Question
 

I have a unique Shield i created with the editor. It is called the Shield Gauntlet. it is a kite shaped shield attached to a gauntlet. it provides a simple +1 AC but does not take up one of your hand slots for two-handed weapons.

i got most of the data but getting it to ignore the hand rule is what is troubling me. if anyone knows how to script this, that would be great.

Would it be at all possible for you to attach the .user file you created?

You can try to adapt the scripting on the magical shield "Animated Shield". That magic armor allows you to equip an then when activated on the In-Play tab.

The most important line is probably:

I think if you just put this line into an eval script with the same timing it should allow for an offhand shield but I haven't tested it...

EDIT: It works if you put that code above in an eval script running pre-levels 10000 on a copy of a non-magical shield. I would suggest putting after some doneif statments making sure its equipped and not disabled for some reason.

Fantastic. This idea also resolves the issues I've had forever with creating a buckler shield. :)

Thanks

I just happened to be lucky enough to remember that similar code existed.

The buckler is pretty contentious with my gaming group - the rules lawyer says it shouldn't provide an AC benefit when someone is using a two-handed melee weapon. On the other hand, they are fine with it being used with two-handed ranged weapons, since historically that's what it's been used for.

The munchkins and power gamers want to be able to get that extra +1 regardless of equipment and do some interesting acrobatics at the table to explain how the buckler would work while swinging a maul or greatsword.

But that's just my table, we also have long arguments about whether a helm should be introduced as a separate item (given that magic helms exist in the DMG), where wearing one makes you resistant to critical hits from slashing, bludgeoning and piercing and gaze attacks, and with greathelms providing disadvantage to perception checks.

It makes for some interesting table talk.

I still have magic helms that grant things like +1 tp AC, Resistance, and similar properties/abilities.

I have my share of rule lawyers, but in the case of a buckler shield, they all were unanimous in allowing the use of the buckler shieldf. Of course most of my players, and my self as a DM, have been playing/running since 1981. :)

Hello again. this code that was given to me actually worked like a freaking charm. I am not ode literate so i'm kinda scratching my head on this stuff 99.99% of the time. But hey, if you never do, you never learn. thanks for it and have a great day.

When i get it all done, yeah i can. some of the stuff i got from the DND Wiki, and they have a TON of wonderful 5e homebrew stuff that i borrowed for my campaign and to tell you the truth, it helps me learn this whole programming thing, so one step at a time.

most of it is off the Wiki but a few things are my own. for example, i have a few Factions of my own that actually give you some benefits.

ORDER OF THE ROSE: (The first one i did)
the Order of the Rose (also known as Ordo Rosera), has been around for a few hundred years. it was designed originally to keep peace within the lands of man, but its hold spread far and wide to become a global force for good.
gaining access to this Faction grants 3 unique bonuses.
1: Unique Language: Ordo Rosera. A Mixture of multiple languages in only a written form, the language combines the forms of many races and even symbols and numerals to convey messages in a secret code. only those of the order know of how to read it
2: Skilled Feat: The training to get into the order provides 3 skill or Tool Proficiencies or any combination therein.
3: Sun Blade: Each member gains and is attuned to a Sun Blade, the everlasting symbol of the Order.

More will be added and have benefits similar to this format.

I think Joining Factions should have a bit more to them and you can only join one at a time anyway, so it still remains balanced in my opinion. but anyway, once the data is done, i will post it so you all can look at it and give me feedback. have a wonderful day.

Another Question.
As i am building this, i wanted to build some of the Pieces of Eden from Assassins Creed as Magical Items in 5e for this campaign. The Ring and Ankh were easy enough. But my question is for the Sword. In the description of the Sword of Eden, it grants the user enhanced charisma. I want it to grant a +2 bonus to Charisma Score when Attuned. How do i go about getting that? i know it has to be a custom Eval Script but like i've stated my scripting skills are pretty much non-existant. any help would be greatly appreciated as i work towards getting you all some homebrew content. thanks and have a great day

The script needs to run pre-levels/10000

This script is really simple. The first two lines stop the script if the item isn't equipped or attuned. The third line adds a +2 bonus to Charisma.

