[4E] Rumble's "Slim" Framework

Framework(s) for D&D 4e, including Veggiesama's.

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Rumble
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[4E] Rumble's "Slim" Framework

Post by Rumble »

Campaign Template last updated 6/12/2011

Requires MapTool 1.3.b86 or later

Formerly "An attempt to return the framework to its classic form."

This is the final version of this framework.

Update includes:
* Fixed intermittent chat display bug with skill / ability checks (same bug as before, just forgot to fix this occurrence)

Couple Notes:

If you want to import a token from the "big" framework I have (affectionately called "V5"), drop the token on the map, then hit the Convert from V5 campaign macro. Afterwards, make sure the powers are right (yes, this means checking every power). V5 conversion is not a core feature of the framework, so if it doesn't work, you're on your own.

Finally, DON'T PUT SINGLE QUOTES IN ANY POWER TEXT. Seriously, it breaks things, and I'm too lazy to make the code bulletproof. So don't do it.

Using It
The basic process to create a token is:

1. Drag a token onto the map.
2. Hit F4 to add the basics.
3. Click the Edit Character Campaign Macro to edit the character's details.
4. Click the "Make Power" Campaign Macro to make a power button on the token.
5. If you're making a PC, click the "Basic Attacks" campaign macro to make melee and ranged basic attacks.
6. If you're making a PC, click the Edit Weapons macro to add weapon details
7. If you want, hit F2 to see a character sheet.

That's it. When you click a power macro, it'll pop up a dialog. Click on the targets you want to attack, and hit "Attack"

If you want to import monsters, hit F9; if you want to import a PC summary from the Character builder, hit F5. To import powers copied from the compendium hit F6.

If you need to edit a power, hit the Edit Mode button on your token's selection panel or on the quick character sheet, then click the button/link for the power - the editor window will pop up, and you're good to go!

Screenshots:

Targeting and Hit checking: Launch powers, select targets, apply modifiers, and determine hits/misses/damage:
Spoiler
select-target.png
select-target.png (54.26 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
Power Editing: edit or import powers to your character
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power-editor-slim.png
power-editor-slim.png (74.35 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
Live/Interactive character sheets: use these sheets to launch powers, edit your character, etc.
||PC Sheet||
interactive_quicksheet.png
interactive_quicksheet.png (27.19 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
||NPC Sheet||
new-livesheet.png
new-livesheet.png (30.69 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
Condition Tracking and Application: apply and track conditions on characters
Spoiler
conditions-and-tracker.png
conditions-and-tracker.png (261.22 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
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apply-dazed.png
apply-dazed.png (38.96 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
Condition Information: See condition details using Weems condition cards
Spoiler
showconditioninfo.png
showconditioninfo.png (69.71 KiB) Viewed 25747 times
Attachments
DD4E_Slim_Final_20.cmpgn
(2.02 MiB) Downloaded 1942 times
Last edited by Rumble on Mon May 16, 2011 8:19 pm, edited 72 times in total.

Azurecrusader
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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Azurecrusader »

Rumble was nice enough to share this with me after I mentioned that version 5 of his "Fat" framework ran too slowly over my connection. So far I have to say that it is really excellent and speedy too!

A couple of things to note:
1. If you create a power and then edit the name of that power by changing the macro button, resting will not work correctly. You need to make sure that your encounter/daily powers property is set with the correct new name that you edited your power to.

2. The trigger line does not seem to import correctly using either a PDF or the compendium. This may have been fixed between the version I have and now. You can always add the trigger line manually after you create a power or you can just manually create the power and it will come across just fine.

I'm a big fan of this framework because it requires people to still talk about what they are doing instead of being a pseudo-video game. Plus did I mention how fast it is?! On my crappy rural connection people's powers show up right when the use them and there is no delay when moving or jumping between initiative orders. Well worth a look if the other frameworks are simply to bulky for your connection.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Brindon »

This is really nice! While I love all the automation in the main version of the framework, the speed and simplicity of this one is really appealing. I think I might give this one a spin and see which one my players like better.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

Brindon wrote:This is really nice! While I love all the automation in the main version of the framework, the speed and simplicity of this one is really appealing. I think I might give this one a spin and see which one my players like better.
Heh, thanks. I suppose I'm cannibalizing my own market here, in a sense, but whatever works for people so they have fun. I was going to give this a run yesterday but the game fell through, so I'm all ears to see how it goes.

