(As always, thank you for reading. The below is personal opinion only and does not represent the opinions of others)
SUGGESTION: An on screen window which has the following:
•A Table broken into Colums (Effect,Target,Toggle On)
•A Toolkit which contains a color picker, strobe timer, transparency, sound effect, zoom % etc.
Here's how I foresee it functioning:
♦The GM chooses from a pulldown at the top of this user interface which says 'Target'. This options are 'Selected Object' and 'Map'.
♦He then tells the object what he wants it to do. In this case, he chooses 'Green' from the color picker. He also chooses 'Strobe' from the effects checkboxes. He types in 4 in the second check box. He then hits submit.
♦Below, in the table, a row with a system chosen name for the effect (#EFFECT001) appears.
♦He observes his new poison special effect for the target character.
♦He toggles it off in the table.
He then creates a macro called #POISONED and in it types:
#EFFECT001
When he clicks it on his bar, following being poisoned in the game, this effect toggles on. The system knows that when a macro for an effect is called, it's to toggle it on/off depending on it's current state.
Ideally, the target would be variable, based on selection. But that's a bit off, and complicated to program, and I respect that.
The GM is in the business of creating ambiance for their players. Part of this is the shrinking/growing/appearing/disappearing/color changing of effects and items on the field. This toolset would add significantly to the immersion. Though the setup increases, the execution would be very simple in use.