Greetings all!
These are the black commons from a set that was started by a group of fellow designers, of which, I was one. I'm trying to revive the set, as we only finished most of the commons.
I can not take full credit for ideas for the mechanics. Casey Brefka designed Hubris. Ian Sanderson came up with Transmogrify, but it was named Formulate. He also designed the White commons. Gary Shiro White designed the Blue commons. Theo Max Brown Jr. came up with Imbue as well as the Black commons. Jay Gif designed the Red commons. I designed the Green commons. Others involved in the process include: Frederick Shaheen, Luke Schwarz, Adrienne Reynolds, Harry Takenaka, Jonathan Krone, and Thomas Laporte.
The theme of this set is Alchemy.
Here are the keywords you will see in this set.
Hubris - , Exile [this]: (effect or ability). - This ability is found in all colors and primarily belongs to Humans. Hubris is an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin. Hubris is man going beyond his means.
Transmogrify [cost] (You may cast this spell for its transmogrify cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield transformed.) - This ability is in all colors. It is based on the split cards before Fuse. Transmogrify doesn't work like normal Transform cards, you get one side of your spell or the other. Transmogrify fits the theme of alchemy in that it changes the form of a card into something else.
Imbue [cost] (As you cast a spell, you may pay [cost] and discard this card from your hand. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.) - This is based on Splice onto Arcane and more recently Surge. This ability will only be on Instants and Sorceries.
Returning Mechanic: Morph
Bilebotomist1B
Creature — Human Wizard (C)
, Pay 1 life: Add B to your mana pool. Hubris — , Exile Bilebotomist: Add BB to your mana pool.
1/2
Black Common 013BB
Creature — Zombie Knight (C) B: Black Common 01 gets +2/-1 until end of turn.
3/3
Black Common 021BB
Instant (C)
Destroy target nonblack creature. If that creature is a token creature, it’s controller loses 2 life.
Black Common 031B
Sorcery (C)
When this spell resolves, all creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.
Imbue B(As you cast a spell, you may pay B and discard this card from your hand. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.)
Black Common 041B
Creature — Human Rogue (C)
Can’t block.
Transmogrify 2B(You may cast this spell for its transmogrify cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield transformed.)
2/1
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Black Common 04 B Creature - Homunculus
Deathtouch
2/2
Black Common 051B
Enchantment (C)
At the beginning of your upkeep, target player loses 1 life.
Transmogrify 3B(You may cast this spell for its transmogrify cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield transformed.)
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Black Common 05 B Creature - Zombie
4/2
Coniunctio2B
Sorcery (C)
When this spell resolves, destroy target untapped creature.
Imbue 1B(As you cast a spell, you may pay 1B and discard this card from your hand. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.)
Corpse Collector4BB
Creature — Human Shaman (C)
Whenever a creature you control is turned face up, you may return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/3
Leadgraft Bloodletter3BB
Artifact Creature — Zombie (C)
Whenever Leadgraft Bloodletter attacks, each player loses 1 life for each artifact you control.
Morph 3B(You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
2/4
Mercurial CreationB
Enchantment (C)
When Mercurial Creation enters the battlefield, put a 2/2 black Homunculus creature token onto the battlefield.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are no Homunculus on the battlefield, you lose 1 life.
Poisontendril Crone3B
Creature — Human Assassin (C)
Deathtouch
Morph 4B(You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) She begs with one hand and kills with the other.
2/3
Runes of Distress1B
Enchantment — Aura (C)
Enchant artifact
Whenever enchanted artifact becomes tapped or an ability of enchanted artifact becomes activated, its controller discards a card.
Severed HeadB
Creature — Zombie (C)
When Severed Head enters the battlefield, if you control a face down permanent, target player discards a card.
0/1
Tormenting PupilB
Creature — Human Wizard (C) Hubris — , Exile Tormenting Pupil: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
1/1
Vitruvian RatB
Creature — Rat (C)
Vitruvian Rat gets +1/+1 as long as there is an artifact card in your graveyard.
0/1
Your transmogrify cards are dull and devoid of flavor. As a rule of thumb bottom-up designing DFCs can do that. You want to show alchemy? How about you show the alchemical tropes your transmogrification is supposed to hit? Black common 05 turning into Black common 05 is hopefully not the story you want to tell. It's an entire waste of the tool DFC.
You don't say much about morph, but is it a good idea to put morph and DFCs together into the same set?
