Monsterbrew
Announcements

A tracker you can run from the keyboard

Hey all.

Today I've got some more improvements, mainly for the combat tracker. Common feedback I got was to be able to apply rolled damage to a creature. Now you can select targets, roll damage and apply it to the selected targets. I also went on a bit of a side quest, more about that below.

The tracker is still in beta, so keep the feedback coming.

Applying rolls to targets

Pick your targets, roll damage from the statblock and apply it. Under each damage roll there's now a row with Saved or Failed for every target, and Apply to selected targets takes it off their HP, temporary HP first. Every hit lands in the combat log.

Side quest: keyboard shortcuts

As I mentioned, I went on a bit of a side quest. I'm a bit of a geek and I've always enjoyed programs that make everything available via shortcuts. I use them often when I'm programming, not having to touch a mouse definitely speeds up my workflow. So it got me wondering, how feasible it would be to apply this concept to the combat tracker. The goal: Run an entire combat without touching a mouse, doing everything via the keyboard (and without having to tab 20.000 times). I'm happy to say that I've achieved my goal and managed to create a system that works! Although it's still full of quirks and could be improved.

Run the fight from the keyboard

  • T turns on target mode, 1–9 pick targets and 0 clears them
  • V turns on save mode, 1–9 flip a target between Saved and Failed
  • D applies the newest damage roll to your targets
  • Esc ends either mode

Press ? to see all keyboard shortcuts, grouped by mode.

Legendary actions on other turns

Legendary creatures act at the end of other creatures' turns, and now the tracker lets them. Press E to open the legendary creature's panel, with its own targets and statblock, and U to spend a legendary action. The uses count down, like "Legendary actions 2 / 3".

Group saves and the side panel

  • While a group saving throw is open, pick creatures in target mode, then press G to jump back to the save and Enter to roll it.
  • [ and ] make the side panel narrower or wider, and L pins the combat log under it on desktop.
  • Alt+Enter in an HP field adds temporary HP.

Smaller improvements and fixes

Besides the work on the combat tracker, some effort also went into fixes and improving already existing stuff:

  • A high or low AC or HP hint in the editor now says which CR that number suits, like "AC 18 suits CR 13". The hints also got an info icon, so their tooltip is easier to find.
  • Fix: attack effects could read "and and the target is Grappled".
  • Fix: a creature without a size, type or alignment showed "Size Type, Alignment", or * * in the Homebrewery export.
  • Fix: a tab left open for a few days could crash to the "Something went wrong" screen.

As always, if you run into a bug or have an idea, let me know on Discord!

Happy Brewing all! 🍻