Style Guide
A style guide to help with data entry.
[[TOC]]
When this page talks about items, it's using the Foundry definition - so equipment, spells, feats, effects, individual monster abilities are all items.
The first time that a spell, feat, condition, item (or basically anything that's in a compendium) is mentioned in an item, it should be linked by dragging and dropping. If necessary, you can edit the label of the cross-reference to make it more grammatically correct.
If the same item is referenced again, it shouldn't be linked. The exception is for conditions with numerical values, where you should cross-link every unique numerical value.
The exception is for the most basic actions like Strike, Stride, Step and so on. Every cross-link makes the text slightly less readable. We have to assume a certain baseline level of knowledge about the most common actions. Specific actions (e.g. Trip, Grapple) should be linked, as most people probably won't remember offhand what the critical success damage from a trip is.
When doing new data entry linking needs to be the last step done. This is because the link needs to be made to the item in compendium, not in your world.
Rollable buttons are very useful for any rolled value (e.g. 'breath weapon recharges in 1d4 rounds') or value that's handy to output to chat (e.g. 'the monster heals 10 hit points after using this ability').
The correct syntax is: [[/r {1d6}[fire]]]{1d6 Fire Damage} for 1d6 fire damage. For other damage types, substitute the relevant type. If there's no damage type, use [[/r 1d6]]{1d6 damage}.
If the number isn't a damage value, use something like [[/br 1d4 #Breath Weapon Recharge]]{1d4 rounds} or equivalent, for monster cooldowns we use blind rolls (/br) instead of normal rolls.
You can make a rollable button for a DC, and set the type of save and also traits. This puts up a button for the players to click on which will apply all the correct bonuses and penalties.
@Check[type:fortitude|dc:20|basic:true]
The button will inherit the traits from the ability. Remember to add damaging-effect to make Bulwark work properly. If a save is marked as a "basic" save, the damaging-effect trait is passed automatically.
Skill rolls can also be made using the following syntax: @Check[type:athletics|dc:20] as well as Perception rolls: @Check[type:perception|dc:20] or @Check[type:perception|dc:24|traits:action:search,secret] to have a blind rolled search check.
you can also do flat checks: @Check[type:flat|dc:4]
The full list of applicable fields is as follows. For the purposes of data entry into the system, the attributes should be order in the the order presented below:
type - Supported type values are: flat, perception, fortitude, reflex, will, a skill slug in short or long form e.g. med or medicine, or a lore slug.
Everything except lores will have a default localized inline link label that can be overwritten by adding {Some Label} to the check.
This is the only mandatory parameter.
dc - A numeric value, @self.level for a level based DC of the roller from the DC by level chart, resolve(@actor.attributes.classDC.value) or resolve(max(1,5,@actor.level)).
resolve() will try to resolve any value on the item (@item.data.data...value) or the actor (@actor.data.data...value). For example, a button resolving the class DC would be @Check[type:reflex|dc:resolve(@actor.attributes.classDC.value)]
basic:true - Only works with save checks. The inline roll label will be Basic {checkName} e.g. Basic Reflex Save.
showDC - Defaults to owner visible only. Can be changed to gm to only show the GM or all to show DCs to all players
adjustment - Increases or decreases the dc field based on the value passed when used alongside dc:@self.level to replicate "Very Hard" or other adjusted DCs by level. For example @Check[type:performance|dc:@self.level|adjustment:2|traits:action:perform] Would be a button to roll a perform check at a hard DC for the roller's level, useful for things like Lingering Composition or One for All.
immutable:true - The DC is static and will not be changed by modifiers like frightened, elite, or weak.
name - The name of the check in the rolled chat card. This will default to {itemName} DC if no name parameter is given.
traits - Any additional traits that the roll should have. If no traits parameter is given the roll traits will default to the item traits. The final traits will be a deduplicated list of item traits, actor traits, action name, and parameter traits. Any check with the secret trait will be rolled as a blind roll by the system.
overrideTraits:true - The roll traits will omit the item traits.
