This is the creative thread for the Comic Book Set. To keep discussions organized, this thread is dedicated solely to the flavor of the set.
DISCLAIMER: Like Theros or Innistrad, this set is aiming to be Magic's take on comic books, not actual comic books. We'll try to capture the common tropes and themes of the genre, not copy and paste the characters we know and love.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
S Flyer: Humans (Mutants), Vedalken
M Flyer: Humans (Naturals, Mutants)
L Flyer: Humans (Naturals, Mutants)
Black
Small: Assassins, Rogues, Minions, Vampires, Zombies (Grunts for certain villains)
Med: Horrors, Zombies (bigger grunts), Shades? (Or would they just be shade-like supers?)
Large: Giants? (Theros kind of has this problem too. Black doesn't have a lot of big ground guys)
S Flying: Vampires (this slot might be where vampires need to fill in)
M Flying: Vampire, Horror, Shade?
L Flying: Demons, Horrors
Red
(Humans/Mutants everywhere)
Small: Goblins (as mole people and henchmen), Gang Members (Warriors? Berserkers? Rogues? Assassins?), Soldiers (reckless cops perhaps?)
Med: Flamekin
Large: Giants, other monsters (Lizards, Cyclops?)
S Flying: Flamekin
M Flying: Flamekin
L Flying: Dragons
Green
(Humans/Mutants everywhere)
Small: Elves, Archers, Scouts? what else can go here?
Med: Elves, Beasts, Elementals? (are there naturally occuring, non-flamekin elementals here?)
Large: Hydras, Giants, Wurms, Beasts
S Reach: Archers, Spiders?
M Reach: Archers, Spider Mutants?
L Reach: Hydras, Giants, Wurms? Beasts?
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
For a planeswalker I think it would be fun to have at lease one. My idea is a planes walker who's spark ignited when their plane was destroyed by an outside force. After planes walking around they found the comic book plane and decided to stay and became a hero. Think along the lines of Powergirl or Huntress from the New 52. This way to merge the muti-verse comic trope with magic's muti-verss.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Personally, I feel this set would work best with a modern feel (or at least an idealized version of modern society one might see in a comic book). Since the modern aesthetic is so common for comic books, and this set is already treading in territory that magic usually wouldn't cover (from a world perspective), I don't think it would be too much of a problem.
A couple of common questions keep coming up. One is how common super heroes are in this world. IMO, it makes sense for super heroes to be normal, everyday occurrences. No, not everyone is a super hero, but there are enough around that they aren't really considered out of the ordinary, just special. This is partially because it makes sense for a super hero world to be full of super heroes, and also because super heroes are going to be at common anyway, might as well make them common in the world too. That said, there are heroes that rise above the rest and garner more attention and fame, which is what separates our legendary super heroes and villains from their common counterparts.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
I think another fun question is how does the author see superheroes. It sounds a bit meta but Watchmen was mentioned a lot in the design thread so are we going for heroes that are inherently biased, corrupt and disturbed... or for the noblest and most peaceful example of heroes?
Examples:
Traditional Marvel or DC: mostly optimistic with dark patches or stories. Heroes either consciously or unconsciously fight for the status quo, i.e. Orphan Millionaire beating up poor muggers. That said the lack of self awareness makes up for it with constant awesome fights, where the city, country or world might get wiped out every week. Also heroes often fight each other because you demanded it, true believer.
Retro Sci-Fi: think very Jack Kirby, very 'late' Alan Moore... it is all about exploring huge ideas with a constant sense of optimism. Alternate dimensions, time travel, consuls of friendly aliens and heroes focused on ending poverty and disease that sometimes get sucked into battles with villains as a distraction. I think your ideas of steam punk fit in nicely here... geniuses have molded modern life with their ideas and inventions.
90's Grim and Gritty: everyone is a mercenary with 4 swords and 16 guns. Everyone either works for the government or are on the run from it. We are talking straight up 90's without having learned anything from Watchmen.
Post Modern: think Authority, Ultimates, Supreme Power and much of what Kirkman or Hickman do. Heroes are weapons of mass destruction to be manipulated or feared. A countries heroes are like a stockpile of nukes and any hero who acts alone is treated like a rogue state. Also it's always funny until somebody gets torn in half.
