Advice

“How To” Guide for Beginners

In this article, we address some of the questions most frequently asked by new players.

We hope you find it useful, but if you don’t see the answer you are looking for, don’t worry – just Get in Touch and we will be happy to help.

 

Contents

 

 

 

 

 

How do I move my characters?

Key points

Characters are always contained within a force of some kind. Parties, legions, locations, nomad camps, lairs, ruins, etc. are all forces, some of which can move and some can’t. (Characters can also be inside a guild, which is inside a force, but let’s stay on topic here).

If your character is in a mobile force which you own, such as a party, a nomad camp, a fleet or a legion, then you can order the force to move in the movement section of your turn.

If your character is in a mobile force that someone else owns, the owner of the force can move that force and thus your character will move as well.

 

Detailed Procedure

1) In the LPE, open the order editor.

2) Go to the movement phase <Order Phases><Movement>

3) With the right mouse button, select the force you want to move.

4) Select the type of movement:

  1. Normal is normal.
  2. Stealth makes you go slower but you’ll be harder to spot by enemies.
  3. Forced makes you go 30% faster, but gives negative modifiers in combat.
  4. Flight works only if you have a flying carpet or flying mounts with enough capacity to carry you; the force you are trying to move must have more flying carrying capacity then it has flight burden.
  5. Fleets can only move with Normal movement.

5) If you are looking for something in particular, you can put in a conditional to force a stop if you encounter a road, or particular force, or particular terrain type.

6) Plot the specific movement path you wish to follow, which will show up on the map as you enter it or just click on the map where you want to move to and the LPE will work out the route that costs the least movement points.

7) Finally, if your moving force is a party, and you end your movement outside a location, like a town or ruins, you have the option of entering that location as part of the movement order.

8) Click finish.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I kill a monster?

Key Points

Monsters live in lairs and ruins.  A lair has a single monster, and a ruin is a location-type force that has several parties of monsters. 

In Legends, combat is always between forces, never between characters.  Characters (monsters are characters, remember) may wail on each other within a combat, and you can see the details in your turn report, but you can never order a character to attack another character.  You order the force to attack another force. In effect, if two parties clash and each party has one character inside assigned to a combat slot then the two characters do battle.

There are two general types of combat in Legends: duels, which are fights between forces which only contain characters (parties and lairs) and battles, which are fights between forces at least one of which contains soldiers.  Killing monsters is generally done in duels, in which your party attacks a lair or ruin party, and that is the focus of this “How do I”.  (There are exceptions, in which monsters help to defend locations that also contain soldiers, but let’s leave that for the advanced course, OK?)

 

Detailed Procedure

1) Make sure your characters who want to fight are ready.  They should have weapons and armor equipped, have a duel spell loaded if they are a priest or arcanist, and generally be in shape for a fight (crawling into that wyvern’s lair with 98% wounds is generally considered a bad idea). Don’t forget to check if your priest or arcanist has enough mana left to cast the spell in the coming duel or battle! You’re in for a bad surprise if you enter a duel with 85% wounds and the spell Empathic Self Cure loaded, and you cannot cast the spell due to lack of mana..

2) Make sure your party is ready.

  1. Each of the characters that is participating in the fight should be assigned to a slot. This is done by having the fighting force do a B8 “Character Slot Assignments” order (basic order section). Slots 1-5 are the front line. Slots 6-8 start out in back, and can stay back and support with missile weapons or charge to melee range (as far as I know the reserve slot options are only for soldiers, not characters). You set these options with basic order L6 “Force Reserve Slot Options”. The biggest difference is that only the characters in the front slots can be targets for the special attacks from monsters (like that dragon’s fiery breath or the gorgon’s paralyzing gaze). Additional characters can be in the party with your bashers, but won’t participate in combat if they are not assigned to a slot.  (So you can bring your priest along to heal folks up after, even if he is too wimpy to get into the fight).
  2. You need to tell your force how much damage to take before running away. Do a basic order L7 “Set Retreat Level”. 100% means your characters will fight to the death. Characters and monsters will always try to retreat from battle if they’re 50% or more wounded (that’s what I thought at least).

