All I have to say to you is this:
You ${[1d20cs<=:skill_value_score:] ? ‘Succeed!’ : ‘Fail!’}$
Are you glad you asked? I’ve been thinking how to get the Trudvang Chronicles RPG to the table and, realistically if it is to be a slightly longer form game, to the virtual table. I was disappointed that Foundry didn’t have a pre-built sheet, so reflexively went off to PlayRole VTT to create a simple character tracker sheet. For actual play, that’s still an option for me. My mate Tom pointed out that Role20 has a sheet, but that would require me to actually GM on that platform, and quite honestly I’d rather not. (Role20 is OK and improving and I’m happy to play games on it, but why use it when I am paying for Foundry, which feels so much better?).
So, a bit of YouTubery and other shenanigans took me to one of the point and click form builder systems on Foundry: Custom System Builder. It gives you the tools to build a sheet from selectable components, including tabbed panels, and access to HTML formatting and CSS if you are so minded. In essence, it gives you a framework to create a character sheet with formulas that execute dice rolls in the chat, and initiative in the combat tracker. In fact, it does a lot more with macros, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself.
Although not especially pretty, I have managed to get a working tracking sheet for Trudvang Chronicles up and running in Foundry VTT. There’s still some light formula scripting to do, but on persevering I have managed it.
The tracking sheet only has the minimum that you need to monitor key resources, and execute dice rolls to share with the group. Still, it puts me in the frame for using a game system that isn’t supported in Foundry, and takes me closer to the simplicity of PlayRole VTT for non-coder sheet building. Could be a bit of a game changer, as the full range of the Dice API is supported, rather than the curtailed functionality on PlayRole.
The second element in the image above is the ‘PDFoundry’ module, which allows full PDF viewing in Foundry. With a form fillable PDF, this can actually be used as the actor’s character sheet! I haven’t tried that as the Trudvang sheet isn’t form fillable. Instead I built the tracking sheet using the Custom System Builder. Even so, it is nice to be able to have the PDF natively launched in Foundry itself.
So, with some dedicated time, I’ve made progress to the point that I can get Trudvang playing in Foundry VTT. No, I’m unlikely to forge on and build a whole functioning character sheet in the VTT, my efforts were to get me to a playable start point. At its simplist this could have been achieved with a range of dice macros on the macro bar, but with a small tracking sheet, you have everything you need that is linked to tokens on the display, and the combat tracker. You ca leverage a ot of the VTTs strengths straight away. There are other things that I’d like to be able to do, including have damage applied to targeted tokens automatically. That’ll be possible, but I’ll live with where I have got to for now.
Excuses to get the game running are now dwindling. Focus should now switch to preparing for some actual play!