Question about custom Character sheets

I currently do not have a Mentor subscription. I read that it is required for API access to create your own character sheets through the API. Is there any way to create a character sheet outside of Roll20 and use it without requiring Mentor access? I am running a highly modified campaign that has a lot of custom interaction, I was hoping to be able to put it on Roll20 so my players didn't have to roll everything manually.

If I pay for a month of API access, can I create a custom character sheet and keep it after the month ends? Or does the custom sheet go away with the API access?

You can create all of the attributes that you need and decide to not use a specific sheet. Sheets realistically allow for a common, user friendly way to enter and maintain information as well as make custom rolls.

With all of this said, many people still use no sheets, but you need to really plan your attributes and then create the ability macros. It is possible to create a "template" sheet, then copy it. The copy would have all of the attribute as well as the ability macros.

The API and the sheets are really two different things that are provided via subscribing as a mentor. The API is written in Javascript and can do many, many things. Some game systems have dice mechanics that can be simplified by using the API. Character sheets are based on HTML/CSS.

How would one go about applying all the Attributes/Abilities created to new characters? You mentioned creating a template sheet, would this require Mentor access as well?

Again all you do is create a default character journal, create all of the Attributes that you need. This is essentially just the list of Attributes on the Attributes and Abilities tab (no fancy sheet). Then once you have defined all of the Attributes that you need, you can create macros on the Abilities tab that include all of the common rolls that you need.

Then once you have this created, it is essentially your "template" that you copy for each of your characters. All of the attributes and abilities will be on each copy, you then rename and assign these copies to your players.

This can be done without a sheet, but it of course will require a lot of work to define all of the required attributes and ability macros. This is essentially what everyone did prior to the implementation of the character sheets, so it is available to everyone.

It isn't pretty and can be hard for people to view specific attributes that they need to reference at times, but it is still a functional way to work without access to custom sheets or the API (all of which improve quality of gaming life and support the Roll20 application).

As a side note, you can use non-custom character sheets at any level (even the free accounts). For that you just go I to the campaign settings and select a charactersheet and save it.

hmmm, ok. I was trying to avoid having to put all 60 or so Attributes I have on my out-of-Roll20 character sheets in manually, especially since most of them relate to each other in ways that would be easily automated in the character sheet system.

Also, I noticed that I cannot reference these Attributes for making Abilities as I could with a character sheet. I see many guides making it sound as if it is a piece of cake to add attribute modifiers to rolls, yet I cannot add Attributes by typing in the @ symbol, I even tried different browsers to no avail. If I cannot do this with Attributes, there's no point in making a psuedo-character sheet using this method as I won't be able to use them for Abilities.

You can easily reference attributes for making abilities. @{attributename} . For example, on a melee attack ability:

/me attacks @{target|Foe|token_name} with his short sword.
Rolls:  [[1d20 +@{strength}]] AC for [[1d6+@{strength}]] damage

You'd need an attribute named 'strength' and then the macro works perfectly (assuming the target token has a name)

Attributes can definitely be referenced in ability macros. Can you provide some examples I am sure that the community here can assist with it?

And yes, sheets are definitely a quality of life improvement, there is no doubt about that. The API is really amazing and has so much potential, not to mention there are several really great people on the forums that are willing to help with scripts, particularly if you are willing to try to learn coding.

Hmm, is there a guide for creating these Abilities? The wiki doesn't seem to have up to date information for making these.

Here's an excert from a tutorial series on macro-making that I made for for one of the groups I am in. Maybe someday I'll polish up the whole series and put it in the wiki.

-----

Thus far we've used static numbers in our macros, aside from our roll queries. Time to kick it up a notch and start using Attributes in our macros!

An attribute is anything that isn't an ability. This tutorial deals with attributes that you control.

Setting attributes is simple. Open your character journal, click on 'Attributes & Abilities', and then click on +Add next to Attributes. Fill in the needed values, there's no special button to click to save your work. Below Is part of Adara's Attributes & Abilities to give you an idea of what you can do.



Here I insert a caveat: In games with a 'Character Sheet' enabled, the sheet can cause confusion to your Attributes & Abilities page because a character sheet is just a really really REALLY complicated version of the A&A tab. Just be careful here.

Once you've added some attributes, we can start using them in macros. The code below assumes you're using Abilities for your macros.

@{attribute}                      [Pulls Current value]
@{attribute|max}                  [Pulls Max value, if set]

WARNING: Attempting to reference an unset attribute will cause your macro to fail to execute and then you'll be unhappy. Don't be unhappy, make sure all your attributes have values.

/em attacks with his longsword! He hits AC [[1d20 +@{HalfLevel} +@{Str} +?{Modifier to Hit|0}]] for a potential [[1d10 + @{Str} + ?{Modifier to Damage|0}]] damage.

/em attempts an Acrobatics check: [[1d20 + @{Acrobatics} + ?{TempMods|0}]]

/em attacks with Clever Strike.  She hits AC [[1d20 +@{HalfLevel} +@{Dex} + ?{Modifier to Hit|0}]] for [[1d6 + @{Dex} + ?{Modifier to Damage|0} + ?{Sneak?|[NH]2d6} ]] potential damage.

The benefit to this approach is mainly for longer-term campaigns. Instead of editing your macros, you edit your attributes. Additionally, I discovered that once I started building macros in this style, I started better understanding the mechanics of 4e. The attack macros above are actually incomplete for 4e, leaving out a lot of numbers that need to be input. If you decide you want to explore further, I will post a tutorial specifically on how to write your attack powers for 4e with this method.

This is where the second benefit of using Abilities rather than Macros comes into play. Because these macros are attached to a specific character, the code parser only looks at this specific character journal for the attributes you are referencing. To use attributes in a non-attribute macro, you have to specify the character you wish to pull from:

@{Adara|HP}
@{Adara|HalfLevel}

Thanks much! I will take a look at this when I get out of class tomorrow.