3) Pick a target, and move to it (See “How do I …” on target selection).  If your target is a lair, just move to the same province as the lair.  If your target is a party in a ruin, move to the province of the ruin, and enter the ruin as the last part of the move order.

4) Attack in the Military 2 Order Phase.  If your target is a lair, order your party to “Attack Location” M2.  If your target is a party in a ruin, order your party to “Attack Party Inside Force” M12.

5) Hope for the best!  Repeat as necessary :-).

 

 

 

 

 

How do I cast a spell?

Key Points

Only priests and arcanists can cast spells (priests actually call them miracles, but the procedure is almost exactly the same).  Casting a spell costs a character action, except when casting a duel or battle spell.

To cast a spell, you either must know the spell in your spell list, or you must have a magic item equipped which allows you to cast the spell, or your character must have a familiar that knows the spell.

You must have enough mana to pay the mana cost of the spell.  Some spells have a fixed costs, others have a variable costs depending either on the range or how strong you want to make the spell.  Your character gets her mana recharged once per month at production and some magic items provide free mana when equipped (often only towards specific spells, but sometimes for general use).

As an arcanist you always get 3 free mana towards casting a spell that is within your discipline. Priests don’t get this advantage. For example, when a Wizard casts spell 14 Create Wizards Staff he effectively uses only 7 mana at most (the spell normally costs 10 mana).

Many spells also require an ingredient. Many summoning spells, for example, require a unit of silverleaf.  These ingredients must be in the possessions of the caster at the time of casting (though they do not need to be equipped).

Duel and battle spells (spells that are cast as part of combat) must be loaded prior to the combat, using the procedure below.  Loading a duel or battle spell does not cost a character action, nor does casting the spell in combat.

 

Detailed Procedure

1) In either of the character order phases, have your character do a “Cast Spell” S8 order.  A priest would do an “Invoke Miracle” S9.  Tell the LPE which spell you which to cast.

2) The options that you have to fill in depend upon the specific spell.  If you have a question, look up the spell in the rule book.

3) You usually have to tell the LPE how much mana to put into the spell.  Since you only get more mana once per month, it is a very valuable commodity, so be careful with it.  That having been said, some spells cast on other characters or forces will only have an effect if the spell has enough mana to overcome the “shell” or Magic Attack Resistance (MAR) of the target.  This is true even is the spell is not and “attack” and if you are casting the spell on one of your own characters.

4) For example, suppose you want to cast “Character Netherworld Possession” (S122) on one of your characters, to give her the netherworld status.  Spell 122 has a minimum mana of 3, but you also need to overcome the MAR of the target character.  If your target has a MAR of 4, you would need to put 7 mana in the spell for it to be effective. If the caster is a Summoner he’ll effectively loose only 4 mana (due to the 3 free mana because the spell is within his discipline).

5) In some cases you can put more mana into a spell then you have or then your arcane level. For example, you are a level 20 Wizard with 20 mana and 2 free mana (you have equipped a power 3 staff which gives free mana towards any spell you cast). You want to cast the spell Teleport. Normally you could put 20 mana into the spell. But because you have 2 free mana (the power 3 staff equipped) and 3 more free mana because the spell is within your discipline (Teleport is a Wizard’s spell) you can put a maximum of 25 mana into the spell!

 

 

 

 

 

How do I learn more spells?

Key Points

Only arcanists (characters with skills 1-9) can learn spells.

Priests “Invoke Miracles” rather than casting spells.  They also have set spells that they learn from their religion when they attain specific levels (1 level of spells for every 5 levels as a priest), so they automatically learn spells as they progress in levels and don’t learn them in the way that arcanists do.  The procedures below do not apply to priests.

 

Specific Procedure

There are five basic ways for a character to learn more skills: research, from another character, from a guild, from an item, from a familiar.  This is one of the more complicated areas of the game, so we will just cover the basics here. Look in the rulebook for more information.

1) Research:  Arcanists can research new spells, using the S11 order “Research Spell”.  This costs a character action.  The formula is very complicated, and very bad things can happen if you attempt a spell that is beyond your ability to research, so take a good look at the formula in the book before you try, or get some help from a mentor.  A couple of basic examples:

A level 10 arcanist attempting to research a level 2 spell in his own discipline has a 25% chance of succeeding and a 5-20% chance of becoming cursed if he fails.  If he were in a magic guild of strength 15, the chance of success would jump to 55%, and if he spent 300 crowns (on top of the base cost of 100 crowns) for tutors, his chance of success would climb to 85% (the maximum).

A level 31 arcanist (starting level for a hero character) can research any spell in his own discipline up to level 3 at max chance without a guild, and up to level 5 in a strength 15 magic guild with tutors.  The costs of failure rise, though. Failing a level 5 research attempt means a 50-80% chance of curse, 50-75% wounds, and 50-100% chance of insanity.

2) Learn from another character:  Another character can teach your character a spell that he knows.  He issues a S12 “Teach Spell to Character” order, and you do a S13 “Learn spell from Character” order.  Each character can only be teaching and learning one spell at a time, so you need to “close the loop” before either character tries to teach or learn another spell or the same spell to another character.

3) Learn from a guild:  Magic guilds can each offer up to three spells, for a price determined by the guild’s owner.  You can find out what’s available by viewing the guild (View orders are in the Basic order phase, and don’t cost a character action).  If you are in the guild, you can issue a S14 “Learn spell from guild” order and specify which guild and spell you want, and how much you are willing to pay.  You will only pay the actual cost, so it is OK to offer a higher amount if you are unsure.

4) Learn from an item:  Some magic items will teach you spells when they are activated (Use item order in the Basic phase, doesn’t cost an action). Some items allow you to cast a spell, often with free mana towards their casting, when they are equipped.  You can find out what an item has to offer by casting Spell 209 “Runepower” on it, or by trading for this information with other players.

5) Familiars:  Arcanists that cast spell S111 “Summon Familiar” will be given a magical companion that allows the character to cast additional spells, with some free mana towards each.  Each module has different familiars, and each one offers different spells.  The familiars also can morph to more powerful companions, with better spells to offer.  Spell #111 should be one of the very first priorities for every arcanist in every game.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I complete an adventure?

Key Points

Adventures are one of the most interesting and powerful aspects of the Legends game system.  They represent special actions, tied to specific parts of the module’s underlying storyline.  They are often intended to guide player’s roles in certain directions, to help sculpt the story of the game.

There are no hard and fast rules about what an adventure can be, and what its costs and rewards are.  Generally, they are of the form: Be a certain thing (centaur demigod, halfling summoner, Grand Poobah of Long Island), have a certain item (Plymouth Rock, the Swan sword, a wooden nickel), and be in a certain place, and do Adventure 123, and you will receive this boon (3 skill levels, 50,000 crowns, 100 level 8 werewolf soldiers).

Adventures can be found in the module book, or through the course of play.  Usually both.

 

Specific Procedure

1) In basic orders, have your character do an A3 “Adventure Completion” order.  The target of the order is often the issuing character, but can also be a force, soldier slot, province, or just about anything else.  If it is not clear, ask your GM, your mentor, or the emlegends list.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I change my weapon (re-equip)?

Key Points

Each character can have equipped at one time: 1 weapon, 1 shield, 1 armor, 1 warmount and 2 miscellaneous items.  All other items in possession of the character are listed down below.  A character can only carry so much stuff, known as his carrying capacity (cc).  Mounts and slaves in possession, including the equipped warmount, add to this total.