Imbue seems a bit lackluster. It's reminiscent of madness except that casting any spell is so much easier than discarding a card that the effect of imbuing cannot account for much. Is there a reason this needs to work with permanents? This also feels like it uses the ability to "fuse" the spells just to be cute.
Effectively the example spell could also work with "Whenever you cast a spell, you may cast this card for its imbue cost." That's not impressive.
"Hubris" is sacrifice effects that exile rather than sacrifice? In genera sacrifices are more evocative, so I really see no way to go with exiling instead. I think the best use of this mechanic was the first example card "Bilebotomist": You can get a tap effect, but you can get the effect twice by exiling/sacrificing it. The other example card does not make hubris feel in any way distinct, so may I suggest this version of hubris:
Drill Surgeon
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
, : Exile a card from target player's graveyard. If you do, that player loses 1 life.
Hubris (You may sacrifice this creature rather than tap it to pay for a cost that requires to tap it.)
1/2
or
Stench-Oil Mixer
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
: Target creature gains menace until end of turn.
Hubris (Whenever you activate an ability of this creature, you may sacrifice it. If you do, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy.)
1/1
or any combination there-of
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]
Your transmogrify cards are dull and devoid of flavor.
Technically speaking, the only cards of these that are 'mine' are the green commons. But, how would I go about giving them a bit more of a trope to the overall theme of Alchemy? Isn't an enchantment spell turning into a creature spell not enough?
Imbue is meant to be a new version of Splice. I suppose it could just be Splice, but not have to rely upon the Arcane subtype.
Hubris is straight up exile, there is no sacrifice. But I suppose Sacrifice could be an option. In Fullmetal Alchemist, Alchemy is the science of understanding the structure of matter. Breaking it down and reconstructing it as something else. It's a science, and therefore must follow the natural laws. To create, something of equal value must be lost. Equivalent exchange. So sacrifice would make sense as well.
Technically speaking, the only cards of these that are 'mine' are the green commons. But, how would I go about giving them a bit more of a trope to the overall theme of Alchemy? Isn't an enchantment spell turning into a creature spell not enough?
The word "you" can be plural or singular, but essentially by posting this thread you also personally become the representative of the team in this forum as far as I am concerned and assume editorial responsibility.
No, a nameless enchantment turning into a nameless creature that are not even tied to each other mechanically is far from enough. Now one way to go about this would be to give these bland ideas a thematic coat of paint e. g. calling the enchantment face "Vile Sludge" and the creature face "Vile Corpse" and add a few lines of flavor text to the two faces that describe the necroalchemical practice of settling next to caustic tar pits and extracting the bodies of the demised as raw material for their experiments.
This would just be one way. Another idea would be to start with the trope and design the card as a whole "top-down". That is where most DFCs come from, so maybe you want to look up their design stories. In your case the question is: Which examples of alchemical transmogrification were on your mind(s) when you decided you want this mechanic? Lead to gold? Body parts to flesh golem? Jekyll to Hyde? Start with these names and see what you can come up with from there.
On the mechanical side there is also much left to be desired. I personally don't love transmogrify since it is easier to create evocative card designs that transform on the battlefield, but if I were to use it, then I would also think hard about making the difference between the two halves matter. I would make them matter HARD. Harder than "plus one mana and now its a better blocker". That's not nothing, but you are essentially making permanent versions of split cards. Now take a look at how different the two halves of a split card usually are: Almost always you require different colors and access entirely different sections of the color pie with each half. The one time they went with identical colors for both halves look at how the halves interact to complement each other or build on each other.
FTR: The Planar Chaos split cards as a group are despite this attempt at cohesiveness IMO the overall weakest designs among split cards, so keep that in mind when making transmogrify cards that stay "in color".
Imbue is meant to be a new version of Splice. I suppose it could just be Splice, but not have to rely upon the Arcane subtype.
I personally feel splice even has a nce alchemical ring to it. Be certain to visit the rules and figure out ho this would interact with overload.
Hubris is straight up exile, there is no sacrifice.
I am able to read. If there is a functional need to differentiate between the two in this set of cards, then I do not see it. If there is no such need, then using exile over sacrifice is unfounded and just reduces interactivity and hence potential depth of the cards.
Hubris feels a little too generic for a named mechanic.
Transmogrify seems like it would better as an unnamed theme of DFCs that can enter the battlefield transformed in whatever way. It's very broad for a keyword that's not an essential action like transform.
