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  1. #1
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    Bardic Inspiration Die Implementor Extension (for 5E)


    THIS EXTENSION IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

    As of late September 2023 I've not played D&D in over a year now.
    It's doubtful that I will return in the near future.
    Currently I have no interest, nor time, to maintain it.





    This extension ensures most uses of a Bardic Inspiration Die conform to th 5E rule stipulation: "the inspiration die may be used after a roll result is stated but before the outcome of the roll is announced". The Lucky Feat has similar rules so it too is supported.

    STOP!! ## Before downloading and trying to use this extension
    READ, UNDERSTAND and be willing to COMPLY with the instructions and limitations
    stated in posts #2 and #3 of this thread. ## STOP!!


    The following posts to this thread contain this information:
    #2 - How to use the extension (Use, part 1).
    #3 - Limitations and Caveats (Use, part 2).
    #4 - Versioning information, Known issues. And what ever else.
    (The versioning information also acts as a pseudo-index, of sorts, to new and added functionality, often pointing to specific posts in this thread that detail changes.)

    The current version of this extension (v0.0.10) released on Nov 27, 2022.

    FGU users can subscribe to receive automated updates of this extension in the Forge (here).

    This extension is not available for FGC.
    Last edited by Minty23185Fresh; September 27th, 2023 at 14:32.
    Current Projects:
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    Community Contributions:
    Extensions: Bardic Inspiration, Druid Wild Shapes, Local Dice Tower, Library Field Filters
    Tutorial Blog Series: "A Neophyte Tackles (coding) the FG Extension".

  2. #2
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    Extension Use (Part 1 - the Good Stuff)

    Extension Necessity:
    From the Bardic Inspiration section of the Bard's Class in the 5E Player's Handbook: "The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails." Restated: Some features that use the Bardic Inspiration Die rely on the player knowing the outcome of the roll of the dice but not whether that roll succeeded or failed at its intended use.

    Fantasy Grounds does a lot of the math work for us for many rolls of the dice. It also announces the results, success or failure, for most of those rolls if the "Chat: Show Results to Client" option in the Options Manager is "On". This extension inserts itself in between the adjudication of the dice roll and the announcement of the result for three specific features of the Bardic Inspiration Die feature: Bardic Inspiration, Combat Inspiration and Cutting Words.

    If you are a DM that announces the results of every dice roll this extension is of no use to you.

    Extension Effect:
    When properly set up and employed the extension will modify what Fantasy Grounds displays in the Chat Box. The following image is comprised of two screenshots, the upper portion is the Chat, Character Sheet and Combat Tracker for the PC Thayus and the lower portion is similar but that of the DM.
    Untitled1.png
    Two attack rolls by the PC Thayus are displayed, one (circled in blue) is without the extension coming into play, the second (circled in red) is when the extension does its thing. When the "Bardic Inspiration" Effect is applied to Thayus and he makes his attack, the outcome of the throw is displayed but its result is not (for the player). However the DM is privy to the adjudication of the roll. Note that the "[EFFECT] Bardic Inspiration" is displayed to both Chats as a reminder that something additional is expected. The DM should announce the roll total and the player needs to decide whether or not that's sufficient for the desired outcome, and if not, whether or not a Bardic Inspiration Die roll might sufficiently affect the result.

    Extension Environment:
    In the next screenshot, of the Fantasy Grounds Options Manager, three of the options that affect, to varying degrees, what is displayed to the players in the chat box are circled in blue. The most important of these (in red) is the "Chat: Show Results to Client". If this option is "Off" this extension is also turned off, because all results have to be verbally announced by the DM anyway.
    Untitled2.png

    Some setup is required. The DM or the player with a Bard character must add a couple of Effects to the Bard's character sheet. I suppose one could add them to the Effects Manager instead. The Effects' names cannot be changed, the extension uses those specific strings to key off of. The following screenshot displays all the details.
    Untitled3.png
    As of version v0.0.10, additional parameters or notes are allowed with the Effect Names (see post #80 of this thread).
    Typically the Bard will only have two of the three Effects available since "Combat Inspiration" and "Cutting Words" are Bard College specific. The example of descriptive content marked with orange is not necessary but I find it can be helpful to have it all on the Actions tab with the Effects.

    Extension Use:
    The typical scenario for this extension's use is: during the Bard's turn the player can elect to apply the appropriate effect to whichever other player they wish. Note that once the Bard reaches 3rd level the Cutting Words Effect is always present (for a College of Lore Bard). When the triggering circumstances occur (e.g. attack, save, damage, etc.) the extension intercepts the results announcement and displays "[Effect] <effects name>". At this point the affected player must decide if they wish to use a Bardic Inspiration Die to affect the results. Then the DM has a little math to do.
    Last edited by Minty23185Fresh; November 27th, 2022 at 13:28. Reason: v0.0.10 enhancement

  3. #3
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    Extension Use (Part 2)

    Extension Caveats:
    • Unhandled Skill Checks - The Bardic Inspiration Die is also available under certain circumstances for Skill Checks and Ability Checks. This extension ignores those checks because they are adjudicated by the DM not by Fantasy Grounds.
    • Poor Handling of Area of Effect Spells - When outcome and results are reported for an Area of Effect spell too much information is shared with the players (see post #47 of this thread).



