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Now to add some functionality to the Effect Visibility Extension. I’ll start by modifying the default behavior of who sees an effect when it is initially applied. For the 5E ruleset, when an effect is applied, everyone sees it. I want to change it to GM only. The GM then has the option of changing who sees the effect and when.

The astute reader will immediately recognize that in an earlier blog I had mentioned I was abandoning this idea because FG v3.2.0 will make it moot. I have changed my mind. Working through the implementation is illustrative of several concepts plus it segues well to some additional functionality I want to add to my extension.

To get started let’s view the current default effect visibility behavior. I invoke FG and open the Effect Visibility Campaign. Because I am working in 5E, I have monsters immediately available for use via the SRD Bestiary. From the Bestiary, I drag an Orc into the Combat Tracker, select it as the current actor, click the Show NPC icon, and make the effects list visible by clicking the Effects icon. (Each of the controls I used is circled in red in the following screenshot.)

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Next I’ll place three effects on the Orc. The first, using the Add Effect button in the Orc’s effects list. A second, Paralyze, using the Effects Manager. And third, I start and connect a client, then use a 20th level Paladin, kindly published by Zacchaeus, to inflict Natural Wrath. All three effects are displayed in the following screenshot. Note that I have modified each of the effect descriptions to clarify the source of the effect.

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A few items of note: first, each effect was applied with a default visibility of “VSBL“, meaning, the GM plus all players can see the effect as it was applied to the Orc. Second, the Paralyzed Effect and the Restrained Effect were both announced in the Chat window. Interestingly, the first effect, was not announced in the Chat. Offhand, I’d guess this is because when the effect is inflicted it is undefined, there are no details. An inconsistency in FG behavior that is worth investing in the future.

Let’s take a look at another inconsistency that I found while preparing this blog. I will definitely explore this in a future blog. Again using the Bestiary, I drag a Night Hag to the Combat Tracker. She has an effect already applied to her. Take a look at the default visibility as shown in the following screenshot. GM Only!

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In my next post, I’ll go through the steps to add a single line of code that will change the default behavior for effect visibility in the Combat Tracker from “VSBL” (visible to all) to “GM” (visible to the GM only).

Until next time keep on role playing.