[Quality of Life Fixes] Tokens without Characters, Player Journal Search

I'm thinking of some simple quality of life fixes. Tokens without Characters aka "Journal Tokens" For a bunch of reasons, I have found that I would love to be able to have the ability to put a 'programmed' token into the Journal with a bunch of preset details included.  These could take the role of: light sources, spell effects, weapon effects, and so forth.  I realise that adding additional characters puts a lot of load on the end-user as they download the characters again, so having these sorts of tokens take the same load as a Handout seems desirable for everyone. The sorts of uses I can see for these Journal Tokens: - spell or weapon effects that may linger (e.g. Entangle spell, smoke grenades, tear gas, an ongoing fire) - torches or light sources - Divinations or remote vision methods EDIT: - Illusions... I am in a game playing an illusionist and I am sure my GM would love a low-lag way to store the stuff I tend to create with the illusions.  Wolves, Hill Giants, Trolls, Flying enemies, etc. I'm sure other systems have illusion-like creations that a player could create which would benefit from basically being a token someone can drag out at whim. Features: - Saves a 'token from the map' including Sight, Auras, Name, Bars - Does not link to Character Sheet to drop load demands on end users Player Journal Search This one is basic... GMs can search the Journal for stuff, players can't. Just let the players search for stuff in the Journal using the same interface box as the GMs.

You can already have "Tokens without Characters", as you know that's just a token. I think your suggestion is for "Tokens linked to Handouts" aka "Default Token for Handout". That is a great suggestion. An excellent use of that would be for Room Descriptions, map pins.  Wouldn't it be great if GM could shift-click the Room Number token or Map Pin token and it would open the corresponding Room Description handout text.  There are several existing Suggestion posts for something like that, including these, that you might want to add your comments and vote +1: Handouts represented by Tokens Map Pins linked to Handouts Your other suggestion -- Player Journal Search Box -- is also a good suggestion, which might stand better on its own. If you want to combine your Comments about the Handout Tokens with another existing suggestion, then this thread could be dedicated to just the Journal Search.

Gold said: You can already have "Tokens without Characters", as you know that's just a token. I think your suggestion is for "Tokens linked to Handouts" aka "Default Token for Handout". Sort of? I am thinking rather than having a 'token tied to a handout', that you could have a 'token in your journal', rather than a 'token on the map'. So if a player threw a gas grenade, they could drag it from the journal and drop it to the map where it lands. It could have auras, and Bars, etc.

Andrew (Halfling Gypsy) said: Sort of? I am thinking rather than having a 'token tied to a handout', that you could have a 'token in your journal', rather than a 'token on the map'. So if a player threw a gas grenade, they could drag it from the journal and drop it to the map where it lands. It could have auras, and Bars, etc. I understand your idea better now. That is an interesting idea, and a new suggestion. It sounds like it would be useful for spell effect tokens, inventory tokens, weapon tokens, possible animal companion tokens, summoner's results tokens, torches, and more.  Right now those kinds of tokens are usually a separate "Character" or just an unlinked token. I think your suggestion is saying that a Character could have a whole list or inventory of Tokens, not just the main Character token but also potentially a bunch of sub-tokens for other visuals the Player could drop onto the map.

This could be covered if we could use multiple types of character sheets in a single game.

Rabulias said: This could be covered if we could use multiple types of character sheets in a single game. But I'm not looking for another kind of Character Sheet. That is far too weighty for this solution. You want to leave behind a flare in a combat game? Then you drag it from your journal and leave it. You cast a Light Spell on an object on the ground? Then you drag it from your journal. You cast Entangle? Then you drag if from your journal. You decimate life out of an area in the Dark Sun setting? You drop a token from the Journal. This way the GM doesn't have to drag it, click a bunch of settings, etc, etc, etc, etc for it to be repeated later when it is cast again... AND... It doesn't overload the end user OR the Roll20 Servers because they are fully fledged characters.

It would be simpler if we could just add multiple tokens to a character sheet and allow the player to drag them to the map from a tab on the character sheet (not the css/html actual sheet, but the character journal). This solution should be pretty easy to do since a token is just a json object in Roll20 that has an image or rollable table associated with it.

Does having a couple dozen characters that do nothing but hold default tokens really bog down the servers or the players?

David T. said: Does having a couple dozen characters that do nothing but hold default tokens really bog down the servers or the players? Apparently it does per the roundtable. Roll20 loads every character when you log in to the campaign.

Here's my idea for something like this...

Sky said: Here's my idea for something like this... Not to be too severe a killjoy, but that would function best for a polymorph type spell, but not if for instance, you have the same thing in different sizes (some kind of blast effect, or cloud effect). It would need labelling.