A couple of common questions keep coming up. One is how common super heroes are in this world. IMO, it makes sense for super heroes to be normal, everyday occurrences. No, not everyone is a super hero, but there are enough around that they aren't really considered out of the ordinary, just special. This is partially because it makes sense for a super hero world to be full of super heroes, and also because super heroes are going to be at common anyway, might as well make them common in the world too. That said, there are heroes that rise above the rest and garner more attention and fame, which is what separates our legendary super heroes and villains from their common counterparts.
I like this since its also a point discussed in X-Men with the levels of mutants. You have mutants like Jean Grey who could rip apart each and every atom in the world and then you have poor mutants who loses their lungs and grow gills and have to live underwater for the rest of their life.
Maybe how we present our heroes is how the story can progress. Have the world at first seem to be classic Dc and Marvel and by the last set we have a Watchmen like world peel back the paint and see the grim gritty place the world is.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I am definitely against cramming a sci-fi/retrobiosteamcyberpunk setting into this. When people think comics, they think of modern-day and four-color. We should focus on a mix of the two. We can have a few Punisher-type characters, and a few Sin City-ish settings, but I don't see why we can't have a few goofy "Umbrella Man"-ish villains in there too.
I don't want to be dipping too much into other genres like cyberpunk or steampunk. A modern setting is the most natural fit for the block. However, that doesn't mean we can't have a couple of unique locations like the Poleis . For instance, I've always pictured three distinct cities: a shining metropolis (like Metropolis), a dark crime-ridden city (like Gotham), a high tech "neon city" (like Tokyo), and there could be more.
I agree that Kaiju would be a really good fit here, mostly because they can act as a foil for the heroes. Yes, Villains are obviously the main enemy here, but when both heroes and villains are generally small in size things don't feel all that high stakes, unlike a small hero facing off against a giant monster.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
I was imagining the same exact city idea. Do you think there should be a "city" for each color (and perhaps a horizontal cycle of lands to represent each)?
I also like Kaiju to fill in some larger creature slots. Which brings up the topic of what creature types are we gonna use? Some creature types from Magic I think could translate well into comics would be;Demons, Elves, Mutants, Shapeshifters/Clones, Vampires, Vedalken and Zombies with Kaiju creatures represented by Beasts, Dragons, Blue's many large sea creatures and maybe dinosaurs?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I was imagining the same exact city idea. Do you think there should be a "city" for each color (and perhaps a horizontal cycle of lands to represent each)?
I imagine the cities to be more like the Poleis of Theros; they have color identities but they're not really defined by them. I also wouldn't expect them to be lands (especially if we're planning on doing some hideaway lands)
I also like Kaiju to fill in some larger creature slots. Which brings up the topic of what creature types are we gonna use? Some creature types from Magic I think could translate well into comics would be;Demons, Elves, Mutants, Shapeshifters/Clones, Vampires, Vedalken and Zombies with Kaiju creatures represented by Beasts, Dragons, Blue's many large sea creatures and maybe dinosaurs?
Creature types is something we need to talk about. Obviously most comics take place in a world full of Humans, and I think Mutants are going to play a large role as well. Non-human races are trickier. Are humans the baseline and other races like Vampires or Vedalken rare and considered "super" for their innate powers? Or is this a world where all sorts of races are considered normal and each have their own outstanding individuals? I'm leaning a little more towards the latter, but what's your guys' take on this?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
I think a more diverse world works better for the game and overall. While I don't see things like Vampires and Werewolves being 'normal' in this world, a world with Humans as well as other non-supernatural, intelligent races, (like merfolk, elves and, goblins, for example) coexisting keeps things grounded while still allowing lots of space to work in.
If this is a world where magic manifests as super powers instead of sorcery, then I think it'd make more sense for super powers to be "the way it's always been". It allows for richer history and backstory for the world and characters, as well as giving more motivation for the DIY heroes that use mutation or technology.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
I definitely agree it should always have been that way.
I wouldn't mind a few iconic lands that represent cities, and I think there should be some Enchant Lands that represent hidden bases/lairs.
Big monsters are a huge part of comics, definitely keep them in. Nothing saying we can't throw a few mechs heroes in there as well. I think a few anime cards are a much better fit than insert-adjective-punk.
