HotKey Party Sheet Skill Roll Extension

[Trenloe]

Version 3.2.1 of this extension should be compatible with FG 3.3.0.

This extension allows the GM to drag party skill rolls from the Party Sheet to the HoyKey bar for quick and easy acccess of frequently used skill checks.

v3.2.1 download at the bottom of this post. Extension name "HotKey Party Sheet Skill Roll".

Extension name: HotKey Party Sheet Skill Roll
Rulesets: 3.5E and PFRPG version 3.2.1.
Extension Version: 3.2.1

Change log:

v3.2.1 - 3.5e/PF v3.2.1 compatibility. Fix to (re)allow loading for 3.5E campaign.
v3.1.7 - Modifier not clearing bug fix.
v0.3.1.3 - 3.5e/PF v3.1.3 compatibility.
v0.3b - 3.5e/PF v3.0.11 compatibility. 3.0.11 code allows modifiers to be applied to all rolls, not just the first.
v0.3a - 3.5e/PF v3.0.10 compatibility.
v0.3 - minor update to DC = 0 handling. Dice icon in HotKey bar is darker - easier to read the description.
v0.2 - Initial release.

Description: allows the dragging of Party Sheet Skill Rolls to the hotkey bar - includes the skill name and the selected DC at drag. Do not change the name that is auto populated, this is used to make the correct roll.

Gotchas: previously created hotkeys won't work until the GM has opened the Party Sheet Skill tab at lease once after starting the campaign (steps 1 -2 below). The Party Sheet doesn't need to be open, but it does need to have been opened once to the Skills tab (to initiate the code).

How to use: (Step numbers refer to screenshot below).

Open the Party Sheet.
Go to the "Skills" tab.
Create a party skill roll (with or without DC) and drag to the HotKey Bar.
When needed, click the skill roll button in the HotKey bar.
The skill name listed in the HotKey description will be rolled by all characters currently in the Party Sheet. This roll uses the GM die reveal settings (i.e. the dice roll results will be hidden or revealed to the players based off the normal campaign settings).


14265

(Previous version downloads = 49)

[Trenloe]

Standard 3.5e v3.0.8 Ruleset files used/modified:


ps\ps_skills.xml - purely copied to allow the modified ps_roll_skill.lua file to be loaded from the extension.
ps\scripts\ps_roll_skill.lua - this is the LUA script file associated with the Party Skill Roll hotkey control and is where the modifications have been made.

These will need reviewing and updating as necessary if these files change in future 3.5e ruleset releases.

Techie info:
This extension operates as follows:


Adds an onDragStart function to ps_roll_skill.lua that populates the drag data needed to allow the Party Sheet Skill Roll button to be dragged to the HotKey bar.
Adds an onHotkeyActivated event handler to the ps_roll_skill.lua file. This extracts the skill name and target DC (if available) from the HotKey entry and passes it to the Party Sheet Skill Roll action function.
The Party Sheet Skill Roll action function in ps_roll_skill.lua has been modified to accept the skill name and target DC as input parameters and to check for these during operation to see if they have been passed from a HotKey - if not present it assumes the button has been pressed in the Party Sheet and extracts the skill name and target DC from the Party Sheet.


The actual dice rolling mechanics are those used in the party sheet.

HotKey label

The HotKey label is created based off the skill name and target DC selected in the Party Sheet before the roll icon is dragged to the HotKey. The description is used to decode the skill and DC when the roll is made - therefore editing the description could break the functionality. The skill name and the target DC are separated by a vertical bar (pipe) with no spaces between the skill name and the target DC. If no target DC is provided then the roll will not report success or failure.

For example, a description of:

Bluff|15 will roll a Bluff skill check vs DC 15 for all PCs in the party sheet.
Bluff| will roll a Bluff skill check with no DC for all PCs in the party sheet.
Bluff will roll a Bluff skill check with no DC for all PCs in the party sheet.


These are shown in the screenshot below:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39085830/Screenshots/Fantasy%20Grounds/HotKey%20PS%20Skill%20Roll%20Ext%203.jpg

[swest]

Two questions about this extension (well, really, questions about the whole 'roll-a-skill-check-for-the-entire-party' capability):

Under what circumstances do you find the 'roll-a-skill-check-for-the-entire-party' capability to be the most useful?

Don't your players prefer 'rolling their own'?

[Trenloe]

1) Rolling perception in the background so the players don't know about it. Rolling sense motive without giving away that the players might want to sense motive. etc., etc.. Many uses.
2)Maybe - but it can give away what's happening.

[swest]

Ok, that makes sense.

Plus, I looked again (and, more importantly, I paid attention to what I saw) at the collection of Skills that is available to the GM in the Party List. It hadn't occurred to me before (probably because I hadn't actually tried to use this feature), that not all Skills are even present. I realize now that the Skills available for this purpose are only the ones that 'roll-a-skill-check-for-the-entire-party' even make sense for.

It all becomes clear :).

So, thanks!

And thanks for going to the time and trouble to create the extension in the first place. Now that I understand the mechanic better (i.e., the fact that the entire-party rolling capability is available as a feature of the Party List) it seems like an oversight that drag'n'drop to the HotKey Bar wasn't already built-in to FG. Surely THEY'll add it to stock FG, no?

Till next time,

- s.west

p.s. I thought of something right before posting this, and went back to check. You mentioned that the Group roll uses the GM 'die reveal' setting from the Options, but it is also the case that, when that Option is set to 'on', an additional visibility icon shows up on the Group roll function, which allows one to hide these rolls, even though other GM rolls are visible. That's a great feature! I ordinarily want my rolls as GM to be visible, but as you pointed out in your previous answer, there are clearly situations where that is undesirable...

[Blackfoot]

OK.. I just noticed this extension... I may never ask for a perception/sense motive roll again.
Thanks!

[Lord Kavos]

Knowledge skills are also very useful using this extension - the party sheet roll tells u if they are trained in the skill, and I like that the DM can make the secret knowledge roll without tell the pcs which knowledge check to use (possibly giving away too much info before the roll...

[darrenan]

You could always do this from the party sheet, it isn't anything new. This extension just allows dragging it to a hot key.

[swest]

Roger that.

However, I, for one, only discovered the Party Sheet functionality while reading about the Hot Key extension... :o

- s.west

[Lord Kavos]

As a GM you dont use your hotkeys for much else...so I end up adding hot keys for the usual PC skills (perception, sense motive) as well as all the knowledge skills. Very handy.

[swest]

I was just going through and double-checking my extensions' up-to-dateness, and so I started my test campaign with this extension selected, and I saw v0.3 in the chat window start-up. So I re-acquired the extension from post #1 above, put it in the extensions' directory, restarted FG, and I still see:


Party Sheet Hotkey Skill Check Roller v0.3 for FG v3.0.8 3.5e based rulesets by Trenloe. Copyright 2014 Smiteworks.
Use: Drag a skill roll from the Party Sheet to the HotKey bar.
NOTE: will only work after the Party Sheet skill tab has been opened - this must be done each time the campaign is loaded.

??

[Nylanfs]

Make sure that you don't have two extension folders.

[swest]

Make sure that you don't have two extension folders.

Hmmm. Last night I was on my laptop (where I usually test things, 'cause I can do it in bed, before going to sleep), but right now I'm on the system where I run my games, and I looked at the Chat startup window, and it shows 'v0.3a'... so, I had already updated (?) this... but that's weird, since I have a single shared filesystem where I put all the extensions and modules, etc., before bringing them in to the extensions/modules folders...

So, yeah, it must be operator error (again), but I don't see how. I'll get it figured out.

Thanks.

-s.west

[Nickademus]

I blame the gnomes.

[swest]

ugghhh... gnomes... Why'd it have to be gnomes?

[Blackfoot]

Excuse me? What's wrong with gnomes now? I seriously doubt they were involved.

[Nickademus]

Our sources would say differently....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO5sxLapAts

[Nylanfs]

That's how sneaky they are...

[Nickademus]

The HotKey label is created based off the skill name and target DC selected in the Party Sheet before the roll icon is dragged to the HotKey. The description is used to decode the skill and DC when the roll is made - therefore editing the description could break the functionality.

