*This has been moved from another thread. I have made these suggestions before, but this time I have mocked up images to make my meaning completely clear. Please forgive the repetition.* I have been making suggestions for ways to evolve the roll20 dice
mechanics to make them friendly to cortex (Marvel Heroic Roleplaying)
and other systems in which the type of die, result, and sorting of dice
are important. There has been a major step forward in the form of die
icons with results given in chat. These are some of my test rolls when I was messing around with it after the update. As
it is now, the die icons are sortable via drag and drop, but only
within their set of parentheses. So if you roll "5d12" you can sort your
resulting d12s in any way you like. But if you roll "4d6+5d12", while
you can sort your d6s and your d12s separately, you cannot sort them
amongst each other. What I have suggested as a next step is that
either we be given the ability to sort the die icons between the
parentheses, or more simply, that the die icons be separated from the
mathematic expressions in the results. So, have the option to leave the
results as they were previously, simply with numbers, but to turn on a
sortable dice array to be shown after the regular result numbers. I have
mocked up what I mean here.
The die icons in a separate box below, which are sortable in any way
needed. I also suggested that this be one of a list of advanced dice
options, so that a GM could go into the campaign settings and check the
dice options that they need for their campaign: normal results, sortable
array, 3D dice, etc. Then it would be possible to display only the
sortable array for results, which would be the minimum needed for the
cortex system. Cortex's other features like choosing dice for totals
and effects, etc. are easily done without the need for coding in any
other mechanics, if the dice are truly sortable regardless of type. We can do the math in our heads, and remember that the left most sorted dice are for the total, etc.
However, my further suggestion of being able to right-click on
individual die icons and change their color, in addition to free
sorting, would make roll20 completely cortex friendly. I have mocked up
what I mean here. Here
the results are displayed only as a sortable array, and the dice have
been sorted and changed in color. Using cortex terminology, the purples can represent the total,
we can do the math ourselves for a total of 18, the yellows can be
effect dice (after the spending of some plot points to keep extras), and the
1 on the d10 is of course an opportunity. I think that asking to
be able to perform math operations on selected dice, like choosing two
of the resulting die icons to be added for a total, is asking too much.
Being able to sort the dice freely is paramount, and being able to
change their color, while not necessary, would give all the
functionality needed for Cortex and any other system where die type, result, and order are important. I would like to hear what the dev team thinks about this further evolution of the dice mechanics. Thoughts?