Staying in Sync

Somebody is always late. Somebody's phone always drops off the wifi halfway through the second fight. Far Table assumes this and handles it without stopping the game.

The rule underneath everything: the DM's device is the source of truth. When a player arrives, or comes back, the DM's device works out what that player is missing and ships it over. Nobody has to remember to resend anything.

What a late joiner gets

The moment a player's device connects, the DM's device pushes the shape of the night at them straight away:

• The session itself, and who is at the table in which colors.
• The map that is currently up.
• The fight that is currently running, if there is one, including whose turn it is.

Then it works through the heavier material. The two devices compare notes: the player's device says what it already holds, the DM's device sends only what is missing. That means photos, clues and other assets, the revealed part of the Atlas, maps, and encounter artwork. The current map's own photo comes last, once the rest has landed.

The comparison step is why a player who was at last week's session catches up far faster than a brand new one. Their device already has most of it.

The syncing banner (player view)

While that is happening, the player sees a slim banner, not a blocking screen. They can use the Session, Atlas and Play tabs the whole time.

The banner counts items, not megabytes, because both devices agree on the total up front:

• Syncing... 3 of 11 during a catch-up, then Sync complete.
• Map incoming... 40% for a single item arriving mid-session, then Map received.
• Syncing maps... 2 of 4 when several arrive at once.

If something breaks off, the banner says so rather than freezing on a number. A single failed transfer reads Map transfer interrupted, DM will retry. A failed batch reads Sync interrupted, 2 of 4 failed. DM will retry. Then it clears itself. The DM's device does retry, so in most cases the right move is to keep playing.

That banner only ever reports things coming in. It never fires on the DM's device for material going out.

Watching it from the DM's side

The DM does not get the banner. The DM gets the Network Status panel on the Session tab, which appears once at least one player is connected. Collapsed, it is one line. Tapped open, it gives one row per player with a colored dot: green for idle and up to date, amber for currently receiving, red for a transfer that failed. Chapter 14, Hosting a Session, covers reading that panel in detail.

When a player drops

Reconnecting is the player's move, and it is one tap.

Player view. If the connection to the DM goes, a dark overlay covers the screen with a spinner, the words "Connection lost.", and a Reconnect button. Wait for the wifi to come back, then tap Reconnect. There is no code to re-type; the device remembers the session it was in. The button reads "Connecting..." while it works. Far Table deliberately does not reconnect on its own, because a device hammering a dead network helps nobody.

On the way back in, the player keeps their color, their token on the map, and their place in the initiative order. They do not get asked to pick a color again. Then the catch-up above runs, so anything revealed while they were away arrives without the DM doing anything.

DM view. A dropped player does not vanish from the Players card immediately. The DM's device holds their seat for about twelve seconds. Reconnect inside that window and nothing on the DM's screen changes at all. Miss it and the row disappears, though the player can still rejoin with the same code and be caught up as a late joiner. There is no message either way, so a row quietly vanishing is the only signal.

If a player's first join attempt stalls, their device gives it thirty seconds, then tears the attempt down and tries once more by itself. From the player's side this just looks like a longer "Connecting...".

What not to do

Do not end the session because one person dropped. Ending clears the map, the dice photos and the fight on every device at the table, for everyone. Have the one player tap Reconnect instead. Chapter 46, Troubleshooting, covers the cases where that is not enough.