Whoops! Looking for help/suggestions for Power Sheet

[Talyn]

I thought for sure I was careful and picked a setting I could convert with no customized stuff needed but NO that sneaky Arcane stuff got me and I didn't notice til now. Working on the Magic chapter for the Player's Guide then it's done except for... this.

This setting does not use Power Points. However, as it turns out, it does use a custom term called Casting Modifier.
Here's a sample of the descriptive text:


As an action, a hero may use a power by making a Spellcasting skill roll minus the Casting Modifier.
If successful, consult the particular power to determine the results. On a failure, the caster suffers Backlash. See the appropriate style Magic for details.
Some of the Casting Modifiers are very high, making it seem all but impossible to succeed.


So, do I need to go change the default SW ref_powers.xml and replace the Power Points section with Casting Modifier?

And if so, how do I get the new ref_powers.xml to load over the default one since a setting is a .mod file which loads after the ruleset?

[Skellan]

I don't know the answer but I am going to give you general encouragement as I love the setting and you certainly have a sale here :D

[Mask_of_winter]

Why not simplify things and just have the players add the modifier to the arcane icon on the power sheet? Or set up a bunch of modifiers in the hotkey bar?
Some powers have varying PP costs like Bolt, Barrier, Beast Friend, Blast, Blind, Disguise, Entangle, Fly, Greater Healing, Growth/Shrink, Havoc, Summon Ally, Teleport and Zombie. I'm not even mentioning costs for extended duration which No Power Points rules tend to rule out.
The ruleset doesn't automatically deduce PP from the character sheet pool at the moment. This would be a coding nightmare at the moment since the ruleset would need to know how many bolts you're casting, how many zombies you're creating, the size of your entangle spell etc.

[Talyn]

::blink blink::

"BUT WAIT!" he exclaims.
If the Casting Modifier is a static number (ie. only needs to be displayed, not interacted with) can't I simply make a custom ref_powers.xml and replace the "Power Points" on the bottom with "Casting Modifier" and import the new file? Or... for that matter, if I'm only changing one (displayed) line of the powers sheet frame, could I simply re-declare it in the main .mod rather than importing a whole new file?

I also noticed today that hidden way down there in the Arcane stuff is Corruption Points. They're just something the player himself keeps track of and if he manages to reach 6 then his PC becomes an NPC under GM control. LOL Not sure if I should attempt to put a special place in the character sheet for that or just make a note of it in the file somewhere for the player to write it anywhere on their character sheet.

[Skellan]

There is a derived stat extension that you could use to add a corruption line beneath the charisma in the derived stats. Think it was originally done for achtung cthulhu sanity

[Talyn]

Yeah, it's not a Derived Stat though. Although if those Derived Stats are user-modifiable it might be worth looking into...

I did get the Cast Modifier working by doing an includefile with a new ref_powers.xml and renamed the "Power Points" label to "Cast Modifier." I was really hoping simply redeclaring the relevant portions of that in my .mod would work but nope. ::sadpanda::
So, now that I'm pre-loading an xml file, guess that means I may as well make a theme right? LOL

[Skellan]

I just set the derived stat value to zero <value>0</value> and it gives a blank corruption box you can edit. Might not be what you are after but it seems to work

and oh yeah, a theme :D

[Talyn]

Huh. Well, maybe I'll look into that then. BUT -- a nifty trick would be: is it possible to only activate that if the character selects the appropriate Arcane Background? Normal characters wouldn't have Corruption Points, unlike Realms of Cthulhu (hey someone needs to do that one!) where everyone has Sanity.

Edit: So, if I have to go into loading a custom character sheet (and I was really hoping I wouldn't need to do any of that business...) then in the Powers tab, clicking one brings up Power Points or None removes it. So I could replace that with Corruption Points if someone chooses the Black Magic Arcane Background. Which is cool and all, but... sigh... I was really hoping I could do this with just a setting .mod and no extension required to change up the SWD files.

