How do you DM's deal with stuff that is not automated

[Devistation]

Like battlemaster skills. The maneuvers, superiority dice all that. I got the PHB and this does not seem to work like spells etc..

[LordEntrails]

Their is an extension that you can add that can help with Superiority dice, but I don't use it.

I handle all the non-automated stuff the same was I do when playing at a table without FG; players are responsible for remembering and keeping track of it. When they want to use it, they have to tell me.

If it's something like Bardic Inspiration (or superiority dice),which is supposed be chosen to use after the attack roll but before the result are known, I just let them chose to add it after they know they missed. It gives them an advantage, but nothing game breaking. We tried two other house rules, one where if they had bardic inspiration and rolled between 9-13 (numbers are negotiable) then it means they would use it if they had it. The other was they would tell me before rolling if the conditions on when they would use it (like before). Both proved too cumbersome for the way I like to run it and we went with the simpler way of them choosing after the results are known.

To actually use it, roll a d6, drag it to the modifier box and then roll the attack. Or to add it after, drag the attack roll results to the mod box and roll the d6 (then drag the new results onto the target on the map or CT to see if it now hits).

[Zacchaeus]

You create effects. For example with Superiority dice you can create and effect of DMG:1d8, set it to self and expend next roll. Place it on the actor just before they roll for damage and it will add in the d8. This is the best way to do it becasue it will take on the correct damage type, so things like resistances and immunities will be correctly determined as will things like critical damage.

See a complete list of characters (including the fighter and bard) with all effects set up here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27296-Guides-videos-and-other-helpful-information). Read more about effects here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/5E_Effects).

[Trenloe]

Recommendation - think about automating lots of "stuff" down the line. Get used to FG first. Run games and, as LordEntrails points out, do "stuff" as you would in a face-to-face game without computers.

Trying to automate the majority of everything now is stopping you playing and probably frustrating you as you don't have a lot of FG game time experience so don't know the best way to do things. Because, in the end, you're not going to be able to automate everything (design goal of FG is around 80% of automation).

When I first started playing with FG it was all about playing with my friends. We rolled from the character sheet, but manually adjusted as needed. I don't think I even considered effects until we were all comfortable with the base FG workings - something like 5-6 sessions in.

[Mavrik6666]

As a long time user... part of the in game exploration of a player character is about how they use, and automate, feats, effect, abilities etc...

If these where fully automated out the box, then a player wouldn't really know how, or what an effect was doing. If they have to work with the Dm to create it, edit it, apply it, it becomes a living thing.

It not a cop out explanation, or covering for a poor product.... we still have a player who moans about something not automating, and sometimes as a DM I get frustrated by the way things do and don't work... but, it still is part of the fun we have found in our group, and prefer the way its done over other products and ways of playing remotely