Prepping maps with Tokens before Game so it works with Combat Tracker

[jrh18]

I ran into an issue last night, which I was able to Google search and find is expected. The Scenario was I did the following in order to prepare a possible battle before my session started in order to reduce the time during the sessions. Here is what I did:
Preparation:


I created an encounter with about 15 NPCs
I added all of the tokens for the NPCs to a map in the locations I wanted them to appear
I then closed everything down

During the session:


I opened the map and shared it with the players
I opened the encounter
I clicked the down arrow at the bottom of the encounter to add the NPCs to the combat tracker.

Everything looked fine, but when I went to target a PC with one of the NPCs for an attack, I would get an error to the effect of that there was no link to the combat tracker. This is expected as I understand it because the tokens for the NPCs were not added to the map from the combat tracker.

My question is how should I be preparing maps with NPC tokens before the game so that the following criteria are met:

The NPC tokens are added to the map
The NPCs aren't in the Combat tracker until I add them from the encounter (I am not always sure which branch my players are going to take and therefore not sure which combat they will get into in a given session)


Can I add the NPCs to the combat tracker from the encounter, then add the tokens to the map, then remove the NPCs from the combat tracker until the battle starts? When I add the NPCs back to the combat tracker via the encounter will the link to the NPC on the map work correctly?

if there is a youtube video on this or a guide some where feel free to send me an RTFM and the link, I just couldn't find the recommendation with the search terms I was using.

[Andraax]

Using the button from the encounter will properly link tokens to the CT. More than likely, it was the PC token that wasn't dragged from the CT.

[jrh18]

Thanks, that is possible I will check that tonight.

[Moon Wizard]

When preplacing encounters, make sure to drag the tokens to the map from from the Placement section on the encounter record, not the token bag. Just mentioning, in case that might be what happened.

Regards,
JPG

[Trenloe]

From your description it sounds like you're adding tokens to the map, but not using the encounter token pre-placement functionality?

Info here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/Encounters

Make sure you drag the placement tokens from below the NPC entry in the encounter - it will change to a tick/check mark when placed. And when you close the encounter window the pre-placed token markers will be removed - they are just markers for pre-placement.

Before you add your encounter to the Combat Tracker there should be no NPC tokens on the map. They get added to the map (using the pre-placement positions if properly set) when the NPCs are added to the CT.

[jrh18]

I believe I was placing the tokens from the correct location. It was the area where if you have multiple NPCs there are multiple tokens and after a token is placed a circle with a check mark shows for that token. I do think the issue was the PCs being added from the top area of FG where they appear and not from the combat tracker. Either I or my player that was managing the other PC that we use to display the maps on the TV were the ones that place the tokens for the PCs, and I am fairly sure both of us would have pulled from the most prominent location of the PCs picture in the upper left. I know she would have because she did not open the combat tracker until 30 minutes into the battle.

[Andraax]

Drag from the portraits to the CT, then from the CT to the map. There is a shortcut to drag all the PCs (and friendly NPCs) at the same time from the CT - drag the little green head from the bottom of the CT, and drop that on the map. All friendly units will then be placed on the map. Similar functionality for the yellow and red heads...