Update 11/11: Compendium Integration

Hi rollers,

We've pushed out an update to add new features to the Compendium and the way it integrates into your games. Alongside the launch of Volo's Guide to Monsters we've got new tools for all our users.

Indicators. There are now thumbnail previews next to pages with default art tokens, while browsing and searching the Compendium inside the application. There are also codes to differentiate the page's source without having to open the page.

Drag and Drop. You can now drag and drop any Compendium page directly onto the tabletop and it will import into your game. If the page is a Monster or NPC it will add the character to your game's Journal. If the Monster/NPC had a default art token, it will also set it as the default token for the character and place it directly onto the VTT. If the character is already included in the game, it just creates a copy of the character's default token.

If the Compendium page is anything else, Lore, Magic Items, etc, a handout with the page's specifics will be created so that you can easily share with your players.

Character Sheet Integration. These tools are now available to be used in any character sheet. Authors are free to include "drop and create" functionality into their character sheets by including the class of "monsters" or "npcs" to their existing "compendium-drop-target" section. The new class must match the "Category" of the compendium page. For the 5th Edition SRD this is "monsters".

There is now a "sheet:compendium-drop" listener for this event. Included with this new listeners is the "setDefaultToken()" function that will allow sheet authors to customize the output of default tokens generated by the drop process. If the Compendium page has an associated art token, the setDefaultToken function can set everything from the bar values, bar represents, auras, the name and nameplate, what parts of the token are visible and editable by players, dynamic lighting options, and more.

We at Roll20 heard your feedback. As a result we've standardized the way compendium items import into your games using the Roll20 OGL sheet, in order to match the style of Lost Mines of Phandelver and Storm King's Thunder. This includes HP being in Bar1, AC being in Bar2, nameplates showing by default, has sight option being on, damage auto-rolling, and the token emitting a light radius that only it can see representing its dark or other vision types.

We were not comfortable setting these options as the default until we gave our community sheet authors the ability to customize their own games. It is important to us at Roll20 to give the community the freedom to import Compendium entries into your games in whatever format best suits you and your group's play style. In that same vein we plan on including more default customization options for your games in the near future.

Very awesome!

So do I add "monsters", "npcs", or both for 5e?

Kryx said:

So do I add "monsters", "npcs", or both for 5e?

"monsters"

Checkout lines 7 and 5725 of the OGL sheet for examples.

Great stuff!
So, when will we (we=sheet/content creators) be able to add/create compendiums?
There's a lot of free or OGL or CC games out there that could be "compendiumed" ;)

Natha said:

Great stuff!
So, when will we (we=sheet/content creators) be able to add/create compendiums?
There's a lot of free or OGL or CC games out there that could be "compendiumed" ;)

PM me with specifics. Let me know what system you're thinking of, where it's OGL or CC content is located and how you plan on moving the content in.

Immense! The on-the-fly creation of monsters will be invaluable to many GMs!

Nice addition, but is this only available for D&D 5e?

*scrounges about his desk looking for that double thumbs up emoticon. Grumbles because he can't find it*

Nice. Just tried it out. Very nice. TY.

*sends mental image to reader of the double thumbs up emoticon that he can't find on his desk*

Vince said:

Nice addition, but is this only available for D&D 5e?

These features are agnostic and should work with Pathfinder and any future compendium.

Will there be in the future any ways of completely filling out the Compendium with PHB information, like items and spells, even by buying a module like Volo?
Or possibly adding custom content to your own compendium?

Great work so far, I love the automation of the OGL Spreadsheet and other quality of life features!

Really great. Speed up things. Just one wish: could you once in a while not only enhance the functionality but also the content? There are many monsters from the monster manual still missing. And even worse: there are several spells missing also. That would be great especially since you can't transfer spells from one sheet to another if you created the spell manually. Which would be a great enhancement too, by the way.
Great software!

Bernd S. said:

Really great. Speed up things. Just one wish: could you once in a while not only enhance the functionality but also the content? There are many monsters from the monster manual still missing. And even worse: there are several spells missing also. That would be great especially since you can't transfer spells from one sheet to another if you created the spell manually. Which would be a great enhancement too, by the way.
Great software!

The only monsters, spells, et cetera that can be included are those released by Wizards of the Cost under as part of the SRD under the OGL. All of these are currently included in the compendium. Others (such as mind flayer, beholder, those spells which Wizards chose not to include in the SRD, et cetera) cannot be included for legal reasons.

Not sure if this is a known issue or working as intended.

Dragging NPC onto the VTT from compendium.
After the cs is created in the journal, a blank image is placed in the “Default Token”. You have to either remove it or add an image to enable drag/drop of the token onto the VTT.
Even if you add an Avatar image it still will not drop the token onto the VTT until you have addressed the blank default token.
Not a problem from me because I usually add a Default Token image, but for others that only add an avatar; it could be confusing.

Note, Volo's Guide compendium entries work great; since they have an image in Default Token.

Otherwise great stuff, love compendium Integration!

I've noticed the Compendium only details the Champion Martial Archetype for 5e Fighters. I've Homebrewed a Soulknife Martial Archetype, and am keen to have it integrated into the roll20 compendium under the OGL or whatever (i.e. I don't want any money for it provided it is made freely available to all gamers). What would the procedure for that be? Perhaps an 'annual' Homebrew competition could be run where people can vote on potential additions/amendments to the roll20 compendium? I appreciate doing so might be a legal pain since you'd have to check any potential trade mark/other legal problems, but thought I'd at least raise the idea :)

If I'm understanding it right, D&D is a product identity covered under section 7 of the OGL, and as such, they can't indicate compatibility with the 5e system 

Mark R. said:

Not sure if this is a known issue or working as intended.

Dragging NPC onto the VTT from compendium.
After the cs is created in the journal, a blank image is placed in the “Default Token”. You have to either remove it or add an image to enable drag/drop of the token onto the VTT.
Even if you add an Avatar image it still will not drop the token onto the VTT until you have addressed the blank default token.
Not a problem from me because I usually add a Default Token image, but for others that only add an avatar; it could be confusing.

Note, Volo's Guide compendium entries work great; since they have an image in Default Token.

Otherwise great stuff, love compendium Integration!

I'm going to second this, either make a default image token or don't fill the spot. Having a blank image in there was confusing as I didn't realize right away that I have to delete the blank image in order to add a new one. 

Great work!

I am looking forward to seeing SRD available for Ad&d 2ed too, which has so many adventures and books that it would boost for sure the number of players and games using Roll20 system!

Thanks a lot!

Mark R. said:

Not sure if this is a known issue or working as intended.

Dragging NPC onto the VTT from compendium.
After the cs is created in the journal, a blank image is placed in the “Default Token”. You have to either remove it or add an image to enable drag/drop of the token onto the VTT.
Even if you add an Avatar image it still will not drop the token onto the VTT until you have addressed the blank default token.
Not a problem from me because I usually add a Default Token image, but for others that only add an avatar; it could be confusing.

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll get it fixed.