While designing my Shandalar set, I ran into some seemingly insurmountable problems. The set invokes a magecraft theme with a heavy focus on activated abilities, particular T-abilities. This is seen in the ability word "Wizardry" - Whenever you tap a creature to activate an ability, [...].
The gameplay should evoke "Wizards flinging spells at each other," but any effect that you put on a tap ability risks leading to a repetitive gamestate, or a lock-down situation for one player, unless the effect is miniscule. All solutions I could come up with where inelegant until now.
But recently, I came up with a mechanic that could fix the problem while making no losses in other areas, except that it adds further complexity.
Fatigue N(Then put N fatigue counters on this creature. Its activated abilities cost 1 more to activate for each fatigue counter on it.)
Example: T: Draw a card. Fatigue 2.
This was the original version. Since then, we've discussed that the fatigue should appear in the cost, so we changed it to:
X , T: Draw a card. X is the number of fatigue counters on this creature. Then put two fatigue counters on it.
We all agreed that this is rather inelegant, so we ended up with the current version:
T, Fatigue 2: Draw a card. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put two fatigue counters on it.)
This version also doesn't increase the cost of other activated abilities the creature might get, which is relevant in the set.
What do you guys think?
-----------------------------------------
Disciple of Freyalise1G
Creature - Elf Druid (C) T, Fatigue 1: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put a fatigue counter on it.)
2/1
Cowry Seer1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (U) T, Fatigue 1: Scry 1. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put a fatigue counter on it.) T, Fatigue 3: Draw a card.
1/3
Crimson Prodigy1R
Creature - Human Shaman (R) XR, T, Fatigue X: Crimson Prodigy deals X damage to target creature or player. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put X fatigue counters on it.)
2/1
Tavern Maiden2G
Creature - Elf (U)
When Tavern Maiden enters the battlefield, remove all fatigue counters from all creatures you control.
2/2
I really like fatigue in that it's "not really a drawback mechanic" because it's a cost. It's just another way to pay, in essence. What I don't like about it is sort of logistical - it seems like it could lead to big piles of counters spilling all over or a bunch of dice on the table. Similar concerns have been lodged at shrink in the Legends 2 project myself and others have been working on, but shrink results in a static number of counters that doesn't grow.
T, Fatigue 2: Draw a card. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put two fatigue counters on it.)
This version also doesn't increase the cost of other activated abilities the creature might get, which is relevant in the set.
What do you guys think?
If you are granting abilities without fatigue then you are going to run into the same problem that had you make fatigue then unless the rules text is significantly different from the reminder text they do increase the cost. As written Fatigue N is a cost of X, where X is the number of Fatigue counters, and then placing N counters on the permanent. You have linked the cost to the counters, and they all use the same counters so they will all add to the cost.
Cowry Seer 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (U)
T, Fatigue 1: Scry 1. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put a fatigue counter on it.)
T, Fatigue 3: Draw a card.
1/3
So if you activate the scry 1 on this it is only costed as T, then you want to scry again it will cost 1T, after these scrys you want to draw, it cost 2t
I do really like the mechanic, some abilities go from nearly broken to unusable after just two uses which is very dynamic. You should be careful of the number of ways you can remove these counters because a few of these abilities are rather powerful.
I do really like the mechanic, some abilities go from nearly broken to unusable after just two uses which is very dynamic. You should be careful of the number of ways you can remove these counters because a few of these abilities are rather powerful.
I'm not too concerned about removing counters being a balance issue. There's blink, which can be cheap, but these seem to require just as much investment as other blink combos if not more for less return. And Tavern Maiden is a three-mana, sorcery speed situational enabler. I think that's just fine for both Limited and Constructed.
You know, my first instinct was 'this is a drawback mechanic', but now I'm not so sure. I think this is in a very odd space; it's somewhere between exert, untap, and energy counters, if that makes sense. They're all new costs that are interesting in their own way.
Do note if you're using fatigue counters, you can't be granting +1/+1 counters to creatures, and you might even want to avoid +1/+1 counters entirely.
Also, for some reason, 'fatigue' just sounds so much less exciting and engaging to me than 'exert' does (for example). I think energy and exert get away with being 'cost mechanics' because they have strong and exciting flavor. It feels -cool- to get energy, to see your creature exert itself to be stronger. But 'fatigue' feels more... boring, to me? More sad? Something like 'endeavor' or 'push' might be better, but... it's hard to find something as punchy as 'exert' while not feeling more bland like 'fatigue' or 'exhaust'.
I think you're onto something, though. Cool mechanic, with a lot of promising gameplay. I just worry about its potential to excite players who don't realize how 'undercosted' these abilities are.
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Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
I really like fatigue in that it's "not really a drawback mechanic" because it's a cost. It's just another way to pay, in essence. What I don't like about it is sort of logistical - it seems like it could lead to big piles of counters spilling all over or a bunch of dice on the table. Similar concerns have been lodged at shrink in the Legends 2 project myself and others have been working on, but shrink results in a static number of counters that doesn't grow.
It prevents you from using +1/+1 counters in the set, that's for sure!
T, Fatigue 2: Draw a card. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put two fatigue counters on it.)
This version also doesn't increase the cost of other activated abilities the creature might get, which is relevant in the set.
What do you guys think?
If you are granting abilities without fatigue then you are going to run into the same problem that had you make fatigue then unless the rules text is significantly different from the reminder text they do increase the cost. As written Fatigue N is a cost of X, where X is the number of Fatigue counters, and then placing N counters on the permanent. You have linked the cost to the counters, and they all use the same counters so they will all add to the cost.
With the last change, I removed the rules meaning of the fatigue counters. Rather, when Fatigue appears in the cost it references the number of fatigue counters on the creature. Thus, abilities without Fatigue in the cost aren't affected.
Also, for some reason, 'fatigue' just sounds so much less exciting and engaging to me than 'exert' does (for example). I think energy and exert get away with being 'cost mechanics' because they have strong and exciting flavor. It feels -cool- to get energy, to see your creature exert itself to be stronger. But 'fatigue' feels more... boring, to me? More sad? Something like 'endeavor' or 'push' might be better, but... it's hard to find something as punchy as 'exert' while not feeling more bland like 'fatigue' or 'exhaust'.
I think the name is okish, could be better. But I don't have anything better right now. Could certainly be something more "magicky."
I think you're onto something, though. Cool mechanic, with a lot of promising gameplay. I just worry about its potential to excite players who don't realize how 'undercosted' these abilities are.
I don't worry about plebs . I also think that the "whenever you cycle or discard a card" showed that Wizards has some very weird priorities. They've confused me completely (I assumed that it triggers twice on cycling because I couldn't figure out why the hell they would write it otherwise), and made the cards that feature it read much less elegantly, just to appease people who can't read the reminder text of cycling.
I love this idea. Have you considered having it as an unnamed mechanic coupled with a named mechanic?
Arcane Librarian (Uncommon) 1U
Creature - Human Advisor
2/1 T, Pay 1 for each counter on Arcane Librarian: Draw a card. Then put a power counter on Arcane Librarian. Empowered - Arcane Librarian can't be blocked as long as it has three power counters on it.
Interesting. The creature demands more mana as it grows in power. Kind of makes sense. 'Power counter' is not a bad idea.
I don't think it needs to be paired with another mechanic, though; even a simple iteration like yours takes a lot of lines. 6 lines of text is too much for any common, really.
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I like the idea that the creatures get a combat boost after their activated abilities are virtually unusable, or you'll just have a bunch of do-nothings lying around.
There is nothing wrong with that design, but it goes in a completely different direction and doesn't fix the problems that I wanted to fix with fatigue.
Brainstorming some more positive sounding names:
Employ
Escalate
Inflate
Swell
Should the parameter be switched around to be the extra cost and just always add one counter similar to cummulative upkeep?
T, Inflate 1(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): [ability]
or possibly:
T, Inflate 1(Put an inflation counter on this, then pay for each inflation counter on it): [ability]
It changes some of the designs you can do and unfortunately pretty much kills any ideas like the Merfolk with two fatigue abilities, but it might feel a bit more intuitive and might allow for better balancing with repeated use of some abilities.
Then if you do anything that cares about the number of counters on the creature, you could also make that number always be the same checking that you have activated a creature's ability at least three times.
Helping Dude2G Creature - Elf Warrior T, Inflate G(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Another target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
2/2
Fiery Dude1R Creature - Goblin Shaman T, Inflate R(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Twiddly Dude1U Creature - Merfolk Wizard T, Inflate U(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): You may tap or untap target permanent.
0/3
Necrotic Dude2B Creature - Zombie T, Inflate B(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Look at the top two cards of target player’s library. Put one of those cards into that player’s graveyard.
2/2
Inflate makes me imagine balloon animals, and unfortunately Escalate is already a keyword. What about 'Magnify', 'Intensify', 'Advance'... maybe even 'Train' or 'Improve', to imply that they're getting more skilled, but that also means they demand more for their services?
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Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Good idea. And maybe (some of) the effects could escalate...
Fatigue (This creature's abilities cost 1 more to activate for each counter on it.) t: Put a counter on Card Name, then draw a card for each counter on it.
The mechanic should not anti-synergize with the other contents of the set, which are partly granting creatures activated abilities. Therefore, having the cost increase limited to the abilities that use the mechanic is the superior option.
Helping Dude2G Creature - Elf Warrior T, Inflate G(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Another target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
2/2
Fiery Dude1R Creature - Goblin Shaman T, Inflate R(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Twiddly Dude1U Creature - Merfolk Wizard T, Inflate U(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): You may tap or untap target permanent.
0/3
Necrotic Dude2B Creature - Zombie T, Inflate B(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Look at the top two cards of target player’s library. Put one of those cards into that player’s graveyard.
2/2
Interesting idea that the cost increase is colored mana. That's something to think about.
Regarding the name, I think that the counters should represent something negative because the main way to synergize with the mechanic could be to remove those counters. Removing those counters should represent something positive. Not something like "I wipe the memories of my creature because it had learned too much and that's somehow beneficial to me."
Ahhh, that's a great point Apoquallyp. I can't believe I missed that. Yes, that'd cause some serious play/feel dissonance.
Alright, what about a flavor of pride or hubris then? Maybe 'boast' or 'vaunt' or something like that? They get more successful and more arrogant, and demand more for their services. Then you can make the remove-counter stuff have flavor like disgracing someone, humility, and stuff like that?
I think here it feels less negative because it's both a bit more humorous and characterizing, and it doesn't directly imply weakness or cost.
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Known as Inanimate at Goblin Artisans, and TyrRev at /r/custommagic!
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Hubris, pride, something like that. I'm glad you like the suggestion!
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The gameplay should evoke "Wizards flinging spells at each other," but any effect that you put on a tap ability risks leading to a repetitive gamestate, or a lock-down situation for one player, unless the effect is miniscule. All solutions I could come up with where inelegant until now.
But recently, I came up with a mechanic that could fix the problem while making no losses in other areas, except that it adds further complexity.
Fatigue N (Then put N fatigue counters on this creature. Its activated abilities cost 1 more to activate for each fatigue counter on it.)
Example:
T: Draw a card. Fatigue 2.
This was the original version. Since then, we've discussed that the fatigue should appear in the cost, so we changed it to:
X , T: Draw a card. X is the number of fatigue counters on this creature. Then put two fatigue counters on it.
We all agreed that this is rather inelegant, so we ended up with the current version:
T, Fatigue 2: Draw a card. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put two fatigue counters on it.)
This version also doesn't increase the cost of other activated abilities the creature might get, which is relevant in the set.
What do you guys think?
-----------------------------------------
Disciple of Freyalise 1G
Creature - Elf Druid (C)
T, Fatigue 1: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put a fatigue counter on it.)
2/1
Cowry Seer 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (U)
T, Fatigue 1: Scry 1. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put a fatigue counter on it.)
T, Fatigue 3: Draw a card.
1/3
Crimson Prodigy 1R
Creature - Human Shaman (R)
XR, T, Fatigue X: Crimson Prodigy deals X damage to target creature or player. (Pay 1 for each fatigue counter on this creature, then put X fatigue counters on it.)
2/1
Tavern Maiden 2G
Creature - Elf (U)
When Tavern Maiden enters the battlefield, remove all fatigue counters from all creatures you control.
2/2
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
EDIT: Does B get Fatigued?
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
So if you activate the scry 1 on this it is only costed as T, then you want to scry again it will cost 1T, after these scrys you want to draw, it cost 2t
I do really like the mechanic, some abilities go from nearly broken to unusable after just two uses which is very dynamic. You should be careful of the number of ways you can remove these counters because a few of these abilities are rather powerful.
I'm not too concerned about removing counters being a balance issue. There's blink, which can be cheap, but these seem to require just as much investment as other blink combos if not more for less return. And Tavern Maiden is a three-mana, sorcery speed situational enabler. I think that's just fine for both Limited and Constructed.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Do note if you're using fatigue counters, you can't be granting +1/+1 counters to creatures, and you might even want to avoid +1/+1 counters entirely.
Also, for some reason, 'fatigue' just sounds so much less exciting and engaging to me than 'exert' does (for example). I think energy and exert get away with being 'cost mechanics' because they have strong and exciting flavor. It feels -cool- to get energy, to see your creature exert itself to be stronger. But 'fatigue' feels more... boring, to me? More sad? Something like 'endeavor' or 'push' might be better, but... it's hard to find something as punchy as 'exert' while not feeling more bland like 'fatigue' or 'exhaust'.
I think you're onto something, though. Cool mechanic, with a lot of promising gameplay. I just worry about its potential to excite players who don't realize how 'undercosted' these abilities are.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
With the last change, I removed the rules meaning of the fatigue counters. Rather, when Fatigue appears in the cost it references the number of fatigue counters on the creature. Thus, abilities without Fatigue in the cost aren't affected.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
I don't worry about plebs . I also think that the "whenever you cycle or discard a card" showed that Wizards has some very weird priorities. They've confused me completely (I assumed that it triggers twice on cycling because I couldn't figure out why the hell they would write it otherwise), and made the cards that feature it read much less elegantly, just to appease people who can't read the reminder text of cycling.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Arcane Librarian (Uncommon)
1U
Creature - Human Advisor
2/1
T, Pay 1 for each counter on Arcane Librarian: Draw a card. Then put a power counter on Arcane Librarian.
Empowered - Arcane Librarian can't be blocked as long as it has three power counters on it.
(This is 6 lines on MSE and looks pretty cool.)
I don't think it needs to be paired with another mechanic, though; even a simple iteration like yours takes a lot of lines. 6 lines of text is too much for any common, really.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Sap N
Jade N
Exhaust N
Enfeeble N
Enervate N
Or change the flavor that the use of the magic distorts the flow of mana and makes subsequent spells more difficult:
Feedback N
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Employ
Escalate
Inflate
Swell
Should the parameter be switched around to be the extra cost and just always add one counter similar to cummulative upkeep?
or possibly:
It changes some of the designs you can do and unfortunately pretty much kills any ideas like the Merfolk with two fatigue abilities, but it might feel a bit more intuitive and might allow for better balancing with repeated use of some abilities.
Then if you do anything that cares about the number of counters on the creature, you could also make that number always be the same checking that you have activated a creature's ability at least three times.
Creature - Elf Warrior
T, Inflate G (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Another target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
2/2
Fiery Dude 1R
Creature - Goblin Shaman
T, Inflate R (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Twiddly Dude 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard
T, Inflate U (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): You may tap or untap target permanent.
0/3
Necrotic Dude 2B
Creature - Zombie
T, Inflate B (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Look at the top two cards of target player’s library. Put one of those cards into that player’s graveyard.
2/2
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Fatigue (This creature's abilities cost 1 more to activate for each counter on it.)
t: Put a counter on Card Name, then draw a card for each counter on it.
Interesting idea that the cost increase is colored mana. That's something to think about.
Regarding the name, I think that the counters should represent something negative because the main way to synergize with the mechanic could be to remove those counters. Removing those counters should represent something positive. Not something like "I wipe the memories of my creature because it had learned too much and that's somehow beneficial to me."
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Alright, what about a flavor of pride or hubris then? Maybe 'boast' or 'vaunt' or something like that? They get more successful and more arrogant, and demand more for their services. Then you can make the remove-counter stuff have flavor like disgracing someone, humility, and stuff like that?
I think here it feels less negative because it's both a bit more humorous and characterizing, and it doesn't directly imply weakness or cost.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!