Getting Started

Start the app and select "New Standalone Scenario" under the New Project section on the right of the app window.

See the Campaign Manager help section for information about Campaigns.

A Scenario is made up of a few core components - Tile Blocks, Objectives, Events and Triggers. Each component has its own Wiki page with detailed information (see the sidebar on the right). For now, start with Editor Basics below for an overview of what makes up a Scenario and learn about the app's editing features.

A video demonstration of the editor can be viewed on YouTube.

A recommended Workflow is also available for reference while creating your Scenarios.

Editor Basics

Learning the basics of what makes up a Scenario will make building your creations easier. Learn about the Scenario Settings, an overview of the core components, and basic editing tasks.

Scenario Settings

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. It can also be changed in the Scenario Settings dialog. 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 (from the Shadow Phase), add rewards for completing the Scenario (for Campaigns only) and edit the Intro and ending Resolution text. You may also create Story/Special Instructions text, which is shown to players right before they start the Scenario. This Settings dialog 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.

Components Overview

Tile Blocks

A Tile Block describes a group of tiles on the playing table. When Tile Blocks are triggered, the Companion App instructs the players which tile numbers to prepare, followed by showing where to lay them out on the playing table. Tile Blocks have optional Flavor Text that is also shown after being triggered. Scenarios are required to have at least one Tile Block which is automatically triggered when the Scenario first starts. This initial Tile Block is already created for you when you create a new Scenario, named Start, and it cannot be removed. When Tile Blocks are triggered to be placed on the playing table, the Companion App decides how adjacent Tile Blocks fit together, which will be different every time the Scenario is played.

Tiles created for a Tile Block can use either a Fixed or Random layout, specified in the Tile Block Properties (click Properties in the Tile Block box on the main screen). Fixed tiles (the default) will be laid out on the board exactly as you design them (position and rotation) in the Tile Editor. The only "randomness" will be how they connect to adjacent Tile Blocks. A Tile Block that uses Random tiles will use tiles chosen by you (up to 5) in the Tile Editor and be placed randomly by the Companion App when the Tile Block is triggered. Since the tiles are placed randomly, you do not have control over their position or rotation relative to each other as you do with a non-random Tile Block. Each time the Scenario is played, the layout of Tile Blocks using random tiles will be different (position and rotation).

To add further randomness to your Scenarios, Tile Blocks can use Random Token Interaction Groups. Random Token Interaction Groups are just collections of Events. The Tile Block can randomly choose Events out of this collection and randomly place them as Tokens on the tiles. A Tile Block can use a mix of randomly placed Tokens and fixed Tokens whose positions you specify in the Tile Editor/Token Editor. See the Tile Block help section for more information on Random Token Interaction Groups.

Objectives

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.

Events

Events provide a means to present players with challenges, choices and simple text. There are currently 10 types of Events: Text Dialog, Story Branch, Enemy Event, Stat Test, Decision Interaction, Multi-Event, Persistent Event, Conditional Event, Dialog Event and Replace Token Event.

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.

Enemy Events 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.

Multi-Event is a special Event that, when activated, will sequentially activate a list of Triggers you specify, in order.

Persistent Events are required Token Interactions whose Token stays on the tile even after being activated. They act as a relay and delegate the player's Action to the "real" Event that you specify.

Conditional Events silently listen for specified Triggers to be fired. After all Triggers being monitored have fired, the Event fires a Trigger of its own.

Dialog Events present the players with a choice of up to 3 dialog options to choose from. Choosing a dialog option uses an Action in the Companion App. After choosing a dialog option, the players are shown the story text associated with that option. The Token assigned to a Dialog Event remains on the board until all dialog options have been used before it is (optionally) removed.

Replace Token Events will replace an existing Token on the board with another Token you specify after they're activated.

Triggers

Triggers have 2 purposes. First, they instruct the companion app to activate 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". For example, 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 fired ONCE unless you make it a Multi-Trigger by marking the appropriate checkbox.

Multi-Triggers change the normal behavior of a Trigger. A Multi-Trigger will activate ALL components listening for it, including all Events set to be triggered by it. Additionally, Multi-Triggers can be fired multiple times instead of just once, but their value will always be true once it's been fired at least 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 in the Tutorial and can be deleted if you won't be using them.

Adding and Editing Components

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.

Tile Blocks can only be created by using the New Tile Block button along the top of the app window. Tile Blocks you create will stack horizontally in the middle of the app window. You can edit a Tile Block 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.

Your First Journey

Now you're ready to start tinkering with your own Scenario. Check out the Tutorial to learn the workflow of creating your own Journey.