The problem is whether or not you're going to allow the item to break the soft cap of 20 for a score. If the sword will allow a PC to go above 20, you'll need to add a 4th line like:

Normally what I do when I need to make an item, I look for something similar and see how someone else did it in code and try to modify it. Sometimes the item isn't the same type, but the code is usually portable. The snippets of code above come from two different items, one is the belt of dwarvenkind (which adds 2 to CON) and the other from the belt of frost giant strength (which allows you to exceed 20).

Just as an update, i decided not to do the Pieces of Eden thing. it may have worked, but it was just far too much of a pain in the ass for me.

Anyway, i did have another question.

When adding new Feats, i have some that provide character options. for example:
ARCANE STUDENT:
Requires the ability to cast at least one spell
Gain 1 Arcane Tradition from the Wizards Class. You gain the second level power of that Tradition but you do not gain more later on.

Another one is:
KI SENSITIVE
You gain 2 Ki points (If you already have this class feature, gain 2 more)
You can learn one Ki Feature fro this list; Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, or Step of the Wind, and can use it as if you were the Monk Class. you regain them after a short or long rest.

My question is, how do i add class features to a Feat but on a far more limited scale? my idea is to add some more custimization and freedom in some players without having to multiclass if they do not want to.

So, semi-Gestalting, usually this unbalances character power levels and isn't something I recommend unless you live in a really low-population area and can't find a 4th or 5th player. Anyway, recommendations to not do it aside, here is the way I might do it:

For this one you can bootstrap all the 2nd level abilities from the Class specials from Wizards to the Feat. Add an Array Based Menu with each row of the menu being the name of one of the schools (Abjuration on line 0, Conjuration on line 1, etc.). Then go into each of your bootstraps and set the conditions to be appropriate to the usrIndex chosen. (for Abjuration in my example, the condition would be fieldval:usrIndex = 0, Conjuration would be fieldval:usrIndex = 1, etc...). As always timing is going to be odd, but I think you're OK post-level, since these are added post-level to a wizard... I think.

This one is more tricky. First you have to check to see if the class has the trkKi or the monk's ki ability - probably using the #hasability[] macro. Then if they do, you just += 2 to the trkMax value of the tracker (Hint: go to the Class Special tab and copy the Ki ability to see how the monk actually adds to the tracker). Otherwise you need to add the tracker and set the same value to 2.
Then you do the same as above for the Arcane Student feat, bootstrap the class abilities to the feat, put a conditional that looks for the usrIndex value from the list you type in.

WOW. Thanks dungeonguru. that looks complex, and to be fair i knew it would be, but like i've said, if you don't try you never know. thanks and have a great day. i will work on this.

Another, maybe a stupid one, question. One of my new items is called the Battle Robe. it is a simple set of Light Armor that only grants a +1 bonus to AR but it can be used without Light Armor Proficiency required. how do i code the fact that the Light Armor Proficiency is not required?

The idea is that the Proficiency is not required so that those classes without Light Armor can have something to aid them, at least in a minor sense.

"The Battle Robes were designed by a mage a few hundred years ago who say a fatal flaw in the fact that mages don't do so well in armor. He designed simple robes with hardened leather hard points to add some protection while keeping the mage agile and quick."

If you created the item as magic armor, you just need to make sure that it has the Helper.Proficient tag on it (look at Elven Chain for an example). I think that will also work for non-magical armor too.

You could create it as a wondrous item, eg a Robe, that requires a body slot and grants an armor bonus. This avoids the armor requirement. Look at things like Bracers of Defense and the Corset of Dire Witchcraft.

The other way to go is what I used for my own battle robes. I simply created a light armor versin of Elven Chain which grants its wearer the abilty to use light armor when the robe is worn.

Okay, so i have done exactly this. However, the class feature selected doesn't show in the character itself. how do i go about fixing it?

So, here is the current script for this Feat so that you guys may better understand where i may have gone wrong:

<thing id="fArcaneStudent" name="Arcane Student" description="Choose one arcane tradition from the wizard class, such as divination or evocation. You gain the 2nd level benefit of that arcane tradition, but not the benefits gained at later levels. \nFor example, if you took divination you gain the benefits of Divination Savant, and of Portent (see Player&apos;s Handbook, page 116)." compset="Feat" uniqueness="useronce">
<fieldval field="usrLabelAr" value="Select School"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="0" value="Abjuration"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="1" value="Conjuration"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="2" value="Divination"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="3" value="Enchantment"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="4" value="Evocation"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="5" value="Illusion"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="6" value="Necromancy"/>
<arrayval field="usrArray" index="7" value="TRansmutation"/>
<usesource source="OrdoRosera"/>
<tag group="FeatureTyp" tag="Special"/>
<tag group="ProductId" tag="OrdoRosera"/>
<tag group="Helper" tag="ShowSpec"/>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CEnchan"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CEvocat"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CIllusi"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CNecrom"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CAbjura"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CConjur"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ssTrans"></bootstrap>
<bootstrap thing="ss5CDivi"></bootstrap>
<prereq message="">
<validate><![CDATA[
~ Test that the character has at least one spell
~ or spell-like ability. &
var HasSpells as number
Call 5CHasSpell
@valid = HasSpells]]></validate>
</prereq>
</thing>
</document>

I think (In the Bolded Section) i messed up there. i think i added the wrong things, and need to add each individual power instead of the entire school but i'm not sure. if this is the case, how do i make sure both level 2 powers are added at the same time?

OK, I apologize, I may have given a little bit of bad advice as I tried to create your feat to help troubleshoot. I forgot that class specials always refer to the class level that adds them and look for the ClsSpecWhen variable that feats don't look at.

The only way I got it to work was to recreate the 2nd level abilities as Racial Specials and rewrite any attached scripts to look up the character's total level. It's more work than I originally thought but good coding exercise. I think this could work as generic abilities, but racial abilities are an OK compromise IMHO.

I went to the Race Tab and created the abilities needed by making a new ability that would mimic the school ability. I.E. created a racial ability named Arcane Ward.

Here is what my code looks like in the text file for a single row in the usrArray, yours would have 9 total rows for each of the others. I also am only showing the 1 racial ability for Arcane Ward in interest of being compact here. I tried to bold the cross-links that refer to something external to the thing itself.


I also noted that you aren't using a User Identifier - In the editor go to to Tools and set a user identifier that is unique to you. I used XXX in the example above - use any 2 or 3 letters that you'll remember is your code (the community uses 5C, don't use that ID). It helps troubleshooting.

Well, this is far more complicate than i originally thought. i have been thinking that this might not be a good thing to have anyway as it may overpower some players. when it comes to coding like this, my brain just hurts. i'm trying, i swear.

Just, let me think here, basically, i have to add each individual second level Wizard power separately and tie them together based on the choice of school? an oversimplification maybe but still...

Thanks for the input and i will try and figure this out. i just don't know if i'm going to so it anyway. But, you never know, i may get it to work just fine.

Alrighty then. i want to thank all those who have aided me in my endeavor so far. Your insights have been most helpful when it comes to some things.

as far as Feats go, i went away from them for a short time due to some complications. however, i want to try again with some simpler ones.

as an example here:
Jack-of-all-Trades:
Requires: Minimum level 4
you add HALF of your Proficiency Bonus to all non-Proficient Skills. this is removed if Proficiency is gained, since that makes it higher in score.

any help is greatly appreciated and have a great day y'all.

So, you're lucky, the proficiency helper tags are applied in a hierarchy, so you can just loop through all the skills and assign the Helper.ProfHalf tag to them. Any skill that you pick to be proficient or apply expertise in apply further tags later that overwrite and assign the correct proficiency level (it always picks the highest).

The script has some timing requirements:
1. It has to run post-levels 10000
2. It has to run before Calc skProfBon

To handle the level requirement you'll need to add a expr-req that runs the #totallevelcount[] macro.

So the script will look like this:

If you look at the feat in a text editor is should look similar to this, I've bolded the timing and expression for 4th level check. I also bolded the id, so if you copy this, make sure you change the XXX to your custom ID.


<thing id="fXXXJackTrad" name="Jack-of-all-Trades" description="You gain half-proficiency for all skills that you are not already proficient or an expert at." compset="Feat" uniqueness="useronce">
<tag group="Helper" tag="ShowSpec" name="Show Spec" abbrev="Show Spec"/>
<eval phase="PostLevel" priority="10000"><![CDATA[~ comment
doneif (tagis[Helper.ShowSpec] = 0)
doneif (tagis[Helper.Disable] <> 0)
foreach pick in hero from BaseSkill
perform eachpick.assign[Helper.ProfHalf]
nexteach]]>
<before name="Calc skProfBon"/>
</eval>
<exprreq message="Must be 4th level or above!"><![CDATA[#totallevelcount[] >= 4]]></exprreq>
</thing>

Hey, thanks for all that above. it really worked and it will aid in creating more Feats.

