-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 15
Home
Start the app and select "New Standalone Scenario" under the New Project section on the right. Campaigns are not supported yet.
A Scenario is made up of a few core components - Chapters, Objectives, Interactions and Triggers. Each component has its own Wiki page with detailed information.
A video demonstration of the editor can be viewed on YouTube.
The Scenario Title can be changed at any time by clicking its text at the top of the app window and hitting Enter to confirm. The Scenario Settings can be viewed by clicking the gear button to the right of the Scenario Title. Here, you can specify a starting Objective to show the players, add any Threat thresholds your mission will have, and edit the Intro and ending Resolution text. This is also where you specify whether the Scenario is a Journey with map tiles, or a Battle on the large square gameboard mats. Only Journeys are supported by the companion app at this time.
A Chapter describes the group of tiles that gets placed on the playing table when the Chapter is triggered. Chapters also have optional story text that is shown after being triggered. Scenarios have at least one Chapter which is triggered when the Scenario first starts. This first Chapter is created for you when you create a new Scenario, named Start, and it cannot be removed. When Chapters are triggered to be placed on the playing table, the companion app decides how adjacent Chapters fit together, which will be different every time the Scenario is played.
Tiles created for a Chapter can be either Fixed or Random, specified in the Chapter Editor (click Properties in the Chapter box on the main screen). Fixed tiles will be laid out on the board exactly as you design them in the Tile Editor. The only "randomness" will be how they connect to adjacent Chapter tiles. Random tiles are chosen by you (up to 4) in the Tile Pool Editor and placed randomly by the companion app when the Chapter they're in is triggered. Each time the Scenario is played, the layout of tiles in Chapters with random tiles will be different (position and rotation).
Objectives are optional story elements that give the players a specific task to complete. One Objective can be active at a time. When you start a new project, a default Objective is created for you (named Default Objective).
An Objective can be triggered to start, and itself can fire a Trigger when it's completed by the players.
Interactions provide a means to present players with challenges, choices and simple text. There are 5 types of Interactions: Text Dialog, Story Branch, Monster Threat, Stat Test, and Decision Interaction.
The Text Dialog is a popup window that displays text to the players.
The Story Branch tests whether a specified Trigger has been set, then fires additional Triggers or Events based on the result.
Monster Threats describe one or more groups of monsters that are spawned on the board.
Stat Tests present an Attribute test to the players. Players must draw a specified number of successes on their card draw in order to pass a test.
Decision Interactions present 2 (optionally 3) choices to the players. These choices are presented in the companion app with buttons labeled with text you specify. Depending on which choice the players choose, Triggers are fired so you can keep track of which choice was made.
Triggers have 2 purposes. First, they activate Interactive Events. Second, and simultaneously, they hold a value of either true or false. Triggers start off with a value of false, and change to true when they are "triggered". Story Branches can check the value of a Trigger (either true or false) and fire off additional Triggers or Events depending on the result. Triggers can only be triggered ONCE.
When you start a new Scenario, the editor creates 2 useful Triggers to start you off - "Scenario Ended" and "Objective Complete". These are described below under Recommended Workflow and can be deleted if you won't be using them.
There are 2 ways to add new components to a Scenario. Along the top of the app window are 4 buttons, one for each component type you can create. Click the button for the component you want to add. This will open the properties window for that component. Click the green check to finalize your settings, or click the X to cancel.
The other way to add new components can be found along the left side of the app window. There, you will find 3 sections - Objectives, Events, and Triggers. Click the green + button for the component you want to create.
Chapters can only be created by using the New Chapter button along the top of the app window. Chapters you create will stack up in a row in the middle of the app window. You can edit a chapter by clicking its Properties button.
To edit a component, select the component's name in the dropdown menu in the left panel and click the gray Properties button (gear icon) to open its editor window.
To permanently remove a component from the Scenario, select its name in the dropdown menu in the left panel and click the red X button.
Be careful when removing components. If you have other components referencing a component you remove, your Scenario naturally won't work as you expect.
Once the concepts of Chapters, Triggers and Events are understood, designing Scenarios will be easier, because these components are what really drive a Scenario forward. There is no "right" way of creating a Scenario, but below is a general outline that may make your first one easier to design.
I would recommend a very simple mission as your first Scenario. In my video demo of the editor, I have the heroes escorting a farmer's prized pig to market. With a mission in mind, give the Scenario a name. Click the text at the top of the app windows where it says "Click Text to Edit Scenario Title". Type a name and hit the Enter key.
Now open the Scenario Settings by clicking the gear icon to the right of the Scenario title you just changed. In the dropdown menu under "First Objective", select "Default Objective". This is the empty Objective the editor starts you with. Setting this will tell the companion app that "Default Objective" is the first Objective and should be shown to the players at the start of the Scenario, right after the Intro text is displayed. If your Scenario doesn't have an initial Objective, leave it set to None. Objectives can be triggered to start at another time if you wish.
Now edit the Introduction Text by clicking the blue pencil button in that section of the window. Intro text is shown at the very start of the Scenario, before anything else. Use it to describe the overall mission in broad strokes.
Finally, edit the Resolution Text. This text is shown when the Scenario is finished. It's the last thing the players will see when the Scenario ends. You can create multiple Resolutions for different endings to your Scenario. At the bottom of the text editor is a dropdown menu where you can select the Trigger that activates a particular Resolution. When a Resolution is Triggered, the Scenario will end.
When you create a new Scenario, a Trigger called "Scenario Ended" is created for you and is already chosen as the default Resolution's Trigger.
Click the green check when you're done with the Scenario Settings.
NOTE: The companion app does NOT support multiple pages of text at this time. Only edit PAGE 1 of any text editor.
Come up with an initial task for the heroes to complete. This will be their first Objective, previously specified in the Scenario Settings. Select "Default Objective" in the left panel and click the properties button to edit it.
Since this Objective has already been set to activate from the Scenario Settings as the First Objective, you can leave the top dropdown set to None. All further Objectives you create will have to be triggered by a Trigger, specified in the dropdown menu. Without a Trigger set here, there is no way to activate an Objective.
Give the Objective a descriptive name to use in the editor, then edit the Reminder. The Reminder is the text that is always visible at the top left of the companion app to "remind" the players what they are currently supposed to be doing.
Click the blue edit button to change the text that is initially shown to the players when the Objective is activated.
At the bottom of the editor, "Objective Complete" has already been set to be the Trigger that lets the companion app know this Objective has been completed. The "Objective Complete" Trigger was created for you when you started a new Scenario.
Since we're keeping this simple, let's make completing this Objective also end the Scenario. In the dropdown menu under "Set this Trigger when the Objective is completed", select the Trigger called "Scenario Ended". You will recall that the "Scenario Ended" Trigger will fire your Scenario Resolution text (in the Scenario Settings) and end the Scenario.
TODO