Okay, I don't know if this was in the description above or not (didn't see it), but I just found something very interesting with this extension.

When it says the hotbar label controls the skill check, it really means it. You can have it roll a skill check for the party for non-PF custom skills (or PF skills that aren't already in the list). Say you have used the edit button on the characters' skill tabs to add a custom skill called 'Making Puns' and have set the ranks and ability score modifier. You can then go to the party sheet and drag a party skill check (any of them) down to the hotbar, click to edit the label, and change the skill name to 'Making Puns'. Now when you click the hotbar, it will roll the actual Making Puns skills using each character's bonus for that custom skill entry.

This also works for the skills that have sub-names. Say you make a new Knowledge category called 'Military Tactics'. Drag a Knowledge party skill roll to the hotbar and change the field of knowledge in the paranthesis to 'Military Tactics'. It will roll using the modifier for the proper entry from the character's skill tab.

So, I'm not sure if this was mentioned but this extension supports custom skills. (Then again, I may just be dense and it was known all along.)

[darrenan]

Looks like 3.1.3 broke this one.

Repro: New campaign, load only this extension, open PS, select skills tab, boom:

Ruleset Warning: Could not find template (string_dropdown) in windowclass (ps_skills)
Ruleset Warning: Could not find template (dropdown) in windowclass (ps_skills)
Ruleset Error: window: Control(skilldc) anchoring to an undefined control (selectedskill) in windowclass (ps_skills)
Ruleset Error: window: Control(skilldc) anchoring to an undefined control (selectedskill) in windowclass (ps_skills)

[Nickademus]

That is to be expected. You must wait for extension makers to update their extensions after an update. (Weren't we given a week's warning last update?)

[darrenan]

I'm just giving the extension writer a head's up. I realize it takes > 0 time to change an extension (being the owner of a couple myself).

And the list of files being changed in 3.1.3 was made available weeks ago in the test release thread. So yes, we got more than a weeks warning.

[Trenloe]

Thanks for the heads up Darren. I'm going to be processing the many extensions I'm responsible for over the next few days.

[Nickademus]

Ah, yeah. That's right; the files were listed in the test release thread. I forgot about that. I think last time something appeared in the City Hall section so that's where I was looking. Good deal.

[Trenloe]

FG v3.1.3 compatibility update v0.3.1.3 available in post #1. You must upgrade to this extension version to avoid errors and maintain compatibility.

[Trenloe]

Bug fix update available in post #1. This fixes an issue where once a party sheet skill roll had been made, the modifier box would not reset for future rolls.

Thanks Nickademus for bringing this issue to my attention.

[Nickademus]

What's the status on this for 3.2?

[Trenloe]

What's the status on this for 3.2?
I haven't reviewed it yet. It's on the list (a ways down).

[Nickademus]

It will need to be updated because the old version breaks this:

[PFRPG/3.5E] Party sheet skill rolls will be made, even when PC is untrained in a trained-only skill.

[Trenloe]

It will need to be updated because the old version breaks this:

[PFRPG/3.5E] Party sheet skill rolls will be made, even when PC is untrained in a trained-only skill.
Yeah, but I think I'll wait until this issue is fixed: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?34719-Release-v3-2-is-live&p=298185&viewfull=1#post298185

At the moment the party sheet doesn't seem to be working properly for skill rolls, even without the extension. It doesn't include the skill bonus at all for party rolls - just a straight roll.

[Nickademus]

Issue is fixed. Any plans to update this?

[Trenloe]

Any plans to update this?
Yes. At some point. Don't know when yet.

[Trenloe]

Issue is fixed. Any plans to update this?
Updated version 3.2.1 in post #1.

Sorry this took so long, I was under the impression v3.2.2 was coming pretty soon and didn't want to do extension updates twice in a short period of time.

[webdove]

Would you ever consider a version for 5E?

[Trenloe]

Would you ever consider a version for 5E?
Not really, I have too much other FG coding to do.

If someone wants to take the code and migrate it, and maintain it, for 5e they are welcome to do so. All I ask is that they give me credit, don't force a type of license on the code, and they don't use it in a paid product without my permission.