# Manual

Courtesy of Drachu84

GEMP-Lotr is an automatic game client for the Lord of the Rings Tradable Card Game. Below you will find basic information about using it.

1. The Game Hall
   A place where everything starts. When you log in, you automatically enter Game Hall. Same thing happens when you win/lose game. Basically you can communicate here with other players, create decks, create and join games, etc.
2. Building The Deck
   Making a deck is very easy. In the Game Hall you will find Edit Deck button. Simply click it and the deck builder will open. It is divided into three parts. In the left one, you can choose Ring Bearer, The One Ring and Sites. To the right side you can find card sets, from which cards are added to the deck. By clicking on the culture icon, cards from the selected ones will appear. To reset, simply click again on the icon. Middle part is what actually your deck consists of. It is divided into two sections, Free Peoples and Shadow.
   Gemp has built-in validator, which counts Free Peoples/Shadow cards and checks if the deck is valid for selected format.
3. Setting up game
   Once you have created the deck, you can host/join games. Simply again, click on Create Table and the game is ready. It will start automatically when someone will join it.
   To join game click Join Table button in the selected green square (which represents table) I strongly recommend to check both options in the Settings tab (i. e. auto-pass when there is no action and auto-accept after selecting action or card) - game will speed up and will be smoother for both players.
4. Playing game
   Playing Lord of the Rings TCG via Gemp is similar to the one played in real life. First you bid number of burdens to determine who goes first. If you win it, a window with choose a seat number at the table will pop-up. Number 1 means that you want to go first, number 2 that opponent will and so on.
   Next step is choosing your starting fellowship. Select characters by clicking on them for the total twilight cost up to 4 (selected character is the one with a blue frame on it). Select one, click Done and select another one (if able).
   Time to play some cards! On the bottom part of the game you can find your starting hand. Click one time on the card to play it. Gemp automatically adds twilight points and triggers actions which are not optional (for example, playing A Wizard is never late will automatically let you choose a "Gandalf culture" character to play from the draw deck. However the actions which may be used, are not played automatically (even it is obvious that you want to do it). If such action is available, affected card will be highlighted with green frame (for example Old Toby allows you to draw a card when you play it, but it needs to be clicked again for this action to happen, as it is optional). This applies to all other actions in all stages of the game.
   Below the frame with turn sequence there is a smaller one where you will find what you currently can do. In most cases cards eligible to play at the current moment will be highlighted. If you don’t want to do anything, click Pass and the next step will commence.
5. Skirmish
   As a vital part of the game, skirmish at first may look complicated. However, when you get used to Gemp interface you will see its fast and user friendly. For the beginners, few words on how it works.
   First you need to assign minions to companions. Click on the minion, then the companion you wish to fight him (eligible companions will be highlighted). Assigned minions and companions will appear to the right side of the game table. When you finish assigning, click Done. Before you do it, think if it is your final decision, because you won’t be able to assign them differently afterwards.
   Next step is skirmish. Click on the character which you want to fight first. When that skirmish is complete, select another one and so on. Skirmish events, special abilities, etc. which are playable will be highlighted during every fight. If you don’t want to play any, click Pass. If such are not available, Gemp will do it automatically. After all skirmishes are resolved (including fierce ones) game will proceed to next stage (Regroup)
6. The Iron rule
   There is no rolling back, simple as that. You can’t cancel action that already happen, even if opponent will agree. If you played cards you didn’t want to, assigned wrong or didn’t trigger optional action it’s done and can’t be reversed.
7. Useful Stuff
   On the upper part of the game hall, you will find many tabs with useful information. Thus its not obligated, I recommend to read it.