Streamlining GMing with token macros - Advice for a new GM please!

New GM here.  I'm looking for some advice on preparing pages to streamline combat from the GM's perspective, and my relative newness to setting up a game in roll20 (as opposed to just playing), as well as an unfamiliarity with some of the jargon used through the wiki and the forums, is making things much more complicated than I imagine that they should be. For the time being, here's my goal:  I am trying to set up an encounter on a specific page, where there are a number of individual opponents of two different types.  (For ease of explanation, let's say I want three goblins and three orcs running amok, along with a half-dozen innocent townsfolk.)  I'm using Pathfinder as the system, and I want each of the different tokens to have several token macro buttons when selected - say, Initiative, attack, and save.  Possible multiple attacks for each of the goblins and orcs, such as a melee and a missile option. The Token Actions page on the wiki seems to suggest that this is possible, but there's no description of how to actually set it up.  From that page: This means, for example, if you designate that 3 abilities for the Character "Mr. Bearington" are token actions (1.), those actions will only show up for tokens that are linked to (2.) "Mr. Bearington", not for all tokens. So, how do I designate abilites as token actions, exactly?  Is this from the character sheet?  The PF character sheet is large and complicated, and I don't need to fill out a full character sheet for each NPC who's destined to survive a round or two in combat before getting slaughtered.  Ultimately, I want to create the macro "Orc Attacks! /roll 1d20+2" and have every orc token have that macro. I feel like this should be easy to do, and something that more GMs than I probably want to do, but for the life of me, I can't find any tutorial or instruction on how to do it.  Anyone have directions or a link I might be able to use?

Hi Jeff.  There are 1001 ways to skin an Orc...  I like to use the NPC tab of the PF sheet.  Link to a token .  Set up any token macros I may need(most are available on the sheet).  I like to link HP, AC, and CMB to the sheet. Copy/paste as many as I may need for that monster/mook.  Unlink the tokens used as mooks, unique NPC's get their own linked sheet like a character.  I use some "global" macros in my micro toolbar that can be used for anyone I target/select.  Initiative, 1d20 roll with query for modifiers whispered to gm, perception, etc. 

hi jeff i use the pathfinder character sheet, but just set up one basic mook which i now import into every game and modify as required       to set up a basic mook goto the journal tab, click the add button (select character from the list) change the name, hit save changes goto the attributes and ability tab on the ability side - click add 4 times (to add 4 blank abilities) make the first ability 'initiative', using this macro (replace the x.x with the correct value) /w gm init [[1d20 + x.x & {tracker} ]] 2nd one is 'melee' - example macro as below rapier hits AC [[1d20cs>18+7]] dmg [[1d6+1]] 3rd is 'ranged' similar macro as melee 4th is 'saves' - this macro use the character sheet template, and whispers the GM any modifiers - it also hides the rolls from the players so they cant metagame the weak saves!! &{template:pf_generic}{{name=save}}{{?{What kind of Save|Fort, Fort [[[[1d20+3 ]]]] |Ref, Ref [[[[1d20+4 ]]]] |Will, Will [[[[1d20+0 ]]]]}}} /w gm +1 vs fear +2 mind affecting make sure you click the 'show as token action' checkbox this gives you a basic macro set that will cover most eventualities except for casters duplicate this basic character for each group of monsters/NPC's that you need, changing the abitily values as you go and saving with descriptive names(e.g. goblin scout etc) then just drop a character token onto the map, double click to bring up the menu where it says 'represents character', select the name of your mook from the dropdown and save changes when you select that token, the macro buttons will appear at the top left of the screen for the selected character

Ok, I'm also still new to Roll20, and I'm using a custom d20 Future sheet but here are a few relatively simple things I've picked up: First of all, you don't want to clutter things up too much with lots and lots of macro buttons, so know that the # key is your friend. It lets you run any macro, including token actions. Just type "#[macro_name}" in the chat box and hit enter. I always have to hit enter 2-3 times for some reason, but your mileage may vary. For example: #fort runs @{selected|character_name} attempts a Fortitude Save: /r 1d20 +@{selected|fortitude } +?{Misc Bonus|0} For "Blind Rolls" that only the GM or the rolling player will see, use the /w gm (whisper to the GM) and /gr (GM roll) commands. For example: #hide runs /w gm @{selected|character_name} attempts a Hide check: /gr 1d20 +@{selected|hide } +?{Misc Bonus|0} I don't know how well that translates for you, but I hope it helps!

The above advice is very good. I say you start with a template character. I also tend to set up say 4 or 5 token actions for each monster. Also roll20 is great for amping up the difficulty of encounters. You can get alot of milage out of a few well made orcs or whatever by just dumping in twice as many ( making players feel both like bad-asses, and scared as hell), or using enviromental mechanics to give the orcs some kind of advantage. Now while the character sheets are amazing for players, for GM's they can actually bog you down because each button pulls in so many numbers' it's hard to keep organized.  Your best bet is simple, quick and dirty, so finding good generic macro's and then copy/pasting is the way to go.  Also Token actions are your freind. I generally use my bottom macro bar for generic macros ( ie, the @{selected_token|value} syntax), and across the top i use for special actions. Even the hardest enemy rarely needs more than 3 or 4 cool things they can do to make the combat interesting. Trying to build a complete spell list for a level 15 wizard is probally going to take more time than it is worth.  Sometimes i'll build all my macro's into an 'action deck' character, where i just hard code all the values. Then i pop that sheet out and keep it handy. Lot's of approaches. Best thing to do is start small. Manually write your macro's first (only takes a couple minutes), then as you go get more advanced and in depth. by that point you'll have a good understanding of how it all works and how to save yourself time while making the gameplay awesome. 

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I settled on a hybrid token/global set of macros.  I put attacks as a character ability, and saves and initiative as a global macro that calls on {selected|Fort-save} and so on.  I think this is the best and fastest way to quickly create a bunch of mooks.  I've also begun with creating a single character and token, and now I just copy and edit that character whenever I want, which seems to be the best way to quickly create a variety of characters.

Good call Jeff, as you progress with your planning you'll change your setup from time to time but that sounds like a great base on which to build! Since you've come to your conclusion I'll close this thread but feel free to make a new one if you have any other questions/issues.