I think there should be multiple races. Merfolk would be a fine sea-dwelling race, and Vedalken can stand in for our "alien" race. Lizard people could fit for a sewer dwelling race.
I would argue against elves. Elves have a lot of "fantasy" baggage. Goblins could work, but only as minions for some sort of villain.
A race that specializes in creating tech might be fun. Dwarves? Gnomes? Gremlins? Maybe we could just make a one-off "tech genius" card.
I love the idea of recycling races like Merfolk as some Atlantean race (both in Marvel and DC) and Vedalken. Also Cephalids would make great evil aquatic villains or aliens. I would love to see a race of Merfolk with a king acting as a legendary superhero and maybe a kraken or two as backup.
More examples:
Golem: android, cyborg... picture a 'human golem'.
Horror: some interdimensional threat.
Also before I do a huge post on color identity and flavor... are you guys interested in making it a multi color set or not? Personally I would suggest something like Ravnica where you have 2 color groups but very few multicolor cards.
On the matter of elves what are this planes G areas? Is the planes like Ravnica, with a city everywhere or will there be forests and woods and such?
I'd like to try to keep as many races that make sense for the planes, since magic creatures can substitute for the Aliens in comics, which I think is easier then making an Alien type.
For a tech race Vedalken are a good candidate.
As for muti-color I think Theros had the right amount.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I expect this set to have as much multicolor as Theros. I don't see any reason to section things off or make factions like Ravnica. There are obviously going to be certain groups or organizations, but I don't see a reason to do color pairings or anything like that.
I don't expect there to be very many green "areas", but there are plenty of green creatures and spells (super strength, super size, controlling plants, controlling/becoming beasts, green has a ton of super power potential).
We have to decide whether or not non-humans are "aliens" or not. (as in, they're all "super powered" races, not "normal citizen" races). I personally like the idea.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
We have to decide whether or not non-humans are "aliens" or not. (as in, they're all "super powered" races, not "normal citizen" races). I personally like the idea.
I like this idea too, it can all so give our plane a twist with some comic book races, like lugaru said we can use merfolk as Atlantean and I like elves could work as amazon like characters
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
We have to decide whether or not non-humans are "aliens" or not. (as in, they're all "super powered" races, not "normal citizen" races). I personally like the idea.
I like this idea too, it can all so give our plane a twist with some comic book races, like lugaru said we can use merfolk as Atlantean and I like elves could work as amazon like characters
I like where this is going. Vedalken work well as an alien-esque telepathic race, and vampires can work in villain or anti-hero roles. The ones that are harder are the less humanoid races (like Goblins) or any of the animal races (Leonin, Loxodon, Aven, Rhox, etc.) Do we want to try and find a way for some of these races to work within the world? Or should we just stick to the humanoid races that already fit more naturally?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
Lizard people Moon-E! They can be our black and/or green tribal creatures in the sewers.
I guess Elves could be Amazonian warriors... We could have a "Savage Land" area with dinosaurs like Marvel, except with our own spin. Wildheart Invoker, anyone?
Ups, when I said Ravnica I meant to say Innistrad... where you have color pairings but very few gold cards. My bad... although something like Theros would be cool, 5 main colors but every combo is supported by at least one card.
Are we cool with doing what Ravnica does and have very few examples of each race? Like above you see Loxodon, Vampires, Rhox, Aven... but in a superhero world you might end up having 'one of each' which is practically anti-tribal. Let me 'conjure up' some heroes:
Mastodon
Legendary Elephant Mutant
Bird of Prey
Legendary Bird Mutant
Sanguine
Legendary Vampire Rogue
and speaking of Something... will we recycle magic 'jobs'? Advisor (politician, detective), Rogue, Ninja, Artificer (scientist), Soldier, etc?
