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Man_Over_Game
2021-08-19, 01:59 PM
Hi guys. I'm making a card/dice game, and I need your help coming up with spell ideas. The prototyping for the core gameplay and some extra features is complete (it's a blast to play), but now it's time to move on to the more interesting stuff.

Spell suggestions don't have to be completely cohesive with the game rules yet, they can even be concepts that you guys would like to see happen in the game. Also, don't worry about power level. If the effect is too strong for whatever reason, I can always make adjustments. All I'm looking for right now are IDEAS.



From a mechanical perspective, Magic cards will be designed to change player expectation as sort of "Trap" cards. They have dice assigned to them (each die acting like energy consumed after use), they have a specified trigger that they wait for, and then they modify things in the owner's favor when that trigger occurs. Because they require resources, the player has to decide how much investment a spell needs before they trigger, essentially creating risk for potentially huge benefits for a player with good foresight.

There are a few things you might need to know before it makes a whole lot of sense. First, here are some example spell cards:


TRIGGER: When an ally is about to be attacked.
ACTIVATE: Enchant that ally. If they still have less Power than their attacker, Enchant them again.



TRIGGER: When an ally is about to attack an enemy.
ACTIVATE: Exert that enemy. If the enemy makes an attack roll during this Engagement, first Exert them again.


TRIGGER: When an ally is hit and discarded.
ACTIVATE: Enchant two other cards.

And some example monsters, they're pretty simple:


Attack -1, Defense +3


Attack +3, Defense -2


Players have 5-10 dice they assign to cards. Cards must have at least 1 die on them, or they are discarded. Magic cards enter the game facedown and flip faceup whenever the TRIGGER occurs and the owner of that card decides to ACTIVATE the card, which removes a die from that card to be returned to its player. Once a Magic card is faceup, it must ACTIVATE each time that trigger occurs.

Engagement: Combat works with an Aggressor and a Defender, with the Aggressor making an attack roll with all of its dice, and the Defender doing the same for a defense roll (a card may have bonuses or penalties to either). On a tie, the attacker wins. If the Defender survives, they then get to make their own attack with a contested defense. The engagement can end with neither side being hit.

Power: The current number of dice on a card. Initiative order (what cards act first) is determined by their Power.

Exert: This is a cost on the Exerted card, with its owner choosing either to Tap the card (being unable to act for the remainder of the round) or for that card to remove a die from it that's returned to the player. You MUST pay for the Exert, even if that means losing your last die on the card (killing it).

Enchant: Assign a die in your pool to the designated card. You can only Enchant cards you control.

Initiative: Each turn, the untapped, faceup card with the most Power has Initiative. The card with Initiative can choose to Engage a target (Exerting the card) or Hide (flipping the card facedown).

Players can be Engaged and attacked like a card. They roll any dice they have for the defense roll, but don't make attacks (without something special stating otherwise). If a Player is hit, the card that hit them is Exerted.

To avoid a bunch more confusing text, I won't go into a lot of detail about facedown cards or the Hide action, but they basically are ignored by Initiative (so they don't get turns) but they can Exert when another ally is attacked in order to Engage the original Aggressor (becoming the new Aggressor for that Engagement).



Do you guys have any ideas that you think would be fun or interesting that you'd like to see happen? Anything is fair game, whether that's conjuring something the player can fight with, casting a spell that summons a Shadow Demon to surprise your enemy, converting enemies to your side, you name it!

I'll make sure anyone who contributes gets a mention in the game once it's finished. Thank you for your help!

aimlessPolymath
2021-08-20, 12:29 PM
Hmm! I like the way Magic cards work- the dice act as a natural limit on how many times they can activate. If I read it right, you can attack magic cards or use them to Engage, they just don't have attack or defense bonuses?

Wind-Up Golem
Attack +2, Defense +2
When this card attacks or is attacked, Exert it.

Reigning Champion
Attack +1, Defense -3
This card can't be attacked.

Challenge
Trigger: An enemy monster is played face-up.
Activate: The enemy player Enchants it. Choose one of your other cards and Enchant it three times.

Frostfield
Trigger: An enemy card is played or turned face-up.
Activate: Either Exert that card or Enchant this card.
(this is my best attempt at an optional trigger- having Frostfield up lets you choose to soft-counter cards as they are played)

Man_Over_Game
2021-08-20, 12:55 PM
Hmm! I like the way Magic cards work- the dice act as a natural limit on how many times they can activate. If I read it right, you can attack magic cards or use them to Engage, they just don't have attack or defense bonuses?

Wind-Up Golem
Attack +2, Defense +2
When this card attacks or is attacked, Exert it.

Reigning Champion
Attack +1, Defense -3
This card can't be attacked.

Challenge
Trigger: An enemy monster is played face-up.
Activate: The enemy player Enchants it. Choose one of your other cards and Enchant it three times.

Frostfield
Trigger: An enemy card is played or turned face-up.
Activate: Either Exert that card or Enchant this card.
(this is my best attempt at an optional trigger- having Frostfield up lets you choose to soft-counter cards as they are played)

Oooh, dang, I like the way you think!

