Handling Invisibility

I believe it would be a great addition to the Roll20 VTT if it could handle Invisible tokens .  This is mostly for the application of a character/npc/monster turning invisible.  This would make a invisible character/monster unseen by all creatures/characters that cannot see invisible.  Some of this may be range dependent as the source of the ability to see invisible (i.e. spell) may have a range attribute.  Now any token that is invisible can, of course, be seen by the GM but not by player tokens that cannot see invisible.  The Invisible entity can see normally. Being a software developer my self I have thought of how this could be implemented.  I have seen two ways to make this work although one of them does not satisfy all of the desired abilities.  I'm certain that there are engineers that could come up with something better but I am just tossing out the concept so the Roll20 team can evaluate it and possibly take it further. Option One :  Creation of an Invisibility Layer.     This is a simple implementation that does not satisfy all of the desired abilities. It is however much better than what is available now.  The details and shortcomings of this Option are listed below.     Attributes are :   Much like the GM layer, everything on the Invisibility Layer is visible to the GM while viewing the Token Layer.   Tokens and Objects on the Invisibility Layer can see into the Token Layer as if they were on the Token Layer.   Tokens and Objects on the Invisibility Layer cannot see anything on the Invisibility Layer.       Shortfalls:  It does not account for Characters, with the ability to see invisible, seeing these invisible things.  It does not take invisibility detection with a ranged attribute into account.   Option 2: Invisibility Implementation as a Token Attribute    This is a more complex implementation that thoroughly and dynamically implements the concept of Invisibility.     Attributes are :   Tokens have an Invisible attribute.  (T/F) Tokens have a See Invisible attribute.  (T/F) Tokens have a dependent See Invisible Range attribute that is only enterable if See Invisible is True. If the See Invisible Range is set to U(nlimited) then the token's range is unlimited although still constrained by their maximum visual range. If a Token's Invisible attribute is set to True then its hue is changed to white to give indication to the GM and owner. If a Token's  Invisible  attribute is set to False then its hue is changed from white to normal to give indication to the GM and owner. The GM sees all Tokens even if they are invisible. Characters/NPCs/Monsters with the See Invisible attribute set to True can see all invisible tokens provided they are within their normal visual range and within their See Invisible Range . It would be a bonus to the GM if the <CTRL> L Hot Key allowing the GM to see from the point of view of the selected token also took all of this into account. The default for all tokens placed on the VTT would be:  See Invisible = F, Invisible = F, See Invisible Range = U. This is just my thought.  What the community think?

That is a good idea.

you could hybrid the idea and get the best of both worlds. an invisable layer, for tokens to go on. allowing a GM more features that way. and for the players attibutes that change how players interact with that invisable layer.

Sounds like a good plan to me, particularly option 2 :)

Interesting idea! While not as good as an actual featured token setting, it should be noted that something along these lines can be accomplished with API, which can change the image used for a token. I imagine a few good chat commands to an API message watcher would do the trick. You'd probably want to set a tint on it, and have that tint not be visble to players. Otherwise the GM might have difficuly finding the token. :-)

The way I handle invisibility presently is similar to what Michael P suggested: to make an empty (PNG with a transparent background, no foreground image, 70x70 pixels) token and give it a 1-foot aura that only the player (if any) and DM can see (ie don't turn on "see" permission for all).  We can see a, for example, blue circle, but others can't.  It can be grabbed and moved by the owner, since it is a token on the token layer.  You don't need to use an API script for anything, since a multi-sided token can have its side changed via a macro. You could also make the player's token multi-sided, where one side is their usual token, and the other is the blank. Which is not to say that it wouldn't be a nice idea to have "be invisible" as an attribute of a token on the vtt.  But there is a workaround.

I think with the new 2024 rules it'd be awesome to be able to have it so that even the DM can't see invisible creatures "of course we should be able to flip a switch turn this on and off" so that it makes it easier for us to naturally find invisible PC's and to help them not feel "cheated"

I’ll give a shout out to the Bump API script by The Aaron; it handles invisible tokens that no one can see except the GM and the controlling player very well, with a super-simple interface. However, it does of course require a Pro account, and it does not help with players seeing invisible tokens not controlled by them. Option 2 seems like a very thorough solution to this situation, which has been a pain point for me in past games. However, I must admit I’m not sure it comes up often enough that it is worth the amount of effort it would probably take to implement. You’ve got my vote for Roll20 to at least evaluate it. :-)

It would be nice if something like the Bump script could be implemented natively.

Speak and it shall happen. The new foreground layer improvements offer a nice solution. All tokens can have their opacity changed now. It's a slider in the token settings.  For a character who regularly becomes invisible, assign their default token an aura with a radius of -1. Make sure the visibility is set for "Edit" and not "see". This will ensure that only the GM and the owner of the token will be able to see the aura. Most of the time, the aura will be invisible, having a negative radius. But if you set the Opacity to 0, the token disappears, and only the aura shows. The GM and the player know where it is, but no other players can see it. And of course, if the GM is the only controller, the token is effectively invisible to all players. (You will also need to control the nameplate visibility, of course.)