Hi,
I'm new to using InitTool, so maybe there's a way to do this already, but I can't find it.
I currently am playing Mutants and Masterminds, and I'd like to be able to easily flag a character with one or more custom-defined "states". For example, a character might be Stunned, Dazed, Fatigued and Disabled all at the same time.
Now, in Init Tools, I thought there might be two ways to track that. My first thought was that I could use the Wait State feature, but it looks like you can only have one Wait State at a time. I really need the ability to mark someone Stunned, but then also mark them as Fatigued too, and have those tracked individually so that the Stun can be removed but the Fatigue remains. So Wait State doesn't seem to fit.
Alternatively, I could use spell timers for this. The problem with spell timers is that they are slow and cumbersome to use. When you set them up in the Game Settings, all it lets you do is specify fonts, icons and a name for the "type" of timer. When you actually go to use a timer, you always have to fill out a new form with additional details. You have to select which type it is, then type in the actual instance name for that timer, set the duration, select the owner (though I think it pre-populates this with the currently selected character), and select a target it applies to. I'd really prefer to just click a button or use a menu to apply a pre-configured timer to the currently selected character.
So I'd love to see this:
In the Game Settings config, when you define a new Timer Type, add a check box called something like "Quick Use". If that box is checked, then it lets you edit a new field where you can predefine a duration, measured in rounds.
Then in the main interface, you'd need a button or menu that drops down a list of any of these "Quick Timers", ie, a list of any timer types that have the Quick Use checkbox turned on.
When you select one of these Quick Timers, instead of poping up the current form where you fill out info, it just auto-generates the timer. The duration is the pre-defined duration from the Game Settings panel. The Name field is the "Timer Type" name with a number added to the end (timers already do this if you re-use the same name). The Owner is set to blank. The target is set to the currently selected character. The initiative is set to whatever the current initiative is (which is NOT necessarily the same as the selected character's initiative).
You'd also need to modify the current pop-up form so that the Type field doesn't show any Quick Use timer types.
Would anyone else like to see something like this added? And would it be a big change or a little change? It sounds to me like a little change, but I don't know how the timers are coded so that may be incorrect.
Either way, thanks for reading, and considering it!
However, the custom panels sounds like it might work just as well.
