Managing Monsters

Hello, Still learning the Roll20 system and I am wondering how DMs deal with monsters. I know you can create a token and input some values. The problem with this is you can't really (AFAIK) create any type of buttons/macros for attacks. I know you can create a 'character', link it to the token, and then values on the bars. This works fine, an allows macros to run initiative, attack, and skill macros. However, if you link multiple tokens to the same 'character' / monster... it (a) shares hit points, and (b) uses the monster name (rather than the token's name) in all the button/macros. So... you appear to need to create a new 'character' for each monster. This means copying it out, each time you make changes or forget something. It also means you have an entire character sheet for each monster -- even partially filling it out... is still a lot of finding things and needing to fill out things which aren't likely important. So... are there any ways to: a) Have a token point to a 'character'/monster with its own hit points? I.e. 5 tokens ('Goblin 1', 'Goblin 2', etc.) point to one 'Goblin' character, yet each has its own hit points. b) Have different types of character sheets. One for PCs and one for monsters. Monster sheet being just the basics. The alternative appears to be to point everything to the same goblin 'character' and track hit points on paper. It just seems there must be a better way of doing this. Any ideas?

Hi Brett! &nbsp;&nbsp; There is a way to do what you want and it's not completely obvious. &nbsp;Here's a wiki page that should make it all clear: &nbsp; <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Linking_Tokens_to_Journals" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Linking_Tokens_to_Journals</a> Your monsters need to be "Mooks". &nbsp;Representing the monster, but without having their hit points tied to it. As for adding buttons, what you want are probably Token Actions, abilities that show up in a menu across the top when the token is selected: &nbsp;<a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Journal#Abilities" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Journal#Abilities</a>

Also, many character sheets have an NPC view that can be activated. &nbsp;What system are you playing and which character sheet are you using?

Brett W. said: So... are there any ways to: a) Have a token point to a 'character'/monster with its own hit points? I.e. 5 tokens ('Goblin 1', 'Goblin 2', etc.) point to one 'Goblin' character, yet each has its own hit points. b) Have different types of character sheets. One for PCs and one for monsters. Monster sheet being just the basics. The alternative appears to be to point everything to the same goblin 'character' and track hit points on paper. It just seems there must be a better way of doing this. Any ideas? a) As Aaron said, you're going to want to link your token (double click on the token; represents character) to one "Goblin" journal entry, but you should not link their bars to HP as you usually might do, as this will force all of them to have their values linked to the journal's value for HP. Thus, all of them will change when one is changed. What you can do is link one of the bars to HP for a second so it pulls the number from your sheet, then change the bar back to unlinked. Ditto on what Aaron said: You can put your macros under the "Attributes and abilities" tab on the journal entry and select each power to be shown as a token action. b) I think all journal entries in a campaign must have the same sheet bound to them (if any). Which character sheet template is used can be changed by going to your campaign page, going to Settings -&gt; Campaign Settings and changing the Character Sheet Template from the drop-down menu near the bottom. I know many people who prefer to use the sheets for everything, even if that means semi-complicated NPCs, but I also know those who prefer to have NO pre-loaded sheet, and just have a journal template for players and NPCs that has just the base stats listed out as attributes (STR, CON, DEX, AC, Level, etc) and then have people write their macros as Abilities and list them as token actions. (Personally I find the sheets clunky and inefficient, so I usually belong to the latter camp). tl;dr: No you cannot have two different sheets for journal entries in a campaign.

Matt W. said: b) I think all journal entries in a campaign must have the same sheet bound to them (if any). Which character sheet template is used can be changed by going to your campaign page, going to Settings -&gt; Campaign Settings and changing the Character Sheet Template from the drop-down menu near the bottom. I know many people who prefer to use the sheets for everything, even if that means semi-complicated NPCs, but I also know those who prefer to have NO pre-loaded sheet, and just have a journal template for players and NPCs that has just the base stats listed out as attributes (STR, CON, DEX, AC, Level, etc) and then have people write their macros as Abilities and list them as token actions. (Personally I find the sheets clunky and inefficient, so I usually belong to the latter camp). tl;dr: No you cannot have two different sheets for journal entries in a campaign. while it's true you can't have two different character sheets that you can swap between, the Pathfinder or any of the D&D 5e sheets (I think) have an NPC sheet option/tab that is useful for making NPCs, although it is still a little more complicated than just having a couple 1d20+1,2,3,4,5 etc. Check your character sheet's forum post/wiki doc to see if yours has one as well.

While you need access to the API I have found this scrip to speed up my game setup drastically when playing Pathfinder <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Script:Creature_Gen" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Script:Creature_Gen</a>

I can recommend making a few macros using the TokenMod API script to automate setting up tokens to suit your game. It can do almost everything except linking token to journal and choosing control.&nbsp;

