My custom set with pirates, dwarves, the recently-leaked Tough mechanic... having been made obsolete by Kaladesh ans Ixalan, I decided to give it up on it and to start a new custom set to continue two sets that I adore: Conspiracy 3: Quest for Power.
To keep the fundamental concept of alliances, trickery and betrayal, I came up with an idea that allow players to temporarily unite with another player. The Convenant mechanic works like that: You may pair with another unpaired player if he or she accepts. Any paired player may break his or her covenant at any time by paying 1 life.
There are different ways to conclude a convenant:
- some cards allow you to do it when they enter the battlefield ("When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant")
- others allow you to do it at any time as an activated ability ("B: conclude a convenant")
I'm not quite sure with the wording, so here are the criteria:
- to conclude a convenant, you must chose a player who isn't currently paired by a convenant
- that player may refuse to conclude the convenant when you offer him to do so
- two players who have concluded a covenant may break it unilaterally at any time by paying 1 life (or maybe by paying 2 ?)
For the moment, I got some inspiration from the Soulbond mechanic, which uses the word "pair", but there might be something to do with the term "Teammate" as in Surge. Your help on the wording would be very appreciated!
Convenant is fairly spread out between all five colors, but every color will have specific effects. Here are some concepts I have for the moment:
Warden of the Assembly2W Creature - Human Advisor [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control or under your paired player's battlefield, you both gain 1 life.
(1/1)
Master Pilferer3U Creature - Human Pirate [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
Whenever a creature you control or your paired player controls deals combat damage to a player, you both may draw a card then discard a card.
(1/1)
Bailiff of the Black Rose1B Creature - Human Advisor [U] 1B: conclude a convenant.
Whenever your paired player breaks the convenant, that player loses 2 life and discards a card.
(1/1)
Grenzo's Agitator2RR Creature - Goblin [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
At the beginning of combat on your turn or on your paired player's turn, you may have target creature gain +2/+0 until end of turn.
(2/2)
Selvala's Protector2GG Creature - Elf Shaman [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
Creature spells you cast or your paired player casts can't be countered.
(2/2)
I dislike the idea that one might build a covenant deck and might end up the odd one out in a game just because the number of players is uneven. I also feel writing collusion down into the core concept might make for games that can make players feel "bullied out". This is a mechanic that needs to be tested with multiple playgroups to figure out whether it promotes healthy gameplay.
Otherwise I feel just making it a choice every time like tempting offer is fine and allows for collusion without the same psychological pitfalls while also allowing to spread the love around.
Example:
Warden of the Assembly
Creature - Human Advisor (U) Collusion - Whenever ~ or another creature enters the battlefield, choose target opponent. That player may have both of you gain 1 life.
1/1
The test case would be to compare the two versions - your binding one, my spontaneous one - in parallel and find out which one is received better.
Private Mod Note
():
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
I get what you say there. This is why I chose to make the possibility to break the covenant quite easy. Also, I want to create several cards that grant you an advantage when you break the covenant, that forces you to break it or that affect paired opponents.
Examples:
Diplomatic Betrayal1B
Instant [C]
Destroy target creature your paired player controls, then break the covenant.
Separatist Blast2R
Instant [U]
~ deals 2 damage to target creature an opponent controls. If that player is paired with another player, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature that player controls.
Deceit of the Opposition2BB
Enchantment [R]
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent who is not paired with you loses 1 life. You gain life equal to the life lost this way.
I also really like your Collusion idea. I'll submit the two concepts to my group of players and we'll playtest it
Actually it seemes to be called "Enrage" (I called mine "Represals"). These come from a bad quality picture, but many reddit users read the same mechanics, so I beleive it's credible.
BTW there is an Explore mechanic which is almost the one that has been designed in the Pyrulea custom set
I had a similar idea for a shifting teammate format. Teammate should be used for players since it's already has long term usage in the game. It avoids confusion with paired since that involves creatures. Using seperate special cards outside the game to define who's teammates. I also decided that making or breaking teammates could only be done during either main phase and then made cards the gave bounses to teammates and punishments for them breaking off an alliance. Made it easier to make cards with static effects like an enchantment with 'Creatures you and teammates control get +1/+1.' Your creatures gain the advantage later when you drop them as a teammate.
The seperate cards I used are Faction and Treaty. The Faction card was the main card kept by the player and the Treaty card was a matching card to the Faction card. The Treaty card could be offered or taken back during a main phase and if accepted marked them as teammates.
Natures Contemplation G
Enchantment (U) 3: Search your libarary for a creature card reveal it and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Teammates may active this ability.
Whenever another player breaks a treaty with you, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Private Mod Note
():
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WOut of the ground,I rise to grace...W BAfter the lights go out on you, after your worthless life is through. I will remember how you scream...B
I thought about using Teammate too, but I believed it was restricted to Two-Headed Giant. The rules seem to say that it isn't, so it's gonna make the thing easier for me
As for the Monarch mechanic, I indeed plan to create a "covenant" or "contract" token card to help players trace everything. You're right about the fact that offering the possibility to break the covenant at anytime creates too much problems -> I'll limit it to main phases, plus some cards that allow the player to break it instant-speed.
So the mechanic could be :
Seal a pact (Offer target opponent to seal a pact. If he or she accepts, you become teammates. Any teammate may break the pact any time he or she could cast a sorcery.)
I thought about using Teammate too, but I believed it was restricted to Two-Headed Giant. The rules seem to say that it isn't, so it's gonna make the thing easier for me
It isn't, but you will still need to differentiate between teammates in general and teammates because of a "covenant" - you might also want to consider what the implication is of having two teammates that aren't teammates with one another. And can teammates win the game together if they are bound by a covenant? What about last second breaking the contact to stab someones back?
I personally thought it was a very good idea to steer clear of using the term "teammate" here.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
To keep the fundamental concept of alliances, trickery and betrayal, I came up with an idea that allow players to temporarily unite with another player. The Convenant mechanic works like that: You may pair with another unpaired player if he or she accepts. Any paired player may break his or her covenant at any time by paying 1 life.
There are different ways to conclude a convenant:
- some cards allow you to do it when they enter the battlefield ("When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant")
- others allow you to do it at any time as an activated ability ("B: conclude a convenant")
I'm not quite sure with the wording, so here are the criteria:
- to conclude a convenant, you must chose a player who isn't currently paired by a convenant
- that player may refuse to conclude the convenant when you offer him to do so
- two players who have concluded a covenant may break it unilaterally at any time by paying 1 life (or maybe by paying 2 ?)
For the moment, I got some inspiration from the Soulbond mechanic, which uses the word "pair", but there might be something to do with the term "Teammate" as in Surge. Your help on the wording would be very appreciated!
Convenant is fairly spread out between all five colors, but every color will have specific effects. Here are some concepts I have for the moment:
Warden of the Assembly 2W
Creature - Human Advisor [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control or under your paired player's battlefield, you both gain 1 life.
(1/1)
Master Pilferer 3U
Creature - Human Pirate [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
Whenever a creature you control or your paired player controls deals combat damage to a player, you both may draw a card then discard a card.
(1/1)
Bailiff of the Black Rose 1B
Creature - Human Advisor [U]
1B: conclude a convenant.
Whenever your paired player breaks the convenant, that player loses 2 life and discards a card.
(1/1)
Grenzo's Agitator 2RR
Creature - Goblin [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
At the beginning of combat on your turn or on your paired player's turn, you may have target creature gain +2/+0 until end of turn.
(2/2)
Selvala's Protector 2GG
Creature - Elf Shaman [U]
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may conclude a convenant.
Creature spells you cast or your paired player casts can't be countered.
(2/2)
And so on...
Comments, critics and help welcomed!
Any thoughts on Covenant anyway?
Otherwise I feel just making it a choice every time like tempting offer is fine and allows for collusion without the same psychological pitfalls while also allowing to spread the love around.
Example:
Warden of the Assembly
Creature - Human Advisor (U)
Collusion - Whenever ~ or another creature enters the battlefield, choose target opponent. That player may have both of you gain 1 life.
1/1
The test case would be to compare the two versions - your binding one, my spontaneous one - in parallel and find out which one is received better.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
Examples:
Diplomatic Betrayal 1B
Instant [C]
Destroy target creature your paired player controls, then break the covenant.
Separatist Blast 2R
Instant [U]
~ deals 2 damage to target creature an opponent controls. If that player is paired with another player, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature that player controls.
Deceit of the Opposition 2BB
Enchantment [R]
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent who is not paired with you loses 1 life. You gain life equal to the life lost this way.
I also really like your Collusion idea. I'll submit the two concepts to my group of players and we'll playtest it
I couldn't find it. A link would be nice.
Actually it seemes to be called "Enrage" (I called mine "Represals"). These come from a bad quality picture, but many reddit users read the same mechanics, so I beleive it's credible.
BTW there is an Explore mechanic which is almost the one that has been designed in the Pyrulea custom set
The seperate cards I used are Faction and Treaty. The Faction card was the main card kept by the player and the Treaty card was a matching card to the Faction card. The Treaty card could be offered or taken back during a main phase and if accepted marked them as teammates.
Natures Contemplation G
Enchantment (U)
3: Search your libarary for a creature card reveal it and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Teammates may active this ability.
Whenever another player breaks a treaty with you, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
BAfter the lights go out on you, after your worthless life is through. I will remember how you scream...B
As for the Monarch mechanic, I indeed plan to create a "covenant" or "contract" token card to help players trace everything. You're right about the fact that offering the possibility to break the covenant at anytime creates too much problems -> I'll limit it to main phases, plus some cards that allow the player to break it instant-speed.
So the mechanic could be :
Seal a pact (Offer target opponent to seal a pact. If he or she accepts, you become teammates. Any teammate may break the pact any time he or she could cast a sorcery.)
It isn't, but you will still need to differentiate between teammates in general and teammates because of a "covenant" - you might also want to consider what the implication is of having two teammates that aren't teammates with one another. And can teammates win the game together if they are bound by a covenant? What about last second breaking the contact to stab someones back?
I personally thought it was a very good idea to steer clear of using the term "teammate" here.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO