Encounter faction not transferring to the combat tracker

[Moriarity]

Is there a reason why NPC faction doesn't transfer to the combat tracker when you click the 'Add encounter to combat tracker' button?

[Trenloe]

Which ruleset are you using?

[Moon Wizard]

I just tested it in the base 5E ruleset; and it appears to work as expected (i.e. factions copied to combat tracker from encounter when clicking the Add Encounter button)

* Are you adding creatures a different way than the Add Full Encounter button?
* Which ruleset (i.e. game system) are you running?
* Do you have any extensions loaded in your campaign?

Regards,
JPG

[Moriarity]

I usually have loads of extensions loaded so I created a new 5E game loading only the DMG, PHB and the Monster Manual with no extensions at all. I created several encounters with NPCs set in a variety of combinations of factions, placing the NPCs and saving the encounters. Then run the encounters by clicking the down-arrow at the bottom of the encounters to add the encounters to the map & combat tracker. Most went well but all of the NPCs set to "Faction" were added to the CT as enemy. See attached screenshot.47781. Oops, bottom left encounter should have been labelled "Neutral & Neutral"

[Moon Wizard]

That's correct. If no faction defined, then the default faction for adding NPCs to the combat tracker is used. (i.e. foe)

Regards,
JPG

[Moriarity]

A misunderstanding then... I had thought that "Faction" was something distinct; something to indicate the local militia, a local guildsman or the like - not enemy, not friendly and not neutral. So, if 'Faction' doesn't mean anything, what's it there for? If Faction defaults to Enemy, why not just default the encounter NPC to Enemy when they are added to the encounter and why is there a distinct "Faction" option in the CT?

[Moon Wizard]

If not defined, it uses the default ("foe"). If defined, it uses the specified value (friend/foe/neutral).

It was always assumed that anyone not friend/foe would be considered neutral until shown otherwise.

Regards,
JPG

[Moriarity]

Hmmm - given that explanation, shouldn't the default be Neutral? Also, given that explanation, I still don't see why there is a distinct "Faction" option on the CT. Never mind; I'll learn to live with it - thanks for the response.

[Griogre]

You may not know you can use the fraction button to drag out all of the NPC/PCS of that particular faction and drop them on the map. This is most useful for dropping PCs on a new map or moving them in mass, ie teleport trap. For Foes, it's useful for random or other non set place encounters that do not have a preset positions on a map. You can add the encounter to the tracker and then drag and drop the monsters onto the map.

The current setup is due to a request to be able to add NPC's to an encounter that are friendly or neutral, but it defaults back to foe so as not to invalidate every encounter made up to the time that change.

[Moriarity]

Yes, I did know you can drag specific factions onto the map. I still don't see your point though. Adding NPCs directly to the CT always sets them up as Hostile and there are only three mass-move/teleport icons that only work with friendly, neutral and hostile. So I'm still non the wiser but thanks for trying to explain. I think it's best left at that.

[BronzeDodger]

Maybe it's use of the term 'faction' itself? Just in case: faction (to my understanding) is only relevant to FG mechanically to permit viewing levels of detail in the combat tracker (you can see full details on allies, not non-allies) and to allow drag/dropping an entire faction onto a map with one mouse action.

For an in-game faction, like "they belong to X guild" or "they are Y army" - those would have be notes on the NPC card / character sheet but wouldn't have a mechanical use for the software.

[Trenloe]

I think the confusion here is that there is a blank option for the "faction" cycler. The faction can be friendly, hostile or neutral. The tooltip showing "Faction" for an undefined entry is not indicating a fourth type, it's indicating that this is the faction field. As Moon Wizard mentions, FG makes some assumptions regarding the faction to use when an encounter is added to the CT without a faction defined - which is the same as what happens when an NPC is dragged directly to the combat tracker.

There may also be a little bit of confusion coming from the fact that the colour of an entry in the CT with an undefined faction is different from a defined faction - giving the impression that there's a fourth type of faction type, but there isn't really - the colour just shows that the faction is undefined.

I understand where the confusion comes from, I hope this helps to clarify the subject.

[Minty23185Fresh]

You may not know you can use the fraction button to drag out all of the NPC/PCS of that particular faction and drop them on the map. This is most useful for dropping PCs on a new map or moving them in mass, ie teleport trap. For Foes, it's useful for random or other non set place encounters that do not have a preset positions on a map. You can add the encounter to the tracker and then drag and drop the monsters onto the map.

The current setup is due to a request to be able to add NPC's to an encounter that are friendly or neutral, but it defaults back to foe so as not to invalidate every encounter made up to the time that change.

I did not know this (dragging the faction button at the bottom of the Combat Tracker)! This is fantastic. I love it when I gain a nugget like this by just perusing the forums.