I think the "one of each" is a good idea. I've also got a plan for mutants that I'd like to share. Mutants are obviously a big part of comic books, but they usually occupy their own world (as in, worlds with mutants usually have mutation as the only source of powers.) However, this world has both mutants and other types of heroes, and since mutants usually come in a set I think it'd be cool to give them a common aesthetic that sets them appart from "normal" heroes. My idea is to have mutants be animalistic; if we're talking X-men, less Prof. X or Magneto and more Archangel or Beast. Mutants grow wings, claws, fangs, etc. as their source of powers to differentiate them from the standard hero. (A normal hero might "just fly", while a mutant that flies would grown wings)
On the topic of multicolor: I think Theros is actually how most monocolored sets will look moving forward. WotC has said they like putting a dab of multicolor in sets to help drafting. Innistrad has this too, but in the form of off color flashback cards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
Since most superheros are humanoid I think we should have mostly humanoid races with a few small non-hummanoid creatures (maybe a few Krypto the Superdog or Ace the Batdog cards). For humanoid animal races I lets see what fits. Might be fun to put in a few races that references heroes who have animal themes (Aven to fill in for Hawkman/Hawkwoman like characters, have a Rhino (from Spiderman) character thats a Rhox ect.). Though I hate to exclude them again, I think goblins aren't the best fit. Yes they can be minions what else can we do with them?
I'm with LnGrrrR about Lizard people and I think we can just use viashino, though since (i think) viashino will be villains characters and mostly live in sewers maybe have more black viashino then green (maybe a few blue?). Also I think tribal has the wrong vibe for this set. Superhero comics always had "difference people working together" themes and tribal has the opposite feel.
I think use limiting the creatures into one color as much as we can would be the best way for us to feel different from Ravnica.
Also on the subject of muti-color from my own comic set design one thing I wanted to do is have villains and heroes in each color and color pair and look at the goods and evils of the colors (such as having a G/W Poison Ivy like character or a mono-black Batman like hero character), which is something we can explore in this set.
I really like your idea for mutants MOON-E.
Heres what we have talked about so far;
Humans
Mutants
Merfolk
Elves
Vedalken
and here is what some people have mentioned/suggested:
Lizard people (viashino)
Demons
Shapeshifters(/Clones)
Vampires
Zombies
Beasts
Dragons
Blue's many large sea creatures
Dinosaurs
Golems
Horrors
Loxodon
Rhox
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Batman isn't mono black, but yes I think it's a good idea to have heroes and villains in all colors.
Personally I don't think viashino fit the world, but maybe I don't know how important lizard people are in comics? I also want to stay away from most of the anthropomorphic races, especially Aven which kind of take the bite out of anything that flies. (Flying doesn't seem super if there are a bunch of aven flying around.)
Also, do Demons really fit this plane?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
I know Batmans not mono-black I meant a Batman like character.
viashino work for a Curt Connors like characters. I think we need a few anthropomorphic races just to "spice" up the races we have.
I just suggested Demons cause of characters like Azazel and Trigon (yes I know Azazel is a mutant, but he is demonic looking).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
This is the creative thread for the Comic Book Set. To keep discussions organized, this thread is dedicated solely to the flavor of the set.
DISCLAIMER: Like Theros or Innistrad, this set is aiming to be Magic's take on comic books, not actual comic books. We'll try to capture the common tropes and themes of the genre, not copy and paste the characters we know and love.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
White
Small: Humans (Police as either Soldiers or Knights, Mutants, misc. (Reporters? Doctors? Advisors?))
Med: Humans (Groups of Soldiers, Naturals, Mutants)
Large: Humans (Naturals, Mutants), Giants (as monsters)
S Flying: Humans (Naturals, Mutants, Soldiers?), Birds?
M Flying: Humans (Naturals, Mutants, Soldiers?)
L Flying: Humans (Naturals, Mutants), Archons?
Blue
Small: Humans (Mutants, Police, Reporters, Scientists), Vedalken
Medium: Humans (Naturals, Mutants, etc.), Merfolk
Large: Sea Monsters (Leviathan, Kraken, Serpents, etc.)
S Flyer: Humans (Mutants), Vedalken
M Flyer: Humans (Naturals, Mutants)
L Flyer: Humans (Naturals, Mutants)
Black
Small: Assassins, Rogues, Minions, Vampires, Zombies (Grunts for certain villains)
Med: Horrors, Zombies (bigger grunts), Shades? (Or would they just be shade-like supers?)
Large: Giants? (Theros kind of has this problem too. Black doesn't have a lot of big ground guys)
S Flying: Vampires (this slot might be where vampires need to fill in)
M Flying: Vampire, Horror, Shade?
L Flying: Demons, Horrors
Red
(Humans/Mutants everywhere)
Small: Goblins (as mole people and henchmen), Gang Members (Warriors? Berserkers? Rogues? Assassins?), Soldiers (reckless cops perhaps?)