    Extension Peculiarity: Effect Removal
    I have modified the default behavior of Fantasy Grounds where the player that applied an effect to another actor in Combat Tracker is the one that can remove that effect. For the two effects that the Bard applies to someone else, "Bardic Inspiration" and "Combat Inspiration", the player whose PC has that effect on them, is the one who can remove the effect. For example, assume Arwin the Bard gives Bardic Inspiration to Thayus the Paladin. Upon using the Bardic Inspiration Die, Thayus is the one that can remove the Effect not Arwin.

    I would like to thank Nickademus and Trenloe. By dissecting Nickademus's "5E Remove Effect Tag" extension that he developed with assistance from Trenloe, I was able to comprehend what must be done to effect the changes I just mentioned. Their work quickly pointed me down the right path. Thank you very much for your hard work and for sharing that work with the community.

    Extension Interactions:
    Many new users of Fantasy Grounds see the huge variety of community developed extensions available to them and they load 'em up. "What could be better than all this additional functionality?" The answer might be none of it! But certainly, less of it. If you are not actively using an extension's functionality, don't load it. Community developers work in a bit of a vacuum. I don't pay attention to what's out there, unless I want or need it. Because the more extensions I have loaded the greater the chances are that those extensions might adversely interact with one another - giving errant results, undesired behaviors or crashing. I make sure my extensions work with the rest of my extensions and with those that I use from other community developers. But not every other extension out there.

    This extension is exceptionally simple: when a result of a dice roll is going to be displayed in the Chat, the extension looks at the roll type (e.g. attack, damage, etc.) and decides if any of the Bardic Inspiration Die Effects should quash it. And then prevents the result from being displayed in the player's Chat boxes when appropriate.

    I have gone to great effort to ensure this extension modifies a minimal amount of ruleset code thereby minimizing possible conflicts. However, I cannot guarantee a conflict won't occur. Particularly if another developer's extension interferes with my extension's functionality instead of visa versa.

    If you have problems with this extension, it is your responsibility to determine if the fault is extension conflicts. The first thing I will ask you is: "Do you use any other extensions?" If so, "Have you unloaded all the other extensions? Do you still have a problem?" So you might as well figure it out beforehand. If you don't know how to go about it, take a look at post #18 of this thread.

    Extension Copyright:
    This extension is copywritten by me, in its entirety. The copyright does not prevent you from modifying it for your own use. But you may not share nor publish the modified extension with anyone as long as it has any of my copywritten code in it.
    Last edited by Minty23185Fresh; May 12th, 2022 at 04:58.

  4. #4
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    Versioning Information and Whatever Else

    NOV 27, 2022 v0.0.10 - nil value error fixed, BIDI Effects syntax relaxed (post #80)
    MAY 15, 2022 v0.0.9 - supports incidental area of effect saves (post #47)
    APR 21, 2022 v0.0.8 - minor extension.xml changes for better Forge support
    APR 21, 2022 v0.0.7 - discontinued support for FGC
    FEB 29, 2022 v0.0.6 - Support for Lucky Feat announced (posts #41 & #43).
    FEB 16, 2021 v0.0.6 - New FG release broke the extension (constants in FG changed values).
    SEP 22, 2020 v0.0.5 - Announcement and BIDI initial release.
    Last edited by Minty23185Fresh; November 27th, 2022 at 13:15.

  5. #5
    This could be also useful to features like "precision attack" from fighter's combat superiority. If you can make it so in a way that it apply the modifier to a previous attack/damage roll, it would greatly expand the possibilities of this extension (effects that cut damage suffered by half after rolled like "parry" or "uncanny dodge", for example).
    "A saint does what is right. A leader does what is necessary."

  6. #6
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    Thanks for replying Alanrockid.
    I see how my statements could have been misinterpreted. This extension does not pause the calculations that FG does in determining result. It just prevents the result from being displayed to the players. (That’s obvious I know, because as I said in post #2, the result is displayed to the DM.)

    Going back in time is difficult. Also saving a bunch of data during the result calculations, and then applying that saved data, should some event occur (parry, uncanny dodge), intercepting the event, and recalculating with new data, in a manner that Smiteworks has not already implemented is not something I am willing to entertain. I’ve looked at this problem before (other extension ideas) and abandoned those efforts.

    But I invite you to give it a go.

  7. #7
    Hi Minty! Thanks a lot for this extension. My bard player will be delighted.

    I'm using it in FGU.

    Just so I'm not overlooking anything...barding inspiration should trigger also for skill and save throws, right? I did not check for the latter, but Bardic Inspiration seems to not be activated during skill check.

    Am I missing something?

    Thanks a lot again!!!

  8. #8
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by eriktedesco View Post
    Hi Minty! Thanks a lot for this extension. My bard player will be delighted.

    I'm using it in FGU.

    Just so I'm not overlooking anything...barding inspiration should trigger also for skill and save throws, right? I did not check for the latter, but Bardic Inspiration seems to not be activated during skill check.

    Am I missing something?

    Thanks a lot again!!!
    No on skill checks and ability checks as stated in post 3. Yes on saves, if it is appropriate. I’m pretty sure the only case being The Bardic Inspiration Feature.

  9. #9
    Hi Minty, nice extension

    I was wondering if understood how applying the Cutting Word effect correctly? I have put an effect on my Bard; Cutting Word. Does this mean that any, attack, damage or ability check by an Enemy NPC will be intercepted and not displayed in the chat to the players? At the moment when trying to effect is not triggered. Should at the start of combat all enemies be applied with the Bardic Inspiration effect for this to work? Thank you for your help!


    Screenshot 2020-09-24 at 13.40.11.png

  10. #10
    Minty23185Fresh's Avatar
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    The effect is “Cutting Words”. With the “s”. As in plural.

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