Not all combinations are possible.  Some weapons may not be used with a shield, or while mounted.  Check the weapon in the LPE database to see what’s what.  If you try to equip an illegal combination, the LPE won’t tell you, but the order won’t work as you wrote it.  For example, the game gives priority to your character having a weapon.  So if you try to equip a weapon that can’t be used while mounted and try to equip a mount, the game will equip your weapon, but not the mount…  The same holds true of weapons that can’t be used with shields.

 

Specific Procedure

1) In basic orders, have your character issue a Q1, “Equip Character” order.  The LPE will walk you through the various slots, and ask you what you want to put where.  If you want to unequip something (in order to transfer it to another character, for instance), you have to specifically push the unequip tab, not just leave the slot blank.  Re-equipping does not cost a character action.

2) That’s all there is too it, really.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I heal my character?

Key Points

Each character has a wounds percentage shown on the character’s page of the turn report or in the LPE. 0% wounds is full hit points, and 100% means dead.

Characters can also be poisoned with Mandra (Poison I) or Belladon (Poison II).  Poisoning prevents healing at production and from resting, and can cause additional wounds at production.

Characters can also be diseased, from either the Black Death or the Pox.

 

Detailed Procedures

1) Priestly Healing: Most religions have “Heal Character” (spell #295) as one of their basic miracles.  Your priest can cast this on a wounded character.  Each point of mana over the target’s MAR heals 10 percentage points of wounds.  Spell #295 also has a 5% chance of curing poison per casting.  Most religions also have spells to remove the Black Death and the Pox, but these are cast on forces, not on characters.

2) Healing Items: Healing potions and antidotes are fairly common items.  Healing Potion I heals 10 percentage points of wounds.  Healing Potion II heals 20 percentage points.  These potions can be made by Rangers, using Asarum and Mandrake, with the S16 “Make Healing Draught” order.  Similarly, Belladon and Mandra antidotes will cure the relevant poisons.

3) Resting: Characters can spend a character action resting, using basic order B10 “Rest Character,” which heals 25% of constitution if you are in a mobile force, 50% of constitution if you are in a location or guild, and more if you are in an inn.

4) Production: Your characters heal by 100% of their constitution at production, as long as they are not poisoned or diseased.

5) Arcanist Spells: Cure Self (spell #213) & Empathic Self Cure (spell #83) can also be used to heal characters.  Both of these spells only affect the caster.  Cure Self heals 3 percentage points of wounds for each point of mana over the caster’s MAR & it also has a 10% chance per casting of curing poison, disease, and insanity as well.  Empathic Self Cure is used in combat.  It is a magical attack that transfers your damage to your opponent in duels (not in battles with soldiers).  You must exercise some care with this spell, since “special attacks” happen before magical attacks & your character must still be alive and not “have retreated” in order to cast the spell in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I pick a target (choose a lair)?

Key Points

Monster’s races are generally the best way to gauge their power.  PC races (races that you could choose for your own characters) like hobbits, gnomes, and maratasens are the easiest monsters you can fight.  Then come the ogres, trolls, giant spiders, and the like.  Slightly tougher are the harpies, wyverns, and chimeras.  The various giants also fall into this middle ground except for the Eldar Giant.  On the tougher end of the scale you have the dragons and balrogs – save them until you are strong and experienced.  You can get data on monster races from the database in the LPE (see procedure below).

Inside the Ruins you will find monsters in parties.  Obviously numbers matter.  One ogre is not very tough, but an ogre with his two hill giant buddies can be much more difficult.  Definitely team up with someone before you take on the party of dragons and balrogs.  In general, a party of monsters should be thought of as one category “tougher” than lone monsters.

