5e Bug Reports (Part 5)

[Paperclipkiller]

This isn't a bug persay but would fix an issue I noticed in regards to bringing a monster that is a 5th level+ spellcaster who has cantrips to the Combat Tracker. I did this test using the Drow Matron Mother from Mordenkainen's but should be able to be replicated with any spellcaster.

When bringing them over to the combat tracker their cantrips do not scale properly for the damage. If the spells are in the Monsters stat block and changed there specifically to deal the actual damage based on their level as a spellcaster it would be set up properly in the Combat Tracker when dragged over to it.

Every single NPC spellcaster at 5th level or higher in every book is going to have to have their cantrips modified to the proper damage on the Monster stat block if they want to be correct in the Combat Tracker.

Like I said it's not a bug persay, but it is an inconsistency I think in FG usage which is why I am posting this one.

[Zacchaeus]

It would actually require the spells to be edited rather than the NPC stat block since the NPC pulls the spells in from the spells list. Without changing the code at all it is technically possible to add in extra wording to the spells so that extra damage lines appear in the CT. Whether this would cause a lot of confusion is another matter since it wouldn't be possible to leave out the damage strings that don't apply. Additionally a 1st level PC would also get 3 extra damage lines automatically added when the cantrip was dragged in. So that wouldn't be good either.

[Paperclipkiller]

Using a Drow Mage since I already had that opened this is what I had to do. I went to Poison Spray and changed the damage to 2d12 as a Drow Mage is a 10th level spellcaster in the Monster Manual/Out of the Abyss. When I dragged the NPC Stat Block to the combat tracker it had it changed to 2d12. The change would have to be done after the spell was added to the NPC stat block based on what the spellcaster level would have to be. Which understandably would be incredibly tedious but it would set the cantrip damage for every applicable spellcaster to be correct instead of every DM having to create a duplicate of the NPC and modifying it before putting it in the CT themselves.

[Zacchaeus]

Using a Drow Mage since I already had that opened this is what I had to do. I went to Poison Spray and changed the damage to 2d12 as a Drow Mage is a 10th level spellcaster in the Monster Manual/Out of the Abyss. When I dragged the NPC Stat Block to the combat tracker it had it changed to 2d12. The change would have to be done after the spell was added to the NPC stat block based on what the spellcaster level would have to be. Which understandably would be incredibly tedious but it would set the cantrip damage for every applicable spellcaster to be correct instead of every DM having to create a duplicate of the NPC and modifying it before putting it in the CT themselves.

Indeed, and that would require considerable recoding I fear. Additionally of course there is no need to have this or to duplicate the NPC since the damage can be dragged and with a right click additional dice added before dropping on the target.

I must also say that I can't actually ever remember having a high level NPC use a cantrip. I think my Drow mage would be casting lightning bolt, black tentacles and cloudkill a few times before I turned to cantrips.

[Paperclipkiller]

Oh yea right clicking would fix the damage thing as a DM workaround. For high CR spellcasters that wouldn't usually be an issue anyway unless they had legendary actions to cast a Cantrip anyway. So only those kind of high CR spellcasters and the ones who are at 5th level exactly this would really be noticeable usually.

Just thought it was something to mention since I noticed it during my last game session. Wasn't sure if it would be counted as something that needed fixing or "low priority" since right clicking can do the proper damage. Thanks for looking into it!

[dpezet]

I just finished running through the "Sunless Citadel" adventure that is part of Tales from the Yawning Portal. Everything went great, but I noticed two issues during the play through.

1.10 9. Dragon Riddle - There is a chat bubble here containing the dragon sculpture's riddle. For some reason, double-clicking on the chat bubble only puts part of the riddle into the chat room. I tried multiple times and only "We come at night without being fetched;" makes it in to the chat room. Everything after the semi-colon is left off. I typed in the rest of the riddle by hand as a workaround.

2.08 49. Arboretums - There is a parcel attached to this section named "Sapphires." According to the physical book there should be two sapphires, but the parcel only contains one. There is a similar parcel attached to 2.04 45 with the same name that is correct and contains two sapphires. The easy workaround was to just award the parcel twice.

Thanks,

Don

[Zacchaeus]

Noted; thanks for the report and welcome to FG

[Caelen]

I ran into a little issue yesterday. In TYP White Plume Mountain, Sir Bluto had a problem with his attacks. He deals bonus damage with his normal attacks while he's above half hp, but there was no way to separate out the bonus damage from the base weapon damage. They were included as a single roll in the combat tracker. I ended up just editing him to have a second copy of each attack without the wording for the bonus damage, which worked.

Is there a way to actually code this in as an effect? Is there a better way to re-word his attacks to create two damage rolls that I can use as needed? It's not major (and the party killed him already, so...), but it might be handy to know how to do this if the ability pops up again in the future. Bluto appears to be identical mechanically to the Champion from Volo's Guide to Monsters, and the Champion has the same problem.

Speaking of Sir Bluto's fight, there was a little bug with the Knights. The Knights with him (identical in both TYP and the MM) have two abilities that didn't get parsed correctly (or perhaps shouldn't be parsed at all). Their Brave ability gives them advantage on saves against being frightened, but the combat tracker gives them the trait "Brave [EFF: Frightened]". Being brave doesn't let them scare people They also have the leadership ability which lets them give an ally a bonus d4 to an attack or save, and the effect ends if the knight is incapacitated. Again, the combat tracker gives them "[EFF: Incapacitated]" to use. It's also not major; I can just not use the effects. I just figured I'd point it out while I was talking about Bluto.

[Zacchaeus]

I’ll have a look at Sir Bluto tomorrow. I’m not near my computer right now. If his extra damage is included in his main attack that would be wrong I think. There should be a separate trait which details the extra damage and that should resolve as an effect which the DM can add to the NPC if he is above half health before damage is rolled. It is also possible to repeat the damage string with the additional damage so that it resolves as a second effect.

The other two things you mention are caused by the way the parser picks up on words and creates effects. It isn’t possible to word things in such a way to have the parser create those effects but it does pick up on the words. I’ll have a look to see if I can change the wording so that neither of them create effects.

[Lilly Fireblade]

The Lost Lab of Kwalish is effectively un-runnable right now. It appears as if the version uploaded to the store was one that was only partially converted by Rob Twohy. The part in particular that I am talking about is PART 1 and 2. are missing at least links to all encounters, and parcels. Also the unique changes to the base Monster manual npc's at least in that section are missing, particularly the changes for the following NPC's Grand Master, East Wind, West Wind, and Monks(Uses Cultist stat block with unique weapon). The random encounters are not linked and not even a hint at that they were originally in there, I had to track them down in the tables menu since the only reference to them in the conversion the text "see appendix A, “Random Encounters,” for more information."

I can tell where the links are supposed to be but there is none. There is also the a handful of copy-pasta mistakes on the remaining links where the last letter or three is cut off of the end. I didn't run part 3 due to Adventure League ruling of a max of 8 hours from this adventure of experience. But from what I see the parcels and encounters for part 3 looks okay but I might have missed them. If screenshots are needed I will gladly provide them in any format that is requested to the best of my ability. I hope that this is updated/fixed quickly since I actually looked forward to running this, but after the dumpster fire of my last attempt (I prepare using the reference manual) I will hold off of a second run for a while.