5. Creating Events and Triggers
Events and triggers are the "game logic" behind an Imperial Commander mission. They are what allows you to create an interactive experience and make interesting stuff happen during the mission.
Events are the basic narrative elements of Imperial Commander. The most basic event is simply a text window giving the players some information, but most events alter the game state in some way. For example, they might deploy figures, remove tokens, change the objective or reveal new map sections. Any “Event” from a mission description is usually an event in the editor, but there are more events in a mission than just those from the description. For example, every time the players interact with a token (such as opening a crate), the app displays an event.
To add a new event, either click the Add an Event button in the tool bar or the + symbol at the bottom of the Events list. You can also create new events from many other windows. Additionally, you can click Duplicate Event to duplicate an event including all descriptions, settings, and event actions.
Double-click an event in the Events list or select it and click the ⚙ symbol to open the event properties.
| No. | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Enter a unique name for the event. |
| 2 | When an event is activated, it displays a text box. Click Edit Text... to enter the event text. Additional text boxes can be displayed via the Text Box event action. |
| 3 | This is a list of all "Event Actions" (see below) assigned to the event. They are launched in order. Click the arrow buttons to change the order. Click + to add a new event action, or the red X to remove the selected event action. |
| 4 | If an event needs additional triggers to activate, they can be assigned here. Click the three dots to select an existing trigger, or the Add New Trigger icon to add a new one. Enter the value the trigger needs to reach to fire the event. Click the red X to remove an assigned trigger. |
| 5 | Events are either Global or belong to a specific Section. Toggle the scope here between Yes (Global) and No (assign it to the currently active section). |
| 6 | This determines "Trigger Behavior". This is detailed below. |
| 7 | Many event triggers can be generalized, such as "At the end of Round 4". Those general triggers can be set here. General triggers are detailed below. |
Trigger Behavior determines how exactly the event reacts when a trigger is fired.
Which Triggers fire this Event?: If set to All (default), the event only activates when all conditions (general triggers, additional triggers) have been met. If set to Any, it activates when any one of those conditions has been met.
Example: An event listens to the General Trigger At the end of Round 2 and the Additional Trigger Door Open = 1. If set to All, the event only activates when the door has been opened at the end of round 2. If set to Any, it activates either when the door is opened or at the end of round 2, whatever comes first.
This Event is Repeatable: By default, events are "spent" once they are activated and cannot be activated again, even if the conditions are met again. If you want to make an event repeatable, check this option.
Fires at End of Current Round: By default, events launch immediately once the conditions are met. Check this option if you want to delay the activation of the event until the end of the round.
General Triggers are triggers that refer to a specific general game state, such as the end of a round or a defeated group. Simply check all the general triggers that you need to activate your event (and enter the round number, if applicable). They are described in more detail below.
When an event is "fired" (activated), Event Actions are carried out. Event actions are what actually manipulates the game state. Usually, an event features multiple event actions that are carried out one after the other. Event actions are used for things like deploying groups, placing or discarding tokens, increasing threat or anything else.
Example: Once the Rebels open the door to the Outpost, they fire the event “Perimeter breached”. This event contains four event actions: “Discard the door”, “Reveal Section 2 – Outpost”, “Increase threat by threat level” and “Deploy Stormtrooper group to red deployment point”.
Event actions are grouped into the categories General, Deployment, Group Manipulation and Map and Tokens. A full list of event actions is available under Event Action List.
To add an event action, first open the event you want to assign event actions to, then click the + under Event Actions and select the category and the desired event action.
A window opens where you can fill in the details of the action. You can find a more detailed explanation here.
Some events are "fired" by Triggers, also called Variables. A trigger starts with a value of 0, meaning it’s inactive. When a trigger is “fired”, the value increases by 1. The trigger becomes active and might fire one or more events.
Example: The mission started with a closed door to the outpost, two terminals and the trigger “Door Open” with a value of 0. Interacting with each terminal increases the value of the trigger "Door Open" by 1. The event “Perimeter Breached” listens to the trigger “Door Open”. As soon as that trigger is changed to value 2 (both terminals have been interacted with), the event is fired.
General Triggers are triggers that refer to a specific general game state, such as the end of a round or a defeated group.
The general triggers End of Round XY and End of each Round fire just before the Status Phase of each round. If you want to fire an event after the Status Phase of a round, set it to fire at the start of the next round instead.
Custom Triggers are any triggers not listed under the general triggers in an event window. They are used to inform the app about game state changes that are individual to a mission. Since most events can be triggered by interactions or general triggers, you usually don't need many custom triggers. Here is a list of examples for when to use custom triggers and how to use them:
You want to reach a specific numeric count.
Example: Once the heroes have opened three crates, launch the event "Resupply". Create a custom trigger named "Crates Opened" with an initial value of 0. Opening a crate increases the value by 1. The event "Resupply" is launched once the value reaches 3.
You want to launch an event after a number of singular, but specific conditions have been met.
Example: Once the Riot Troopers are defeated, the Imperial Officer is defeated, and the heroes have investigated the terminal, launch the event "Worse all the time". Create three triggers named "Troopers defeated", "Officer defeated", and "Terminal investigated", with initial values of 0. Each of the described actions increased the value of its respective trigger by 1. Once all three values reach 1, the event "Worse all the time" is launched.
You want to delay launching an event instead of immediately firing it.
Example: At the end of round 5, if the heroes have spoken with their contact, launch the event "Hurry up". Create a trigger named "Spoken to contact" with an initial value of 0. Speaking to the contact increases the value of the trigger by 1. The event "Hurry up" is fired when two conditions are met: The end of round 5 (general trigger) and "Spoken to contact = 1" (custom trigger).
To add a new trigger, either click the Add an Trigger button in the tool bar or the + symbol at the bottom of the Trigger Variables list. You can also create new triggers from many other windows.
| No. | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Enter a unique name for the trigger. |
| 2 | Triggers are either Global or belong to a specific Section. Toggle the scope here between Yes (Global) and No (assign it to the currently active section). |
| 3 | Triggers can have certain numeric values. By default, a trigger has an initial value of 0, meaning its inactive. Firing a trigger increases its value, usually by +1 (although this can be set in the event action Modify Variables). A trigger with a value above 0 is active, so it can trigger events. |
| 4 | You can choose to have the trigger reset to 0 after it is fired. This means that it starts at 0, then, when it is fired, switches to 1, and then falls back to 0. |
| 5 | You can set a trigger to directly fire an existing event, if that trigger is the only condition needed to activate the event. See below. |
"Activating" or "firing" an event means starting the event so that all the assigned event actions are carried out. There are multiple ways to start events.
Map Entities can feature "interactions". This means that when the players click on them in the app, Imperial Commander displays one or more buttons. Clicking those buttons can directly launch an event. See Adding and removing interactions.
Some triggers are very common or refer to a general game status, like the end of a round or the defeat of a certain group. These triggers are listed in an event property window under General Triggers. To have an event fired by general triggers, simply check all the boxes you want to use. See General Triggers.
Custom triggers are described in detail above. They can be added to an event in the Additional Triggers area.
Event Groups are collections of any number of events that can be activated by certain triggers and conditions. When an event group is activated, it randomly selects one of the associated events and launches it. For details, see Event Groups.