Still getting lost with how Roll20 treats NPC tokens

If this helps I'll label the confusion "instance vs class" to borrow Java terminology. I'm getting confused about how to treat NPC tokens and make sure they are their own individual characters. When I drag some cannon fodder out onto the map during a game, I find that the HP bars are not connected to the character sheet and when I open the character sheet for each NPC token, it's actually the same 'class' NPC and not an 'instance' of the class. But the token bars are instances. What gives?

Hi Michael M.,  Do not link bars to the character when you the character is not unique.  Player characters are unique, any instance of a player character is identical to every other instance.  NPCs are not usually unique. There could be dozens of Orcs for example, but they all use the same sheet.  Here is how you fix the problem: 1. Click the settings icon on a token.  2. Unlink the bar. (If creating from scratch then fill in the boxes) 3. Open the Character 4. Save Settings 5. Edit the Character 6. With the token selected, click Use Selected token 7. Save Changes Next,  you can update all the tokens or replace them as desired. 

Ok, so non-unique NPCs still all use the same sheet and I *should not* use the sheet to make live adjustments. Do I have that right?

Just use it as a reference. (I want to make sure I have a workflow correct.)

Since you've unlinked HP, AC, etc. those values will now be handled per-token. You've created mooks/red-shirts that all have unique HP and they have access to attacks, rolls, attributes, etc. from a represented sheet.

Michael M. said: Ok, so non-unique NPCs still all use the same sheet and I *should not* use the sheet to make live adjustments. Do I have that right? As vince stated, adjust HP, etc via the token, not the sheet.  Which sheet are you using btw?

Human Raider from the fallout compendium. So basically when I drag them out from the compendium I adjust the token for each one. If I want to equip a raider differently I have to create a new entry in the compendium with its own sheet. Correct?

Michael M. said: Human Raider from the fallout compendium. So basically when I drag them out from the compendium I adjust the token for each one. If I want to equip a raider differently I have to create a new entry in the compendium with its own sheet. Correct? Sorry, when I asked which sheet you are using I am asking which Character sheet, not which character.  Based on what you said you are using a Fallout sheet, however there are multiple Fallout character sheets.  Please supply a screenshot of the sheet for identification.

Ah ok. I believe it's called "Fallout by Roll20" but not totally sure. It's the primary one on the R20 store.

Follow this guidance: If you select anything in the Token Represents field, that token draws most of its ratings from the character sheet it represents. But the token bubbles are independent, precisly because a GM might need 12 mostly identical raiders. By default they are based only on the token, not the character. You can set them to a stat, and the list presented is for the character that token Represents . It will then draw the values of that stat and place them in the the token bubble. If you then change to Stat to None, the values the token bubble contains do not change, and they are no longer linked to the character. So you can now have independent, unique raiders using the same character sheet. If you want to have, say, 12 raiders, but each uses a different weapon, you an create all those weapons on the raider character sheet, then use macros to launch them. Those macros will use the stats of a typical raider. If you want to display a different name in chat for each one, you can use @{token_name} instead of @{character_name}.

To elaborate on what GiGs said,  Add each attack to the character.  Then drag that attack to the bottom of the sheet. This will create a button.  Activate the button Click the chat window where you type Hit the up arrow on your keyboard and copy the code that appears.  Back on the Character, switch to the Attributes and Abilities tab.  Create a new Ability. Name it the name of the attack. Paste the code that you have copied.  Hover over the button on the bottom of the screen, a little tab appears on the right. Grab it and pull upwards to remove it from the bar.  Repeat the steps for the other attacks.  Final step: Checkmark the 'token action' checkmarks in the Attributes and Abilities tab for each attack. Now they appear on the tokens.