Another question.

I am implementing some technology into this campaign and was going with some techno-magical items. This includes TESLA Weapons. TESLA Weapons are technological marvels that use Batteries to give them a damage boost. now, most weapons can be created as TESLA so i think they work on a similar level as maybe a +2 Weapon in terms of script.

My Question is, how do i make it to where the Damage bonus is triggered instead of static and it requires Batteries to use? i am still working on placing those in the Editor so i don't have their code yet. But any example would be great.

Generally speaking, you would put your damage bonus in a script that looks at Activated Abilities.

If it's a static, on/off ability you'll want to check the abilActive value.

If you want a sliding scale, you can look at the "Defender" magic sword setup. These allow you to subtract your bonus and add to your AC, but you could simply do something like the following:

As far as enforcing ammuntion or charges, it depends on how you're tracking them. As ammunition - there's no logic that forces a bow to check to see that you have arrows in inventory. As charges, you basically have to look at adding a "tracker" to your item. Both ways have pros/cons.

thanks for this idea. However, the Batteries are the ones with charges. there are going to be 3 distinct types: Type A only holds 5 charges, Type B holds 10, and Type C holds 15. So the Tracker won't go on the weapon itself just on the batteries right?

And another question (Damn i got so many of these f--king things), i tried making a new Deity list specific for this campaign, but each time i tried to make a new one, it wouldn't create a new pantheon, instead it just kept adding them to the Greyhawk Pantheon. how to i fix this? I thought creating a new Tag for it would work but it didn't.

Usually a lot of questions when you get started, everyone goes through it. Some of your questions are probably answered if you search the forums a bit, the Pathfinder forums usually have similar code that their answer will be pretty close.

As far as deities go.

1. Did you create your Pantheon header?

If you didn't, do a copy and search for the word pantheon. You'll get a pantheon header like "{bmp npcclass} Greyhawk Pantheon {bmp npcclass}". Change the word Greyhawk to whatever you need it to be. Scroll down to where you created the deity category you mentioned earlier. Make sure your pantheon header has the category you created. MOST IMPORTANT, look at the Deity Category Order Group # - if you didn't change this from the default 0, you might want to choose a number, probably over 20 to avoid conflicts with the existing pantheons.

2. Do your dieties that are now in the same category as your header have the same Diety Category Order Group number? You may need to visit the deities and give them the new number.

They should all have to have the same number as the header.

So, three things have to match in order for deities to show up right.
1. All deities share the Deity Category tag you created under the button.
2. and share the same Deity Category Order Group number.
3. If you have a pantheon header, you have to have at least 1 god with the same tags from 1 and 2 above before the pantheon header will show up.

This seems like a ton of minor details. However, i understand that coding will be that way. i will try this again and see where i get it. thanks for the advice.

Alrighty then. For one thing, i just want to thank all of those who have aided me thus far. i know it must be sorta frustrating that i am asking simple questions and taking away from your valuable time, but i do appreciate it dearly.

third and final thing, i am having issues with some Magic Items. I decided to go with the Pieces of Eden after all, and i tried making the Ring. It will grant a +1 bonus to AC like a Ring of Protection but it also holds 3 charges and 1 charge to cast the Arcane Shield Spell. i got most of it in, but the Spell is not showing up like other magical items do and i'm not sure where i went wrong. here is the code i have so far. maybe one of you can aid me.

<thing id="irGAYRingofEden" name="Ring of Eden" description="You gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws while wearing this ring.\n\nThis Ring is an ancient device made with unknown technology. It actually provides not only the Armor Class bonus but can activate an Arcane Shield at Will for 1 charge. It holds 3 charges and regains 1d3 spent charges at dawn each day." compset="Ring" uniqueness="unique">
<fieldval field="trkMax" value="3"/>
<usesource source="OrdoRosera"/>
<tag group="Helper" tag="NeedAttune"/>
<tag group="ProductId" tag="OrdoRosera"/>
<tag group="ItemRarity" tag="Legendary"/>
<tag group="Usage" tag="Day"/>
<tag group="abAction" tag="Action"/>
<bootstrap thing="sp5CLSArSh">
<autotag group="Helper" tag="ItemSpell"/>
<autotag group="Usage" tag="5CUse"/>
<assignval field="trkMax" value="1"/>
</bootstrap>
<eval phase="PreLevel" priority="5000">
doneif (field[gIsEquip].value = 0)
doneif (field[gIsAttuned].value = 0)

hero.child[ArmorClass].field[Bonus].value += 1
hero.child[svAll].field[Bonus].value += 1</eval>
</thing>

As far as the Ring issue, i have a few more magic rings that have spells and the same exact issue, so fixing one might fix the other 2.

Anyway, thanks again for aid and have a wonderful day.

You may want to look at how the Ring of Winter is set up.

The ring itself has both tags:
Usage Charges
Usage Tracker

and then the spells only have the tags:
Helper ItemSpell
ChargeUse 1 (or 2, 3, etc.)

Well as it turns out, i didn't select the Show in Tracked Resources button, so it never showed up. one i figured this out, along with what was posted above, it all came together.

I Swear, the solutions are so freaking simple but i have a hard time with it all. WHY AM I LIKE THIS???

LMAO: in seriousness though, thanks and if i need any more aid, i know where to ask.

Another simple but important question. I have this Race that i am working on, called the Zect. they are insectoid and have 4 arms. my question is how do i add 2 extra hands for weapon use in the racial tab.

I came across this field last month and was amused by it. In the race definition, you can add a field "rNumHands" and set it to any number you want.

There are some restrictions on how this works though, HL considers only 1 of the hands to be a primary, the other 3 are secondary. I have not figured out how to modify additional hand sets to be considered primary.

In my tests the following happens on a 4 handed character, you can wield:

4 one-handed weapons, only 1 gets the primary bonuses unless you have the feats that grant off-hand weapons the damage bonus.

1 two-handed weapon and 2 secondary weapons. The two-handed weapon gets the primary bonuses.

If you have a shield equipped, there is a bug. You can somehow wield a shield even when your hands are completely occupied (like the 4 weapon scenario), there's something wrong with the logic. You can also only wield only 1 shield ever, HL throws a validation error if you try to load 2 shields. I think this is due to the base D&D logic for calculating armor.

i will give this a shot, if not, then i can have a regular two-armed variant that i can work with. thanks

Another thing though. They also have a higher AC than normal due to their natural Carapace (Being Bugs and all), and they cannot wear normal armor to account for this. they can still use a shield but just not armor. In my description, they add their CON Modifier to their AC as well as their DEX Modifier. how would i go about this?

There is a new way to create an AC calculation in Racial Specials that was added in one of the last two updates. If you create a new Racial Special, you can scroll to the very end and easily set up an AC calculation using CON, DEX and a Shield.

Simply, check the Armor Class Calculation? checkbox, fill in the new base AC (if with now DEX/CON/Shield bonuses your AC is 12, put in 12) for the Base Value. Finally, click the button for AC modifiers and choose which modifiers will be used.

This doesn't turn off the ability to equip armor though. What happens is HL will calculate all the AC available and choose the best number.

There is a script on the tortle PC in the Tomb of Annihilation file that basically sets the AC bonus of any armor put on to 0 if you want to try and address the edge case that plate armor is better than the new AC calculation that you can look at as an example. The tortle was created before these new racial options, so the script is on the base PC version of the tortle.

Alrighty, i figured out how to do that. the AC thing was easier than i thought. also, because of their physiology, the Zect do not wear normal armor. how do i script this? i know there is a way to remove armor selection but i don't know how to do it myself.

I'm not sure you can completely turn off the ability to equip it, however you could check for the hero level tag: Hero.EquipArmor

If this tag is on, you could throw an error using an eval rule.

Click on eval rule and add one.
Set the Phase to Final
Set the Priority to 10000
Leave the index and severity alone
In the Message and Summary fields type: Hero Cannot Wear Armor!
And for the script use this:
validif (hero.tagis[Hero.EquipArmor] = 0)

It will throw a validation error up top with any other validation errors.

or you can try to modify the code below that basically zeroes out any armor worn, it won't fix every case scenario thought.

I run this post-attributes 5000 on my copy of the Tortle: