8. Character Designer
ICE's Character Designer is a feature that allows you to create your own characters (heroes, allies, villains, enemies) to use in the Imperial Commander app. Just like missions, custom characters are standalone JSON files that can easily be imported into your play. Mission designers can also import them into their missions and use them there.
The character designer is available in two places: as a standalone tool from the splash screen and implemented in the mission editor. The functionality and structure is identical - the character designer in the mission editor is just there to make it easier to import and edit characters. This documentation describes the use of the standalone character designer. See below for how to use the designer in the mission editor.
To start, click on CHARACTER DESIGNER on the splash screen, then click CREATE NEW CHARACTER.
| No. | Description | Relevant for |
|---|---|---|
| (1) | Set the Name and a potential Subname here. | All |
| (2) | The GUID of each character must be unique. If you copy properties or import a character but want to save it as a DIFFERENT character, click this icon to assign a new unique GUID. | All |
| (3) | Select the character type. | All |
| (4) | Set the color of the icon outline (default: grey). Elite figures are automatically assigned red as the outline, but this can be changed here. | All |
| (5) | Set whether the group belongs to the Imperial or Mercenary faction. | Villains, Enemies |
| (6) | Tier determines the threat cost tier of the group (1: up to 5 points; 2: 6-9 points, 3: 10+ points). Priority determines activation priority. Set Priority to 1 if you want the app to priorize this group when activating, otherwise leave it at 2. | Villains, Enemies |
| (7) | Switch between the tabs of the character designer | - |
| (8) | Duplicate, import, or export the character (see below) | - |
| (9) | If you want to start with a baseline of properties, choose a group to copy the properties from, then click the check icon. You can decide whether or not also to copy instructions and bonuses. | - |
| (10) | Set whether or not this group is an Elite group. | Allies, Villains, Enemies |
| (11) | Set how much Fame the rebels get for defeating this group and how much threat is reimbursed to the Empire (only when playing with Adaptive Difficulty). Usually, Fame equals threat cost, Reimbursement equals half of that. | Villains, Enemies |
| (12) | Set Health and Speed. If you click Multiply Health By Threat Level, the Health value will be multiplied by the threat level of the current mission when the group is deployed. | All |
| (13) | Set threat cost, redeployment cost and group size | Allies, Villains, Enemies |
| (14) | Set the figure size. | Allies, Villains, Enemies |
The Character Designer features portraits for all the official groups ("Stock Icons") and about 100 portraits for various Star Wars characters, creatures, and troops. In the Appearance tab, you can choose the portrait to display in the app, filter the icons, and search for specific icons.
In the Deployment tab, you can set if the group can be defeated, redeployed, and reinforced. Villains can never be redeployed.
In the Combat tab, you can set the attack dice, defense dice, and attack type of the group. You can also decide if the groups prefers to attack specific targets based on their traits (such Hunter, Leader etc.).
In the Card Text tab, you can set the text that appears on the dynamic deployment card in the app, as well as any instructions and bonus effects for villans and enemies, character traits and - for heroes - the skill names that appear in the campaign manager.
Instructions are shown in the main area of the activation window and tell the players what the figure does. You can use formatting for instructions, but each line should be preceded by one of the following symbols.
- {-}: The line is displayed in blue, and without an action symbol in front of it, meaning this line does not cost an action.
-
{A}: The line is preceded by a
symbol, indicating that this line costs an action. -
{Q}: The line is preceded by a symbol, indicating that this is an attack action.
Figures can have more than one instruction set. If they have multiple sets, the app randomly selects one of the sets at each activation. To include more than one set, separate the sets in the text field with a line containing "===" (without the quotes).
Bonus Effects are displayed at the top of the activation window. They consist of a NAME and an EFFECT. The app randomly selects one bonus effect at each activation. Write each bonus effect in its own line in the format NAME:EFFECT, for example PRECISION: Gain +1{B}.
Abilties are the abilities written in the main area of the deployment card. They consist of a NAME and an ABILITY. Write each ability in its own line in the format Name:Ability, for example Camouflage: Hostile figures 4 or more spaces away from you cannot draw line of sight to you. You do not block line of sight for those figures.
