ToF and ToC use the same field with a \c switch for the ToF.
You can cross-reference to a Table or Figure. This is actually a cross-reference to a hidden bookmark for the Caption.

Fields have been and will likely continue to be an integral part of Word. Paul Edstein (macropod) knows them far better than do I. He has a number of articles about them "pinned" in this forum.

Again, with TC fields, you can have anything you want appear in a TOC without it appearing in the document. However, the TC field has to be in the document; it is simply hidden. You can use StyleRef fields to repeat things that are in the Caption inside the TC field and add things inside the TC field that do not appear in the Caption.