Board layers
Board layers put each thing you place at the right depth: the rug on the map, the tree canopy over the tokens, the trap that only you can see.
The board is the play area in the middle of the screen, with the background map of the scene you're on, one place in your game, at the bottom. Layers are the levels stacked on top of that map, and they decide where each asset, a picture you place such as a rug or a tree (Assets), is drawn: under the tokens (the pieces for characters and creatures), over them, or where only you see it. You'd use them when the party walks into a forest and the canopy should hang over them, or to mark a trap for yourself without players spotting it.
Plan: the layer tools are on Pro.
Beta: the layer tools are still rolling out, so they may not be on your account yet.
The four layers
From the top down:
| Layer | What goes on it |
|---|---|
| Foreground | Over the tokens, under the fog: roofs, tree canopies, bridges. Players click through it. |
| GM | Only you see it: traps, notes, hidden things. Players never see it. |
| Tokens | Characters, enemies and NPCs. Always between the map and the foreground. |
| Map | Part of the map: rugs, furniture, rubble. Under the tokens. |
The fog is the fog of war: the darkness over what the characters can't see.
Choose a layer
The layer rail is a thin strip of buttons at the left edge of the board: hover over it to open it. Click a layer to work on it. Or press 1 for Map, 2 for Foreground and 3 for GM, and Esc to go back to Map.
The layer you're on is where new assets land, and the only one you can click. Other layers let clicks pass through. When you're not on Map, a note at the top says which layer you're editing.
You need GM View on to work with layers. It's the switch at the top of the menu that shows you, the Game Master (GM), everything players can't see (see GM view and player view).
Move an asset to another layer
Right-click it and choose Move to Map layer, Move to Foreground layer or Move to GM layer. Or select it and press Shift+1, Shift+2 or Shift+3.
The Layers panel
The Layers panel lists everything on the board, so you can find and sort things that are hard to click.
Press L (or open Board Layers from the menu) to see everything on the board, by layer. Filter by name finds an item. Each row can be moved to another layer, limited to some phases, hidden from players, locked or deleted. Phases are other versions of the scene's map, such as day and night, so an item limited to one phase shows only while that version is on.
Alt-click (Option-click on a Mac) a layer in the rail to hide it in your own view only.
Foreground that fades
A foreground asset can fade when a token goes under it, so players see inside. In the Layers panel, open the asset's Fade…:
- Fade when a visible token is underneath, and how far (Faded opacity, 30% to start).
- Stay faded once revealed: once any player's token reaches it, it stays faded for everyone.
Show above darkness draws a foreground asset over the fog too.