FloofzyKitty
April 8th, 2025, 08:48
As the title suggests, I've had my fair share of frustrations with how limited the "range" indicator / identifier is. In many ways it feels like a nearly complete tag / feature that just stops short of greatness. This mostly boils down to it having no capability for distinguishing Spell Attacks, nor does it have the ability to accept "!" / "NOT" (e.g. "DMG: 1d6, !ranged" has no effect).
Just as an example:
"DMG: 1d6, melee" works for boosting a character's melee weapon attacks, but due to the way "Powers" work, cannot boost melee spell attacks like Vampiric Touch or Inflict Wounds.
This works inconsistently in the context of "ATK: 1d6, melee" boosting Spell Attacks because it is the same [range] indicator used for both ATK and DMG, but only ATK can single out all melee or ranged attacks, including Spell Attacks.
I know that this is primarily due to the way "Powers" handles "Dmg", but either damage types in the "Powers" section should be able to be tagged as "melee" and "ranged" or [range] should be changed to include Spell Attacks. Example: ranged, melee, rspell, mspell (ranged and melee spell attacks respectively).
When it comes to 2024 Sorcerer's "Innate Sorcery" feature, it is currently impossible to program their advantage as an effect that only affects their Spell Attacks because [range] only accepts "melee" and "ranged" as valid identifiers, both of which would incorrectly affect said Sorcerer's non-Spell Attacks. If someone is playing a Sorcerer + Paladin multiclass, this is a very relevant issue as you would need to keep toggling ADV off and on.
This is why I think the problem is not only with [range], but also with the way Powers handles damage types; even if Powers were changed to be able to tag spell and other ability damage as melee / ranged, it still would be incompatible with automating a feature like Innate Sorcery or other custom features like a magic item that grants ADV or a DMG boost specifically on Spell Attacks.
Conclusion
It seems that overall there is no effect in Fantasy Grounds that can target affect Spell Attacks. I could not find any documentation that indicates Fantasy Grounds even recognises Spell Attacks as their own separate thing, which I think is pretty incongruent with how 5E clearly makes a distinction between melee, ranged and melee/ranged spell attacks.
I also think [range] being able to accept "! / NOT" would also open up a much wider range of possibilities, but obviously that is much less of a pressing issue than the above.
Just as an example:
"DMG: 1d6, melee" works for boosting a character's melee weapon attacks, but due to the way "Powers" work, cannot boost melee spell attacks like Vampiric Touch or Inflict Wounds.
This works inconsistently in the context of "ATK: 1d6, melee" boosting Spell Attacks because it is the same [range] indicator used for both ATK and DMG, but only ATK can single out all melee or ranged attacks, including Spell Attacks.
I know that this is primarily due to the way "Powers" handles "Dmg", but either damage types in the "Powers" section should be able to be tagged as "melee" and "ranged" or [range] should be changed to include Spell Attacks. Example: ranged, melee, rspell, mspell (ranged and melee spell attacks respectively).
When it comes to 2024 Sorcerer's "Innate Sorcery" feature, it is currently impossible to program their advantage as an effect that only affects their Spell Attacks because [range] only accepts "melee" and "ranged" as valid identifiers, both of which would incorrectly affect said Sorcerer's non-Spell Attacks. If someone is playing a Sorcerer + Paladin multiclass, this is a very relevant issue as you would need to keep toggling ADV off and on.
This is why I think the problem is not only with [range], but also with the way Powers handles damage types; even if Powers were changed to be able to tag spell and other ability damage as melee / ranged, it still would be incompatible with automating a feature like Innate Sorcery or other custom features like a magic item that grants ADV or a DMG boost specifically on Spell Attacks.
Conclusion
It seems that overall there is no effect in Fantasy Grounds that can target affect Spell Attacks. I could not find any documentation that indicates Fantasy Grounds even recognises Spell Attacks as their own separate thing, which I think is pretty incongruent with how 5E clearly makes a distinction between melee, ranged and melee/ranged spell attacks.
I also think [range] being able to accept "! / NOT" would also open up a much wider range of possibilities, but obviously that is much less of a pressing issue than the above.