HELP- API noob here

Hi, first I have used roll20 for years BUT just used it for only high def maps and fog of war for putting on a tv and using real minis. Now with covid19 I am trying to actually learn how to do it "all" online. I am 100% NEW to APIs 

But I do know how to install them.

QUESTIONS- 

1. How can you tell if there will be a conflict between them? Sometimes I install and it warns me the fields are used by something else. (I wouldn't be able to trouble shoot if it did.

2. Is there a place, video, etc that explains how to use each one in a game? Like I have it installed but no clue how to use it....OR if I need to do anything else to make them work...OR macros to use with each etc 

3. What are some of the best APIs to make the game play smooth? (I don't use music). When I was looking on youtube I saw ones that looked interesting but I am not sure if there is just a good setup in general, or if some of these do the same things so don't need both. (or even clonflicts) LIKE- combattracker (or combat master now?) statusinfo, tokenmod, powercards, powercards macro helper, alterbar, chatsetatt, groupint, groupcheck (and apply damage), deathtracker, concentration, door script, its a trap, OGL roll20 campanion,torch,(tokennamenumber?), i also saw one that did "patrols" or something for guards and such, but not sure if it is worth it.....any opinions? OR better ones?

4. wondering about VTT Enhancement Suite extension for chrome (I know it needs to be installed manually now)...or other extensions that help, or better to not use any.

I think what I want "most" is to be able to do combat with ease  -group initiative, saves, apply damage, AOE auto save/damage (for groups too), and macros for them (or setup if needed)

Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks in advance

1)  You can't really tell.  That warning just means "Two or more scripts both declared that they are using something".  It's not indicative of conflicts, and it's not enforced to specify which things you're manipulating, it's purely opt-in for the script author.  I've never seen any conflict when that box pops up.  Frankly, it's noise and you can ignore it.  As for actual conflicts, they happen extremely rarely.  Generally, you'd see one when you have more than one script that performs a similar action, such as "set the X when bar1 reaches 0".  Usually, you know that you installed it for that purpose and you disable it if you install another one that does the same thing.  The best way to detect these cases is to install and test scripts one at a time, and ask for help on the forum if you get weird behavior.

2) The API forum is usually where any of the scripts people release get discussed at length.  You can always post a message asking about a specific script and the community will jump in to help.  Searching the API forum for a particular script can find people using it (I suggest using google with a site:roll20.net to do the search).  For 1-click install scripts, you can usually get a lot of the usage from the script's page.  Most scripts have an in game help system.  For example, you can run TokenMod's help with:

!token-mod --help

3) There are a bunch of "Recommended Scripts" threads.  I'd suggest just searching for that in the API forum.  I can find some to link if you can't find them.

4) Chrome Extensions are off topic for the Roll20 Forum. I suggest the Roll20 Reddit for those questions.

Hope that helps.  I'm hoping others jump in with their specific setups (that might make an interesting thread).

As far as scripts go, I'd say they divide into two categories: utility or general-use scripts that allow you or other scripts to do more and better things (for example, how to manipulate data on tokens), and scripts that focus on a limited aspect of the Roll20 experience (for example, how to handle rolling initiative). Both are necessary, especially for the items you mentioned. So my script recommendations are:

General-use scripts: Tokenmod (absolutely essential script that opens up so many other possibilities; also, many other scripts and macros rely on it), ChatSetAttr (vital because it allows you to modify data on the character sheet), OGL Roll Companion (only if you're using the OGL sheet, of course), LibTokenMarker

Focused scripts: Combat Master (which includes Status Info), DoorKnocker (seriously the most intuitive and hassle-free way to open or close doors on a map with dynamic lighting), Group Initiative, Token Action Maker (to make saves and so forth easily accessible to your players), Concentration (mainly because it auto-adds the Concentration status whenever someone casts a spell that calls for it, and because it handles any damage dealt to a token while concentrating).

Thank you both. It looks like The Aaron did the tokenmod post has a ton of information...although it is a little like reading a foreign language haha! So I hope I can figure it out or what should be used out of it.

It seems others don't have any information on them like CombatMaster, is there another place to find how to use it? (I was trying to do !combat-master --help but it didn't do anything)

Maybe if I figured out one the rest will be easier?

Thanks again

Tony J. said:

Thank you both. It looks like The Aaron did the tokenmod post has a ton of information...although it is a little like reading a foreign language haha! So I hope I can figure it out or what should be used out of it.