Azurecrusader says it has worked pretty well; it seems like it'll work okay. Oh, i did forget to mention: the Conditions Window should let you set conditions to expire at certain times. I noted the other day that it seems to require a token to be selected to launch, so if you don't like that:

1. Right-click on the macro "Conditions" in the campaign window
2. Select "Edit"
3. At the bottom, uncheck "Apply to selected tokens"
4. Hit OK

The condition window doesn't need a selected token, so it was just my mistake to have that option selected.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Brindon »

I got a chance to run a game with this and I was really impressed--my players enjoyed it as well. This might just become my new default framework.

I only noticed a couple of minor issues, and these are all easy to work around (I know you're probably focusing more on supporting the "heavy" version of the framework).

-Taking an extended rest does not restore healing surges

-Using the damage macro on the selection panel on an NPC spits out this in the chat window:
gstrformat("%{token.name} takes %{DmgValue} damage.") = strformat("%{token.name} takes %{DmgValue} damage.")Hobgoblin Soldier takes 13 damage.
It works correctly, but the display is just a little ugly. This does not happen on PC tokens. The Damage & Healing macro on the campaign panel does not produce this.

-An action point macro would be really nice to have on the selection panel as one of the default macros, but it's not essential. I can try cobbling one together.

Thanks for releasing this version--it gets a big thumbs up from my group!

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Rumble
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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

Brindon wrote:I got a chance to run a game with this and I was really impressed--my players enjoyed it as well. This might just become my new default framework.

I only noticed a couple of minor issues, and these are all easy to work around (I know you're probably focusing more on supporting the "heavy" version of the framework).

-Taking an extended rest does not restore healing surges

-Using the damage macro on the selection panel on an NPC spits out this in the chat window:
gstrformat("%{token.name} takes %{DmgValue} damage.") = strformat("%{token.name} takes %{DmgValue} damage.")Hobgoblin Soldier takes 13 damage.
It works correctly, but the display is just a little ugly. This does not happen on PC tokens. The Damage & Healing macro on the campaign panel does not produce this.

-An action point macro would be really nice to have on the selection panel as one of the default macros, but it's not essential. I can try cobbling one together.

Thanks for releasing this version--it gets a big thumbs up from my group!
Thanks - as you say, I've got bigger fish to fry, but I'll try to throw those fixes in (and any others I stumble across).

That damage thing is plaguing me. I don't know why it doesn't work (I think it's a bug in the interaction of the [g: ] roll option and some other stuff; I've been struggling with puzzling output cruft for a while now). Thought I'd fixed it, but...guess not!

Action points - just an oversight; but they're pretty easy to hand-build.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

Hey, I had some time (and a strong desire not to monkey with the Version 5 Framework) and so I patched up the few holes you mentioned; the updated campaign is in the first post of the thread. With regard to the damage output, make sure you have "Use Tooltips for Inline Rolls" checked, in MapTool preferences.

Azurecrusader
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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Azurecrusader »

Thanks again for updating this. Still using it in my own game and it's working out very nicely. I'm interested to see what kind of impact the targeting feature has this weekend. Hopefully this thread won't get buried too deep, it's really a great set of tools for those of us not playing locally or over monster connections.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

I'm going to use it for a Dark Sun game tonight (with luck; gotta get on the prep!). Looking forward to seeing how it works "in the wild," so to speak. I've used something really similar before, but not this.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

Some updates to this, if anyone is interested. This is the framework I use to run my games; previously a standard campaign in the implied 4E setting, but lately kicking off a Dark Sun campaign. It's worked rather well for me.

Notes to remember:
1. There's less automation. You can turn on damage automation, but it is not properly guaged with respect to resistance/vulnerability - it's a crude damage application if any.
2. There's much less to creating a power - automatic condition application is absent.
3. This framework can import monsters & powers from the Compendium, like my other frameworks.
4. Again for convenience, in power effect/hit/etc. text in both the targeting screen and in the chat output, conditions are highlighted and a tooltip provides the condition explanation.


