5E - AoE Spells Auto-Targeting & Upcast (FREE BETA)

[nephranka]

Speaking of AoE Effects and auras visualizations... I don't know how feasible it is, and it's not something of a "must have", but it would be kind of a killer feature if you could do it: if 5E AoE Spells Auto Targeting could be compatible with AoE Effect in a way that would allow to add the aura visualization effects to the spell targeting template for permanent spells, that would be HUGE. AoE Effects includes visualizations for more than just auras (see Web, Grease, Silence...) and allows to define custom visualizations (including animations) so allowing this extension to apply those same visualizations (assuming AoE Effects is active at the same time) would make the targeting templates much more immersing during play.

I second this request. The new AoE Effect ext adds an inline command to add graphics to the AoE and this ext adds the token with the Aura code but the graphic is not coming through.

[bwatford]

@Henix, let me know if you need anything from me as far as AoE Effects go to make this work. We are just placing a bitmap image in the area and letting them customize graphics by keyname in the Aura itself, should be pretty easy to tap into for you.

[nephranka]

Additionally, I notice the token is dropping off the CT but staying on the map if you log out and return?

[Henix]

Hey, first of all, great job!
I had a lot of fun testing your extension all weekend from every possible angle.
I can confidently say that ASD has become completely unnecessary given the quality of what you've built here...

Thank you so much Vaall! Hearing that this extension has made ASD completely unnecessary for your table is an incredible compliment. I'm thrilled you had fun stress-testing it! Let me address your notes:

• Effect duration on caster & Concentration (C) tag: I will definitely look into these. It should be fairly simple to extract the duration dynamically from the spell description text and ensure the "(C)" tag only applies if the spell actually requires concentration.
• Template effect on summoned NPCs: Could you give me a few specific examples or the exact text/steps you are using for this? I'd love to try and reproduce it on my end to see exactly why it's skipping the standard FGU pipeline.
• New AoE type (rectangle): Fair point! Having a centered-origin rectangle for exact wall spell visualizations (like Wall of Fire) is a great idea. I'll do some testing and see how feasible it is to implement alongside the current shapes.
• AoE Automator window trigger: I may have left this out in the showcase video, but you are 100% correct. The "School" field is the key database node the automation checks to enable the upcast popup. Great catch! I will absolutely add this requirement explicitly into the documentation so others don't get tripped up by it.

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Aura visualization on temporary NPCs ...

Speaking of AoE Effects and auras visualizations... if 5E AoE Spells Auto Targeting could be compatible with AoE Effect in a way that would allow to add the aura visualization effects to the spell targeting template for permanent spells, that would be HUGE...

I second this request. The new AoE Effect ext adds an inline command to add graphics to the AoE and this ext adds the token with the Aura code but the graphic is not coming through.

Regarding the aura visualization issues on temporary AoE spell tokens, I am already actively working on it! I noticed this exact visual behavior during my own testing. Bringing those immersion graphics, maps overlays, and custom animations directly into the targeting templates would be an absolute killer feature. I'm currently preparing another cool update that tackles exactly this, I'll share more specific details a bit later once it's closer to ready!

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@Henix, let me know if you need anything from me as far as AoE Effects go to make this work. We are just placing a bitmap image in the area and letting them customize graphics by keyname in the Aura itself, should be pretty easy to tap into for you.

Thank you so much, bwatford! I really appreciate you reaching out and offering to help make these two extensions play nice together. For now, everything is going smoothly as I dig into it, but if I run into a wall or need a specific help from your end, I will definitely drop you a message. Thanks again!

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Additionally, I notice the token is dropping off the CT but staying on the map if you log out and return?

Regarding the token dropping off the Combat Tracker but remaining on the map upon logging back in: I've run several tests on my end and I unfortunately cannot reproduce this behavior in a clean environment. It sounds like it might be an extension conflict. If you manage to narrow down which other extensions are active when this happens, please let me know so I can investigate further!

[nephranka]

Thank you for the update.

[MrDDT]

AOE Line.png@Henix

I love this ext so far, I've been really testing it out and so far this is the closest I've seen to working how I expect automation should work, gives a lot of options and whatnot.

I did have a question in this picture this is a "LINE" attack AOE. Much like Lightning bolt (this one is called Aganazzar's Scorcher which is only 30ft).

But the AOE targeting is not targeting any of the creatures in the image. Now my question is how are you ruling/judging/determining what creatures are being targeted? It appears you are using the FG targeting system of where it must reach the center of the creature to be targeted. I'm not sure why FG uses this as no rules I know use this rule.

