Level Up Gateway August Dev Update
As development continues on Level Up Gateway we want to keep the community up to date with the progress with regular dev updates. We’ll try to cover new developments and design decisions each month. Here’s this month’s dev update from developer Alexander Fredstie.
Dice
These are not from this month but we wanted to take the chance in this first update to showcase the digital dice roller. Naturally not everyone will be rolling digitally but for those that do the dice roller should feel satisfying. There are a few things we’ve found lacking with digital dice rollers we’ve sought to improve to better capture the feeling of rolling at the table:
Each character has their own dice set assigned.
You can optionally assign specific dice for specific rolls, damage types, etc.
Optionally choose which dice to roll on the fly.
Dice rolls play in sync, the same way for all connected players to create a shared experience.
Clicking and dragging the roll button adds spin and acceleration to the dice allowing you to affect the way you roll the dice or roll with extra force for added suspense on meaningful rolls.
The face rolled is decided on the server for extra peace of mind.
Sound effects based on the physics simulation.
Some extra flexibility is also available in the dice menu that appears when right clicking a rollable item. In this menu you can change the die rolled, who sees it and depending on the type of roll:
Set advantage or disadvantage
Choose a different bonus (use different abilities for your skill checks with ease!)
Choose an expertise die
And of course dice can be rolled straight from the dice menu for rolls not listed on your sheet.
Adept Levels 1 - 5
This month’s main goal was getting the Adept fully implemented up to level 5. Going forward we’ll be focusing on one class at a time, getting each to level 5 because we feel this covers most of the big things each class needs implemented and opens up for early testing in the first tier of play.
Maneuvers
For the adept the biggest tasks were selection and display of maneuvers, practised techniques and focus features and the way the class changes the behaviour of Adept weapons and unarmed strikes.
Characters with access to combat maneuvers get an entry on their builder page with a list of available maneuvers based on their Maneuver Degree and Combat Traditions.
We’ve tried to present the maneuvers in a way that’s quick to parse, taking inspiration from a5e.tools. Each maneuver has an icon that should hopefully make it easier to find an item on your character sheet faster later.
Practiced Techniques & Focus Features
Once learned at level two these gain pages in the character builder similar to maneuvers:
Both of these tend however to be more complex than maneuvers, not just adding an option in combat but changing the character in some way that should be reflected on your sheet. Adept Speed for example increases your speed, but should only change it as long as you haven’t equipped armor or a shield.
And Adept Weaponry is particularly complex with choices as well as changes to which weapons grant the benefits of adept weapons. All of these effects are reflected on your sheet automatically taking into account any conditions and selections.
For example, this character has the Adept Speed technique, raising their speed by 10ft. as long as they are not wearing armor or have a shield equipped. See how the speed property changes as armor is equipped and unequipped:
Beyond that, adept weapons using your Martial Arts Die, weapon proficiency affecting to-hit bonuses, armor class adjustments and much, much more are all updated on the fly to reflect your choices and equipment.
Adept Weapons
💡 Adept Weapons are quarterstaffs, punching daggers, shortswords, and any simple melee weapons that don’t have the two-handed or heavy property.
Additionally other weapons can be treated as Adept weapons through Focus Features like Adept Weaponry. Gateway keeps track of this and you will see actions with adept weapons marked in the actions tab as well as their damage changed to use your Martial Arts Die if it is higher.
Character Sheet
Maneuvers and Skills have their own tab on the main panel of the character sheet with the character’s exertion pool.
Skills/knacks like Practiced Techniques and Focus Features are also added to this page. Clicking use automatically tracks the exertion cost of the maneuver.
On our to-do list is renaming the tab to cover both maneuvers and the class specific skills that will appear in it and adding the option to pin items from this page to your actions page to make frequently used items more readily available.
Inventory Tools
The inventory has also gotten some attention with search tools, a new panel for seeing a character’s stats for Lifting and Carrying and a panel for adding items. Adding items also allows you to choose between simply adding an item or purchasing it at it’s listed price or with a cost multiplier. This will make it easier if you run stores in your games as offering items at a specific percent of their book price.
Light Mode
If you prefer a lighter palette you will be glad to hear we’ve added a light mode. Neither theme is finalized yet so colours may change.