List the group's Surge Abilities here, each ability in a new line. They are displayed as numbered in the deployment card, so place the most important surge ability at the top. (For ranged attacks this is usually a surge to add accuracy to make sure the attack doesn't miss.)
Keywords are classic keywords like Habitat: Snow, Mobile or Massive that are displayed on the deployment card. You can also use this to display fixed modifications, such as +2 Accuracy. Write the keywords here, each keyword in a new line.
Note: If a modification is too long, consider putting it into a card ability instead.
In the campaign manager, you can keep track of the skills that heroes have bought with XP. When creating a hero with the Character Designer, use the Hero Skills window to create such a skill list for them.
Via the icons at the top right, you can duplicate, import and export a character.
This creates a copy of the character with a new GUID so it can be exported as a separate character.
This allows you to import (load) the JSON file of an existing character that has been exported previously. Note: To export this character as a new character, give it a new GUID.
This allows you to export (save) the current character as a JSON file.
The mission editor features its own character designer tab. It is identical to the standalone Character Designer and there for convenience so mission creators don't have to switch between the two when creating a character for a mission. Everything said about the standalone Character Designer applies to the character designer tab in the mission editor.
Attaching a character to a mission allows the mission creator to treat it just like any stock group the app offers. They can be deployed, changed, customized and otherwise manipulated by event actions.
Heroes and Allies attached to a mission are only available in the hero / ally selection when the respective mission is selected during mission setup. Allies attached to a mission additionally can be deployed by event actions like regular allies.
Villains and Enemies attached to a mission are added to the regular list of enemy groups available in the mission editor. This means that they can be subjected to any changes or customizations that "stock" groups can. You can deploy them, change their instructions, ready or exhaust them, and do anything else that you can do with stock groups using event actions.
| No. | Description |
|---|---|
| (1) | Any character already attached to the mission can be selected from the dropdown menu. |
| (2) | Click here to import a JSON file of a character created with the character designer and attach it to the mission. They are assigned a character ID (TCXY) for this mission. You can also use the other buttons to duplicate or export a character, or click the X to remove a character from the mission. |
| (3) | Once a character is attached to a mission (or created in the character designer tab altogether), you can adjust any properties you want in the main screen of the character designer tab. |
Once characters are attached to a mission, they appear in any dropdown menu where you can select groups to manipulate with event actions.
There are two ways to use custom characters in Imperial Commander: attached to a mission and as "free" characters.
To use a character attached to a mission, all you need to do is download and play the mission. The character is already included in the mission.
You can also import "free" characters (characters not attached to a mission) to use in any mission. They are available by clicking / tapping the scout trooper icon in the respective panel.
A detailed explanation of how to import custom characters into Imperial Commander 2 can be found in the Imperial Commander wiki.
It can be intimidating to start with a blank canvas when creating a custom character. Therefore, it makes sense to use an existing character or group as the baseline. If you want to recreate Rogue One's Shoretroopers, for example, start with regular Stormtroopers and make modifications based on that. You can simply use Copy Group Properties for that. Another great resource for custom characters are the cards created by the amazing Imperial Assault Continuity Project.
Don't overuse card abilities and card text when creating enemies. Much of what is listed on a card can instead be implemented in the bonus effects for instructions. For example, if you want a group to have an additional +1 damage, you can, of course, put that in the Keywords section. However, you could also put in in the instructions: Move 3 to attack the closest rebel. Apply +1 damage to this attack. This avoids splitting the attention of the players between instructions and cards, making it easier to remember the modifications.
Of course, defensive abilities cannot be included in the instructions, therefore there should only be a few easy to remember abilities.
Don't try to make too "smart" instructions by using lots of conditions ("When X is on the map, do Y, else do Z"). Use instructions from an existing group similar to what you have in mind as the baseline and go from there.
Remember that you can set multiple instruction sets for a single group. Use this to add some variety and unpredictability for your groups.