You don't attack Magic cards. Think of them like Enchantments in Magic that have a limited number of uses.

One thing that throws a wrench into the mix with cards like Challenge is that cards are played and used in two separate phases. The Strategy phase is when you draw your cards and assign your dice, while the Command Phase that takes place afterwards is when your Command cards (monsters) fight.

I think I might change it to:

Challenge
Trigger: An enemy engages an all.
Activate: Choose another faceup ally for the enemy to engage. That ally is Enchanted twice.

I like the idea of Enchanting cards that are attacked first, since the Aggressor of an engagement has the advantage (since they basically have the MTG equivalent of First Strike in this game). A key component I want to use in this game is that Power = Risk, and the idea of buffing a card that might end up dying before it gets a counterattack sounds thrilling.

I really like your Wind Up Golem. It's overpowered but expensive. I designed all of the Command cards to have a sum of +1 or +2 from bonuses, with cards that have +2 or more Attack being penalized more. A card that has a total of +4 to bonuses, but is twice as expensive as any other card, just sounds gravy.

Magic cards can be a 1-off use as well, they just need some way to dump all of their assigned dice at once. For instance, you could have something like:

Mageblade of Wrath:
Trigger: An enemy Engages you or hits an ally.
Activate Once: Engage the Enemy as the Aggressor, and you can attack this Engagement. You gain a bonus to your combat rolls in this Engagement equal to my Power.

Wraith Summoning:
Trigger: An ally is hit by an enemy and is then discarded
Free Activate: Turn this card into a Command card that Exerts and engages the enemy. Discard this card if it Hides or at the end of the Command Phase.
+2 Attack, -1 Defense.

Since cards regularly get moved between players as part of the mechanics, you can even do some fun stuff like:

Polymorph Plague:
Trigger: An enemy with lesser or equal Power than mine engages an ally.
Activate: Discard that enemy. The opponent gains control of me as a Command Card, returning my dice to your pool and the opponent Enchanting me with as much dice as I had from you.
-1 Attack, -1 Defense.


Cards will regularly use words like "me" or "mine", just to keep down on unnecessary text and confusion. All it's referencing is that card itself.


All dice rolls work by counting the highest value of the dice rolled, +1 for each individual 1 rolled in the set. So if you rolled [6,2,1,1], your result would be 8. This does also count if you rolled all 1's (so a [1,1] would actually be 3).

Players start with 5 dice. When they are Hit, they permanently gain a die. If you are Hit while having 10 dice, you lose.

Players go through the Strategy Phase, picking up all of their facedown cards and then drawing cards until they have as many in hand as their current Power (the number of unassigned dice). Faceup cards are untouched.
The player with the highest Power has Initiative and proceeds to play cards faceup or facedown, assigning dice to any cards they own. Magic cards enter the game facedown separate from the units. Any cards you don't play go to the bottom of your deck in any order. Cards on the board must have at least 1 die, otherwise they are discarded.
Once the player with Initiative is done assigning dice, the player with the next highest Power then acts. This repeats until every player has finished their part of the Strategy Phase.

Once the Command Phase begins, Initiative is checked but comparing faceup, untapped cards for their Power. Once the card with Initiative has been decided, it either chooses to Hide (turning facedown) or Engage a target (Exerting itself and becoming the Aggressor of that Engagement).

A player can Exert a facedown card that's not being attacked to Ambush the enemy that's Engaging their ally, Exerting the facedown card. The card is not yet revealed, as the original player can Exert a facedown card to Ambush again. Cards Exert and are left facedown until a player decides to not Ambush. Both cards are revealed if facedown and the Engagement starts.
The Aggressor of the Engagement (essentially whichever card was the last to be Exerted during the Engagement) attacks first, making an Attack Roll against a contested Defense Roll from the Defender. On a tie, attacker wins. If the Defender survives, they get to make their own Attack Roll against their Aggressor.
If a Command Card is hit, it and the top card of your deck is discarded. If a Player is hit, they gain a die and the enemy that hit them is Exerted.

Hide works by putting the card and up to one other facedown ally to your hand. You then place those cards facedown, reassigning their dice to each other as you wish. This keeps the opponent guessing, while also allowing you to reallocate resources for the next Strategy Phase (as facedown cards return to your hand and their dice return to your pool to be reassigned during the Strategy Phase).

Once a creature acts, Initiative is checked again and the cycle repeats until no creatures can act.

Stats on the dice rolls shows that about 2 dice is worth the value of a +1 bonus, and it's less random with fewer dice than a standard Keep Highest Roll method, while also being much more random with more dice.


Really liking your insight, though. You definitely seem like my target audience!

sandmote
2021-08-20, 09:43 PM
I'm unclear how many cards you can play in a round. I get the impression that spells have a listed die cost but command cards just have the 1 minimum die requirement. This makes it a bit hard to tell if my ideas are anywhere near a reasonable power.

Trapmaster
Attack -1, Defense +2
If I am about to be attacked but not the Aggressor, Enchant me.