I think my next project is going to be just an adventure instead of a setting so I don't have to reinvent the wheel. :p

End Edit

I'm looking into a theme. I have the desktop decals working and I asked the kind gentleman at SmiteWorks who's been handling me if he could request a specific piece of art for the background. But I'm no graphic artist at all so it will probably be that basic, plus a custom benny. I can't do custom buttons and all that jazz.

[Mortar]

I didn't even know about the derived stat extension, but did get a script for Sanity to add to the Rome theme I have been working on. Not sure if its possible to just have a derived stat activate only once an AB is selected. The G+ conversations between myself and Mask_of_Winter are freaking hilarious as he fires back critiques. The theme was originally built by him and I just worked on new buttons, and some functionality updates.

[Talyn]

Oh I should get in on the G+ stuff. I'd probably drive Eric up a wall with my stupid questions LOL.

[Mortar]

Most conversations wwnt something like this;

Me: how does this look?
Eric: text is too small
Me: how about now?
Eric: text is wrong color
Me: now?
Eric: too dark dumba$$
Me: now?
Eric: you're retarded...too light, add a drop shadow and bevel
Me: der..k....now?
Eric: too much bevel idiot

and on and on

funny as hell when I read his critiques ;)

that conversation took place over a couple of days....what he did in ten minutes as an example took me a couple of hours. I'd much rather spend a week straight doing XML manually then spend an hour working on a button graphic.

[Talyn]

Yeah, and I'm doing all my stuff by hand in Notepad++ too. Oddly enough way back in the day I was originally going to college for art and animation LOL. Then at the last minute something happened, I didn't go to that school and ended up taking my career in a TOTALLY different and definitely non-art-related direction. It takes me a good hour to get even the simplest thing done in graphics software (GIMP because eff Adobe) because I never use it for anything until I absolutely positively have to.

[Talyn]

LOL well OK, apparently Corruption is one of the things I can add anyway with the DerivedStatManager function. I'll just have to learn how to actually do that.

Really wish all this could be done within the .mod itself instead of requiring the GM to remember an extension...

[Mortar]

If managed to get Sanity squared away and auto populated for Weird Wars Rome you can do it ;)


As far as arts and crafts go, my wife doesn't let me play with the little plastic kid scissors let alone real scissors.

I do everything through Notepad++ and GIMP as well.

[Talyn]

Now that I've had a night to think it over, I think I like my original idea of having the Corruption appear/disappear on the Powers tab rather than being a Derived Stat. Only Black Magic users would ever have Corruption so it only needs to be on the Powers tab for the player to manually track.

However, I stand by my wish that all this could be done within the module itself without requiring an extension.

[Skellan]

Now that I've had a night to think it over, I think I like my original idea of having the Corruption appear/disappear on the Powers tab rather than being a Derived Stat. Only Black Magic users would ever have Corruption so it only needs to be on the Powers tab for the player to manually track.

I agree it would be better. It could perhaps be done through the power points box as you aren't using power points? Dunno how you would do this though? Also, I am not sure how vital a corruption point box is overall as it has a very specific use and could be tracked in notes?

[Talyn]

I think once I get some actual time (working way too effing much lately) I'll just replace the "Power Points" text label with "Corruption" and call it a day LOL. Oh, and maybe "hide" the second PP box since it's unnecessary in this case.

[Mask_of_winter]

There's the Setting window as well. The one on the main char sheet page below your name. Back in the day before the SW ruleset was all fancy that's how we tracked new derived stats and miscellaneous.

[Talyn]

Hell I haven't even found that icon you were talking about that I could click... now there's an entire extra window? STAHPIT!!! lol

[Mask_of_winter]

https://i.imgur.com/fF3FcLS.jpg

[Talyn]

Oh THAT! Yeah I keep clicking that all the time and wondering what the hell it's for! LOL

On a separate yet related note, it's a shame the character selection frame doesn't display the [setting] (if it's filled in) for each character so we wouldn't have to remember which one goes where.