D&D 2024 Updates: Custom Backgrounds, Sorting, Filters, and Mod Scripts

Is there a way to add Skill Proficiencies in a Custom Background? If so, I am not seeing it…

As long as these skills will be available for things like Expertise in the builder when leveling up that should work…

Edit: that just adds a static bonus but not proficiency. Thank you for the suggestion though…

For full clarity the only reason I need this is that I have to recreate an existing background as the site does not let me swap a Skill Proficiency from a Background if I have it from another source (2014 rules, I believe in Tasha’s…)

Dean said:

RPGeezer said:

As long as these skills will be available for things like Expertise in the builder when leveling up that should work…

Edit: that just adds a static bonus but not proficiency. Thank you for the suggestion though…

Good to know exactly what you're looking for. Logging the use case you're looking for to discuss. Thank you!

Is there a way to add tool, language, or skill proficiencies when creating a custom background?

I understand if they need to be added manually after character creation is complete, but they are part of the background so figured we'd see them there.

Thank you for the rapid response and looking forward to trying it out!…

Dean said:

Good news! We’re adding Saving Throw and Skill Proficiencies to Custom Backgrounds soon. You’ll also be able to assign feature bonuses directly within the Custom Backgrounds UI, instead of having to wait and do it later from the character sheet.

We'll keep you updated as changes roll out! Thanks for your direct feedback, and helping to make these changes happen!

Wait, now it can do what the 2014 version can? When will the sheet be finished? One of my players lost their entire equipment list while leveling up tonight. It feels that this sheet is in continual. Alpha version, and I sorta assumed that when you made the product available, the accompanying character sheet would at least have the same options and functionality of the 2014 version. Now its been 8 months and character sheet is still not finished. Yes, some of it is a huge improvement, and yes, some of it is really cool, but what good is all that if every month or so, a problem comes up that destroys a character sheet for no reason or the interface is changed like making custom classes and species unavailable so that my player who had done that can't even get the correct spell slots to show? 

Sorry, but I had to let off some steam after half my session tonight was spent on working on character sheets (replacing lost equipment and the spell slot problem). I just want the character sheet to work like the ones on other sites do (save for WotC's, of course).

I had a player level up last night and it reset the equipment as well.  I had them roll back the level up (OK, that is one feature the new sheet brings) and it repeated the second time.  After clearing the cache, they tried again and this time it did not appear to change his equipment lists.

They noticed it when they completed the level up section and the amount of gold on the character sheet jumped from 5 to 290.  Next attempt, it went to 20.  

I did not ask them to check what else in the sheet had changed, but the fact that leveling up (a) can change equipment or items in the sheet seemingly at random does not speak well for the integrity of the sheet data.

Hexdrake said:

Wait, now it can do what the 2014 version can? When will the sheet be finished? One of my players lost their entire equipment list while leveling up tonight. It feels that this sheet is in continual. Alpha version, and I sorta assumed that when you made the product available, the accompanying character sheet would at least have the same options and functionality of the 2014 version. Now its been 8 months and character sheet is still not finished. Yes, some of it is a huge improvement, and yes, some of it is really cool, but what good is all that if every month or so, a problem comes up that destroys a character sheet for no reason or the interface is changed like making custom classes and species unavailable so that my player who had done that can't even get the correct spell slots to show? 

Sorry, but I had to let off some steam after half my session tonight was spent on working on character sheets (replacing lost equipment and the spell slot problem). I just want the character sheet to work like the ones on other sites do (save for WotC's, of course).

Dean said:

Good news! We’re adding Saving Throw and Skill Proficiencies to Custom Backgrounds soon. You’ll also be able to assign feature bonuses directly within the Custom Backgrounds UI, instead of having to wait and do it later from the character sheet.

We'll keep you updated as changes roll out! Thanks for your direct feedback, and helping to make these changes happen!

Does this include Tool Proficiencies? According to the rules, every background in D&D 2024 should grant one tool proficiency.

