Can it happen?

[TalMeta]

Is there a way to make a custom ability appear in a drop down menu from a Class special selection (i.e. the way Weapon Focus asks you to select a weapon)?

If not, is there any place I can add them to get them to display that way?

 

[Aaron]

You should be able to select the custom abilities the same way you select other things on a class special. What are you using for the "Custom Expression"?

 

[TalMeta]

You should be able to select the custom abilities the same way you select other things on a class special. What are you using for the "Custom Expression"?

Had not thought of that. If I add Custom Ability to that field, it wants to offer me every one in existence. Any way to narrow the list?

 

[Aaron]

Look for the SpecSource tag for the associated class that gives the custom special. So for example, if you wanted to pick among rage powers, you could have

component.BaseCustSp & SpecSource.cHelpBbn

Plus if the class gets more than one kind of custom special, you'll have to exclude the rest of them by adding "& !Helper.Secondary" or whatever.

 

[TalMeta]

Okay, more complicated question. Is there a way to tie the selection of a Custom Ability to the presence or absence of a memorized spell? i.e. deny the Custom Ability if the spell in question is not memorized?

 

[Aaron]

You could probably set up a pre-req to foreach through the spells on the hero, looking for the appropriate spell and that it is memorized (rather than a spell like ability or a known spell for a spontaneous caster).

 

[TalMeta]

You could probably set up a pre-req to foreach through the spells on the hero, looking for the appropriate spell and that it is memorized (rather than a spell like ability or a known spell for a spontaneous caster).

I'm sorry to be dense, but could you provide an example?

 

[Aaron]

The Master Chymist's "Draconic Mutagen" Custom special ability has a similar pre-req, it looks for a certain formula in the alchemist formula book. You should be able to use that as a base, I think.

Here it is:
~search through all our spells, restricting the list to Alchemist
~spells in the spellbook that are form of the dragon

foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "Spellbook.cHelpAlc & thingid.spFormDra?"
@valid = 1
nexteach

 

[TalMeta]

Thank you ever so much, works perfectly!

 

[TalMeta]

Ok, one snag. If the spell is known by more than one class, if there a way to summarize all of them in one expression? i.e.

foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "Spellbook.cHelpTBS & thingid.spDMABT"
//not sure what to place here//
foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT"
@valid = 1
nexteach

Both classes can know the spell, and gain the custom ability.

 

[Aaron]

This part:
"Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT"

Is a tag expression, so you can set it up to look for any combination of tags. You want to use "|" which means "or".

Try:
Spellbook.cHelpTBS | Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT

 

[TalMeta]

This part:
"Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT"

Is a tag expression, so you can set it up to look for any combination of tags. You want to use "|" which means "or".

Try:
Spellbook.cHelpTBS | Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT

Should there be an extra " in there somewhere? When I use:

foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "Spellbook.cHelpTBC | Spellbook.cHelpTBS & thingid.spDMABT"
@valid = 1
nexteach

When I try and add the Custom ability, it says that the spell is unknown, even though its in the spellbook.

 

[Mathias]

You can right-click error messages in Hero Lab and copy them, then paste them here. I think specifics would be helpful in this case.

 

[TalMeta]

You can right-click error messages in Hero Lab and copy them, then paste them here. I think specifics would be helpful in this case.

It's not actually giving me an error message, per se. Okay, let me explain it a bit more. I'm working on an adaptation of the Tome of Battle for Pathfinder, and to make everything "flow" the way described there, I've elected to make all the maneuvers 1st level spells, to cope with the odd learning progression. To reflect the maneuvers a character has readied, I want them to appear under the Custom Abilities tab, but only be valid of the character in question has the maneuver in their spellbook.

The code Aaron suggested above works perfectly for "spells" known by only one class, but seems to break down when the "spell" is known by multiple classes.

For example: I have a spell called "Bolstering Voice" which can be learned by either Crusaders or Warblades at 1st level. Learning the spell is not a problem, but when I try and add the the maneuver as a custom ability, it is grayed out and is giving me the "error message" I defined in the Pre-reqs tag, i.e. "You don't know this maneuver". If I add it anyway, it is red on the character sheet and in the validation page.

Hero Labs itself isn't giving me any (internal) error messages, its just not behaving the way I think I'm telling it to.

 

[Sendric]

I'm not sure what priority the 'ors' and 'ands' get, but it might be worth trying:

"Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT | Spellbook.cHelpTBS & thingid.spDMABT"

just to see if that fixes it.

alternatively, you could try a pair of foreach statements that would basically accomplish the same thing:

foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "Spellbook.cHelpTBC | Spellbook.cHelpTBS"
foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "thingid.spDMABT"
@valid = 1
nexteach
nexteach

 

[TalMeta]

I'm not sure what priority the 'ors' and 'ands' get, but it might be worth trying:

"Spellbook.cHelpTBC & thingid.spDMABT | Spellbook.cHelpTBS & thingid.spDMABT"

just to see if that fixes it.

alternatively, you could try a pair of foreach statements that would basically accomplish the same thing:

foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "Spellbook.cHelpTBC | Spellbook.cHelpTBS"
foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "thingid.spDMABT"
@valid = 1
nexteach
nexteach

Actually, neither of those things worked, but simply using

foreach pick in hero from BaseSpell where "thingid.spDMABT"
@valid = 1
nexteach


seems to be operating the way I want it too.
Thanks much!

 

[rob]

I'm not sure what priority the 'ors' and 'ands' get

IIRC, you *can* use parentheses around terms of an expression to group them and clearly prioritize their evaluation. So the following will "and" the results of the two separate "or" operations.

(A | B) & (C | D)

Hope this helps...

 

[Mathias]

It sounds like custom abilities aren't the way to go here.

Why not use spells in spellbook to reflect what options the character has and spells memorized to reflect what's currently readied?

 

[Sendric]

IIRC, you *can* use parentheses around terms of an expression to group them and clearly prioritize their evaluation. So the following will "and" the results of the two separate "or" operations.

(A | B) & (C | D)

Hope this helps...

It certainly helps to know that. Thanks!