Med: Flamekin
Large: Giants, other monsters (Lizards, Cyclops?)
S Flying: Flamekin
M Flying: Flamekin
L Flying: Dragons
Green
(Humans/Mutants everywhere)
Small: Elves, Archers, Scouts? what else can go here?
Med: Elves, Beasts, Elementals? (are there naturally occuring, non-flamekin elementals here?)
Large: Hydras, Giants, Wurms, Beasts
S Reach: Archers, Spiders?
M Reach: Archers, Spider Mutants?
L Reach: Hydras, Giants, Wurms? Beasts?
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
I was thinking this world could be somewhat steam-punk so that it feel like its magic but we can transition story elements and tropes.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
A couple of common questions keep coming up. One is how common super heroes are in this world. IMO, it makes sense for super heroes to be normal, everyday occurrences. No, not everyone is a super hero, but there are enough around that they aren't really considered out of the ordinary, just special. This is partially because it makes sense for a super hero world to be full of super heroes, and also because super heroes are going to be at common anyway, might as well make them common in the world too. That said, there are heroes that rise above the rest and garner more attention and fame, which is what separates our legendary super heroes and villains from their common counterparts.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
Examples:
Traditional Marvel or DC: mostly optimistic with dark patches or stories. Heroes either consciously or unconsciously fight for the status quo, i.e. Orphan Millionaire beating up poor muggers. That said the lack of self awareness makes up for it with constant awesome fights, where the city, country or world might get wiped out every week. Also heroes often fight each other because you demanded it, true believer.
Retro Sci-Fi: think very Jack Kirby, very 'late' Alan Moore... it is all about exploring huge ideas with a constant sense of optimism. Alternate dimensions, time travel, consuls of friendly aliens and heroes focused on ending poverty and disease that sometimes get sucked into battles with villains as a distraction. I think your ideas of steam punk fit in nicely here... geniuses have molded modern life with their ideas and inventions.
90's Grim and Gritty: everyone is a mercenary with 4 swords and 16 guns. Everyone either works for the government or are on the run from it. We are talking straight up 90's without having learned anything from Watchmen.
Post Modern: think Authority, Ultimates, Supreme Power and much of what Kirkman or Hickman do. Heroes are weapons of mass destruction to be manipulated or feared. A countries heroes are like a stockpile of nukes and any hero who acts alone is treated like a rogue state. Also it's always funny until somebody gets torn in half.
www.theconnoisseurs.com
I like this since its also a point discussed in X-Men with the levels of mutants. You have mutants like Jean Grey who could rip apart each and every atom in the world and then you have poor mutants who loses their lungs and grow gills and have to live underwater for the rest of their life.
Maybe how we present our heroes is how the story can progress. Have the world at first seem to be classic Dc and Marvel and by the last set we have a Watchmen like world peel back the paint and see the grim gritty place the world is.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
I agree that Kaiju would be a really good fit here, mostly because they can act as a foil for the heroes. Yes, Villains are obviously the main enemy here, but when both heroes and villains are generally small in size things don't feel all that high stakes, unlike a small hero facing off against a giant monster.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I imagine the cities to be more like the Poleis of Theros; they have color identities but they're not really defined by them. I also wouldn't expect them to be lands (especially if we're planning on doing some hideaway lands)
Creature types is something we need to talk about. Obviously most comics take place in a world full of Humans, and I think Mutants are going to play a large role as well. Non-human races are trickier. Are humans the baseline and other races like Vampires or Vedalken rare and considered "super" for their innate powers? Or is this a world where all sorts of races are considered normal and each have their own outstanding individuals? I'm leaning a little more towards the latter, but what's your guys' take on this?
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
Tangentially, the "catastrophe that gives a bunch of people super powers" is a pretty common trope that we might consider using as a jumping-off point to get the ball rolling.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
I wouldn't mind a few iconic lands that represent cities, and I think there should be some Enchant Lands that represent hidden bases/lairs.
Big monsters are a huge part of comics, definitely keep them in. Nothing saying we can't throw a few mechs heroes in there as well. I think a few anime cards are a much better fit than insert-adjective-punk.
I think there should be multiple races. Merfolk would be a fine sea-dwelling race, and Vedalken can stand in for our "alien" race. Lizard people could fit for a sewer dwelling race.