Edit: Specifically, when I read "Custom Background" in a D&D 2024 Character Builder, I would expect that option to enable casual players to easily create their own backgrounds in line with the background rules laid out in the PHB'24. Having backwards compatibility and totally new options like Saving Throw Proficiencies is neat, but I would expect the baseline to be backgrounds as described in the ruleset that the builder is designed for.

And there is still no way to use it without Dark Mode.

Is there any working examples of how CharacterID, property, "Character", and “charactersheetname” have changed when trying to update macros? I'm trying to get the Ammo API to work, but whenever I type async getComputed({ Haleth Vo'Taere-Vella, ammo }) into chat as suggested in the blog post, I get nothing.

Also, is there any update as how to get the Token Action Maker API to work with the 2024 Character Sheet.

Michael P. said:

Also, is there any update as how to get the Token Action Maker API to work with the 2024 Character Sheet.

This is waiting on certain parts of the 2024 sheet becoming exposed to the API. Some parts (checks, saves, initiative) are possible -- features, spells, and attacks, not yet.

^{Hello, is there a known problem with the new beacon character sheets to mess with mods? I tried to install SmartAoE mod, but resistances, immunities and vulnerabilites don't work, the mod doesn't seem to factor them when calculating dmg.
Edit: Seems to be the case. For people with similar problem, the workabout for this is to use legacy sheet for your NPC. SmartAoE, and also TokenActionMaker will work just fine.}

I would really like to use a mod like the !Ammo one. But I cannot seem to make it work using the 2024 characters sheet since none of the attribute names are the same.

This no longer works:

!Ammo @(selected|target_id) arrows -1 Arrows

Can someone help me use the new and improved character sheet to do something as useful as managing ammo for ranged weapons?

While we are talking about secret attribute names, my mods for reducing spell slot count when a spell is cast doesnt work.

And, I can no longer launch a macro to play a sound from the description field in an attack...

It does not feel like this is a step forward.

Dean,

I have been mulling over this for a while.  Your first statement is really getting under my skin right now.

You have removed the ability to quickly create macros to automate attacks.  We had to wait for 5 months to get a functioning macro to so saves and skill checks. There are numerous issues with calculated values as you highlight as a plus (AC calculations had been off for months before you could get those calculations mostly right). Most mods have been unusable up until you were able to made the list below available and many still do not work.

Please, when you talk about this platform being better take into consideration that you are still for behind being even on par with the 2014 by Roll20 sheet capabilities and openness.  I have tried to embrace the sheet for the first few months, and right now dread when I need to run my 2024 games because there are always issues players and their character sheets.

One of my more experienced players sent me a meme which I cannot post about the 2024 sheet which she hates so very much.  Luckily she is committed to the game and the story, but otherwise she has said she would drop playing 2024 on Roll20.  She is not alone in this.

The constant requirement of the players to run down through a ever increasing list of effects to switch on and off when they change up their attacks or spells.  I have another player who has basically given up scrolling down the list (at level 6) constantly checking to see what he needs to click on or off for just about every attack.

The token bubbles are pretty much useless, as we cannot load in the values and use them to track simple attributes such as hp or ac.  The numbers shown either do not reflect the actual values (ac) or do not trigger change in the sheets (hp), so the current bubbles are just more junk on  the screen.

And I do not even want to get started on the NPC sheets.  IMO, they are totally unusable for anything but very simple encounters.  Luckily, I can still import the NPCs into a 2014 sheet to run them, but that right there demonstrates the poor design and thought process behind the NPC sheets.

Please elaborate on how the 'unlock more features' is making the game play on Roll20 better, because I have not seen it.

Dean said:

Yes, the new D&D 2024 calculates things different in order to unlock more features. For instance, instead of just saving one value for an attribute, it saves all of the integrants that make up that final point, for better ability to modify specifics. We're working on building out an API expose point resource, and are actively working with script authors who want to update their scripts to help them along. These are the scripts we've updated in-house to be compatible with D&D 2024 sheet, and if there's anything you specifically want to see updated, please keep letting us know! 