One more thing to highlight : When you have your token setup how you want it, you need to open up the associated character and add it as the default token. If you make later changes (say you want all goblins to have a shield status marker when you drag them in), you need to add the new one back in as the Default Token. Andrew R. said: I can recommend making a few macros using the TokenMod API script to automate setting up tokens to suit your game. It can do almost everything except linking token to journal and choosing control.&nbsp; As a head start, here's what I use.&nbsp; Macros: I leave Mooks representing a character but without their bars being linked, which allows me to still access Token Actions for a creature and shift-double-click to get to the character sheet. I'm using an import script for monsters which will already have set a token to represent a character. Fix-Monster : (I'm using TokenNameNumber for numbered token names for me to see) !token-mod {{ --on showname light_hassight showname --off isdrawing --set name|"@{selected|character_name} %%NUMBERED%%" bar1_link|npc_AC bar3_value|@{selected|npc_HP} bar3_max|@{selected|npc_HP|max} light_radius|?{Light|60} light_dimradius|=?{Dim at|-5} ?{Player Visible?|No,--off|Yes --on} light_otherplayers }} Fix-PC : !token-mod {{ --on showname light_hassight showplayers_name showplayers_bar1 showplayers_bar2 showplayers_bar3 showplayers_aura1 showplayers_aura2 --off isdrawing --set represents|"?{Character Name}" bar1_link|?{AC From|Armor,ac|No Armor,ac_noarmor} bar3_link|HP light_radius|5 light_dimradius|=-5 }} Flip-For-Light : (For tokens that face down instead of up, not really applicable to pogs. =D) !token-mod --on fliph flipv --set rotation|180 Light-Options :&nbsp; !token-mod --set ?{Vision|Torch, light_radius#40 light_dimradius#20 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#yes|Hooded Lantern, light_radius#60 light_dimradius#30 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#yes|Bullseye Lantern, light_radius#120 light_dimradius#60 light_angle#60 light_hassight#yes light_otherplayers#yes|Lamp, light_radius#30 light_dimradius#15 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#yes|Candle, light_radius#5 light_dimradius#=0 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#yes|Darkvision, light_radius#60 light_dimradius#=-5 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no|Darkvision (90'), light_radius#90 light_dimradius#=-5 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no|Warlock Devil's Sight, light_radius#120 light_dimradius#=120 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no|No light source(Dusk), light_radius#120 light_dimradius#=-5 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no|Fog, light_radius#200 light_dimradius#=5 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no|No light source, light_radius#5 light_dimradius#=-5 light_hassight#yes light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no|Blinded, light_hassight#no light_angle#360 light_otherplayers#no} Size : (In Units) !token-mod --set width|[[?{X}*70]] height|[[?{Y}*70]]

Everyone... thank you for replying. The Aaron, (a) Token HP vs. Character HP Many thanks. That solves one issue (separate tracking of hit point), but it still has the issue that macros referring to 'selected' keep referring to the Character name, and not the token name. For example, if I have a "Goblin" and four tokens named "Creature 1", "Creature 2", "Creature 3", and "Creature 4"... if I run "@{selected|MeleeAttack1}" it is going to show "Goblin" rather than say "Creature 2". This gives away what the creature is and doesn't let the players see which creature is attacking. I created three macros (under settings) Initiative - @{selected|Initiative} MeleeAttack - @{selected|MeleeAttack1} RangedAttack - @{selected|RangedAttack1} Again, problem is they will say "Goblin * Melee Attack". The best I can do is name goblin to "G" and it says "G * Melee Attack". Again, no way of knowing which goblin just attacked. (b) Character Sheets I am using the "5th Edition (Community Contributed)" sheet. I found the NPC option (thanks). However, I don't find it any less cumbersome to fill out (scrolls too much) and the attack buttons do not do anything -- as I have no clue what to put in the description and effect fields to roll dice). And again, these give away the name of the creature when used. Jake W, Andrew R, The Aaron I've said I'm new to Roll20. I am using 5E. Jake's page talks about Pathfinder.&nbsp;I also have no idea what that link is talking about, how to install the script, or how to use the script, etc. I have no idea what this TokenMod API script is, where it find it, what it does, etc. I have no idea what Aaron's&nbsp;scripts are, what they do, where I am supposed to add them, why I need them, how they solve my problems, etc. I program all day for a living. I game so that I'm not working. It was easy enough to figure out the basics of Roll20. However, it seems every time you use a feature there is just enough wrong with it that it doesn't work&nbsp;correctly and you have to rewrite it.&nbsp;I'm here to play D&D... not program. Prep-time for adventures is already long enough, then add the time for getting it into Roll20, and then... play around with macros. The Aaron's solution for&nbsp;breaking the HP link works great. Now... is there any simple way of getting the system to show the name of the token rather than the name of the character sheet?&nbsp; Thanks, Brett

Well, the scripts require a pro membership, so they aren't really an option in this case. As for easy way to hide the name, I was going to suggest editing the macro in the sheet for the required actions, but I just took a look at the sheet, and unlike the Pathfinder sheet, the Macro text is not exposed.

Brett W. said: Now... is there any simple way of getting the system to show the name of the token rather than the name of the character sheet?&nbsp; Here's a 'hack', made possible by the fact that Roll Templates display only the lattermost {{property}} per given propertyname: %{selected|MeleeAttack1} {{subheader=@{selected|token_name}}}

Silvyre, Utterly perfect! That pretty much solves the issue. Character sheets are overkill for monsters, but doable. Thanks, Brett

@Brett for the 5e Community sheet NPC's I suggest putting the attack rolls in the Description field as [[ 1d20+ 4 + ?{Misc Bonus|0} ]] | [[ 1d20+ 4 + ?{Misc Bonus|0} ]] and the damage in the Effect field as [[ 1d6+2 ]] slashing Crit: additional [[ 1d6 ]] slashing That's simple, quick and easy. So for other creatures just change the attack bonus and damage accordingly.&nbsp;

Oh and for the token actions for the NPC's I do this&nbsp; I do the /emas because I have all the outputs whispered to the gm and this gives the players a visual cue as to who is attacking who. Adjust it how you want for your game and you will be golden.&nbsp;

Ed S. said: I do the /emas because I have all the outputs whispered to the gm and this gives the players a visual cue as to who is attacking who. Adjust it how you want for your game and you will be golden.&nbsp; Just remember that /emas only works for the GM. Players do not have access to that command.