Buttons can be made to create pre set templates. These use the PF2e names for the templates, not the Foundry names. You only need to specify the shape and distance, by default it uses the user's assigned color.
@Template[type:emanation|distance:x]
@Template[type:burst|distance:x]
@Template[type:cone|distance:x]
@Template[type:line|distance:x]
The labels for these buttons will automatically be generated as X-foot Type, but a label can be specified. For cases where a label is needed, for example in an aura where the word emanation is dropped we can manually specify. @Template[type:emanation|distance:90]{90 Feet}.
There are also optional fields.
- The
traitsfield is optional, and should be ommitted if left blank. By default the command will provide the traits from item data. Traits are picked up by certain modules and should not be included in any system data entry. - The
widthfield is optional, and should be ommitted left blank. It can be used to create a line template with a width larger than 5 feet (default if omitted). A Wand of Crackling Lightning for example would use an inline that looks like@Template[type:line|distance:120|width:10]{120- by 10-Foot Line}
width shoud be used to make square or rectangular templates: @Template[type:line|distance:20|width:20]{20-Foot Square}. While it is possible to use the Foundry rect template type as an inline doing so is not advisable as the same results are more easily obtained by using line with a width. rect can only be used with the old <span ...> tag method.
If you need to make a very specific template the shape can be passed and the template data can be passed as a JSON object using any of Foundry's or a module's template data such as specifying the fill color, line color, angle, etc. These should not be used in the system but are provided here for user reference.
<span data-pf2-effect-area="cone" data-pf2-template-data='{"fillColor": "#15B39D", "distance": 15, "angle": 90}'>15 foot cone</span>
Secret GM text is no longer used in the system style. It is presented here for reference but future data entry should not use it.
You can make text visible to GMs only by using <p data-visibility="gm">GM-Only Text Here</p> or wrap multiple <p> in one <div data-visibility"gm"> <p>Text 1</p> <p>Text 2</p> </div> This feature is included with the DC button above (the showDC="gm" portion).
A saving throw roll with a GM only DC looks like this to a player:
Paizo's text is sometimes very compressed, as they have to worry about fitting things onto physical pages of printed text. We don't have that problem, and so extra line breaks and formatting can (and should!) be added to aid readability. For example, look at our version of Animal Form versus the pdf:
If an ability has critical success/success etc. outcomes, these should be separated from the main ability text by a horizontal line:
Use the in-build font style for action symbols (make sure the text isn't set to bold, as otherwise they're hard to read). If you're updating an older item, the action symbols will be in a different font style that doesn't fit as well within the lines - and so they should be replaced with the new version.
We generally follow Paizo's lead here:
The exception is italicising compendium links. It's already very clear if something is a cross-reference to a compendium item, and so that doesn't need to be italicised as well.
A condition should be linked the first time it's referenced. If there's a number associated, make sure to link it each time, like Fear:
Here's the correct format for linking conditions, which should happen automatically if you drag and drop within Foundry: @Compendium[pf2e.conditionitems.<Capitalizedcondition>]{<Conditiontextandnumber>} e.g. @Compendium[pf2e.conditionitems.Stupefied]{Stupefied 1}
Paizo sometimes saves space by saying an ability is identical to that of another monster. We don't have to worry as much about space, and so always copy and paste the full text in and replace references to the creature type as well as any necessary updates to DCs or damage values.
For example if a generic NPC had an ability with the text The ruffian brandishes his sword while striking with it. He attempts to demoralize then makes a scimitar strike against the same target. If a female NPC named Lucy had this ability and simply had the text As ruffian you should edit the text to Lucy brandishes her sword while striking with it. She attempts to demoralize then makes a scimitar strike against the same target. This changes the references to the specific NPC and alters the gendered language to match the stated gender of the NPC.
There's a compendium with this name which contains commonly-used monster abilities. If you're editing the monster with an ability from here, add a fresh copy onto the monster.
For effects like telepathy, scent and so on, add the extra info about the range or degree of precision into the ability title (e.g. "Telepathy 100 feet" or "Scent (Imprecise) 60 feet)"). If there's a lot of information here, it may be better off in the first line of the ability (e.g. "Telepathy 100 feet" as the title, with "Other myconids and those affected by purple poison only" in the main ability body. Note the capitalization of Imprecise, but the lack of capitalization on feet. This is the standard for ability titles where the units do not follow title case.