• Group Initiative – Roll initiative for all selected player/enemy tokens at once and have them appear in the turn tracker. 
• Group Check – Roll a group check for all selected player enemy tokens, such a dex save for all creatures affected with the click of one button.
• Concentration: keeps track of characters concentration, and reminds to do a concentration check
• 5E Resting in Style: solves the human-error prone task of updating your sheet when resting
• Welcome Package: immediately create a character for a player when they login, if they don’t already have one, which they can then start editing right away
• CombatTracker: easily keep track of whose turn it is, use a turn timer, let players progress to the next turn by themselves, adding/removing conditions, etc.
• Character Sheet Utils: a collection of utility functions for manipulating characters

Let's discuss the colour palette of the 2024 sheet.

TLDR: it's awful. The high-contrast colours are distracting and confusing. In visual design, more is not better. Fix it.

1. The Logo is in crimson, and distracts from every other element. Why? The user's eyes should not be drawn to the logo - this isn't advertising space, it's a UI. Dial it back.
2. The Portrait is outlined in crimson. Why? Crimson is used for the Initiative roll and to outline other stats. There's no reason to have a big square red block in the top left of the sheet. It only adds visual clutter.
2.  (darn you proton docs!)
4. Initiative is vivid crimson - so vivid that I can barely focus on any other part of the sheet. Is it really the focus of every play session? I don't think it is. Fix it.
5. Saving Throws are sometimes grey, and sometimes burgundy, to indicate if the character has proficiency in the save. Neat - except there's no point differentiating, because it's not a vital button - the user rolls whatever save is called for, regardless of their proficiency. So what does the colour do for the user? There's already a visual reminder of proficiency: the circle below the Save value is filled in if proficient, or empty if not proficient. So... why are these coloured? It's a visual distraction. Fix it.
6. Armor Class and Speed are heavily outlined by a white design... but the outline draws attention away from the number. I get that some folk are more comfortable pictograms than, say, numeracy, but the outline is not the most important part of that UI element. It's more visual distraction. Fix it.
7. Skills are in red if proficient, and black if not proficient. Why? The visual reminder is a circle - filled in or not. We don't need a colour reminder too. A "red" skill is no different from a "black" skill, except we're proficient in one and not the other. What makes this worse, is all other instances of "red" are for combat functions, while skills are typically roleplay functions. This is more visual distraction. Fix it.
8. Combat and Tabs. This I agree with. The colour of the tab indicates which tab we're on - very useful.

Now personally, I prefer everything in greyscale: no distractions, all minimalist. But obviously Roll20 isn't on my wavelength. Perhaps we could come to a compromise.

Recommendations:

Remove all crimson elements. Replace with burgundy for lower impact.

Reduce the alpha of all outlines

Replace all crimson circles with greyscale circles.

A very rough mock-up:

Hi Plural!

Have you tried the unofficial beta for light mode? I find it much easier to read.

Any word on Condition Sync? For the little while it was up it was great.

Master Azroth said:

Any word on Condition Sync? For the little while it was up it was great.

Here is the word.

keithcurtis said:

Hi Plural!

Have you tried the unofficial beta for light mode? I find it much easier to read.

It's pretty but it's still strewn with random colours. And it's not in darkmode.
I have attention deficit disorder, and so do three of my players. Random colours for no reason are a hindrance to our focus and organization.
Maybe the almighty Roll20 could add a tab that lets us dictate sheet colour themes, similar to Firefox Color. Then we could all just do our own thing.

That's what Stylus does.

A UI design is never going to make everyone satisfied. Stylus allows you to tweak the bits that give you issues. If you want to use dark mode, you can just use the bits from the light mode style that give problems and edit them into a personal style that contains only those bits.

Are we any closer to a custom Compendium that a DM could add Custom Backgrounds to?  (or some other mechanism to share Backgrounds in the Charactermancer?)

As DM, I'd like to be able to offer my players character choices (custom species, backgrounds, feats) that are pre-built to match the milieu, and not have to walk them through adding a unique custom background per-character.