That was just a quick mockup. Adding a label wouldn't be too difficult.

Andrew (Halfling Gypsy) said: But I'm not looking for another kind of Character Sheet. That is far too weighty for this solution. Let me clarify. Currently, character sheets already have the functionality that you want, but they also have much more. For example, you need a draggable token that has an attribute that you want to use in a macro. Currently you would make a full character sheet for this token (with all the attendant additional load on Roll20), but you would be utilizing very little of the sheet. If we could use multiple character sheets in a game, that could include a character sheet with minimal HTML, or even none, but would still have access to the Attributes & Abilities tab to add an attribute to. Caveat: I am guessing/assuming that implementing multiple characters sheets would be easier than implementing an entirely new type of journal item, though I could be wrong.

Rabulias said: Andrew (Halfling Gypsy) said: But I'm not looking for another kind of Character Sheet. That is far too weighty for this solution. Caveat: I am guessing/assuming that implementing multiple characters sheets would be easier than implementing an entirely new type of journal item, though I could be wrong. I'm presuming it is almost the opposite. That adding a new class of item without the need for a character sheet (and its associated HTML/CSS/etc) would be easier to implement AND faster to load.

I think we're saying the same thing. If you could add a new character sheet to your game that had no HTML or CSS associated with it, would you have what you are asking for?

There are two types of items found in the Journal: Characters and Handouts. What he's asking for is a third type of item: Tokens. Instead of the Bio & Info, Attributes & Abilities, and optional Character Sheet of Characters, Token items would have the Edit Token page that you already see on Tokens on the Tabletop, plus an additional section to assign an image to the Token. Any Token dragged from the Journal to the Tabletop would already have the settings set in the Edit Token page of the Journal Token item.

So it's literally a stored token and its image that a player can pull onto the tabletop? No attributes or abilities?

Yes, that is how I understand the request. It is superior to simply storing all your tokens in a dedicated page because it's right there in your Journal; players would be able to drag them onto the tabletop (not just GMs) and they'd be more convenient to access because you wouldn't have to go to a.

I think I understand. I still believe it's a subset of multiple character sheets. The resource difference between a token and a character with no character sheet seems like it would be minor to me. And since Riley himself posted the suggestion ( <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1239632/slug%7D" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1239632/slug%7D</a> ), it seems he thought (at the time at least) that it would be a way to save resources. The Roll20 landscape is very different today than it was two years ago, so if multiple character sheets are not doable, then I would endorse this alternative.

Yeah rabulias, it is just a token with Name, Bars, Auras, Sight, Lighting. And nothing else. And you store it in the Journal. And you can edit its control properties so all, some, one, or no players can access it to drag it to the map.

It would be nice if it could have at least ability macros on it. Then you could easily make variable light sources, note tokens, spell effects that could play a sound. Most of those particular uses would require the API, but I'm sure there are others.

keithcurtis said: It would be nice if it could have at least ability macros on it. Then you could easily make variable light sources, note tokens, spell effects that could play a sound. Most of those particular uses would require the API, but I'm sure there are others. Sure, I'm not a particularly avid API user, so those sorts of uses completely slip my mind.

Hey @Andrew C or @David T , would you be able to update the original request here with all of the details you sussed out in the description? First off, it seems like you have two suggestions and second, your first suggestion evolved a lot in the comments. Summary . The Journal should have a new type called Objects ( alongside Characters &amp; Handouts ) The Objects should be draggable to the canvas and represented by tokens ( just like Characters ). The token for an Object should have basic attributes: Name, Bars, Auras, Sight, Lighting These attributes should be configured in the journal and remain consistent between "drag &amp; drops". They are default attributes of the Object. Changing them after being dropped won't affect the baseline. Bonus functionality : It should also be possible for players to drag DM-approved Objects to the canvas for themselves. These Objects would default to being in the Object layer. Reasons for the feature : Allow players or DMs to place actual objects on the map. I dropped my bow here . Especially useful for objects that emit light. Driftglobe or torch is here . Useful for spells or other affect areas. A player could check the area of a Fireball. A player could cast and manage Spiritual Weapon without DM intervention. User experience If I want to have a torch in inventory that I can drag onto the map, clicking Add Character &nbsp;is completely non-intuitive. Having Objects makes it easy to put them in the Compendium for easy use. Right now, if I go to compendium and drag a Torch to the canvas, I get a Handout in my journal. A Handout which can never become an actual Token on the board. Doesn't that seem weird? Smaller load on the app, Objects carry far less attributes and memory usage. More intuitive APIs around "things on the map".