HEXROLL3 - Battlemap tools development

Greetings, Brave Adventurers!

Most of my hexroll development attention these days is dedicated to hexroll3. Our latest setup and playtests motivated me to explore tools that will make the new app more referee-friendly and our gaming sessions more fun.

'Dice', who was up until now always an OSR player, has recently decided to take up the DM seat in a new 5E campaign for the first time, and started providing valuable feedback from his perspective.

It is therefore time for a quick progress update on some of the new features I added, specifically around battlemap tools for virtual tabletops:

1. Movement Ruler

Keep track of tokens movement range and other range-related actions. The current unit of measurement is feet.

2. Snap to Grid

When dragging tokens around the map, a gently applied snap-to-grid feature will keep tokens organized on the battlemap, making it easier to lay out token formations.

3. Move as Group

This is particularly useful when the referee or a player needs to move the entire party - or a horde of goblins, for that matter - from place to place.

4. 'Dry-Erase' Marker

This long-requested feature is finally making its way into hexroll3. You will soon be able to quickly sketch scenery features or other visual aids for your players directly on the map using your mouse or stylus.

5. Teleport Tokens

To prevent unnecessary despawning and respawning of tokens, you will be able to select a group of tokens and teleport them over any distance in the sandbox.

6. Visual Effects

This will allow the referee to add effects such as fireball explosions or a cloud of green gas, adding an extra visual cue for the players when needed.

7. Initiative Dice Roller

After exclusively playing B/X and other OSR variants, 'Pen' asked me to fix one of his major gripes with 5E - resolving initiative at the beginning of combat. The initiative dice roller allows for presetting a memorized modifier per player or monster and quickly rolling a d20 using it. This way, resolving initiative take only a few seconds, making the transition into combat much smoother.

Everything I develop on the app side of things (UI) uses the 2E sandbox compatibility mode, ensuring any sandbox you currently have will be usable with the new user interface. My plan is to make that part available in closed-alpha by Christmas.

That's all for today -- Enjoy the crawl!

Ithai