TOPIC: True Dungeon Character Generators (App)

Cranston, the app is so solid...I cannot imagine how challenging the architecture of the app must be to handle all the permutations.

Anyway, found a bug,...you should not be allowed to equip Ring of Havoc Melee and Ring of Havoc Ranged...I noticed it in the ring choices this weekend. Did not check, but a further test is "any other havoc"...

Suggestion for VTD.

1. when the init roll is done by the player, automatically SHOW the init roll for the DM too..this is more "true to life".
2. when we submit a roll during attack rolls...send what room we have the app on...if it does not match, send a "wrong room" response....

David Harris wrote: I do want to say thank you very much to Cranston! While there were still some bugs this weekend, the app has come along way in a short time and I think it is a big success overall.

+1

Cranston wrote: A question for casters, who cast multiple spells in one round. We are referring to this as Spell Sequencing. The plan for the apps for March is as follows:

1. Cast No Mark will move to be a toggle button that shows up on the casting view, assuming it is available for the token build and spell being cast.

2. The present 'No Mark' button will change to 'Sequence'.

3. Assume I am planning to use the Arch Mage Power 'Quicken' for a Magic Missile and perform 'Fireball' with Mad Evoker for the main spell, with 15 spell bonus. You MUST do the Quickened spell first. When Quickened, the 'Sequence' button becomes enabled. Tapping Sequence, will leave the view as normal, and will list 'Pending Damage' on the main view as 26 (11 +15). Nothing sent to the Dice Roller as yet. Now you cast a Fireball with Mad Evoker. 20 points is added to the Pending Damage for a total of 46, which is sent to the Dice Roller, and listed on the main view as 'Total Damage', along with listing the 'Pool' as 35.

4. Now we are casting a Quickened Magic Missile, with a Ring of Spell Storing Fireball with Mad Evoker, and a main spell of Fireball with Conserve. So like above, cast the Magic Missile, set Quicken, tap Sequence and Pending Damage of 26 is reported. Now Cast the Fireball, set Mad Evoker, and again hit 'Sequence'. Now the Pending Damage is 46, and Pending Pool is listing 35. Now cast Fireball again, and tap Cast, which indicates the end of the sequence. Total Damage is 66 and sent to the Dice Roller (subject to DR). You also have a pool of 50 to assign with discussion with the DM.

In each case, to start or continue sequencing spells for 1 round, you will tap 'Sequence'. The spell sequence always has to end with a 'Cast' or 'Cast as Scroll'. Using either of those buttons will end the sequence and send the data to the Dice Roller.

One downside of this is if you do a Scorching Ray, the To Hit numbers will not show up in the Dice Roller, if it is part of a Spell Sequence.

Hopefully, this makes sense. If that works for most people, that is how I will code it up for March.

This really is a lot to unpack, but I'm going to try.
1 & 2 both sound fine
3. If I read this correctly, you end up with the magic missile damage (11 +15) assuming you made your skill check as pending. That's 26. When the fireball is cast, you are adding the base damage of 20 to the 26. That's where you get 46. You then take the bonus damage of 15 and MEC damage of 20 and show that as a pool of 35. So, the math is correct. But, if I'm casting a fireball, there very likely is more than one monster. What if I want to cast the magic missile at one monster and then cast the fireball (base damage) at a second monster. And then spread around the pool of 35. When you came up with the 46 total it sounds like all of that is going to the same monster, when it could be split 26 at one and 20 at another. And if I quicken the magic missile, I could have also decided to fork it and I need to know that just the 26 damage goes to a second target, not the entire 46.

Yes, mage stuff does get very confusing. In general, I think I see where you were going, but there are just so many edge cases that I'm not sure I envy your task.

4. The first sentence throws me off right away, because you can't quicken one spell and conserve a second spell in the same round. All mage powers must be applied to the same spell in the same round (but does not apply to MEC).

Also, if you use the ring or charm of spell storing, you can't then use any mage powers other than quicken (or MEC), because you just used your free action. So, I wouldn't mention conserve in your description. I don't see where you use it in the longer description, so you might be ok. It just threw me off.

I assume the downside you mention that applies to Scorching Ray will apply to all sliding spells?

In general, I think you're headed in the right direction. Consider another scenario though, in which you use Cast No Mark twice in the same sequence and end with that. for example.

I Quicken and cast an instant action Fireball, sequence is activated
I use the Crown of Expertise to cast a standard action Fireball, this is Cast No Mark, but does not end the sequence
I then use the Ring/Charm of Spell Storing for a free action Fireball, this is Cast No Mark

The only time I actually Cast Fireball was when I used Quicken, but your example says to start with Quicken.

I do think you're headed in the right direction.

I agree with most of what you are saying.