Lore that's available in the Bestiaries and Adventure Toolbox sections of APs can and should be added to monsters where possible. This can be done on the Notes tab of the default NPC sheet.
Text specific to a monster should go above text specific to a family of monsters, and should be separated by a horizontal line, as shown above.
Add a link to the ability glossary 'aura' after the brief description of the aura's range, e.g.:
If an attack has a secondary effect (e.g. Grab), it should be linked into the attack. Make sure to add a copy of the ability to the monster, and then it'll turn up in the chatlog when the GM uses that attack!
Add any persistent damage into the attack's description, as Foundry doesn't 'do' persistent damage properly right now. Make the damage value rollable, and cross-link to the condition (e.g. [[/r {1d6}[persistent,bleed]]] @Compendium[pf2e.conditionitems.Persistent Damage]{Persistent Bleed Damage}.
Many monster abilities can be automated by adding rules elements to the relevant ability. See the rules element page on the wiki for details on how to do this.
Many NPCs have bonuses to skills in specific situations, e.g. a +4 to Stealth in forests. To access the menu to set these bonuses, click here:
Once the dialogue is open, go to the 'Details' tab. The label is what will appear on the statblock, and the roll modifiers is what macros and other parts of the system will interact with:
Typical options for roll modifiers are terrain:X, action:X, target:X for a condition on the target. For example a bonus to athletics to trip would use action:trip or a bonus to lie to humanoids would use both action:lie and target:trait:humanoid.
You also need to add a rules element to the rules tab to fully automate this. See the rules element page on how to write this; you want a flat modifier type of element.
{
"key": "FlatModifier",
"predicate": {
"any": ["terrain:forest"]
},
"selector": "stealth",
"value": 2,
"label": "PF2E.SkillVariant.Forest"
}Note the localization of the label. Labels should not be left unlocalized, you can see or add to the localization text for these strings in static/lang/re-en.json
Sometimes only a DC is listed. In this case, put the DC - 8 into the attack value, so we don't have an empty box (the tables in the GMG always set the attack value at 8 lower than the DC).
If a spell is at will or constant, add that into the spell's title. You should also add the 'at will spells' or 'constant spells' ability from the glossary.
If a spell has a restricted target or other note, update it (both the description and details page) to match that info, as well as putting it in the title.
If the alterations are really long-winded they'll make the spell look weird. Instead, add 'Modified' to the spell name and list the modifications at the start of the spell's description
Monster spells need to be heightened manually. For example, to add a 4th level fireball, you need to drag and drop fireball from the spell compendium. Then, edit the spell and set the level to 4th, and manually adjust the damage.
Spells which deal damage will have a button when cast that lets you roll the correct damage, and so the core damage (e.g. 6d6 fire for Fireball) doesn't need to be made into rollable text.
The exceptions are:
-
A spell that does more than one type of damage. A spell can only have one damage type in Foundry, and so any secondary types should be made into rollable buttons.
-
Spells with non-linear heightening patterns. Spells like fireball that increase in damage every level will heighten automatically. Spells like Acid Splash with more complicated patterns can't be handled by Foundry, and so these should be made into rollable buttons.
There should be a horizontal line between the main part of the spell and the heightened text.
For spells with different effects on critical success through to critical failure, put each entry onto its own line - it makes it much easier to read.
You can put a horizontal line between the spell introduction and the saving throw breakdown.'
each item and actor has a source value, usually close to the top. These should be filled according to the book the creature or item is from. It's only necessary for the base sheet, not embedded items like NPC-strikes
"details": {
"alignment": {
"value": "CE"
},
"creatureType": "",
"level": {
"value": 23
},
"source": {
"value": "Pathfinder Bestiary 3"
For NPC actors, this field can now be set on the Notes tab of the default NPC sheet. For most items this can be edited on the details tab. For other entities, this field must still be changed by manual json editing.