I would argue against elves. Elves have a lot of "fantasy" baggage. Goblins could work, but only as minions for some sort of villain.
A race that specializes in creating tech might be fun. Dwarves? Gnomes? Gremlins? Maybe we could just make a one-off "tech genius" card.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
More examples:
Golem: android, cyborg... picture a 'human golem'.
Horror: some interdimensional threat.
Also before I do a huge post on color identity and flavor... are you guys interested in making it a multi color set or not? Personally I would suggest something like Ravnica where you have 2 color groups but very few multicolor cards.
www.theconnoisseurs.com
I'd like to try to keep as many races that make sense for the planes, since magic creatures can substitute for the Aliens in comics, which I think is easier then making an Alien type.
For a tech race Vedalken are a good candidate.
As for muti-color I think Theros had the right amount.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I don't expect there to be very many green "areas", but there are plenty of green creatures and spells (super strength, super size, controlling plants, controlling/becoming beasts, green has a ton of super power potential).
We have to decide whether or not non-humans are "aliens" or not. (as in, they're all "super powered" races, not "normal citizen" races). I personally like the idea.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
I like this idea too, it can all so give our plane a twist with some comic book races, like lugaru said we can use merfolk as Atlantean and I like elves could work as amazon like characters
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I like where this is going. Vedalken work well as an alien-esque telepathic race, and vampires can work in villain or anti-hero roles. The ones that are harder are the less humanoid races (like Goblins) or any of the animal races (Leonin, Loxodon, Aven, Rhox, etc.) Do we want to try and find a way for some of these races to work within the world? Or should we just stick to the humanoid races that already fit more naturally?
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
I guess Elves could be Amazonian warriors... We could have a "Savage Land" area with dinosaurs like Marvel, except with our own spin. Wildheart Invoker, anyone?
We should also have undersea and volcano bases.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
Are we cool with doing what Ravnica does and have very few examples of each race? Like above you see Loxodon, Vampires, Rhox, Aven... but in a superhero world you might end up having 'one of each' which is practically anti-tribal. Let me 'conjure up' some heroes:
Mastodon
Legendary Elephant Mutant
Bird of Prey
Legendary Bird Mutant
Sanguine
Legendary Vampire Rogue
and speaking of Something... will we recycle magic 'jobs'? Advisor (politician, detective), Rogue, Ninja, Artificer (scientist), Soldier, etc?
Also a useful link for this discussion...
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1336
www.theconnoisseurs.com
On the topic of multicolor: I think Theros is actually how most monocolored sets will look moving forward. WotC has said they like putting a dab of multicolor in sets to help drafting. Innistrad has this too, but in the form of off color flashback cards.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
I'm with LnGrrrR about Lizard people and I think we can just use viashino, though since (i think) viashino will be villains characters and mostly live in sewers maybe have more black viashino then green (maybe a few blue?). Also I think tribal has the wrong vibe for this set. Superhero comics always had "difference people working together" themes and tribal has the opposite feel.
I think use limiting the creatures into one color as much as we can would be the best way for us to feel different from Ravnica.
Also on the subject of muti-color from my own comic set design one thing I wanted to do is have villains and heroes in each color and color pair and look at the goods and evils of the colors (such as having a G/W Poison Ivy like character or a mono-black Batman like hero character), which is something we can explore in this set.
I really like your idea for mutants MOON-E.
Heres what we have talked about so far;
Humans
Mutants
Merfolk
Elves
Vedalken
and here is what some people have mentioned/suggested:
Lizard people (viashino)
Demons
Shapeshifters(/Clones)
Vampires
Zombies
Beasts
Dragons
Blue's many large sea creatures
Dinosaurs
Golems
Horrors
Loxodon
Rhox
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Personally I don't think viashino fit the world, but maybe I don't know how important lizard people are in comics? I also want to stay away from most of the anthropomorphic races, especially Aven which kind of take the bite out of anything that flies. (Flying doesn't seem super if there are a bunch of aven flying around.)
Also, do Demons really fit this plane?
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
viashino work for a Curt Connors like characters. I think we need a few anthropomorphic races just to "spice" up the races we have.
I just suggested Demons cause of characters like Azazel and Trigon (yes I know Azazel is a mutant, but he is demonic looking).
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"