Dragonbane Combat Assistant

Dragonbane Combat Assistant enhances both melee/ranged combat AND spellcasting with comprehensive validation and automation in eight powerful ways:

Universal Spell Support for Automated Animations (NEW in v2.0)

• All spells trigger animations - Extends Automated Animations beyond just damage spells to include buffs, debuffs, utility spells, and Magic Tricks
• Manual control options - User-controlled buttons to enable or disable AA support as needed, disabled by default
• Zero impact on existing spells - Damage spells continue working exactly as before

Spell Validation (NEW in v2.0)

• Target selection enforcement - Range and touch spells require exactly one target, personal spells auto-target the caster
• Smart spell range checking - Validates spell ranges before casting
• Template spell handling - Template spells (cones, spheres) auto-target caster for visual effects while deferring area targeting
• Spell exclusion setting - Simple comma-separated list to exclude specific spells from validation while keeping animations

Automatic Status Effect Application (NEW in v2.0)

• Smart effect targeting - Successful spells apply appropriate status effects to the correct target (self-buffs to caster, debuffs to target)
• Dragonbane Status Effects integration - Uses DSE module icons when available, with intelligent fallbacks
• Template spell intelligence - Template spells skip auto-effects (awaiting proper area targeting in future versions)
• Effect ownership tracking - Applied effects properly track the caster as origin for clean management

Attack Validation (Enhanced)

• Enforces target selection - No more accidental attacks into empty space
• Smart weapon range validation - Prevents impossible attacks before they happen
• Contextual thrown weapon support - Thrown weapons work in melee (up to 2m/4m) AND at range (up to 2x weapon range)
• Smart distance calculation - Handles multi-grid tokens and diagonal movement correctly
• Melee range enforcement - Standard melee weapons require adjacency, long weapons can reach 1 square away
• Ranged range enforcement - Ranged weapons can target up x2 their base range
• Quick bypass controls - Temporarily disable validation rules with keyboard shortcut
  • Complete override - Disable all validation rules at once (Alt+V)
  • Per-user control - Each player manages their own override state independently
  • Foundry integration - Fully customizable through Configure Controls menu

Automatic Rule Display

• Shows combat rules when you need them - Only on successful special attacks
• Covers all special actions - Parry, Topple, Disarm, and Find Weak Spot
• Weapon durability when parrying - Shows weapon durability in chat for easy comparison
• Weapon feature bonuses - Displays topple weapon bonuses (+1 Boon) automatically
• Mark Weapon Broken button - Appears on parry rules for easy weapon damage tracking, updates character sheet directly from chat
• AOE Rule Reminder (NEW in v2.0.4) - Reminds players that AOE spells can be dodged but not parried and that targets can be exempted from AOE effects by taking a bane

Monster Action Prevention

• Pre-roll confirmation dialogs - Intercepts Parry and Disarm attempts against monsters before the roll happens
• Educational approach - Informs players about rules with clear dialog messages before they attempt invalid actions
• Prevents invalid advancement - Blocks the roll entirely when user cancels, avoiding skill advancement on impossible actions
• Smart bypass for edge cases - Allows exceptions when user clicks "Proceed" for rare situations where rules permit

Encumbrance Monitoring

• Event-driven monitoring - Instantly detects when characters become over-encumbered
• Automatic status effects - Applies configurable status effects when carrying too many items
• Smart status effect creation - Automatically creates custom status effects if they don't exist in the game
• Enhanced compatibility - Works seamlessly with the Dragonbane Status Effects module (uses existing "Over-Encumbered" effect if available)
• Folder-based filtering - Monitor specific actor folders (default: "Party") or all characters
• Smart notifications - UI notifications with optional chat reminders about STR roll requirements

Unforgiving Grudge Tracking

• Automatic damage detection - Monitors when characters with "Unforgiving" kin ability take damage
• Interactive grudge management - Creates and maintains personalized grudge journals for each character
• Smart damage correlation - Links attack rolls to damage application for accurate tracking
• One-click grudge addition - "Add to Grudge List" button appears in chat for qualifying damage events
• Detailed grudge entries - Records attacker name, damage amount, location, date, and critical hit status
• Journal organization - Automatically creates organized folders and formatted grudge tables
• Easy grudge management - Delete buttons in journals allow removal of settled grudges
• Critical hit indicators - Special marking (💥) for grudges caused by critical damage
• NOTE - The GM will need to create the folder and Journal before Dwarf players can record grudges. Simply click the Setup Grudge Folders for All PCs button in settings once your Dwarf characters have been assigned to players, after that players will be able to record grudges.