Finally, monsters can have special statuses.  In Legends, Vampire is something you become, not your race.  The same is true for statuses like werewolf, enchanted, and netherworld.  Again the names are telling.  Nether Damned is much nastier than just Netherworld, and Greater Vampires are tougher than Skeletons.  Any monster with a status should be treated as distinctly tougher than an equivalent race without a status.  Watch out for the Demigod Dragons or Demigod Hobbits. You won’t be the first to attack that easy Hobbit lair in your first turn without checking the status of the Hobbit, and then you’ll see in your turn results that the ‘easy’ Demigod Hobbit has beaten you to pulp with one mighty bash!

So – pick your first fight with a wimpy monster and work your way up.  You’ll be happier and you’ll spend less time in the churches getting your soul put back in place.

Note: after picking a lair you will then need to move to it and issue a conquer location order to actually attack the monster.

 

Detailed Procedures

Picking a lair does not have “steps” in the turn UI.  Your starting map (part of your “setup turn”) comes with information about the lairs on your maps.  If you do not see an easy lair on your map, contact your GM or your mentor and ask for help – new players should always be set up with reasonable lairs on their starting maps.

To check out monster races in the LPE database:

  1. Start the LPE
  2. Select the icon in the upper left of the map window that looks like an open book
  3. Go to the drop down list in the middle left of the resulting viewer window.  Scroll down and select “Race.”
  4. Click “View.”  Typically the first race you will see will be #201, Humans.
  5. Use the right arrow at the top of the window to scroll through races you know about.  The tougher monsters often have races above 300.  The various statistics will give you an idea of the power of the race itself.  However, remember that individual members of a race will have personal combat ability above these base statistics and may have arcane ability, weaponmaster skills, armor and weapons that them far tougher than these base statistics.
  6. Once you have chosen a lair, you will likely need to enter a movement order to move your party to the lair (in movement phase in the turn) and then enter a military order to conquer the lair (in the Military 2 phase, because it comes after the movement phase is complete).  A lair is a type of location, so normally you want to use the Conquer Location military order.  This order will get your characters to attack the monster and try to take over the lair.
  7. An easier way for more advanced users of the LPE is to click on the lair on the LPE map. Then click on the Characters button on the bottom left and you’ll see what monster is in the lair. Then right-click on the monster and choose the menu-option ‘view in database’. Now you’ll see the monster’s status and race in the LPE database screen on the top left. Right-click on the race number or status number and you’ll jump right to the specific race or status and you’ll see the stats if you have them in your LPE database…

 

 

 

 

 

How do I improve a skill or attribute?

Key Points

Improvement through usage

Improvement through practice

 

Detailed Procedures

1) The easiest way to improve a skill, is to use it.  For example, if you are a magic user then every time you cast a spell there is a small chance that your arcane skill level will go up (no one is sure what the chance is, but it can’t be far from 1 in 7).  A priest can gain a priest skill increase from invoking miracles or praying in a church.  Similarly, the militant skills and weaponmaster skills will very likely increase if you use them in a fight – your PC might also go up. All skills and attributes have a chance to improve when used. Also, certain Marks that your character can get in the game (for example a Mark of Power) give you a higher chance to increase skills through usage.

2) As an alternative, you could spend a character action using the S1 or S2 orders to study the skill or attribute.  This gives you a chance to improve your skill that is roughly 5% for every level below 20 that you are.  It might be worth using this order if you have a very low level of skill and don’t need to use the character action to do anything else.  Your chances of success will be improved if you are inside a guild that supports the skill you are practicing (e.g. a thieves guild to practice thief or stealth). You can also spend crowns if you are in a guild, up to a maximum of 10 crowns per point of guild strength or 150 crowns per level of skill that you already have (whichever is the lower). These crowns will be spent on tutors and will further improve your chances of success. Your chance of success cannot be less than 10% and cannot be more than 90%.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I learn a skill?

