Active/Charge Turn Based Initiative (Heroes of Might and Magic)

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VileTerror
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Active/Charge Turn Based Initiative (Heroes of Might and Magic)

Post by VileTerror »

Also known as "Active Time Battle" in HOMM5 ( https://mightandmagic.fandom.com/wiki/ATB ) or all sorts of names in other systems (
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedesign/com ... ative_how/ )
I would like to try to craft something like this in Maptool. I'm having a hell of a time figuring out a low-impact and accurate way to calculate this, with room for "Slow" and "Haste" effects that would change the Charge Rate of Initiative on-the-fly.

My best theoretical model seems like it will be annoyingly complex, and would clear and repopulate the built-in Maptool Initiative Bar every time an action is taken. That seems less than ideal, but it's the only way I can presently imagine being able to code it. It would be something to the effect of:

Macro 1: Grab the names, Initiative Charge Rate (ICR), and roll a random starting Initiative value for all selected Tokens in a battle and compile them in to a JSON array or a Hidden Initiative Tracker Token with specialized Token Properties.

Macro 2: Calculate the current Initiative Order by comparing the highest and lowest starting Initiative values versus their respective ICRs, and determine which Character Token will get to act next, calculate the number of "Steps" to reach that Action Phase, and then apply that number of Steps to all the other Character Tokens to determine their turn order (note, it would need to do a few "passes" of this, since slower creatures might only get 1 turn for every 3 turns a faster creature has; Initiative 5 versus Initiative 15, for example).

Macros 3,4,5: Apply a Buff or Debuff to a Character Token's current Initiative Steps or to their ICR, then automatically run Macro 2 again.

Marcos x,y,z: Player-controlled Macros which allow them to take actions, et cetera, use up the generated Initiative Charge, run Macro 2 again, and do whatever else that Macro is meant to (ie: Attack, Defend, Wait, Cast Spell).

So ...
Does anyone have any insight in to an effective way to do this?
Naturally I imagine folks familiar with Heroes of Might and Magic 5 would understand what I'm trying to achieve here, and if they feel they don't have the solution to achieving this in Maptool but feel they're able to explain my goal here more clearly, I welcome that!

Thanks folks!

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