How to set up creatures and enemies on different maps only

HI all getting used to D20 and thanks for the brilliant support. Following the video tutorials I've got quiet far, but one thing I can't work out is what to do when it comes to setting up monsters. What I mean is I wan a map with that maps, monsters present. I do not want them present on other maps, but at present I have an ever growing list, intermingled with the PC's and no way to put in folders, or even just have the Monster in that encounter linked to that map they feature in and no other. So how do you manage a growing roster of creatures in the journal area, without it being a complete mess? Also is there any way to have the HP bar, currently at the top, below so it doesn't obscure the tokens heads/faces? Grateful for any pointers. Thanks D

Setup your monsters where they need to be ahead of time and just move them to the GM layer The players won't see them until you move them back to the token layer, you can lay them out ahead of time, and you can have all their stats, HP, etch setup beforehand. You won't be able to sort your journal page but if you use descriptive names and tags you can search for them easily. IE: If every goblin sheet I make is named like "Goblin-Warrior". "Goblin-Shaman" etch, I can search for Goblin to find it. You don't have to use Bar3 for HP. You can use Bar1 or Bar2, which is positioned differently.

Another oddball way to give tokens that aren't assigned to a journal attack macros is to store their primary attack in one of their token bars. ex: If I make a token's Bar2 1d20+15+?{Misc Attack Bonus?|0} and bar 3 1d6 + 4 + ?{Misc Damage Bonus?|0} I can keep a generic macro: /me attacks! [[@{selected|bar2} ]] vs AC for [[ @{selected|bar3} dmg ]] it's pretty limited, but for mooks with one main attack it'll get the job done in a tight pinch. Personally, I'd just go for the dozens of journals and name them so I can search for what I need.

It helps to add prefixes to characters/handouts. For example, in the campaign I'm running on Fridays, every PC sheet starts with "PC: " and every NPC sheet starts with "NPC: ". If I had enemies that got used a lot, I'd put something like "En: " on them. When I started using text files to track campaigns instead of pencil and paper, I started numbering my encounters so they would sort well (e.g. the intro encounter in a tavern might be called "01tavern.txt"). You could use something like: call the first map "01cave" and the associated goblin charsheet "01goblin". Then the monsters would sort in encounter order (this doesn't necessarily require that the encounters happen in that order, but having the same prefix on the map and everything in it will make it easier to correlate them). Finally, you should make as much use as possible of the "archive" functionality. This lets you set maps/sheets aside remove the clutter from your lists, but still gives you a way to bring them back if you need them. Personally, I only keep around 2-3 maps and their associated characters; everything else is archived (unless I know I'm going to need it again soon).

I use "Archive" to keep everything organized. Whatever monsters you are no longer using - ARCHIVE. Players cannot see or access Archived things so don't archive their Character sheet. However, this also means they can't see archived Handouts - so if you have pictures of monsters, npcs, maps, clues, etc, that you want to use in adventure and want easy access then make the Handout for said Monster Picture or Map, place it "In Player's Journals" and ARCHIVE IT! You can create a link to that Archived Handout (that the player can't see). When you click the link it keeps it in the archive but pops it to your screen and you can hit "Show to Players". They will see it at that time but once they close it, it will be gone and remain archived. To link to an archived handout. Place the EXACT name of the other handout in [brackets]. So if I want to show a picture of the Goblin King when they enter the throne room. First I make a Handout call "Goblin King" and put a picture there. Add to all player's Journals and archive it. Then in a different handout called, let's say, "Attack on Goblin Fort" I could have a link [Goblin King] in the text. I might write: 4b - Throne Room You enter the through the large wooden doors and see a dimly lit room with lofty ceilings! It smells of urine and feces. In the center of the room sits a throne with an old Goblin wearing a crown!" [Goblin King] I click the link and the archived picture pops up on my screen and I can Show to Players. You can have links within links within links as well - sort of a Inception thing going on. Also, to let your players review maps you have provided or pictures of NPCs - Just make one shared Handout and put all the links in there. They can click on any link to an archived handout that the have Player permission for. They cannot go into the archive, but the can momentarily look at the archived handout. I have one Handout entitled "Journal Entries and Handouts" that is in my active Handout list and open for all players. In "Journal Entries and Handouts" all the links to NPC pics, story clues, maps, items, or whatever the players picked up are listed for them to access whenever. Hope this helps. BC

I tag my journals. NPC for friendlies, Foe for hostiles, and PlayerCharacter for the PCs. Prop for things like my MasterTorch and NUL token. (I use the same tags for my art library) When I have finished making monsters for the encounters ahead and want to start populating my maps, I filter my journals for Foe. I've only been actively GMing here for a few weeks and I may start adding the encounter number to my foes for even better filtering. There's no real 'association' between a monster and a specific map, only associations between tokens and journals. So you can have many maps, each with their own monsters. If your PCs are set up correctly with properly linked tokens, you can put a copy of your PC group on each map and changes to hit points on one map will copy over to the other maps, so you can have a bunch of maps for a bunch of encounters in a single day and the PCs healing, or lack thereof, will faithfully 'carry over' to subsequent encounters.

Ok this is all a big help, thanks for the prompt and thoughtful replies folks. Really appreciate it D.