Key Points

Learn from another character

Learn from a guild

Learn from a magic item

 

Detailed Procedures

1) Learning from another character who knows the skill and is willing to spend a character action teaching you.  This is probably the easiest method. You will have to enter an order to learn the skill from the specified teacher. The player who owns the teacher (which may also be you) has to enter an order to teach the skill. Both teacher and student need to be in the same province when each order is processed, but they can be in different guilds or forces and can even move provinces between orders provided they are standing next to each other when the orders are checked.         

The order format is something like:   

STUDENT – c123 (the student’s character ID) …. s4 (learn skill from character) …. c456 (the teacher’s character ID) …. 24 (the skill ID number, this is ranger)

TEACHER – c456 …. s3 (the teach skill order code) …. c123 …. 24  

Note that you can only have one teach and one learn order open at a time for any character, and you cannot try to teach a skill that you haven’t already learned.  This means that c123 cannot be trying to learn ranger from c456 and knight from c789 at the same time.  One of the skills must be taught before the other can be learnt.  To chain a series of teach / learn orders you must do them in a sequence that goes like this:

STUDENT 1 – learn skill 1 from teacher A   

TEACHER A – teach skill 1  

STUDENT 1 – learn skill 2 from teacher B           

TEACHER B – teach skill 2  

STUDENT 1 – teach skill 2 to STUDENT 2

STUDENT 2 – learn skill 2 from first student

2) Learning from a guild is easy, provided you can get inside the guild and have the money to pay to learn the skill.  Getting inside the guild is done using the T11 order.  Many guilds only allow certain types of people in – most will prevent you from entering the guild if you are masked (hiding who the player is that controls the character) and not showing your colours to the world.  Others will prevent you from entering if you are a certain race or have a certain skill (such as thief).  Assuming that you get inside the guild then a view guild order (V4) will give you certain details of the guild, including the skills that can be learned from guild teachers and the amount they will charge to teach you.  If you are willing and able to pay the cost, use the order S5 to learn the skill.  If you are not willing or able to pay the cost then either leave and find some other way to learn the skill or do a few non-heroic jobs to get the cash.

3) The last way to learn a skill is to use a magic item.  There are a number of magic items which will teach you a skill at an advanced level (i.e. above level 1, which is what the other two methods give) when activated.  The only way to be sure which skill will be taught before you activate it is to use the runepower spell (#209) on the item.  If you have an item that you want to activate to learn a skill from, you must make sure that you don’t already have all three of your skill slots filled – items will not replace your existing skills, only add a new one if you don’t already know three skills.  Items will not break the “skills rules” with the skills they teach – you cannot use an item to learn an arcane skill (1-10) if you already know one, even if you don’t have three skills when you activate the item.  Also, be aware that activating items can also have dangerous side-effects that you may need to be prepared for – they can poison you, make you insane, move you to different places, give you wounds, curse you and do other nasty things besides. Be careful when you activate an item, don’t just do it at random to see what happens.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I know what phase an order belongs to?

Key Points

This is now mainly based upon pre-movement orders and post movement orders.  In the past all teach skill/spell orders were done in the first phase, while all learn skill/spell orders were done in the second phase.  In most current games the teach learn restrictions have been removed and phase orders are simply a matter of post or pre movement conditions.  There are still some military orders such as “forage” which are phase restricted.

Fortunately the LPE will not let you choose one of these orders outside the proper phase.

Character orders phase 1 would be orders completed before movement and all military orders.  Character orders phase 2 would be all orders completed after movement and all military orders.  If you are planning on sending a character into combat and expect to get wounded, then completing the orders in phase 1 is probably a better option.  If you are planning to move to another province and cast a province based spell then phase 2 is probably what you want.  Example would be to move to a location, conquer it, and then cast a barrier of nature so others cannot get to the province to rescue the force you just took.  Another example would be to move and then cast teleport, knowing that your movement decreased the cost of the teleport spell by 1 point for each province you moved.  A little guessing must go in with this example as movement can be blocked.

