Is it possible to combine the statblock information with Dataview queries?

[Cjenkins1996]

Hi all - fairly new to working with Dataview and the statblocks, I'm looking to see if there's a way to combine the powers of both. For example, if I wanted to get a subset of creatures from my bestiary and returning the CR, AC, and HP of those creatures in a query table. It seems like it might be an issue with how information is portrayed/displayed, as the statblock itself doesn't display properly for a custom beast when placed into YAML, and it seems like the SRD monsters can't be "expanded" to show all fields for Dataview. Any thoughts on how to go about this?

[wrightmat]

I would be interested in the opposite as well - pulling information from Dataview frontmatter/tags into the statblock. I would like to be able to scale certain types creatures based on the party's level, and the only way I could think to do this (without manually editing every creature each time the party levels up) is to declare a "party level" in the statblock that could get that information from another page (via inline Dataview, probably), and could then be used throughout a custom statblock as a monster stat.

[booge731]

I would like to add support for answering these questions. I'm adding NPC's to a campaign, some of which have statblocks. I would like to set up a template Note which would allow me to create a copy, enter the NPC name as the Note title, and a query within the Fantasy Statblock would populate the 'creature: ' field with the Note title. This would automatically create the statblock with no further entry required. Alternatively, if the statblock could pull data from the page property, a 'name: ' property would accomplish this, as well.

[Autumnnnova]

This is a fantastic idea!

[Autumnnnova]

I would love to support this implementation. I'm trying to create a modular template for statblocks that will pull the frontmatter from a particular page to setup the variables for the statblock. This way, if I edit the health of my character in the note properties, it will reflect across the entire page, including the statblock. Definitely a wonderful idea!

[valentine195]

Statblocks can already read creatures via frontmatter, and it keeps them in sync if you modify it.

See here.

[valentine195]

@Cjenkins1996 I realize your question is over a year old, but you can use the Statblocks API to do this in DataviewJS. The API is here: https://github.com/javalent/fantasy-statblocks/blob/main/src/api/api.ts and is available in Obsidian as FantasyStatblocks. So you can get a list of all creatures using FantasyStatblocks.getBestiaryCreatures() inside a DataviewJS block.

@booge731 @Autumnnnova @wrightmat
Theoretically this can all be achieved with a JavaScript block in your layout. You have access to the monster property, you can set additional fields on them in there that will persist.

However, the monster property you get is a pointer to the monster object in your bestiary, so modifying it in your layout will modify it in your bestiary. But, that block will run each time the monster is rendered, so if you pull in a variable using Dataview's API, it will get set each time.

[Autumnnnova]

Thank you so much for the fast reply! I've currently found two methods to automatically setting up a statblock. Please keep in mind, I'm currently setting up statblocks for monsters, spells, and items:

1. Templater

I found that using the plugin 'Templater' provides me ample control over setting up a statblock with JS code and allows me to directly access the properties to the file of which I'm inserting the template.
Upsides: Control over how I setup the statblock and access to JS in which I can create code for formatting and special cases.
Downsides: In this case, the information in the statblock is only setup based on the properties of the file, it's not referencing it. So if I edit the properties, the statblock will not update. This, however, is very good in certain situations as you described above!

2. Bestiary

I found this this discussion (#121) going into detail on how to directly reference the frontmatter/properties of the file from the statblock!
Upsides: Instantly setup a statblock for anything you'd like as long as the frontmatter/properties match the layout you're choosing.
Downsides: Anything you create with this method will be placed in the bestiary, this can cause a lot of bloat and unnecessary scrolling if you choose to use this method with things like spells and items.

It seems, at the end of the day, that a combination of both methods is just what I've been looking for! Either that, or the second method in tandem with the JS block method you described above. Truth be told, I've been avoiding using JS blocks simply because I'm unsure how to properly reference such things from within them. I understand it says it provides access to the 'property' field, but I'm unsure what that entails. Also, the guess-and-check method I was using was quite time consuming having to navigate into the layout editor, change the code, save it, reload the statblock and maybe be right. If you happen to have any links to JS block help, that would be greatly appreciated!