Tutorial 6

Tutorial 6: The "Bloodied" Condition (Attribute Triggers)

Goal: Let's make the game react to the players. We are going to create a "Bloodied" Overlay that automatically applies itself whenever a token drops to 50% of its maximum hit points, and automatically removes itself when they are healed. This tutorial introduces the powerful Automation Engine and the Attribute Picker.

Prerequisites

• Role: Game Master (We are making this a Global rule for all tokens)
• Required Modules: Visage

Concepts Covered

• Enabling Visage automation in the Automation view
• Creating an automation condition
• Using the Attribute Picker to find data paths
• Understanding the difference between "Base" and "Derived" attributes
• Setting percentage conditions and understanding denominators

Step-by-Step Guide

Phase 1: Creating the "Bloodied" Visuals

1. Create a New Visage: Open the Global Library and create a new Visage.
2. Set the Label, Mode and Sharing: Name it "Bloodied", check the Mode is Overlay and set sharing to Private.
3. Set the Appearance: We want a subtle visual cue. In the Layers list, select Dynamic Ring and click its eye to switch it on. In its settings, set the Ring Colour to a deep red and tick Pulse under Ring Effects. (Alternatively, you could add a red tint via the Light Source, or add a blood splatter visual effect under the token.)

Phase 2: The Automation Condition

Now we tell Visage when to apply this overlay.

1. Open the Automation View: In the header of the Visage Editor, switch the View from Design to Automation.

2. Enable Automation: Click the Apply automatically power button at the top so it turns green. This tells Visage to actively monitor the game for this specific Visage.

3. Add a Condition: Under Add a condition, click the Attribute button. A new condition appears in the list, written as a short sentence you can edit in place.

4. Set the Math: We want this to trigger when HP is at or below 50%. Fill in the sentence:

   • Read as: Set this to a number.
   • Comparison: Change this to at or below.
   • Value: Type 50.
   • Mode: Change (as a value) to percent.

   Tip: As you fill in the condition, the In words panel at the bottom describes the whole rule in plain language, so you can check it reads the way you expect.

Phase 3: The Attribute Picker & Denominators

Visage needs to know what data it is checking. We need to point it to the token's Hit Points.

1. Open the Attribute Picker: Next to the data path field at the start of the condition, click the Attribute Picker button. This opens the Attribute Picker, which displays a searchable list of the data stored on the token's actor.

2. Find the HP: Type "hp" into the search bar. You should see a path that looks something like system.attributes.hp.value (this varies slightly depending on your game system). Click it to select it.

   Tip: Base vs. Derived Attributes. The Attribute Picker is incredibly smart, but it only displays "Base" attributes (data permanently saved to the actor database, like your core HP or Strength score). It does not show "Derived" attributes (temporary numbers the system calculates on the fly, like your current AC after casting a spell). However, Visage can still read derived attributes. If you know the exact data path for a derived attribute, you can type it manually into the data path field. We will cover how to find these hidden paths in a later tutorial.

3. The Maximum: Because we set our Mode to percent, the sentence now ends with "of its maximum". Visage needs to know what the maximum is to calculate 50%.

   • Implicit (Let Visage Guess): If you leave the maximum field empty, Visage is usually smart enough to guess. If your Path is system.attributes.hp.value, it will automatically look for system.attributes.hp.max.
   • Explicit (Tell Visage Exactly): If your game system uses unusual naming (like hp.current and hp.total), you should use the Attribute Picker or manually type the maximum path into the maximum field to ensure the math works perfectly.

4. Save: Click the Save Global Layer button.

Testing It Out

1. Check the Canvas: Make sure you have a token on the canvas that has full HP. Notice that the Bloodied ring is not active.

   Tip: Automated Visages do not need to be manually applied to tokens. So long as their Apply automatically power button is on, they will apply and remove themselves.

   Tip: You can switch automation on or off inside the Visage Library too. If a Visage has an automation condition, it will show a "power on" icon in the Visage's card. Click it to toggle it on (green) or off (grey). Hover over it to read the rule in plain language.

   Tip: You can quickly filter the Visage Library to show only Visages with automations by clicking the "power on" icon in the filter row above the grid of cards. This lets you see all automated Visages and which ones are active.

2. Take Damage: Double-click the token to open its character sheet, or use your system's damage tools, and reduce its HP to 50% or below.

3. Watch the Magic: The moment the HP drops, the token's Dynamic Ring will instantly turn red!

4. Heal Up: Increase the token's HP back above 50%. The red ring will automatically disappear. You have just built a fully automated Visage.

Pro-Tips & Creative Ideas

• Multiple Conditions: You aren't limited to just one condition. You could add a second Attribute condition, and keep the rule set to all, to make a Visage that only applies if a token is below 50% HP and has 0 temporary hit points.
• Selective Conditions: Global Visages will usually be universal. You can use conditions to limit them to only certain tokens. For example, you could add a condition that the token's name includes "goblin" or the creature type is "monster", etc.
• The "Priority" Setting: At the top of the Automation view, there is a Priority Level number. If a token triggers two different automated Visages at the same time:
  • if the Visages are Identities, the one with the higher Priority number will be applied (the "Highlander" rule).
  • if the Visages are Overlays, the one with the higher Priority number will be placed higher in the active stack.