set up any effects for these powers should that be possible (not everything can be set up with an effect). We can, in this case, set up an effect for the patient defence power.
Right click over patient defence and select 'Add Action' and then 'Add Effect'.
Open the dialog by clicking the magnifying glass beside the new line that appears.
In the Description/Conditions/Modifiers box type in 'Dodge'
Set the 'Duration' to 1 RND and the 'targeting' to 'Self', and close the dialog
To use the power the player will click on the effect then check off one use of his Ki Powers. For the next round the character will now have advantage on DEX saving throws and attacks against him will be at disadvantage.
You can type in or copy paste details of the powers by clicking on the icon at the right hand side of each power to open the editing dialog.
Finally if you have the core Class Pack or PHB you can drag the entry in the class for Ki Powers into the Actions Tab to create the group initially instead of creating one using the edit buttons. This will create a link to the source so that all of the information can be easily called up.
Class Powers
The action tab is also the home for many of the character class's features. An entry will not be necessary for every feature but many of them can have effects added to them so that they can be automated, and some have limited uses which we will want to track.
Many of these features can be dragged directly into the action tab from the Core Class packs or from the Player's handbook. Fantasy Grounds will 'parse' many of these and create the correct effects automatically. Users are encouraged to use this method if only to see what will happen.
Most of these features can be set up as a general Power without requiring a power group. Where, however there is a limit on the uses of the feature (such as the Fighter's Action Surge) then it will be necessary for those features to have their own power group.
To illustrate what can be done let's run through the possibilities for a fighter who takes the Champion Archetype.
Second Wind: This can be dragged and dropped and the healing part will correctly be set up with the correct heal. Place this in a separate Power Group and use 'Preparation' mode to enter the number of uses per rest.
Action Surge: Drag this into the action tab and set up a power group for it to handle the limits on its use. You can include this in the same power group as Action surge above. Use the 'preparation' mode to enter the number of uses per rest.
Improved Critical: For this one open up the Weapons dialog and adjust the 'Crit on:' boxes to 19.
Remarkable athlete: This is a tricky one. The ability allows 1/2 of your proficiency modifier to be added to STR, DEX and CON checks that don't already use the proficiency modifier. An effect can be set up for this as follows: CHECK:[HPRF] strength; CHECK: [HPRF] dexterity; CHECK:[HPRF] constitution; INIT: [HPRF]. However this will give a bonus to all checks even ones where there is already a proficiency bonus. Whether you set this up or not might depend on what skills your fighter has. NOTE: the INIT part of the effect is necessary since CHECK: doesn't cater for initiative rolls.
As with improved critical this is catered for in the weapons dialog.
Survivor: Create an effect IF:bloodied; REGEN: 5 [CON].
Race Traits
Many race traits can also be placed in the actions tab for the purposes of automating the effects or for tracking limited usage.
As with class features many can be dragged and dropped into the tab and Fantasy Grounds will attempt to parse them.
Most can be grouped into one power group but if tracking is required then that trait needs to be separated into it's own group.
Below are a number of screen-shots which illustrate various powers that can be set up on the Actions tab. NOTE: In the graphic below it shows an ADVSAV: Poison; this effect will not function since you cannot designate a save against a specific damage type.
Action Tab - Fighters Power Example
Action Tab - Power Group Example
Action Tab - Actions Tab - Race Traits
Feats
A small number of feats give the character a benefit which can be turned into effects and so they might also find themselves on the actions tab.
It is recommended that feats such as this be dragged onto the actions tab so that links are forged to their description for ease of use.
None of the feats so dragged will be fully parsed by Fantasy Grounds so user intervention to set up the effects will be required.
Here are a few examples of feats that can have effects created:
Heavy Armor Master: RESIST: 3 slashing, piercing, bludgeoning, !magic This will reduce incoming damage from non magical slashing, piercing and bludgeoning weapons by 3 points.
Inspiring Leader: Set up a heal effect with temporary hit points (click the Type box in the dialog until it shows 'TEMP') and leave the dice box empty. Set the stat box to Cha. Right click again and create another new line and this time set the stat box to LVL.
Lucky: Set this up in its own power group. In the power group dialog set the number of uses to 3 and the frequency to 'Daily'. Expended luck points will be recovered on a long rest.
Sharpshooter: Set up a separate weapon entry and in the weapon dialog enter a -5 in the 'bonus' box for the attack and add a 10 into the bonus box for damage.
Very few other feats can be set up with effects either because effects aren't necessary or the bonuses are too restrictive for Fantasy Grounds to handle.
The screen-shot below shows the above examples.
Mode and Display
At the very bottom of the Actions tab there are two buttons 'Mode' and 'Display'. Together these make the actions tab show different information depending on what they are set at. In each case you can cycle through the options by clicking on the box.
Mode: Cycles through Standard,Preparation and Combat
Standard is the mode most commonly used for editing any powers on the actions tab
Preparation is the mode used to check off prepared spells, edit the number of uses a powers has and to edit spell slots. In addition the user can alter the status of any weapons that the character has. In preparation mode symbols showing whether a weapon is carried, not carried or equipped. Users can click the icon to change the options and only those weapons designated as equipped will then appear on the sheet in 'Combat' mode.
Combat, as its name suggests is the mode which will be used when the character is in combat and is therefore the one used most often. In combat mode any unprepared spells will not be shown (provided a number of spells has been entered in the meta data of the spell power group - see above; additionally any unequipped weapons will not be shown in the weapon actions section).
Display: Cycles through Group, Summary and Actions
Group shows all of the actions in their groups.
Summary shows only he left hand column for each action
Actions displays all of the effect buttons for each action where one has been set up.
The mode and display are not interdependent and can be set in any combination. It is suggested that 'Combat' and 'Actions' are the best combination for ease of use during normal play.