Help with an Effect

[Wise Orc Tavern]

Hi, I am trying to create a magic item. It deals 1d10 lightning damage on a touch attack and the target must succeed a DC 13 Constitution Save or be knocked prone.

Everything seems to be working fine, except for the save. I can't get a save to trigger. Also, although I could drag the prone condition into the target, can I somehow make it automatic?

One last non-related question, if I may. On Classic I could take damage back from a target by just holding CTRL and dragging the damage value number from the chatbox direct into the creature in CT. It seems on unity I can't do that anymore. Is tehre a way to do that using a shortcut, besides right-clicking the number and making it negative?

Thank you.

[Zacchaeus]

Looks like you have set it up ok. So when you target the enemy and click on the save button or the prone effect button what happens? If that doesn’t work perhaps an extension is causing the issue, check in a new campaign without extensions.

CTRL dragging from chat is not currently working in Unity; it is a known issue (at least it was last time I checked).

[Wise Orc Tavern]

So when you target the enemy and click on the save button or the prone effect button what happens?

It works!
But How could I make it automatic, so I don't need to click on save, and the target rolls it immediately?

Also, if I decide to make that a homebrewed spell, should I make a separate entry only for a description in the spells tab, or is there a way for me to make both one thing only and just drag the spell from the spell list?

I am trying to learn more and so I am pushing my very small boundaries, lol.

[Zacchaeus]

You can’t ‘proc’ a saving throw (or anything else) to apply automatically. FG generally doesn’t force things to happen because there are so many exceptions. So you need to roll the save and apply the effect as separate actions.

I’m Norplant entirely sure what your second question is, but you can certainly create things as spells, which you can drag into the actions tab.

[Wise Orc Tavern]

I think I see some spells that automatically roll the save. Maybe some extension I got on DMG, I will have to check on that later to give a more certain example.

About the second question, I will also have to make some tests before getting back here, but I will give another try. If I go to the spell list and add a new item, I see I can enter the description of the new spell, but I cant get the same add effect/damage I get when creating new powers on an actions tab. I was wondering how I could do like many DMG products where they code the spell in a way where all the effects are created the moment I drag them from the spells list. Currently I don't know how to do that, only how to create an effect on players sheet.

Thank you for teaching me a new word. Never saw Norplant before. This alone is great already.

Will get back here to give an example in another day or two, since I wont have the time to do it early.

Thank you as always Zacchaeus.

[MrDDT]

There are some exts that help with this.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?62208-5E-Spell-Automation

and

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/312720/Fantasy-Grounds-Ongoing-Save-Effects

To name a couple.
Both are really good (they also work together).

[Zacchaeus]

Fantasy grounds uses a parser to try and work out what the words of a spells say and create the effects from this words. See here for examples of what the parser can pick up on. It’s fro NPCs but the principle is the same. https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/996642031/5E+Effects+for+Advanced+Automation#Automating-Effects-on-NPCs

If you copy the wording of an existing spell then it should work. Note that is some cases however the effects are ‘hard coded’ into the ruleset and not created through words.

[Wise Orc Tavern]

I see.

I tried to find an example where a char cast a spell and the save happens automatically. I was sure one of my players was using something where that happens. I couldn't find. I see how the parser works, and I think I see why. It makes sense to give some flexibility and yet allowing extensions like the one MrDDT posted. I will try that extension on my next game session, so thanks a lot for the tip. The DMG extension seems great also.

I still don't understand how to create a spell and have its effects added when I drag it into the actions tab, but I still need to try it some more times, I barely touched this so I will try harder and come back if needed.

Thank you all.

[Zacchaeus]

I still don't understand how to create a spell and have its effects added when I drag it into the actions tab, but I still need to try it some more times, I barely touched this so I will try harder and come back if needed.

Take a look at the spell Acid Splash. When you drag that into a character's action tab it creates two effects, a saving throw and a damage line. FG looks at the spell description and keys off the line 'A target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 acid damage'. It takes the words "Dexterity saving throw" and works out what that saving throw DC should be according to the abilities and level of the caster and creates the save effect. It then goes on to "1d6 acid damage" and creates a damage line with that dice value and damage type.

So using that knowledge you could create a spell with the line "A target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 2d10 thunder damage" or some other variation on that theme and FG will interpret the strings and create the necessary effects.

If you come across a spell that FG can't parse and so doesn't set up effects (and if effects can be set up) you can drag the spell into the actions tab as normal and then create the effects manually. You can then drag that spell back into the spells tab (using the spell's link in the actions tab) and it will create a new spell with the effects added to it. Subsequently you can than drag that new spell into another character's action tab and the effects will be created.

[damned]

I’m Norplant entirely sure what your second question is, but you can certainly create things as spells, which you can drag into the actions tab.

Hello and welcome Norplant.

[MrDDT]

hello and welcome norplant.

rofl

[Wise Orc Tavern]

Oh, thank you Zacchaeus, I was not aware of that.
I will try to recreate some spells like that to see it first hand if it is that easy, but that makes a lot more sense now.
Thank you.