Year Zero Engine Combat Integration

• Single action tracking - Seamless integration with YZE Combat module for action management
• Automatic detection - Monitors chat for combat actions using intelligent pattern matching
• Token-specific tracking - Each combatant tracked independently with action numbering
• Smart exclusions - Ignores damage rolls, healing, reaction spells, and other non-action activities
• Override control - Alt+V shortcut for manual control when automatic detection needs adjustment

Installation

1. In Foundry VTT, go to Add-on Modules and click Install Module
2. Use this manifest URL: https://github.com/kergalli/dragonbane-action-rules/releases/latest/download/module.json
3. Enable the module in your world's Manage Modules screen

Keyboard Shortcuts

Temporarily disable all validation rules with keyboard shortcut:

Fully customizable through Configure Controls in Foundry.

Special Cases & Tips

Spell Exclusions: Add spell names to the exclusion list (comma-separated) to skip validation while keeping animations. Example: Protector, Heal Wound, Fireball

Manual AA Control: If automatic spell enhancement causes issues, use the "Disable AA Support" button in settings, then re-enable when ready.

Template Spells: Template spells (Engulfing Forest, Frost, Gust of Wind) currently auto-target the caster for visual effects. Proper area targeting will be added in a future version.

Parrying Ranged Attacks with a Weapon or Shield: Target yourself when parrying a ranged attack with a weapon or shield. The range validation will understand you're defending at your position.

Marking Weapons Broken: The "Mark Weapon Broken" button only appears on parry rules when:

• A valid weapon was detected for the parry
• The weapon is not already broken
• You have permission to modify the weapon

Shove Conditions: Shove reminders only appear when:

• Using a melee weapon or thrown weapon in melee range
• Attack deals damage (excludes Topple/Disarm)
• Attacker is not a monster
• Target is not a monster
• Attacker's STR damage bonus ≥ target's STR damage bonus

Monster Action Prevention: Prevention dialogs only appear for Parry and Disarm attempts against monsters. All other actions proceed normally.

Token Action HUD + YZE Integration: If using the Token Action HUD Dragonbane module, consider adding these exclusions to YZE Action Exclusions setting for better action tracking accuracy:

Death Roll, Light Test, Lantern Test, Oil Lamp Test, Candle Test, Torch Test, Severe Injury Test

Known Issues

Template Spell Area Targeting: Template spells currently auto-target the caster for visual effects rather than placing templates for area targeting. This is intentional for v2.0 - proper template placement will be added in v2.1.

Socketlib Dependency: Automatic status effect application requires the socketlib module for proper cross-client communication. If socketlib is not installed, status effects will still work but may not sync properly across all clients.

Thrown Weapons vs Large Tokens: In the core Dragonbane module, thrown weapons measure distance to a single reference grid square (upper left) instead of using token bounds. This causes attacks with thrown weapons against large and huge tokens to default to the Throw dialog when attacking from anywhere not adjacent to the upper left grid square of the enemy. This is a limitation of the core system's distance calculation and is outside the scope of this module to fix. This will be fixed in Dragonbane v2.6.

Technical Details

Compatible With:

• Foundry VTT v12 and v13
• Dragonbane system only
• Token Action HUD Dragonbane
• Argon - Combat HUD (DRAGONBANE)
• Year Zero Engine Combat module
• Dragonbane Character Sheet
• Dragonbane Status Effects
• Automated Animations (enhanced support)
• socketlib (required for status effects)

Dependencies:

• socketlib (required for automatic status effect application)
• Automated Animations (optional, but provides the spell animations that universal support enables)

Localization:

• Full support for English and Swedish
• Dynamic pattern generation based on current Dragonbane system language
• Language-agnostic operation using official Dragonbane translation keys

Support & Issues

• Issues: Report bugs at GitHub Issues
• Documentation: Full documentation in README.md
• Changelog: Version history in CHANGELOG.md

License

This module is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.