Imbue is less elegant Surge. Use surge or splice.
Morph doesn't have a whole lot of usable design space left. Given this, I think it's better saved for a return to Tarkir, but I guess that doesn't have to matter to you.
These are the black commons from a set that was started by a group of fellow designers, of which, I was one. I'm trying to revive the set, as we only finished most of the commons.
I can not take full credit for ideas for the mechanics. Casey Brefka designed Hubris. Ian Sanderson came up with Transmogrify, but it was named Formulate. He also designed the White commons. Gary Shiro White designed the Blue commons. Theo Max Brown Jr. came up with Imbue as well as the Black commons. Jay Gif designed the Red commons. I designed the Green commons. Others involved in the process include: Frederick Shaheen, Luke Schwarz, Adrienne Reynolds, Harry Takenaka, Jonathan Krone, and Thomas Laporte.
The theme of this set is Alchemy.
Here are the keywords you will see in this set.
Hubris - , Exile [this]: (effect or ability). - This ability is found in all colors and primarily belongs to Humans. Hubris is an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin. Hubris is man going beyond his means.
Transmogrify [cost] (You may cast this spell for its transmogrify cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield transformed.) - This ability is in all colors. It is based on the split cards before Fuse. Transmogrify doesn't work like normal Transform cards, you get one side of your spell or the other. Transmogrify fits the theme of alchemy in that it changes the form of a card into something else.
Imbue [cost] (As you cast a spell, you may pay [cost] and discard this card from your hand. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.) - This is based on Splice onto Arcane and more recently Surge. This ability will only be on Instants and Sorceries.
Returning Mechanic: Morph
Bilebotomist 1B
Creature — Human Wizard (C)
, Pay 1 life: Add B to your mana pool.
Hubris — , Exile Bilebotomist: Add BB to your mana pool.
1/2
Black Common 01 3BB
Creature — Zombie Knight (C)
B: Black Common 01 gets +2/-1 until end of turn.
3/3
Black Common 02 1BB
Instant (C)
Destroy target nonblack creature. If that creature is a token creature, it’s controller loses 2 life.
Black Common 03 1B
Sorcery (C)
When this spell resolves, all creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.
Imbue B (As you cast a spell, you may pay B and discard this card from your hand. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.)
Black Common 04 1B
Creature — Human Rogue (C)
Can’t block.
Transmogrify 2B (You may cast this spell for its transmogrify cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield transformed.)
2/1
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Black Common 04
B Creature - Homunculus
Deathtouch
2/2
Black Common 05 1B
Enchantment (C)
At the beginning of your upkeep, target player loses 1 life.
Transmogrify 3B (You may cast this spell for its transmogrify cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield transformed.)
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Black Common 05
B Creature - Zombie
4/2
Coniunctio 2B
Sorcery (C)
When this spell resolves, destroy target untapped creature.
Imbue 1B (As you cast a spell, you may pay 1B and discard this card from your hand. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.)
Corpse Collector 4BB
Creature — Human Shaman (C)
Whenever a creature you control is turned face up, you may return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/3
Leadgraft Bloodletter 3BB
Artifact Creature — Zombie (C)
Whenever Leadgraft Bloodletter attacks, each player loses 1 life for each artifact you control.
Morph 3B (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
2/4
Mercurial Creation B
Enchantment (C)
When Mercurial Creation enters the battlefield, put a 2/2 black Homunculus creature token onto the battlefield.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are no Homunculus on the battlefield, you lose 1 life.
Poisontendril Crone 3B
Creature — Human Assassin (C)
Deathtouch
Morph 4B (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
She begs with one hand and kills with the other.
2/3
Runes of Distress 1B
Enchantment — Aura (C)
Enchant artifact
Whenever enchanted artifact becomes tapped or an ability of enchanted artifact becomes activated, its controller discards a card.
Severed Head B
Creature — Zombie (C)
When Severed Head enters the battlefield, if you control a face down permanent, target player discards a card.
0/1
Tormenting Pupil B
Creature — Human Wizard (C)
Hubris — , Exile Tormenting Pupil: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
1/1
Vitruvian Rat B
Creature — Rat (C)
Vitruvian Rat gets +1/+1 as long as there is an artifact card in your graveyard.
0/1
Wrench Mind
Questions, comments, concerns, constructive criticisms, conundrums?