For AoE, I was just including that with the main damage for the Dice Roller. The pool damage and the listing I put at the bottom for other creatures in the room, will remain on the display, after the spell. The first spell has to be the one Quickened, because if you just Cast a spell, that prompts sending the data to the Dice Roller, so if you want multiple spells included, you have to start with the Quickened Spell, which can be either the MM or the FB. It's just if you do the FB second, it will leave the FB info on the view.

As far as I can tell from the TokenDB, there are only 2 ways to cast multiple spells per round. One is through Quicken (can only be used once per room) and Ring/Charm of Spell Storing (can only equip 1), which is once per game. So this can occur at most twice in a room and generally only once per room.

There are multiple items that allow a free spell as a scroll. Some once per room, others once per game. I need to account for these also, but once the sequence is started, these only will allow the use of the 'Cast as Scroll' button.

Dave wrote: I Quicken and cast an instant action Fireball, sequence is activated
I use the Crown of Expertise to cast a standard action Fireball, this is Cast No Mark, but does not end the sequence
I then use the Ring/Charm of Spell Storing for a free action Fireball, this is Cast No Mark

The only time I actually Cast Fireball was when I used Quicken, but your example says to start with Quicken.

I do think you're headed in the right direction.

1. You would start the cast on the FB. Then set Mage Powers to select Quicken, press 'Sequence' button
2. Start the FB again, tap the toggle for 'Cast No Mark', press the 'Sequence' button
3. Start the FB again. Toggle the 'Cast No Mark', press the 'Cast' button, which starts the send to the Dice Roller with 60 points (subject to any Fire DR). The main view will list the Pool Damage (spell bonus) and list 60 points to any other creatures in the room. You will need to notify the DM about it being 3 AoE Fireballs, and tell the DM how to allocate the pool damage.

The 'Cast No Mark' toggle will only be enabled according to your equipment build, with the same limitations that it has how. Crown of Expertise, Spell Restore, etc.

Thanks for the quick clarifications.

Just one additional. The Cabal set bonus will also allow casting of a free action spell once per room.

Dave wrote: Just one additional. The Cabal set bonus will also allow casting of a free action spell once per room.

Thank you! I missed that one, but will add it to the list.

I got hung up a bit in the app with casting this time.

I made lots of mistakes and ended up in situations several times where the end state wasn’t what I was trying to do.

Managing all the possible interactions between spell storing, spell swapping, “of power”, “of expertise”, quick blessing, Ring of the Norns, restore spell, and all the mage medallion stuff is daunting!

Matthew Hayward wrote: I got hung up a bit in the app with casting this time.

I made lots of mistakes and ended up in situations several times where the end state wasn’t what I was trying to do.

Managing all the possible interactions between spell storing, spell swapping, “of power”, “of expertise”, quick blessing, Ring of the Norns, restore spell, and all the mage medallion stuff is daunting!

I could simplify the entry for spells, but that would limit the variations on which spells get which Mage Powers are applied to which spells, and which spells are affected by which tokens in the build. Whenever I try and do that, I get called out for it. So, for now, the player will have to enter each spell individually, and the damage for the main target will get accumulated.

I'm kind of a mindset that you do what you think is best, I'll adapt and then I'll give feedback. Don't take any of my criticisms as trying to be harsh. I really love the app. Just trying to help it get better.

Now, having said all of that, i will add that even casting a single spell with some of the variations takes longer than I'd hope. We're only talking seconds here, but when the rest of the party just has to hit melee attack or ranged attack while I'm playing with a spell, it feels like it's taking forever. More than once I had to tell the DM to hold on while I finish my spell. I can only imagine what that's going to be like if I'm playing with more than 1 spell per round. It was faster for me to cast a single spell and then just tell the DM he can have me do it all over again or accept that I used Quicken and cast the exact same spell for the exact same damage twice.

Dave wrote: I'm kind of a mindset that you do what you think is best, I'll adapt and then I'll give feedback. Don't take any of my criticisms as trying to be harsh. I really love the app. Just trying to help it get better.

Now, having said all of that, i will add that even casting a single spell with some of the variations takes longer than I'd hope. We're only talking seconds here, but when the rest of the party just has to hit melee attack or ranged attack while I'm playing with a spell, it feels like it's taking forever. More than once I had to tell the DM to hold on while I finish my spell. I can only imagine what that's going to be like if I'm playing with more than 1 spell per round. It was faster for me to cast a single spell and then just tell the DM he can have me do it all over again or accept that I used Quicken and cast the exact same spell for the exact same damage twice.

I suggested in epilogue that a little “smoke” at the areas where the dice goes to show that the mystics are doing their thing would be nice user experience to let the hitters know that the checks are happening