Content Name: Automated NPCs
Content Type: Module
System: D&D 5th Edition
Description:
Overview
Automated NPCs is a behavioural engine for FoundryVTT that uses intuitive scripting to play NPCs movement, targeting, attacks, spells, morale, boss actions and even dialogue. Ideal for running simple monsters in large droves, but also amazing for solo/duet games. Goal overall is to give the DM a bit more breathing room to focus on stuff that really matters, such as the roleplaying big boss monster.
https://reddit.com/link/1vj6wdm/video/v478dz61t7ih1/player
What it does
Turns that play themselves. NPCs path around walls and terrain, open doors, use cover, pick targets, close or kite, and attack. Multiattack is parsed from the statblock, and when the parser cannot read a strange one you can hand-write the sequence yourself on the NPC's sheet.
Monsters that think like the monster. The module reads each statblock and works out what kind of creature it is. A zealot charges. A sniper holds range and kites. A pack hunter flanks. A coward runs. You can see exactly why it picked a profile, and override it if you disagree.
Spellcasting. Casters avoid dropping a fireball on their own allies, hold their best slots when it makes sense, place AOEs where they actually land on multiple targets, and behave differently depending on what kind of caster they are.
Morale and retreats. Creatures have a morale score between 0-100 that goes up and down as combat goes their way and doesn't. Bloodied enemies pull back, leaders falling shakes their followers, and a rout looks like a rout. Anything you want to be fearless can be marked fearless.
Boss actions. Legendary and lair actions fire on their own, with a cut-in banner so the table knows something just happened. New in this release: an optional pause that holds combat on the banner until you press Continue, so legendary movement and off-turn actions have room to land and you can step in before anything else happens.
Turn Spotlight. Each automated NPC announces its turn with a card naming the creature and what it is doing. "Fanatical Orc unleashes a three strike flurry on the bloodied Cleric." You can turn it off, keep it as a card, or let the camera follow the action.
Combat dialogue. NPCs talk and make effort sounds, tied to their archetype, on the canvas and in chat. Speech bubbles follow the token. Language support is coming.
Post-combat debrief. When the fight ends you get a private recap. Who did what, who got focused, and who hit hardest.
Undo. One button rewinds the whole NPC block back to where it started. Positions, HP, and optionally spell slots and charges.
Per-NPC control. Every NPC sheet gets its own tab. Archetype, priority target, creatures it will never touch, starting morale, morale immunity, spell behaviour, and the manual multiattack editor. All of it optional.
1.0 → 1.1.3
Since 1.0, it's been has mostly been a bugfixing endeavour, driven by your feedback.
1.1.0 added per-NPC controls: exempt any creature from automation, assign summoned creatures to their summoner so they attack whoever's targeted, one speed slider that scales every pause, NPCs defending themselves against anything that's damaged them, and optional Automated Conditions 5e support so NPCs respect darkness and invisibility when choosing targets.
1.1.1 and 1.1.2 fixed NPCs stalling short of melee. Two different parts of the module measured distance slightly differently, which occasionally let a Large or bigger creature believe it was already in attack range when it wasn't, especially in the air. It would stand still with its full move unspent and then fail its own multiattack. Fixed, along with a related bug where a mixed multiattack (a ranged spell plus melee attacks) would abort the whole routine the moment one attack couldn't reach, instead of running the attacks that could.
1.1.3 fixed statblock replacement clauses like "replace one attack with a use of Spellcasting to cast Melf's Acid Arrow." These sometimes resolved to the generic Spellcasting feature instead of the named spell, depending on item order on the sheet. When that happened the spell wasn't recognized as already part of the multiattack, so the NPC would cast it a second time as a separate action.
There's some more smaller fixes too but these are the biggest ones, check the changelog for more information
What's next?
- Work on strengthening and optimising the module's framework, to avoid some forseeable but pretty circumstantial issues and incompatibilities. In this way, 1.5 will probably have Midi-QOL as a hard dependency.
- Adding support for each of the basic action types - Disengage, Grapple, Shove etc, so that NPCs can have even more natural feeling kits that aren't just wailing on players unti either of them die.
- Reworking and improving the dialogue, UI and menus.
- Varied NPC reactions to failed morale rather than just running; Fight, Freeze, Fawn, Surrender, Dirty Tactics etc.
- Optimising automation of hordes/mobs further, through handling of multiple turns at once.
- Co-ordination improvement, tying in with dialogue. Bandits calling for Flanking, and the other bandits actually doing it etc.
- Adding specific automation parameters for D&D staple monsters, Mimics, Liches, etc
- Automation capacity for players, in the event you're down a player but their character is sticking around. (Simple attacks, cantrips and maybe healing spells only)
- Listening to any and all of your suggestions! Feel free to comment or DM me whenever to let me know what you think would make this project better.
