Combat assistant and Initiative tracking tool

[talus]

This project is now hosted at github:

Project Page: https://github.com/gtalus/GURPSInitTool
Documentation (w/Changelog): http://gurpsinittool.readthedocs.org...est/index.html
Latest Release: https://github.com/gtalus/GURPSInitTool/releases/latest (direct link to GURPSInitTool.jar)

Latest version is v1.6.0
Highlights: Table column customization, GCA4 Import, Strength Tables

Previous:
v1.5.1
Highlights: Fix missing icons issue

v1.5.0
Highlights: Undo/redo, search, Injury Tolerance, many other improvements


Original Post:
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Over the past many years I have gradually improved the tool that I use to help accelerate combat, and, though it is somewhat idiosyncratic to my own combat management process, I think it has finally reached the point where it is flexible enough that some others may find it useful ...or I just have to get it out there before GURPS 5E is released and all my work begins anew. ;-)

The purpose of the tool is to track combat initiative and each combatant's status while automating common/repetitive tasks for the GM. It explicitly avoids any automation of the PCs and breaks things up so that the GM keeps full control and can make adjustments (and it tries to make those adjustments quick). All of the automations can be disabled from the options menu (under 'Edit').

Main features include:

• Detailed combatant stats and state tracking
• Drag-n-drop initiative ordering
• Group manager to organize and save combatant records
• Partial automation of NPC attacks and defenses, including damage, shock, knockdown/stunning, and unconsciousness
• Logging of combat results

Please send me your feedback- and if there is just one little thing that will transform it into a useful tool for you I'll try to make that happen!

Get the tool here: (old version: new version see above)GURPSInitTool.jar and a sample Group Manager save file
This is written in java (of which I am not proud), and it is an executable JAR. If you have java installed, you should be able to click on/execute the file directly.

Some screenshots: Main Window, Group Manager, Defense dialog

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Instructions / Documentation
The tool has useful labels and tool tips which can point you in the right direction, but there isn't any solid documentation. Here is some basic information to get you started:

Basic Operations
Setup:

• Create new combatants by selecting the 'new\u2026' row in a table and modifying any value either in the row itself or in the detail panel on the right.
• Edit combatants either through the table or the detail panel
• The details panel has an 'Attacks' and 'Traits' section that can be used to add and modify those properties
• Drag combatant rows to move, ctrl+drag to create copies.

Combat:

• Use the buttons at the top left to control the initiative flow, or use the shortcut keys (hover over a button to get a description including any shortcut key assigned).
• Use the wrench button (Ctrl+A) to trigger the default attack of all selected combatants
• The shield button (Ctrl+D) brings up the defense dialog, which also handles damage calculations, for the top-most selected combatant
• Select the 'none' defense to skip the defense check and only apply damage
• The table's right-click menu allows you to trigger actions and make various changes to the selected actors. This is the only way to delete a row.
• The 'Options' menu (under Edit) allows modification of certain automation and logging behaviors

Group Manager:

• Open the Group Manager using the far-right icon of two people (under the 'About' menu)
• Right-click the top left window to create folders and groups
• Drag groups to the main Initiative Tool window to add them to the current encounter
• Only the group manager can save combatants between sessions: create a new group and drag your current encounter combatants to it to save an in-progress encounter between sessions.

Other Tools:

• Open the Table reference dialog using the table icon just to the left of the Group Manager icon

Statuses:
Conditions, postures, and other key states are tracked through the 'State' field. There is no restriction on state combinations, but some automation functions will attempt to keep things reasonable.
Statuses can be modified in three ways:

• Clicking on the status cell of a combatant row in the table will provide a drop-down box that modifies the status for that combatant only
• The right-click menu provides a status menu that modifies all selected combatants in a coordinated fashion
• Toolbar buttons at the top allow setting of posture (standing, kneeling, prone) or toggling of other statuses (physical stun, mental stun, disarmed, unconscious, dead) for all selected combatants

Status Effects
Most of the statuses effect the program's treatment of the combatant.

• Waiting/Disabled/Unconscious/Dead - skip turn for all types of combatant
• StunPhys/StunMental - stunned, NPCs automatically roll recovery on their turn
• StunRecovr - stunned, NPCs automatically remove at the start of their next turn
• All three 'stunned' states cause auto-attacks to be skipped for NPCs and penalize defenses
• Attacking: NPCs auto-attack unless stunned
• Kneeling, Prone: impacts attack and defense values
• Disarmed: informative only

Automation
Automation applies to NPCs: Enemy/Ally/Neutral type. Each can be disabled from the 'Options' menu under 'Edit'.

• Attack: NPCs that have the 'Attacking' status and are not stunned. Must have a valid default attack defined (which can be done using the Attacks table editor in the right panel).
• Unconscious: NPCs with Injury > HP make consciousness checks at the start of their turn. If they fail their status is set to prone/disarmed/unconscious (removing all other statuses).
• Knockdown/Stunning: When NPCs take damage through the defense dialog only, if they receive a major wound they make a Knockdown/Stunning check. If they fail the 'StunPhys/Prone/Disarmed' statuses are added.
• Stun Recovery: At the start of a turn, if an NPC has the 'StunPhys' or 'StunMent' states, it will roll against the appropriate stat to see if it recovers. If the check passes it will be given the 'StunRecovr' state. At the start of the NPC's next turn the 'StunRecovr' state will be removed (unless it is re-stunned in the meantime).
• Shock: At the start of each creature's turn, if it took damage in it's last turn, shock will be calculated and applied to all attacks.

Special Traits Currently Supported:
Add these to the 'Traits' table of a combatant to activate

• "CR" (Combat Reflexes) - modifies mental stun recovery
• "HPT" and "LPT" (High/Low Pain Threshold) - modifies knockdown/stunning and shock

Logging: Note that logging does not start until round 1 is started (Ctrl+N or the '>' icon at the very left of the icon bar).