Adding Tables

Adding Tables

Tables are plain JavaScript data. Adding one means editing a list, not writing code. There is no build step: save the file and reload the page.

Two files are involved for every table.

1. A data file (js/roll_*.js) holding the results.
2. The menu file (js/roll_menu.js) saying which table appears where, and what it rolls.

1. Add the results

Data files export an array. js/roll_plots.js starts with top.plots = [ and ends with // end of plots. Each entry is one rollable list:

  {
    title: "d8 Roadside Shrines",
    id: "d8roadsideshrines_travel",
    roll: [
      "A cairn of river stones, each painted with an eye.",
      "A weathered post with a rusted bell that no longer rings.",
      // ...
    ],
  },

• title is what appears next to the result. By convention it opens with the die size, which is decorative: a roll always picks uniformly from the array, so the list can be any length.
• id must be unique within its file. The convention is the die size, the slugified title, then an underscore and a group suffix.
• roll is the list of results.

Pick the file by subject: roll_npcs.js, roll_monsters.js, roll_dungeons.js, roll_settlements.js, roll_wilderness.js, roll_objects.js, roll_magic.js, roll_food.js, roll_factions.js, roll_plots.js.

2. Add it to the menu

js/roll_menu.js holds top.menu, an array of sections. Each section has an id and a list of items. An item is one entry in the left-hand list:

      {
        title: "Roadside Shrines",
        use: "Roll when the party passes a wayside marker.",
        main_rolls: ["plots/d8roadsideshrines_travel"],
        sub_rolls: [],
      },

• title is the name in the list. Prefix it with "- " to show it indented as a variant of the entry above.
• use is the suggested-use line shown with the result.
• main_rolls is a list of "file/id" references. Every one of them is rolled, in order, which is how a single click produces a whole scene.
• sub_rolls is for rolling a quantity of something. Leave it [] unless you need it.

The file part of a reference is the data file's short name: plots, npcs, monsters, dungeons, settlements, wilderness, objects, magic, food, factions, subrolls.

Add the item twice. Once in the All section and once in its category section. All is a full copy, not a generated view, so a table only added to one will be missing from the other.

Items appear in the order they are listed. There is no sorting at display time.

Table types

Standard

main_rolls names one or more lists, all of which are rolled.

Pick

pick_rolls names several lists; one is chosen at random and only that one is rolled. The list it landed on is named alongside the result.

      {
        title: "Random Plot Hook",
        use: "One roll picks an environment, a second draws a hook from it.",
        main_rolls: [],
        sub_rolls: [],
        pick_rolls: [
          "plots/d50arctic_plothooks",
          "plots/d50coastal_plothooks",
          // ...
        ],
      },

Use it when the lists are alternatives rather than parts of one result.

Count

sub_rolls references entries in js/roll_subrolls.js, which roll a quantity and then that many results:

  {
    title: "5d6 Castle Rooms",
    singular: "Castle Room",
    id: "castle5d6rooms",
    roll_type: "amount",   // "amount" lists results, "type" counts by kind
    number: "5d6",         // how many
    percent_to: "100",     // chance this sub-roll happens at all
    percent_of: "100",     // percentage of the rolled number actually used
    roll: castle_rooms,
  },

Inline rolls

Any result string can contain a sub-roll that is resolved before display:

"A guard on the gate (d4): 1. bored; 2. drunk; 3. suspicious; 4. asleep"

Write the die in parentheses followed by a colon, then numbered options separated by ; or ,. Only the first inline roll in a string is resolved.

Checklist

• Results added to a js/roll_*.js file with a unique id
• Menu item added to the All section
• Menu item added to its category section
• node --check js/roll_whatever.js passes
• Rolled it in the browser and the results look right

Renaming or removing a table

Favorites are stored by table name. Renaming a table's title orphans it for anyone who starred it, and the table stops appearing in their Favorites until the old name comes back.

Adding tables is always safe. If a rename is genuinely needed, raise it in the pull request so an alias can be added.