Stat modifiers in custom effects

[Mystear]

I don't suppose anyone know whether it's possible to add stat modifiers directly into custom effects like you can in the 5E module?
The effects page for PF2 on the wiki is still mostly copied from 5E, and i was fiddling with it earlier and noticed that using [DEX] for example doesn't work.

[Trenloe]

Welcome to the FG forums.

There are various similarities between the 5E and PFRPG2 effects page because they're all based on a d20 ruleset produced by one of the developers 10 years ago, and so a lot of the terminology is the same - and both 5E and PFRPG2 run on top of CoreRPG so also share some common architecture. The effects page for PFRPG2 is accurate for PFRPG2.

If you're using a PC specific tag (https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGU/pages/372244481/PFRPG2+Effects#PC-Specific-Notes) then you can only apply that from within an effect action from within a PC's actions tab, so that the effect system knows what PC relevant modifier to apply.

If you're applying an effect from the actions tab and it doesn't work correctly, please provide a screenshot showing the effect details in the actions tab, the combat tracker and the chat window after trying to apply the effect.

[Mystear]

[AT36991

the effect does not remove the dex as it should, I have tried different setups and variations. like trying to do +[-DEX], and it won't work.
The manual dice entry was for testing, the attack in the chat log shouldn't be able to hit, as the AC of the character should be 19 if it was working properly. with the dex bracket in there, the effect doesn't work at all.
It's really only the AC that's supposed to do anything, and while I know i could just manually make it say "4-2", I would prefer to do something that would auto update with the characters stats.

This is something I have never had a problem doing with the 5e rulesets, as far as I can remember.

[Trenloe]

A few things.

1) DEX will not work if it shows in the Combat Tracker. FG substitutes the DEX bonus as the effect is added to the CT. If you see DEX in the effect in the CT then the syntax of the effect in the PC action isn't correct.
2) To negate DEX you need the - within the square brackets: [-DEX] - this is shown in the Wiki page.
3) To negate from another value, there needs to be a space between that value. This is also covered in the Wiki.

So, to make it work you need: AC: +4 [-DEX] - note the space between the 4 and the [

You could also use AC: [-DEX]+4 - no need for the space.

[Mystear]

Thanks, working now. I hadn't gone far enough down on the page to read that particular bit as it mentions using stats a fair bit before the pc specific section, and this is indeed something that's different from how the 5E ruleset does it.
Thanks again for the help, and especially for how prompt it was!

[Trenloe]

...and this is indeed something that's different from how the 5E ruleset does it.
Really? Has it changed that much recently? I've just done some testing in 5E and AC: +4 [-DEX] (with a space) was the only way I could get it to work. Has 5e added other ability functionality into the PC side effects? Or are you running some extensions that change the base coding?

That's why I specifically added in the [other tag]+-X option in PFRPG2 - because the standard d20 based effect +-X [other tag] had to have a space and was causing issues. I think this code is still the same in 5E (based off my testing). I kept that code in PFRPG2 purely for backwards compatibility.