With the removal of teach/learn order restrictions, the choice of which phase to use is very optional.  I do many of my character orders in phase 1 just to make sure I get the character action off before I move.  Movement can cause combat, combat wounds can seriously decrease a chance to practice a skill.  As you gain experience you will learn you own preference as to which orders to do in phase 1 verses phase 2.  Diplomatic orders should be done, if possible, in the first phase.  If a influence attempt is successful, then the newly gain character (and force) can conduct military and/or movement orders immediately.  This can be very useful to gain other forces or to conduct counter attacks.  Diplomatic orders do not have any phase restrictions, so they can be done in the second phase.  You can always move to a city and then influence it in phase 2.

 

Detailed Procedures:

  1. In the main LPE window (the one with the map), use small icon in the far upper left corner to open a new turn window.
  2. To change order phases, use the order phase menu at the top of the new window.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I see my LPE Turn File?

Detailed Procedures

  1. Open the LPE
  2. Click on the middle of the three icons in the upper left corner of the window (looks like a piece of paper).
  3. The resulting window helps you locate your turn.  With any luck, your turn file will already be located in the box in the middle right of the window.  If it is, double-click on it and you are done
  4. If your turn file is not already listed, there are a few things you can try
    1. Have you unpacked your setup turn?  Have you even received your setup turn?  If you have not even received a turn file, contact your GM for assistance.  If you have not unpacked it, find help on that in the LPE Manual available online on the same download page listed above
    2. If you know you have received and unpacked a turn, then you will need to manually navigate (using the standard interface on the left hand side of the file window) to the turn file.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I use the LPE Database?

Key Points:

There is extensive help already incorporated in the LPE Database – these directions will tell you how to access that help.

 

Detailed Procedure

  1. Open the LPE
  2. Click on the icon that looks like an open book in the upper left corner of the map window
  3. Pull down the Help menu in the new window and read the topics listed there.  These documents should answer all your questions about the LPE Database.

 

 

 

 

 

How do I enter an order in the LPE?

Key Points:

  1. The LPE can be a bit tricky to use at first, but it is menu driven and quickly becomes natural.  It is rare for a new player to truly have problems with the LPE; it is far more common for them to simply lack an understanding of what orders are all about.  Not knowing what order you want to input makes doing so very difficult.  If this is your problem, contact your mentor or GM for assistance.
  2. The LPE contains extensive help on this topic.  The help procedures at the end of this section will show you how to access this help.  Please take just a couple of minutes to read it.

 

Detailed Procedure:

In the end, the procedure to enter an order is very simple:

  1. Use the order phases menu to select the phase for the order you want to enter.  The phases are fairly self-explanatory – character actions go in the character phases, and so on.  Phases happen in the order they are listed in the menu.  Thus there are two each of Character, Military, and Fleet phases so that you can do things with Characters, Military units, and Fleets either before they move for the turn, or after they move
  2. Next, pick a sponsor from the sponsor menu.  Every order must have a sponsor, the character, force, or other game piece performing the action.
  3. Choosing a sponsor will bring up further menu, listing the possible actions.  Actions are black if the chosen sponsor can do them; they are grayed-out if the sponsor cannot.  Choose the action you want the sponsor to perform
  4. Choosing an action will pop up a final window, a special wizard to help you fill out the order.  Proceed through the order filling in the information as requested and pressing the next button after each step.  When the order is complete, press finished.
  5. Don’t give up.  The interface is highly automated.  Figuring our your first order might take 10 minutes, but after you struggle through a few orders, they will only take you a few seconds each.

 

HelpProcedures

The LPE has a lot of help on filling out orders.  To access the help:

  1. Open the LPE
  2. Click on the icon that looks like a miniature window in the extreme upper left corner of the main map window.  This will open a turn window (a place to input orders).
  3. Click on the Help menu in the new window.  Read through the main page, but also be sure to follow the four links at the bottom of the first page of text.

Reading the built in help will only take you about 10 minutes, but it will answer dozens of questions about the LPE that you have not yet thought to ask.  Try it.