Is there going to be options for targeting better in the ways that normal game play works? From my understanding normal gameplay is "If a creature is any part in an affected area it is affected". Then you can also look the 5E rules of a circle have a clear view of what a circular (like spheres also). It says "If a grid is at least 50% or more affected the whole grid is affected", now this makes it hard to figure out this in FG, how we did it in AOE Effects EXT is we calc'd the distance from the center of the token to the corners.
We also gave people some options to choose how refined they want to be. Default is 25% of the token in the AOE, but it can go up to refinement of less than .1 overlap (AKA .1 of the creature in the AOE is affected).

In the image, I would expect in normal gameplay all these creatures would be affected by this line attack spell.

[bwatford]

That’s exactly why configurable options matter. On my table, I wouldn’t rule that a 5-foot line barely grazing the edge of a square affects the creature in it.

The standard D&D 5e grid interpretation is that at least half of a square must be covered by the area of effect for it to count as affected. The approach you ask for in the image is quite generous to the players by comparison.

Because exact coverage can be ambiguous on a grid (as we’ve already seen with the AoE Effects extension), it would be ideal if this feature could either replicate those same user-configurable options or automatically use AoE Effects’ settings when that extension is installed. That would let every table choose the method that matches their preferred style.

The options from AoE Effects are:

- Edge
- Close to Edge
- Quarter (default)
- Center

That would get my vote.

[MrDDT]

The standard D&D 5e grid interpretation is that at least half of a square must be covered by the area of effect for it to count as affected. The approach you ask for in the image is quite generous to the players by comparison.

I agree this is the 2024 rules, the 2014 rules are not the case.


I think the best option is to have options of how people play, which is why I like how AOE Effects ext does it.

[Henix]

I love this ext so far, I've been really testing it out and so far this is the closest I've seen to working how I expect automation should work, gives a lot of options and whatnot...

But the AOE targeting is not targeting any of the creatures in the image. Now my question is how are you ruling/judging/determining what creatures are being targeted? It appears you are using the FG targeting system of where it must reach the center of the creature to be targeted... Is there going to be options for targeting better in the ways that normal game play works?

The standard D&D 5e grid interpretation is that at least half of a square must be covered by the area of effect for it to count as affected... Because exact coverage can be ambiguous on a grid (as we’ve already seen with the AoE Effects extension), it would be ideal if this feature could either replicate those same user-configurable options or automatically use AoE Effects’ settings when that extension is installed. The options from AoE Effects are: Edge, Close to Edge, Quarter (default), Center.

Thank you both for the incredibly detailed feedback and for diving into the grid math!

To answer your main question: yes, I was actually already planning to introduce customizable targeting settings! Because our two extensions complement each other so well, my ultimate goal is to keep the targeting behavior as consistent as possible across both systems so GMs don't have to manage conflicting behaviors during play.

@bwatford, looking ahead at that integration, I actually have a proposal/request! Do you think we could add a dedicated targeting mode that explicitly mirrors the official 5e 2024 ruleset (the "at least half a grid square must be covered" rule)?

The reason I'd love a native "50% Grid Square Coverage" option comes down to a mechanical quirk with token scaling. Personally, I play with "Token: Auto scale to grid" set to 100%. When you use a token-percentage overlap calculation (like Quarter) on standard 100% scaled tokens, the targeting behavior for Large, Huge, and Gargantuan creatures starts to act very weirdly because of their multi-square footprints.

If we add an option to calculate the threshold based strictly on the percentage of the grid squares covered by the template rather than scaling it based on token boundaries, it would perfectly resolve the 2024 rule for tokens of all sizes without clashing with the user's token scale preferences. Essentially, if X% of a square is covered by the template, we count that entire square as influenced—and if a token is sitting on that square, it gets targeted by the effect.

Let me know what you think about that approach! I'd love to hear your thoughts on implementing it.

[MrDDT]

If we add an option to calculate the threshold based strictly on the percentage of the grid squares covered by the template rather than scaling it based on token boundaries, it would perfectly resolve the 2024 rule for tokens of all sizes without clashing with the user's token scale preferences. Essentially, if X% of a square is covered by the template, we count that entire square as influenced—and if a token is sitting on that square, it gets targeted by the effect.

I would love this setting, we've talked about it a lot but how to achieve it is the problem without massive lag or making a premade template for each type of size variable there could be, which is not just sizes but also placement based on the intersection of a grid or based on "aura" types which would be based on the center of a grid square.

I personally also play with 100% token sizes, plus I use tokens that are highly transparent, so they don't have pixels per say all the way to the edges. (Because they don't have rings/circles).

I believe you are on the right track with it being that you are focusing on the rule (for 2024 at least) that % of the grid space is what says if it's an affected area. Any part of a creature in an affected area should trigger it.