Servien
Chaos' Realm
Escalation of Chaos
Tales of Cahdaria
Enigmatic Distrubance
Celestial Unveiling
You don't say much about morph, but is it a good idea to put morph and DFCs together into the same set?
Imbue seems a bit lackluster. It's reminiscent of madness except that casting any spell is so much easier than discarding a card that the effect of imbuing cannot account for much. Is there a reason this needs to work with permanents? This also feels like it uses the ability to "fuse" the spells just to be cute.
Effectively the example spell could also work with "Whenever you cast a spell, you may cast this card for its imbue cost." That's not impressive.
"Hubris" is sacrifice effects that exile rather than sacrifice? In genera sacrifices are more evocative, so I really see no way to go with exiling instead. I think the best use of this mechanic was the first example card "Bilebotomist": You can get a tap effect, but you can get the effect twice by exiling/sacrificing it. The other example card does not make hubris feel in any way distinct, so may I suggest this version of hubris:
Drill Surgeon
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
, : Exile a card from target player's graveyard. If you do, that player loses 1 life.
Hubris (You may sacrifice this creature rather than tap it to pay for a cost that requires to tap it.)
1/2
or
Stench-Oil Mixer
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
: Target creature gains menace until end of turn.
Hubris (Whenever you activate an ability of this creature, you may sacrifice it. If you do, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy.)
1/1
or any combination there-of
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
Technically speaking, the only cards of these that are 'mine' are the green commons. But, how would I go about giving them a bit more of a trope to the overall theme of Alchemy? Isn't an enchantment spell turning into a creature spell not enough?
Imbue is meant to be a new version of Splice. I suppose it could just be Splice, but not have to rely upon the Arcane subtype.
Hubris is straight up exile, there is no sacrifice. But I suppose Sacrifice could be an option. In Fullmetal Alchemist, Alchemy is the science of understanding the structure of matter. Breaking it down and reconstructing it as something else. It's a science, and therefore must follow the natural laws. To create, something of equal value must be lost. Equivalent exchange. So sacrifice would make sense as well.
Servien
Chaos' Realm
Escalation of Chaos
Tales of Cahdaria
Enigmatic Distrubance
Celestial Unveiling
The word "you" can be plural or singular, but essentially by posting this thread you also personally become the representative of the team in this forum as far as I am concerned and assume editorial responsibility.
No, a nameless enchantment turning into a nameless creature that are not even tied to each other mechanically is far from enough. Now one way to go about this would be to give these bland ideas a thematic coat of paint e. g. calling the enchantment face "Vile Sludge" and the creature face "Vile Corpse" and add a few lines of flavor text to the two faces that describe the necroalchemical practice of settling next to caustic tar pits and extracting the bodies of the demised as raw material for their experiments.
This would just be one way. Another idea would be to start with the trope and design the card as a whole "top-down". That is where most DFCs come from, so maybe you want to look up their design stories. In your case the question is: Which examples of alchemical transmogrification were on your mind(s) when you decided you want this mechanic? Lead to gold? Body parts to flesh golem? Jekyll to Hyde? Start with these names and see what you can come up with from there.
On the mechanical side there is also much left to be desired. I personally don't love transmogrify since it is easier to create evocative card designs that transform on the battlefield, but if I were to use it, then I would also think hard about making the difference between the two halves matter. I would make them matter HARD. Harder than "plus one mana and now its a better blocker". That's not nothing, but you are essentially making permanent versions of split cards. Now take a look at how different the two halves of a split card usually are: Almost always you require different colors and access entirely different sections of the color pie with each half. The one time they went with identical colors for both halves look at how the halves interact to complement each other or build on each other.
FTR: The Planar Chaos split cards as a group are despite this attempt at cohesiveness IMO the overall weakest designs among split cards, so keep that in mind when making transmogrify cards that stay "in color".
I personally feel splice even has a nce alchemical ring to it. Be certain to visit the rules and figure out ho this would interact with overload.
I am able to read. If there is a functional need to differentiate between the two in this set of cards, then I do not see it. If there is no such need, then using exile over sacrifice is unfounded and just reduces interactivity and hence potential depth of the cards.
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
Transmogrify seems like it would better as an unnamed theme of DFCs that can enter the battlefield transformed in whatever way. It's very broad for a keyword that's not an essential action like transform.
Imbue is less elegant Surge. Use surge or splice.
Morph doesn't have a whole lot of usable design space left. Given this, I think it's better saved for a return to Tarkir, but I guess that doesn't have to matter to you.
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice