Building Encounters

An encounter is a fight written down before the table needs it: a name, a list of monsters, and usually a map. Building one takes a minute, and it means that when the party walks into the ambush you press one button instead of improvising a roster.

This is a DM chapter end to end. The Encounters sub-tab does not exist on a player's device, encounters have no reveal control, and nothing in the app lets a player look at one. Players learn about a fight when it starts.

The Encounters sub-tab

Open the Atlas tab and pick Encounters, the teal sub-tab (chapter 7, The Atlas, covers the sub-tabs). You land on your section list, each row carrying a shield icon and a count. Tap a section to drill in.

Inside a section, each encounter is a tile: a small map badge (its map, or a shield if it has none), the name, and a one-line monster summary such as "3 goblins, 1 worg", or "no monsters".

• Tap a tile to open it in the Encounter Builder.
• Long-press a tile for Rename, Move to Section, and Delete. Deleting is permanent. On a Mac or Windows machine, right-click instead.
• Add Encounter creates a new one in the section you are in.

One encounter runs at a time. If a fight is already live, Add Encounter refuses with "An encounter is already running. End it before adding another." Chapter 29, Ending a Fight, covers how.

The Encounter Builder

The builder is three cards and a bottom bar.

Encounter Name. One field, hinted "e.g. Goblin Ambush". A name is required. Saving without one just tells you so.

Monsters. Type a monster name, set the count with the plus/minus stepper beside the field, and press Add. The entry drops into the list below with its own stepper, so you can bump three goblins to five later without retyping, and a trash icon to remove it. A "N total" chip counts every creature the encounter will produce. When the fight starts, "Goblin x3" expands into Goblin 1, Goblin 2, and Goblin 3, each with its own turn.

Names are free text. Far Table checks them against nothing, because you should be able to write "the thing in the well" without arguing with a database.

Token art. Each monster row shows a small art button. Far Table fills it in when the name matches a bundled 5e reference token, so typing "Goblin" gets you goblin art with no extra tap. Tap the swatch to change it. The picker offers three sources: Bestiary (the bundled tokens, searchable, plus any monsters you authored yourself that carry a picture), Assets (an image already in this campaign), and Camera (photograph or import a new one). The first cell in the grid clears the art back to a plain colored token. Art is separate from the name, so your Goblin King can wear goblin art.

There are no hit points here, and nowhere to put them. Chapter 23, Managing Combatants, explains what you get instead.

Encounter Map. Optional, but you need one before you can stage. Sources depend on the device:

• Photograph Map on a phone or tablet, using the camera.
• Photograph with phone on a Mac or Windows machine with a paired phone. If the phone is asleep the button reads "Turn on phone" until you wake it. Chapter 34, Pairing Your Phone, covers pairing.
• Pick from Photos on a phone or tablet.
• Pick from Files on a Mac or Windows machine.
• Pick from Atlas, on every platform: a two-column grid of the maps already in this campaign.

Once a map is set you get a preview, the same source buttons for swapping it, and a red Remove Map that asks before it acts. Picking from the Atlas remembers where the image came from, so if you re-scan that map later the app can nudge you that a newer version exists. Chapter 8, Adding Maps, covers scanning.

Save, or stage it now

The bottom bar is the fork, and the first time you reach it the app explains it in a small note:

• Save files the encounter in your Atlas and returns you to the list. Nothing goes live. This is the normal prep-night ending.
• Stage on Map saves first, then opens the battlefield so you can place walls, doors, lights, and tokens.

Stage on Map is always tappable, so it can tell you what is missing. With no map it says "Pick a map from your Atlas first." With a fight already running it says "An encounter is already running. End it before staging another."

Two things then happen quietly. If a session is live, your players' characters are loaded into the staging tray so you can place the party alongside the monsters; staging offline is monsters only. And if this map has never had its walls defined, the app routes you through the "How is this map made?" chooser first. Chapter 13, The Map Prep Workbench, takes it from there, and chapter 21, Setting Up a Fight, picks up when you start combat.