Alternatives to /emas @{Selected|token_name}?

Hi folks, So I GM and have lots of characters with lots of macros. I want to have the macros say what the roll is for and who made it, rather than simply saying that I did it. Right now, I run attack macros that look like this: /emas @{selected|token_name} thrusts toward @{target|character_name} with her poison-drenched fangs, rolling a [[1d20+2+?{modifier|0}]] ! This works o.k. - click on monster, click macro, click target, etc... but I basically can't add these macros to the macro bar. If I do, the "selected|character_name" can provide humorous but rarely useful results. I also prefer the rolls you get from /roll (since it shows Nat 20's more clearly), but as far as I can tell you can't /rollas, right? I looked around for a while but couldn't come up with a good solution to this. I have no desire to change my name using the dropdown for each monster... any ideas? Could /me in an ability macro maybe refer the character rather than the player? Would that break anything anyone else does?

If you have your tokens linked to character sheets, you can save your macros as Abilities instead. They would only be visible to controllers of the token (generally just the GM for NPC's and monsters). I don't know how you might get graphical dice while using /emas or /as though.

I save them as abilities...but I still don't see a way to emote *from the character* without calling emas {selected|character_name} - which means I can't pull them out to the macro bar, they have to live in the character sheet. Admittedly I can display them when it'd selected, which solves most of it... it just means a bit of extra clicking.

Use @{target|character_name} instead.

David, if I understand correctly, the issue you're having is the "character name: ablity name" ? so you'd get "Barbarian 1: Great axe Attack" as a macro button, which end up taking you bar space, Instead of using them straight up as macros, try token actions, whenever you select a token that has those actions, the token action bar will show up on the top left of your screen, and these dont say "Barbarian 1: Great axe Attack" , rather "Great Axe Attack" when selecting Barbarian 1. and you make these Token Actions, either on the settings tab, or the abilities for each character Hope this helps!

As Khaoz suggested, use Token Actions instead. This is exactly the reason they were created. With Token Actions you will only see the Abilities that belong to that specific token's character sheet (plus any universal Token Action Macros from the settings tab).

Thank you, folks, for the help. My problem isn't bar space, though. HoneyBadger provided a workaround, though it's still a little error-prone. Basically my issue is that if I use "em" it has my name rather than the token/character's. If I use "emas", I have to specify what that is - if it's a token action, then {selected|character_name} or {selected|token_name} work just fine. But I *can't* take a macro like that and put it on the macro bar. Not because it says "Barbarian Grug: Great axe Attack", but because if it's on the macro bar, and I have something that *isn't* Barbarian 1 selected, it looks plain stupid (think: "Scruffy Chinchilla swings his great axe with both hands, rolling a ____ to score a hit"). For that, as HoneyBadger suggested, maybe "target" is a better plan. But then that macro doesn't work as well as a Token Action, because it requires an extra click in that situation (and is far more error-prone). So I almost need two different macros, one for each scope (multiplied by however many macros I need for the character). Now, if it's a Token Action I rarely need to pull it out. But maybe I'm mostly annoyed that I have to write "/emas @{selected|character_name} for my macros, "/em" for my players' macros, and still wind up having stuff said by the wrong characters half the time... is there a global "emote as this character" that could be used in abilities that I'm missing?

As a token action the token is already selected. You would be unable to use it if the token was not selected. There would be no errors but yes, you would have to select a token to use it's token actions.

At the risk of being pedantic, you can use token actions directly from the character sheet without selecting the token. The more I think about this, the more I want commands that speak and emote from the character on the character sheet. I started a suggestion thread . Thank you folks, for the ideas and workarounds.

Technically, that isn't using a token action directly from the character sheet. That is using an Ability. The Token Action bar is a means to access an Ability or Macro just as the Macro bar is a means to access an Ability or Macro. That does not make an Ability or Macro a "Token Action".

What did you mean by "token action" in your post, then?

Link to full size image: <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.d20.io/images/32813" rel="nofollow">https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.d20.io/images/32813</a>... The box in red is the Token Action bar. The box in Yellow is the Macro bar. The box in Blue is an Ability. There are checkmark boxes to place the Ability in the Token Action bar or the Macro bar. The green box is for Macros where you can place a Macro in the Token Action bar. Token Actions are Abilities or Macros located in the Token Action bar when you select a token. To use an Ability as a Token Action you need to assign a character sheet to a token and checkmark the "Token Action" box. Then, when you select the associated token, the Abilities assigned to that character sheet pop up on the Token Action bar. To use a Macro as a Token Action you need to checkmark the "Token Action" box in the Macro. It will be appear in the Token Action bar for any Token you select. The reason I suggested using a Token Action earlier is because when using a Token Action the token is already selected. Thus, there cannot be an error as to the identity of the selected token. I hope this clears things up.

Thank you for taking the time to make that clear. I was using "Token Action" to refer to the macro written with the intent of being run through the token action bar. \emas@{selected|character_name} was what I came up with for token actions, and it works ok. Except it doesn't work for players (no emas), and *only* works if done through the token action option. That same ability can be called directly through the character sheet or added to a macro bar. \emas@{selected|charactername} will/can produce nonsense in either of the two other calling methods. So out of six possible calls (three from players, three from GM), it works for exactly one. It works like hotcakes for one, and I'm grateful for that. But... My claim is that it would be useful to have a macro construct (posted as a suggestion thread ) called something like "charem", which is an in-character emote callable by players. It would always emote from the perspective of the character sheet the macro was written on. This would allow for six out of six calling methods to call *an identical macro* and actually have it work every time. As it stands, it's difficult/impossible to write player macros to emote in-character that don't break if they change their drop-down menu. I'd actually be a little surprised if this was difficult to code. Token actions already work because there's that "selected" thing. Macros added to the macro bar maintain scoping (it's "x:y" if added from character x's ability entitled "y"), one would assume the internal function call could have access to the character sheet. And if you're looking at the character sheet itself I'd hope you could scope the "run" button correctly...

Ahhh, ok. I am just a Moderator and am here to help use the existing tools. The Devs make the decisions on what to implement and I cannot speak for them regarding that. All I can do is to suggest that you post a suggestion regarding this (which you have done). :)

Regardless, much obliged for the effort you put in. Everyone's comments helped me clarify my thinking.