I'm working on a set design and one of the mechanics I am working on is Mutate. The Plane the set is one is a very savage place so many of the more beastly creatures have to adapt quickly to the harsh environment.
Currently this is what I am trying to find a balance between:
Somehow you would trigger this either through a tap ability or spell of some sort -
Mutate <number>(Sacrifice this creature [or if a spell, target creature]. Search your library for a creature that shares a creature type with it and has the CMC of this creature plus <number> and put it onto to battlefield).
OR
Mutate <number> - Reveal this card from your hand: Sacrifice target creature that shares a creature type with this card and has CMC or more of this card's CMC minus <number>. Put this creature onto the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it where X is the sacrificed creature's power.
I'm trying to find a balance between them. The first seems too strong and too much like Birthpod but with a more narrow field of grabbing something but the second seems too underwhelming.
Which design works better with the rest of your set? Does it want a Transmute-like tutor mechanic or a Devour-like pump mechanic?
I think you'll be able to save a lot of words and even gain some functional flexibility by having the Mutate number define the legal CMC instead of being used for math, like on the Soulshift mechanic (Thief of Hope, Kami of the Honored Dead, Promised Kannushi, etc.).
Was there a rules/functionality question you had about either of the mechanics?
Its more of "if you're smaller creatures survive for long enough, they can adapt the new situation and become stronger." With that in mind the transmute tutor would fit more than devour like. Part of it would be if this kind of mechanic be too strong, like birthing pod for everything. It would be a very common mechanic in the world so many creatures would have it.
The soulshift idea was good, I will impliment that.
No rules about the mechanics directly. If this is not where I should put this sort of topic, I misunderstood what this forum was for. I'm new here so a slight mix up.
Transfigure was a similar Future Sight mechanic. Like transmute though, there is not a lot of design space for tutors like this. Too many cards with transfigure at the same CMC can make tutoring for specific creatures become too easy. With transmute, WotC was worried about CMC5 cards because it can tutor for Battle of Wits, so there was only Brainspoil at cmc5. With transfigure, there are a lot more problematic CMCs.
For the second version, would maybe a cost reducing mechanic like offering work better?
For the first one, I did consider that but the main difference here is its only creatures and the creatures have to share a creature type. So no finding Battle of Wits from it.
The second was something I kind of was going towards, basically being an offering of sorts. Something like this:
Mutate <number> - <cost>, Reveal this card from your hand: Sacrifice target creature with CMC of <number> or less and shares a creature type with revealed card. Put this creature onto the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it where X is the sacrificed creatures CMC.
This way, there is actually a lot of value in keeping your smaller creatures alive and more benefit for killing your opponents. I also want to make sure to put the sacrifice after the "cost colon" as if you kill the small creature, it interrupts the Mutate but since the Mutate creature is revealed and not actually on the stack, it would just stay in your hand. (If I have that correctly...JUDGE!)
So an example creature would be:
Reginal, Champion Wallbreaker 3BRG
Legendary Creature - Minotaur Warrior
Mutate 3 -- 1BRG, Reveal this card from your hand: Sacrifice target creature...
When Reginal, Champion Wallbreaker attacks, it gains +X/+0 where X is the total power of all attacking minotaurs you control.
2/3
Edit: Does anyone know if there is a card kind of like this in existance for formatting sake. Like I don't know if I should have it like Forecasts formating or what if the effects always going to be the same.
Currently this is what I am trying to find a balance between:
Somehow you would trigger this either through a tap ability or spell of some sort -
OR
I'm trying to find a balance between them. The first seems too strong and too much like Birthpod but with a more narrow field of grabbing something but the second seems too underwhelming.
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I think you'll be able to save a lot of words and even gain some functional flexibility by having the Mutate number define the legal CMC instead of being used for math, like on the Soulshift mechanic (Thief of Hope, Kami of the Honored Dead, Promised Kannushi, etc.).
Was there a rules/functionality question you had about either of the mechanics?
I'm Mike, from The Mana Pool.
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The soulshift idea was good, I will impliment that.
No rules about the mechanics directly. If this is not where I should put this sort of topic, I misunderstood what this forum was for. I'm new here so a slight mix up.
My tumblr and its continuous news on my Magic Set, Darduran
Facebook
My Let's Play Channel
For the second version, would maybe a cost reducing mechanic like offering work better?
The second was something I kind of was going towards, basically being an offering of sorts. Something like this:
This way, there is actually a lot of value in keeping your smaller creatures alive and more benefit for killing your opponents. I also want to make sure to put the sacrifice after the "cost colon" as if you kill the small creature, it interrupts the Mutate but since the Mutate creature is revealed and not actually on the stack, it would just stay in your hand. (If I have that correctly...JUDGE!)
So an example creature would be:
Edit: Does anyone know if there is a card kind of like this in existance for formatting sake. Like I don't know if I should have it like Forecasts formating or what if the effects always going to be the same.
My tumblr and its continuous news on my Magic Set, Darduran
Facebook
My Let's Play Channel