4E Release Notes v2.0.0

Recommended Campaign Effects and Modifiers

 * Effects
 * Conditions (expire "start"): COVER, CONC, TCONC, Prone
 * Conditions (expire "end", apply once): CA
 * Actions (expire "start"): Balancing, Climbing, Running, Squeezing

General

 * Now distributed in PAK format.
 * New graphics
 * 3 themes added (Wood (original look), Dungeon, Metal (minor))
 * An application message will be shown in the chat window when a roll or effect is applied to a target (attack, damage, heal, effect, save).
 * The message will contain any special results of the action, including HIT, MISS, BLOODIED, ABSORBED, RESISTED, etc.
 * Added icons for attack/damage/heal/effect application messages.
 * Range tag added to attack/damage/heal rolls. (M, R, A, C)
 * Powers with range of "melee or ranged weapon" will use range of the weapon used.
 * Improved source/target determination for all actions.
 * Shortcut links added to all PC powers, NPC powers, and item powers/properties/quirks.
 * Roll handlers have been placed in a separate file to make customization easier.
 * Graphics folder structure has been improved to make customization easier.
 * Function to register startup messages added to allow extensions to announce themselves.
 * Character portrait list (upper left) behavior change:
 * If main character window open, then bring it to the top.
 * Otherwise, if mini character window open, then bring it to the top.
 * If neither character window is open, then open the main character window on the top.
 * If running as a client, then activate that character (for players running multiple PCs).
 * New roll modifiers (see cheat sheet above).

Targeting

 * Added targeting section for each CT entry.
 * Targeting is separated for host vs. client (only relevant for PCs).
 * Client specified targets are shown with a green underlay.
 * Host targets can be specified by dragging the Add Target button onto a CT entry or a map token linked to CT.
 * Host targets can be cleared by pressing the Remove Host Targeting button.
 * Targets can be individually removed by clicking on the target entry.
 * Right-clicking on the Add Target button opens a menu allowing quick targeting of all allies or all non-allies.
 * The host can SHIFT-click on the token or name fields of a CT entry to target with the active CT entry.
 * Double-click ability activations (attack, damage, heal, effect) will be applied to the current targets.
 * Host targeting is only applied to rolls made by host, while client targeting applies to rolls made by client. (for PCs)
 * Self-targeting option added. (default is on)
 * If enabled, holding the ALT key while activating ability applies ability to self, instead of defined targets.
 * Target removal on multi-attack miss option added. (default is on)
 * If enabled and a multiple target attack is made, any targets that are missed will automatically be removed.
 * Multiple target damage rolls vary based on power range.
 * Close/area powers apply single damage roll to all targets.
 * Melee/ranged powers apply individual damage rolls for each target.
 * Effect targeting added.
 * Effect targets can be specified by dragging the Effect Add Target button onto a CT entry or a map token linked to CT.
 * Effect targets can be cleared by clicking on the "Targets" string under the effect label.
 * Right-clicking on the Effect Add Target button opens a menu allowing quick targeting of all allies or all non-allies.
 * Effects with targets will expire when the last target of the effect is deleted from the CT.
 * Targets will be displayed as "TRGT*, ,...;" in the quick effects view.
 * Targeted effect modifiers are not applied until a roll is applied to the target of the effect.
 * An [EFFECT] tag will be added to the application message with the modifiers applied.
 * Any dice modifiers in a targeted effect will be determined randomly, rather than rolled.
 * Targeted effects are only applied when dropping a roll on a target or using the main targeting system. Dragging roll results from the chat window will not apply modifiers.
 * Three party effect targeting.
 * Use primary targeting to select the targets you want to apply the effect to.
 * Hold SHIFT key while dragging effect onto the target you want the effect to apply to.
 * The effect will be applied to the primary targets, while the target of each of those effects will be set to the drop target.
 * Very useful for powers which apply effect to multiple targets against a specific creature. (i.e. Warlord's Strike)

Effects

 * Attributes
 * Rolls instigated by hidden effect (hidden source or visibility flag) will only be visible to the GM.
 * The Applied By field can be cleared by clicking on the text.
 * Added Active button to turn effect on/off.
 * Added Visibility button to set effect visibility (GM/All).
 * Added Apply button to specify number of times to apply effect (All/Once/Single)
 * On the PC mini sheet or CT quick effect view, the text "ONCE;" or "SINGLE;" will be added to effects with an Apply attribute.
 * Effects marked to apply "Once" will expire if any effect component is applied.
 * Effects marked to apply "Single" will expire each component as it is applied. If no components remain, effect expires.
 * Added Target button to PC power effects to allow standard targeting or self-target override (Target/Self)
 * Parser attempts to identify effects applied to "you", and set Target button appropriately.
 * On the PC mini sheet, the text "SELF;" will be added to effects with a Target attribute.
 * Adding to combat tracker
 * If new effect is the same as existing effect, longer durations or increased numerical modifiers will be applied to the existing effect.
 * Source of new effect will be set to the originating actor, if possible to determine.
 * New effects with the "Once" or "Single" Apply attribute and no expiration value will be set to the "end" of the current initiative.
 * New effects with the "ZONE" or "AURA" tags and no expiration will be set to the "start" of the current initiative.
 * Saving throws
 * When save applied to a PC or CT entry, the appropriate CT entry will be checked for any existing effects that a save ends.
 * If there is one effect that ends on a save, then the saving throw will be applied to that effect.
 * Saving throw roll results dragged from chat window and dropped on a specific effect will apply the save result to that effect.
 * Misc
 * Regeneration and ongoing damage effects support dice, and make heal/damage rolls, respectively.
 * An [EFFECTS] tag with any dice/mod applied by effects added to chat output for rolls
 * Effects can be dropped on the modifier stack. The first modifier encountered will be added to the stack, ignoring dice.
 * When campaign effects are double-clicked, they will be applied to the active identity (active CT entry on host, active PC on client).

Effect Usage

 * General
 * Effects can only be applied to creatures in the combat tracker.
 * Effects are composed of effect components separated by semi-colons.
 * Effect components that do not start with a supported tag are treated as text only.
 * Components can either be conditions (Blinded, Marked); modifiers (ATK, DMG); or special tags (FAIL, AURA).
 * Conditions
 * Not case-sensitive
 * Condition modifiers do not stack if they are the same.
 * Modifiers
 * Case-sensitive
 * Format = : 
 * If colon missing, component is treated as having no dice, modifiers nor descriptors.
 * Only one descriptor of each descriptor type is allowed per effect component, except as noted.
 * Multiple range types are allowed.
 * Multiple energy types are allowed for the DMG/DMGW tags
 * Special tags
 * Case-sensitive
 * Unique format for each tag
 * Good examples:
 * ATK: 2 power
 * SAVE: 1
 * DMGO: 2d6
 * DMG: 1d6 cold
 * RESIST: 5 fire; RESIST: 5 cold
 * Bad examples:
 * RESIST: 5 fire,cold
 * Other notes:
 * Effects on PC character sheet power tabs can contain sub-tags to indicate that a current ability bonus be added to or subtracted from the effect bonus.
 * Ex: RESIST: 2 [WIS]
 * Ex: ATK: [-DEX]
 * Ex: DMG: 2d6+1 [CON]


 * Legend
 * = racial, power, feat, shield, item, proficiency, enhancement
 * * = melee, ranged, area, close
 * * = acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, thunder
 * = any skill name
 * = strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, charisma


 * Legend
 * = start, end, endnext, save, encounter

Powers

 * Increased speed of highlighting in power descriptions.
 * Conditions (blinded, stunned, marked, grabbed, etc.)
 * Bonuses and penalties (attack, damage, heal, save, etc.)
 * Damage adjustments (resist, vulnerable)
 * Healing (regular/temporary, healing surge value, ...)
 * Multiple damage types in a single damage roll
 * Regeneration
 * Effect durations defined prior to effect definition
 * "Equal to" clauses
 * Half and twice ability bonus
 * Level as an ability bonus
 * Failed Saving Throw and Aftereffect
 * In general, better support for parsing all the various permutations

Character Sheet

 * Window
 * Added dice shadows to empty dice fields.
 * Editable fields have darker border than read-only fields.
 * Fields which can be rolled are noted by small dice in lower left corner.
 * Fields which support temporary modifiers are noted by a small plus sign in upper right corner.
 * Passive insight and perception checks can be dragged.
 * Added short rest with milestone right-click menu selection.
 * Weapons/implements with the "Jagged" property will critical on a 19 or 20.
 * Weapons/implements with the "Crit Range #" property will critical on any roll equal to or greater than the number defined.
 * PC weapon attack/damage and power attack/damage/heal are always draggable, regardless of client drag option.
 * Added button in upper right to activate character. If host, then character name added to speakers.  If client, then make the character active.
 * Powers
 * Single list implemented for all power abilities.
 * Power ability expansion button only visible when abilities are defined.
 * Add power abilities using the right-click menu.
 * Adding item powers will replace the string "^Power -" will be replaced with the item name.
 * In the damage or heal power ability details, click on the space just left of the ability modifier fields to change the stat modifier multiplier.
 * If Item (Daily) Uses set to non-zero, the value will be increased by one when a milestone is reached.
 * If Item (Daily) Uses set to non-zero, the value will be reset based on your level on an extended rest.
 * Added database flag to indicate that a power should be parsed on character sheet load. Used by third party programs.
 * Added right-click menu item to re-parse existing power description to reset power ability entries.
 * WARNING: Previous versions of the ruleset simplified the power description by removing simple attack/damage text.
 * Mini Sheet
 * Temporary modifiers for defenses can be edited.
 * Mini sheet weapon attack/damage fields highlight when hovering over them.
 * Mini sheet weapon attack/damage rolls can be activated from any portion of the attack/damage frame.
 * Mini sheet power abilities highlight when hovering over them.
 * Mini sheet power abilities can activated from the attack/damage/heal labels.

Combat Tracker

 * Window
 * Option added to pause initiative at start of each round before first CT entry is activated.
 * Names displayed in a larger font.
 * When a CT entry is activated, then the entry name is shown in bold.
 * Healing surges tracked for NPCs added from Personality window or module.
 * Faction change buttons can be dropped anywhere on a CT entry or on its map token to set the creature's faction.
 * Round counter resets to one, instead of zero.
 * Disabled hover expansion of CT entry subsections while dragging.
 * If the inititiative result and the initiative bonus are the same for two or more CT entries, they will now be sorted by name.
 * Menu enhancements
 * Added menu item to clear any expiring effects
 * Added menu item for short rest with milestone.
 * When using the rest menu items, any expiring effects will be cleared.
 * PCs
 * Added link indicator to heal surges remaining.
 * When active, the attack section will no longer auto-expand.
 * NPCs
 * On add, any initial effects (level adj, regen, ...) will be added with GM visibility.
 * On add, the Reach field will be set to the greater of default reach or Threatening Reach values.
 * Healing surges remaining can be tracked.
 * Visibility of map tokens is controlled by CT entry visibility button.
 * Global visibility button added to CT window to allow host to show/hide all NPCs at once.
 * Rolls made from hidden CT entries will be hidden from clients.
 * Attacks
 * The range of NPC powers added to the ATK section. (i.e. [M][R][C][A])
 * Aura powers gained an [AURA:#] tag.
 * Hovering over an [AURA:#] tag will show the extent of the aura as a blue square under the linked token.
 * Effects
 * Effects will now be displayed in the client CT.
 * Quick effects view added to host CT when effect details are not shown.
 * CT names can be dragged and dropped anywhere on an effect in order to set the source of an effect.
 * Effects can be dragged using any portion of the effect window, except for the save modifier.

Skill Challenge Tracker

 * Individual skill checks can be removed using the right-click menu.

Options

 * New options dialog layout with collapsible sections
 * If Auto Save option set to All, then death saving throws will be rolled for PCs with 0 hp or less.
 * Replaced TheBox with the Dice Tower.

Encounters

 * New minimized icon for encounter windows.
 * Added level adjustment field to creature entries.
 * If level adjustment on creature is not zero and the encounter is added to the combat tracker, then hit points will be adjusted, and a special effect adjusting attack, damage and effect will be applied.

NPCs

 * Initiative rolls on NPC templates can be dragged.
 * Initiative rolls will set initiative for the first matching CT entry.
 * Ability checks on NPC Sheets can be dragged.
 * Perception bonus checks from the Senses field can be dragged.
 * New combo power icons (melee/ranged, melee/close, close/area) for NPCs.
 * Added Action and Range fields for NPC powers.
 * Better linking of NPC sheet rolls to combat tracker.
 * If NPC matches active CT, then use active CT.
 * If NPC matches a unique CT entry, then use the unique CT entry.
 * If NPC does not match active CT entry and is not unique, then do not associate with a CT entry.

Items

 * Added Range field to item powers

Reference

 * New look and feel for all windows, except NPC and templates.
 * New catalog reference window support.
 * Button added to skill challenge reference in order to reset skill challenge tracker with the current skill challenge details.
 * Library window now sorts alphabetically.

General

 * Changed output of damage energy types. Ex: [TYPE: fire,cold]
 * Wound font colors have been darkened.
 * Format of attack/damage rolls changed.
 * Show on Client checkbox in campaign effects/modifiers removed; use Visibility button instead.
 * Removed option to "Remove Effect on Save Success". Saves are no removed automatically on a successful save, if a target effect can be identified.

Powers

 * Damage rolls with plus or crit clauses are now a single damage roll.
 * Damage rolls from "extra" clauses are now effects.
 * Enter key behavior changed. Hold SHIFT and press Enter to create new power; otherwise, the default string control behavior will be used.

Combat Tracker

 * CT entry attacks are now implemented as a windowlist, instead of a very long stringfield.
 * Turn notification font is now the same for all CT entries. Turn notifications for hidden CT entries will be denoted with the [GM] tag.
 * Removed effects from turn notification.
 * Removed old targeting display.
 * Extra text from NPC saving throw field will be added to the Special Defenses field in the CT.
 * When NPCs are added, they are always marked as foes.
 * Action Point Used field moved to character sheet, since it is only relevant to that character.
 * Immediate Action Used field moved from base CT entry area to attack section.

Skill Challenge Tracker

 * Drop-down icon for each skill only shown when roll results have been added.

Character Sheet

 * Weapon/implement bonuses now only applied to damage rolls which contain dice. (i.e. Cleave, Reaping Strike)
 * Activating healing surge value field will no longer apply a healing surge; use button above field instead.
 * When adding powers, details are not automatically expanded.
 * Misc modifiers for attack/damage removed. They were stopgap for effects.
 * The dice/number fields in the Special Abilities section have been removed; use custom powers instead.
 * By default, all new skills and inventory items will show up on mini-sheet unless explicitly excluded.

General

 * FG default dragging behavior (repeated calls during dragging) caused unneeded code execution. Fixed.
 * Script error when a user attempts to chat without selecting a character. Fixed.
 * Script error when clients makes extra clicks at the character selection screen. Fixed.
 * Script error when dropping number from chat box onto modifier stack. Fixed.
 * Modifier stack was not being added to manually rolled saving throws. Fixed.
 * GM modifier stack was incorrectly being added to dice tower rolls. Fixed.

Powers

 * Removed "Deafened creatures are immune" from triggering effect highlighting.
 * Removed "must be " from triggering effect highlighting.

Character Sheet

 * Script error when expanding power abilities, if attack and/or effect lists were empty. Fixed.
 * Script error when backspace in empty inventory location field. Fixed.
 * Both at-will and checkbox buttons were being displayed for At-Will powers. Fixed.
 * When first created, skill totals and ability sub-totals would not correctly update when ability scores changed. Fixed.
 * When activating passive insight/perception fields, the +5 bonus for trained skills was not being added. Fixed.
 * Tab order while inputting character sheet powers was wrong. Fixed.
 * Order of abilities on mini sheet was different than main character sheet. Fixed.

Combat Tracker

 * Expiration and save modifier fields in GM combat tracker were sometimes inaccessible when effect name was long. Fixed.

NPCs

 * Endless loop condition in NPC window resize code. Fixed.
 * The double-click option was not being respected on all NPC fields. Fixed.

Items

 * Filter on campaign item list not working. Fixed.

Reference

 * Errors when opening NPC templates in modules. Fixed.
 * Ritual filter not working. Fixed.
 * Disease reference layout missing information. Fixed.