Map Links and Door Pins
Two different maps, one passage between them. Far Table has two ways to draw that passage, and they are separate machinery for separate jobs:
- Map links join two exploration maps. The town to the road, the road to the dungeon entrance.
- Door pins join two battle maps. Room one to room two of the same fight, staged as you go.
They look similar on screen. They are not the same feature, so this chapter takes them one at a time.
Map links between exploration maps
This is a DM tool. The Navigation tool sits at the end of the exploration map toolbar, an arrow icon labeled Map link, and only the DM's toolbar has it.
To make one:
- Tap the Map link arrow in the toolbar. The hint under it reads "Map link, tap where the passage leads; you pick the other map next."
- Tap the spot on the current map where the passage starts. The stairwell, the gate, the cave mouth.
- A Link to Map dialog opens with the campaign's other exploration maps. Tap the destination.
- The destination map fills the screen with the title "Tap link destination on map name". Tap where travellers arrive.
That makes one link with two ends. An arrow appears on both maps, and each arrow travels to the other one. You do not create a return link by hand.
Creating a link reveals both maps. If either end was still unrevealed, placing the link reveals it to your players, because a link nobody can follow is not worth drawing. The reveal goes one level only: revealing the road does not reveal whatever the road links on to. Chapter 18, Revealing Your World, covers reveal in general.
Travelling and deleting
Tapping an arrow moves the viewer straight to the other map. No confirmation, no animation. As DM, that switches the map you are broadcasting, so the table follows you through. As a player, it switches your own view of the map, and nobody else moves.
Deleting is DM-only. Long-press the arrow, or right-click it on a Mac or Windows machine, and a small Map Link card opens with a Delete Link button. Confirm and the arrow disappears from both maps for everyone.
What players see
A player only sees an arrow if the map at the other end has been revealed to them. A link pointing at a map they have never been shown is not dimmed or grayed out on their device, it is simply not drawn. Your notes about where things connect stay yours until you decide otherwise.
Door pins between battle maps
Door pins are for staged fights: the party clears room one, kicks the door, and the fight carries on next door. They live on the battle map, not the exploration map, and they need a saved encounter running.
To place one, long-press the battle map and pick Pin a door to another encounter from the menu that opens. That menu also holds Place a light source and Place a door, which chapter 10, Doors and Lights, covers. A Pin door to list appears with every other saved encounter in the campaign; tap one and the pin lands where you pressed. If no long-press menu offers the option, you are not on a saved encounter, and the app says so.
A new door pin is hidden. The confirmation reads "Door pinned to X, hidden until you reveal it", and on your own screen the pin shows ghosted at partial opacity so you know it is there and the table cannot see it.
Tap your own door pin and a sheet gives you three things:
- Go to X, which moves the encounter to the linked battle map.
- Visible to players, a switch that reveals the pin.
- Remove door pin, which deletes it.
Two rules bite here, both deliberate.
Jumping is blocked during combat. While a fight is active, Go to X is grayed out and reads "End combat first". Finish the round structure, end combat, then move the party through. Chapter 29, Ending a Fight, covers that.
Players need two things to see a pin. The switch has to be on, and their fog of war has to have reached that spot on the map. The dwarf with darkvision may find the far door while the torchless human still sees nothing there. That is on purpose.
For players, a visible door pin is scenery. It shows there is a way onward; tapping it does nothing. Moving the table through the door is the DM's call, from the DM's device.