So, some screenshots of the thing:

Token Macros: pretty typical - tokens show powers, organized like the MM3 breakdown.
Token_Sample
token-macros.png
token-macros.png (26.07 KiB) Viewed 26826 times
Campaign Macros: mostly for the GM, they include lots of utilities. It's also here that you can add/create powers to a token. Note the "Power Library" macro - this stores every power you create into a library token, and you can add them back later. Note that the downloaded filed does not contain any powers, and I ask that you make sure not to distribute powers from the official game if you send this campaign file to anyone else.
CampaignMacros
slim-campaignmacros.png
slim-campaignmacros.png (21.92 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Power_Library
power-library.png
power-library.png (34.98 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Targeting by selection: too good not to use :D Note that marks, quarries, and the like are also handled this way.
Targeting
targeting-by-selection.png
targeting-by-selection.png (55.58 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Power Editor: very simple.
Power_Editing
power-editor.png
power-editor.png (80.06 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Weapon Editor: this sets up the ability to create a primary and secondary melee weapon, primary/secondary ranged, and primary/secondary wielded implements (as well as holy symbols and ki foci). This lets you swap between a couple weapons pretty quickly, and powers will execute based on those weapons.
Weapon_Editor
weapon-editor.png
weapon-editor.png (61.72 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Weapon_Equipping
gear-equip.png
gear-equip.png (32.88 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Condition Dashboards: these are designed to be kept up constantly during an encounter, so the DM can quickly apply conditions. One is just a list of all conditions in the game, as clickable links, for quickly applying conditions to the selected token. The other is more sophisticated that lets you apply conditions to be tracked through a combat. In both cases, ongoing damage can be tracked, and if you click the save button, it will offer the option to save against conditions if appropriate.
Dashboard_1
condition-dashboard1.png
condition-dashboard1.png (13.76 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Dashboard_2
condition-dashboard2.png
condition-dashboard2.png (11.92 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Damage Dashboard: like the condition dialogs, this is designed to be docked somewhere and kept open. Select a token and you can quickly apply damage or healing to it.
Damage_Dashboard
damage-dashboard.png
damage-dashboard.png (6.96 KiB) Viewed 26827 times
Last edited by Rumble on Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:24 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by CoveredInFish »

Awesome work.
Just a quick bug report: could it be that the tooltip for checks is broken? If I open the posted cmpgn, select hero or troll and perform checks the tooltip shows some strformat-code.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

CoveredInFish wrote:Awesome work.
Just a quick bug report: could it be that the tooltip for checks is broken? If I open the posted cmpgn, select hero or troll and perform checks the tooltip shows some strformat-code.
You know, it could be. I've had the worst trouble with that (for some reason, it's not respecting the g: or r: roll options properly, and I can't figure out where).

Hm - I don't see that problem when I run the checks, but I know it's happened before. Are you testing as GM? It seems that way. Oh, wait - the tooltip! I had not noticed that before, I'll fix that up.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

Okay, I fixed it - the cause was forgetting to use the r: option when I was outputting to the GM. Looks like it's working now. The download link for V3 was also updated (or, rather, the attachment was updated).

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by Rumble »

Okay, two updates:

* Fixed a prompt for the value of "n"

* Added Essentials-style functionality, so that you can use Stances that modify basic attacks, like the Essentials martial classes. To use this feature:

1. Edit the character and check off the box for "Essentials martial class (using modified basic attacks)"
2. When you create the stance powers, make sure they are set to be personal utility powers, and check off the box for "Essentials-style martial stance". Use the Attack Bonus field for any bonuses to attacks, and the Damage field for any bonuses to damage (remember, these stances grant bonuses, but not necessarily have damage dice of their own!)
3. Use the effect field to enter any additional effects. Note: this will appear whenever you have the stance active and use a basic attack, so you can probably leave off the bit that says "You assume the Blah Blah stance." :D
4. When you've created it, it will appear as a button as normal. Just run it to "activate" the stance.
5. With a stance active, you can then use either the Melee Basic Attack or Ranged Basic Attack, and they will be modified. Note that this is slightly wrong, since it looks for just basic attacks, and not all stances modify all basics, but...close enough for a start.

Here's a screenshot of creating the "Battle Wrath" stance, one of the ones previewed by WotC for the Essentials Knight:
Spoiler
essentials-stance-creation.png
essentials-stance-creation.png (83.34 KiB) Viewed 26794 times

Latest version is available in the first post of this thread.
Last edited by Rumble on Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: An Attempt to Return the Framework to its Classic Form

Post by AidyBaby »

I really like this version - I'm torn between this and the 'full' v5 framework. I think the only thing I miss with this version is the ability to edit a power. Editing the macro itself feels a bit clunky to me and certainly not as easy. Otherwise excellent.

EDIT: One thing I've noticed (that's also an issue in the full v5 framework unless you've fixed it), is that when a power is imported it puts the attack and damage information in the effect line and thereby gives the game away to players for a monster's attacks. If a power has an additional entry on the hit line such as "and the target is dazed (save ends)", the import successfully trims the attack and damage entries leaving the additional effect of the attack.

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