Evil Clone
Attack +3, Defense -2
When you hide a card with +2 attack or lower, you may play me instead of the card being hidden.

Honorable Guard
Attack +3. Defense +0
If ambushing, my attack is reduced by 2

Stalling Storyteller
Attack -3, Defense +4

Note: I don't know how strong stalling is by itself. This is intended to be useful with Evil Clone and a good option with Create Decoy, but not strong enough to stall on its own.

Create Decoy
Trigger: An enemy defender survives being attacked.
Activate: Replace the card in the Engagement when the defender makes their attack roll.

Revelation
Trigger: An enemy ambushes
Activate: The Ambusher is turned face up.

Emergency Supplies
Trigger: A card would Exert
Activate: Discard this card instead. Exert me instead.

Secret Poison
Trigger: A card would be Enchanted
Activate: The Card is Exerted instead.

Man_Over_Game
2021-08-21, 03:41 AM
I'm unclear how many cards you can play in a round. I get the impression that spells have a listed die cost but command cards just have the 1 minimum die requirement. This makes it a bit hard to tell if my ideas are anywhere near a reasonable power.

Trapmaster
Attack -1, Defense +2
If I am about to be attacked but not the Aggressor, Enchant me.

Evil Clone
Attack +3, Defense -2
When you hide a card with +2 attack or lower, you may play me instead of the card being hidden.

Honorable Guard
Attack +3. Defense +0
If ambushing, my attack is reduced by 2

Stalling Storyteller
Attack -3, Defense +4

Note: I don't know how strong stalling is by itself. This is intended to be useful with Evil Clone and a good option with Create Decoy, but not strong enough to stall on its own.

Create Decoy
Trigger: An enemy defender survives being attacked.
Activate: Replace the card in the Engagement when the defender makes their attack roll.

Revelation
Trigger: An enemy ambushes
Activate: The Ambusher is turned face up.

Emergency Supplies
Trigger: A card would Exert
Activate: Discard this card instead.

Secret Poison
Trigger: A card would be Enchanted
Activate: The Card is Exerted instead.

Sorry for the confusion. All cards are played for any number of dice, at a minimum of 1, and you can play as many cards as you want. But your starter deck only has 10 cards, and you can only add a max of 1 per round, so it can be important to play fewer cards.

I think it's important to note that Magic cards need some kind of scaling effect, either being able to be reused (like normal) or they have a burst effect that increases the value of the single trigger it gets (like becoming a creature with those dice or adding bonuses relative to Power). Since players can assign what they want, it will need to be important to make sure they're valid for every assigned dice. I think it's important that something as simple as assigning 10 dice has a lot of possibilities for the player to decide with.



Before I forget, there is one other standard card type I didn't mention, if you're interested in more : the Might cards.

Might cards add a new phase to the game, called the Hero Phase, which takes place after the Command Phase. It functions identically to the Command Phase, except it tracks Initiative of all Might cards, even if they're facedown.

Might cards have stats like a creature, but are Exerted to be equipped by the Player. When doing so, the card uses the player's dice for it's rolls, and any hits it'd take is dealt to the player instead. The player can Engage with a Might card like a creature would, and can also Exert a Might card to equip it if they are Engaged by an enemy. If Equipping a Might Card causes it to run out of dice, it's discarded at the end of the Engagement.

So they're slower to act (and so they can't prevent a problem by killing it first like a Creature can) but they can leverage a ton of power at the end of the round since spending dice earlier in the round ends up being your fuel. You could say that Might cards get better when your creatures die. However, Might cards cannot Hide or normally flip facedown, so you're stuck with them once they're faceup.

Only creature cards cause you to discard the top card of your deck, so it's important to plan ahead with what you got.


A couple other odd things I forgot to mention:

When your deck runs out, you can channel your life force into Power and recharge your resources, gaining a die and shuffling your discard into your deck. You do this before you draw during the Strategy Phase.

The game is an in-game deck builder, so most of the cards we are making here will be purchased in-game (using a sort of drafting/investment mechanic called The Ritual).

Starter decks start with 10 cards, with 5 different Command Cards ranging from the Zealot (+3 ATK, -2 DEF) 2 the Slime (-1 ATK, +3 DEF).

Magic Cards will be able to steal the top card of an opponent's discard in the Hero stage (kinda like stealing or corrupting the things he misused), but that's still in the works.

The plot is about the evolution of the Unholy War, which started because an alien meteor crashed into grimdark fantasy Europe. It changed folks, giving them power over fate. They found that as they grew closer to their date with the Reaper, their powers over reality grew. And so started the Unholy War.

The game evolves over time, a way to tutorialize the mechanics while also keeping the player involved in the plot. As you play, you'll gain real life experience with its lessons and mechanics. Eventually, you'll feel like you want something more. So you "Level Up" your gaming experience, adding the next "Level" of mechanics to your games.

Level 1 is just the starter deck and basic rules, just enough for Monster v. Monster combat.

Level 2 is about The Ritual, and adding better cards to your deck (and the inclusion ...

Gotta go to bed, will finish later. Night!