It seems others don't have any information on them like CombatMaster, is there another place to find how to use it? (I was trying to do !combat-master --help but it didn't do anything)

Maybe if I figured out one the rest will be easier?

Thanks again

You can find he forum for combat master at https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/8126152/combatmaster-alpha/?pagenum=1

I believe to start combat master its !cmaster --main and for help its !cmaster --help

Tony J. said:

Thank you both. It looks like The Aaron did the tokenmod post has a ton of information...although it is a little like reading a foreign language haha! So I hope I can figure it out or what should be used out of it.

It seems others don't have any information on them like CombatMaster, is there another place to find how to use it? (I was trying to do !combat-master --help but it didn't do anything)

Maybe if I figured out one the rest will be easier?

Thanks again

Combat Master's help needs some updating. The best way to get started is to run !cmaster --main and explore the chat menu options from there. Any time you're curious about a command run from chat, just hit the up arrow and you'll get the actual command used.

Most scripts will have a readme, either on the main script page in the one-click install, or on these forums, where you can find out how to use the script (features, commands, limits, etc.). If I like a script, my first step is to copy the readme for my own records, so I can consult it without having to be on Roll20.

Good stuff, I appreciate the help.

ok, I added all the ones you mentioned Jay.

A couple more questions

1. I am trying to figure out how to: when I start combatmaster and it shows turn, what is the best way to have each player and foes attack? 

    a) also with things like multi-attack or special attacks like sneak attack

    b) a way for it to auto do saves

    c) apply the damage

2. Best way to do AOE attacks so it can do all of the above

moral of the story is what APIs do that? And macros?  So a player can hit a macro to attack, target monster, monster does save if needed automatically, damage automatically applied...and to multiple targets if AOE

Sorry for having no clue lol, thanks a ton in advance to all the help!  

Tony,

That largely depends on the game system and how well you know it. Ideally the tracker is there to help you know who's turn it is. I am more familiar with PF1e then DND5e but my basic understand is you have a move and action and bonus action. This would be run no differently than it would in a face to face game at the table.  The person/monster whom is up first acts according the mechanic until complete then the player or you can click done and it move to the next and so forth.

As far as attacks are concerned macro's are better suited for such thing though you can configure a macro to use the api to complete some task. Combat Master has some feature that can configured on each turn or condition to run. Most of the time your players will either use the character sheet or will create specific macro's so they can roll quickly. You will see it spit out into the chat and you apply the damage manually. 

To my knowledge there are no automatic saves in api format. Though you could create a macro to pull the save values and roll a save as part of t he attack to a targeted token but you can only do this to a single target token. For further info on macro's i suggest this 

https://roll20.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037256794-Macros  for starters. 

There is an Api script for area off effect template you can use by Stephen Lindberg called Area of affects. This allows you to use imaged target a token or area and it configures the blast radius. You can find that in the one click installs.

A couple of tips its best to just search the one click install and then search google or the api forums to see what each one does and how to use them. Google is also useful for that, but keep in mind Roll20 has moved to the new zendesk for the most up to date wiki's so google doesn't pull those yet. 

Thanks Mark, yeah I was asking those questions because I had seen this api https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/3631602/script-groupcheck-roll-checks-saves-et-cetera-for-many-tokens-at-once/?pagenum=2    and it is supposed to do those things with his apply damage api as well.  However it didn't work for me for some reason (most of it did) and it sounded like he may not be updating it so I wasn't sure if it might be that or just something I am doing wrong...OR a better option than this.  

I am trying to get roll20 to do most of the work since I bought a bunch of the roll20 books to do it through there.  It seems without the auto-checking and applying damage it would be just easier to play as normal and only use roll20 for only maps? (that would sucks since I bought so many books though) I will ask in his tread since it "might" be the only way to do it. 

Thanks again, the macro page will help a lot. 

found this that mentions some stuff like what I am looking for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYrXZxl-b2I&t=224s

Ah Group check is part of the one click install. I believe the Script Author is still active on Roll20. Contacting him may best but looking at the script its fairly extensive and can do a lot, its likely just a configuration issue. It can apply damage if you configure it properly. Depending on which sheet you use, (shaped or  OGL). It will probably take some work but once you get it running will like achieve most of what you want it to.