The Battle Board Placer

This page is used a bunch of times. From the main game page it comes up when "Prepare Battle Board" is clicked. In the Battle Board, it comes up when either "Place Creatures" or "Move Characters" is clicked. As you can probably guess from these link titles, it's purpose is to move characters and creatures around the Battle Board. Prepare Battle Board is used before it is launched on ones players. Place Creatures allows you to move creatures around while in the Battleboard (for example: bringing them suddenly out of hiding or moving them in response to a teleport spell). Move Characters is used the least and usually in response to teleport spells etc...

Basically....

The page is separated into two panes. On the right is the Battle Board Map. If it isn't showing the map you need then select the correct one out of the list box at the top of the screen. On the left is the Creature Selector, click the radio button of the creature (or character) you want to place and then click where you want it to appear on the map (even if it is already on the map). A pop-up will appear for that creature with options for the creature's facing and whether you want it to be visible or invisible when the players enter the room. Satisfied, click Record Changes. The pop-up will disappear and the creature's icon (whether invisible or not) will appear on the Battle Board.

It is important to note that just as a person can only be in one place at a time, a creature can only be placed on one Battle Board at a time. If you place Orc Guard #5 in the Throne Room and then later place him in the Main Hall, as generic as Orc Guard #5 may be he will no longer be found in the Throne Room. For this reason it is always a good idea to prepare a Battle Board before launching it.

The Battle Board Map.

This is the same layout used by the Battle Board Builder except that its magnification is permanently set at 50%. To place a creature on the map, select its radio button in the Creature Selector and then click on the square in which you want it to appear; a popup form will appear asking you for detail information, provide it, click Record Changes, it will disappear and the creature will appear on the map.

Battle Board Selector
This list box contains the names of different Battle Boards you have set up for the campaign.Choosing one will load it into the placer. Since it's the pop-up form which does all the work, changing Battle Boards will not effect your placing of creatures.

Edit Board and Create New Board
Both of these links lead to the same place: the Battle Board Builder. Inside it you can create, edit, or even delete Battle Boards.

The Pop-Up.

This is the form which does all the work. It appears when you click on the map and will even show you the coordinates of the square in which you clicked. The only two things you need to worry about are the creature's initial facing and whether it will be initially visible to the players or not.

Facing
This controls the small triangle wedge which appears with an icon to show which way the character is facing. Clicking on one of the radio buttons will change it. 360⁰ always faces the top of the screen.

Visibility
These radio buttons control whether or not a creature is visible to the players on entering the room. Which is not to be confused with a character using an invisibility spell (or something). Invisible characters and creatures are non-apparent. They don't show up on screen and have no presence in the game. To move the around you must make them visible. Which is not to say that you can't have creatures hiding somewhere and then pop them out as a surprise (just so long as the adventure justifies it).

Because the Battle Board Placer shows both visible and invisible creatures it uses two different types of wedges to separate the two. Invisible creatures always use a red wedge with a green point . Visible creatures use the standard blue wedge with a red point .

The Creature Selector.

This is a pretty basic setup. The creatures you have shang-hiied for your campaign will appear in a list, each displaying its icon and name and a link to its character sheet, but most importantly a radio button on the far left. Clicking this radio button selects it.

Since the creature selector shows all your creatures, the group filter is valuable in cutting down the selection. Typically groups are named after the encounters they occur in (if using a pre-made adventure).

To bring more creatures into the adventure, click this button in the Frog.