Further features to support 4E

I've been thinking about this a lot, because, I've not found any other VTT that compares to d20pro for me (because, for me, any other VTT can't even enter the competition if I can't *run* it, and I run linux, and secondly, my players have to be able to use it without getting masters degrees in using VTT software and without subscribing to a service). So... heres what I think would make it work for 4thed while not preventing 3.5 from working:

* a temporary hit point pool:
temp hp in 4th is a seperate pool of non-stacking hitpoints. It gets taken away from current HP first. It's like having two hit point stats, one that can't heal or stack and gets used first, and then a second that acts normal. I know 3.5 has temp HP, but I forget if it works this way or not - temp HP certainly doesn't work the 4th ed way in d20 right now.
* abilities apply status icons:
allow abilites to apply a status icon for a duration: a set number of rounds, the encounter, or until some save event (save event could be submitted like an automatic attack?) this would really be useful. this could also be used to incorporate some kind of ongoing damage tracking?
* ability to set a death threshhold:
sounds easy enough - it could simply be another character stat that gets set to -10 by default, but can be set to any number, and plug that number into the currently used death checks, etc? Guess it would depend on the way the code currently sets this now.
* area of affect attacks:
can't tell you how much 4th edition needs the ability to target multiple enemies with an attack without having to select and target each enemy one at a time. I'm sure spells and other such 3.5 things could use this as well, yes? You'll be surprised at how much a convenience like this would mean to players (after all, the entire VTT is a convenience - we could all play on paper by hand, etc, but the VTT tries to simplify the process for us).
* ability to add 'spells' like attacks or abilities:
Instead of 'hard-coding' spells into the campaign data, being able to add spells in the game menu as we can currently add attacks, feats, abilities, etc, would be extremely useful, as far as I can tell. I'm sure 3.5 players could also find the functionality useful?
* overhaul of 'drawing tools' or in-game mapping features:
It's not that the drawing tools are unworkable or bad; its just that they could be better. Some people would like dynamic fog of war, layers, and such. Still, just having a little more intuitive painting and drawing tools would be huge. So many times, I've wanted to be able to just draw a circle or put an arrow on the map. You can't do that simply in d20pro yet.

 

Thought i should update this post, because I'm thrilled that at least 3 of these things are implemented now: death threshold, area of effect attacks, and the fow and stuff is under development. yay!