View Bar Colours

[Zacchaeus]

This one has bugged me (a little bit) for a while but since I'm now trying to write a Wiki article on the 5e options I should really get this right.

One of the options which seems exclusive to 5e is 'View: Bar Colors'. It has two settings Standard and Tiered. I've played about with them and done stuff and I can't see what this option is doing at all. I think it's supposed to have something to do with the information that the PCs get about wounds (I'm assuming it has to do with the health bars shown on an NPC on a map) but I can't see, no matter what option is tried, that it has any affect on anything.

So, it's over to you to enlighten me :)

[Moon Wizard]

There's 2 modes used to color the health bars and point-based bars.

The standard mode uses a gradient to move from green (100%) to yellow (50%) to red (0%) for health bars, and black (100%) to red (0%) for other bar types.
The tiered mode uses a stepped approach to coloring the bars: dark green (100%), light green (>75%), yellow (>50%), orange (>25%), red (>0%), gray (<=0%)

Also, the detail level on the health bars in tiered mode is adjusted my the Wound Categories option so that only 100%, 50% and 0% colors are used to match health status text.

Regards,
JPG

[Zacchaeus]

Right, I've got what my problem is. This option doesn't change things dynamically the same way changing other health options affect the CT, for example. I was expecting that if I changed the option then the colours would change on the map but it doesn't for stuff already on the map. However if I change the option and drag some more beasties onto the map then their colours do change according to the new setting.

Thanks Moon, I thought this was what it was supposed to be doing and your confirmation made me re-think how I was testing it out.

Cheers again.

[Zacchaeus]

Alright, I think there is a problem with this which is also part of my confusion. It seems that the modes are in reverse.

See the screen shot below. All of the Goblins have been given 100 hp and Goblins 1, 2, and 3 have been given 25, 50 and 75 wounds respectively on Tiered mode.
Goblins 3, 4 and 5 have the same number of hit points and have been given wounds of 25, 50 and 75 respectively on Standard mode.

I believe that 1,2 and 3 should be showing the colours displayed by 3,4 and 5 and vice versa so it would seem that the modes are reversed.

[Moon Wizard]

OK, here's my test. It looks to be working as expected, but perhaps I'm missing something. It wouldn't be the first time. ;)

The top row are 100 hp goblins with wounds of 24, 49, 74, then 25, 50, 75. These were dropped with standard health bars.
The bottom row are 100 hp goblins with wounds of 24, 49, 74, then 25, 50, 75. These were dropped with tiered health bars.

In the standard (gradient) health bars, the difference between 24/25, 49/50 and 74/75 is almost unnoticeable.
In the tiered health bars, there is a clear difference between 24/25, 49/50 and 75/75, because these are the points where the tiers are defined >=25% damage, >=50% damage and >=75% damage.

Cheers,
JPG

[Zacchaeus]

Hmm, This is getting weirder then Moon.

Here's a repetition of your test using the same parameters. Just as in your test the top row have all been dropped in Standard and I agree that there is no difference between number 1 (24 wounds) and number 4 (25 wounds) and that numbers 2 and 5 and 3 and 6 are also pretty much the same. However if I'm understanding things correctly standard should only have three colours Green, then Yellow (or orange), then red representing <75%, 25%-50% and >25%

However my bottom row is different from yours. There's no difference between 7, 8 and 10 and 9, 11 and 12 are also the same. I expected Tiered mode to have 4 colours at 25% intervals which is what you are getting in your screen shot I think.

Now, I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm using test mode and am on 3.1.3. Further what other settings might impact on this if any?

It also may not be worth spending a great deal of time on anyway :)

[Moon Wizard]

The top set should fade from green to yellow to red as the wounds progress from 0% to 50% to 100%. That's how the standard (gradient) bars should work.

The bottom set should be stepped with specific colors for each 0%==wounds, 0%<wounds<25%, 25%<=wounds<50%, 50%<=wounds<75%, 75%<=wounds<100% and 100%<=wounds. This is when the option for Wound Categories is set to Detailed.

In your latest picture, I'm assuming that your Wound Categories option is set to Simple. In that case the bottom set should be stepped with specific colors for 0%==wounds, 0%<wounds<50%, 50%<=wounds<100% and 100%<=wounds.

The gradient bars were an upgrade, but some people prefer the stepped model (where you can cheer when the color changes).
The wound categories were for games that prefer a little less information (i.e. healthy, wounded, bloodied, dying/dead).

Regards,
JPG

[Zacchaeus]

Ok, Moon I think you've got it. The wound categories setting also comes into play and I can reproduce your second row, if I set wound categories to Detailed and Bar colours to tiered. If I set Wound categories to Simple and Bar colours to Standard then the top and bottom rows are exactly the same.

So, in summary it's working as expected. It's me that clearly doesn't work :)

Thanks Moon for clearing that up.