While designing these cards I kept trying to come up with a way to convey telepathy via a mechanic. Well mind control style magic in general without it being just a mindslaver or control magic ability. That sort of telepathy/mindscrew magic is in the book series I was inspired by but I couldn't figure out an effective mechanical representation.
In the end I don't think it's a necessary thing to give a mechanic to because it's so often covered by a mind control style card but I wanted to try and make one anyway. So goals: a flexible triggered ability that can provide multiple different in game effects. A trigger outside of normal checking the battlefield to represent that it's a type of mental magic. And last actually convey the flavor of communication/misleading.
In the end I've gone with a spin on miracle and adventure and came up with the following wording: Telepathy [cost]: you may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it. When you reveal this card this way, you may exile it by paying [cost] and and .
I just realized I should word this differently and make it a reminder word like landfall to work the way I want which is unfortunate because then it is way too wordy. But I think unavoidable.
It allows flexible abilites, isn't dependent on the battlefield directly to trigger, and to my mind is evocative of mental magic because it involves coming directly off the top of your library in a burst.
The biggest downside, and it is significant, is that in it's current form is uncounterable leading to being very a uninteractive mechanic. A workaround would be to make it a cast and have an alternative function if cast for that cost but it is incredibly unwieldly and I think would require them to be structured like adventure cards but with the timing restriction. As it is I aimed for low power cards that act as modal spells.
Example cards:
Telepathic Blinder 1W
Creature Human Wizard 1W, t: tap target creature
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay W: tap target creature.
1/2
Skill Coetrie 2UU
Creature Human Wizard
Ward: 2
When ~ etb draw a card
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 2U: Draw 2 cards
Verity, King-In-Waiting 1WR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Vigilance Rt: Target creature must attack this turn if able.
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 4UU: gain control of target creature.
1/1
Shoreline Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1U: Scry 2 and then draw a card.
Waypoint Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1W: gain 4 life
Ruins Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1B: return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Quicksilver Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1R: destroy target artifact
Ancient Stone3
Artifact
~etb tapped t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1G: You may exile up to 3 cards from target graveyard.
Battlefield Confusion 3R
Sorcery
Untap target creature and gain control of it until end of turn. That creature gains haste until end of turn.
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1RR: Creatures without flying cannot block this turn.
The miracle style trigger is a huge downside on this mechanic. Considering you haven't costed for such a significant draw back why no go with the simpler channel. Just discard with a cost to get the effect. I don't get the flavor you're going for so I can recommend something that is a better flavor fit.
The miracle style trigger is a huge downside on this mechanic. Considering you haven't costed for such a significant draw back why no go with the simpler channel. Just discard with a cost to get the effect. I don't get the flavor you're going for so I can recommend something that is a better flavor fit.
Yeah I didn't really explain the flavor well. My apologies. It's inspired by a specific book series but I was also just trying to make a flavorful mechanic out of the idea of telepathy and the different ways you could design with the concept of telepathy in MTG beyond just mind control and threaten type cards.
Basically the magic of direct communication, misdirection, and mind control but try to make a whole mechanic around it rather than just a few cards. Which now that I explain it is probably a bad idea.
I chose the miracle style trigger because I was trying to capture that it was a fleeting and ethereal type of magic but you are correct that it is a massive drawback on the power level. I costed it very conservatively because modal cards are powerful even with limited modality and the telepathy ability as designed is completely non-interactive.
Discarding could work as well but I loved the cuteness of a planeswalker taking the idea of spell out of their library and using the essence of it rather than summoning it. But I guess that could work via discarding too. Would definitely mean that you couldn't make any flashier spell with it though and all the telepathy abilities would need to be kept pretty weak/fairly costed.
Avoiding counterspells is a minor thing but needs to be acounted for. A more significant power level is timing. If you want to capture the feeling of fleetingness you would do it with timing. Make this ability only usable at a specific time. End of turn upkeep it end of combat for an odder timing. I don't know the specifics of how this is supposed to be fleeting so I can't offer more specifics of how to capture it.
The templating of this ability needs work. It really should be "You may reveal ~ as you draw it. if you do, you may pay (cost) and exile ~. If you do, (effect)" but that's so clunky.
Maybe more narrow but more elegantly:
Telepathy (cost) ((Cost), exile ~ from your hand: You may activate an ability of ~ without paying its cost.)
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In the end I don't think it's a necessary thing to give a mechanic to because it's so often covered by a mind control style card but I wanted to try and make one anyway. So goals: a flexible triggered ability that can provide multiple different in game effects. A trigger outside of normal checking the battlefield to represent that it's a type of mental magic. And last actually convey the flavor of communication/misleading.
In the end I've gone with a spin on miracle and adventure and came up with the following wording: Telepathy [cost]: you may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it. When you reveal this card this way, you may exile it by paying [cost] and and .I just realized I should word this differently and make it a reminder word like landfall to work the way I want which is unfortunate because then it is way too wordy. But I think unavoidable.
It allows flexible abilites, isn't dependent on the battlefield directly to trigger, and to my mind is evocative of mental magic because it involves coming directly off the top of your library in a burst.
The biggest downside, and it is significant, is that in it's current form is uncounterable leading to being very a uninteractive mechanic. A workaround would be to make it a cast and have an alternative function if cast for that cost but it is incredibly unwieldly and I think would require them to be structured like adventure cards but with the timing restriction. As it is I aimed for low power cards that act as modal spells.
Example cards:
Telepathic Blinder 1W
Creature Human Wizard
1W, t: tap target creature
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay W: tap target creature.
1/2
Skill Coetrie 2UU
Creature Human Wizard
Ward: 2
When ~ etb draw a card
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 2U: Draw 2 cards
Verity, King-In-Waiting 1WR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Vigilance
Rt: Target creature must attack this turn if able.
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 4UU: gain control of target creature.
1/1
Shoreline Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped
t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1U: Scry 2 and then draw a card.
Waypoint Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped
t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1W: gain 4 life
Ruins Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped
t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1B: return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Quicksilver Stone 3
Artifact
~etb tapped
t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1R: destroy target artifact
Ancient Stone3
Artifact
~etb tapped
t: add 1 to your mana pool
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1G: You may exile up to 3 cards from target graveyard.
Battlefield Confusion 3R
Sorcery
Untap target creature and gain control of it until end of turn. That creature gains haste until end of turn.
Telepathy - you may reveal ~ when you draw it, if you do exile ~ and pay 1RR: Creatures without flying cannot block this turn.
Yeah I didn't really explain the flavor well. My apologies. It's inspired by a specific book series but I was also just trying to make a flavorful mechanic out of the idea of telepathy and the different ways you could design with the concept of telepathy in MTG beyond just mind control and threaten type cards.
Basically the magic of direct communication, misdirection, and mind control but try to make a whole mechanic around it rather than just a few cards. Which now that I explain it is probably a bad idea.
I chose the miracle style trigger because I was trying to capture that it was a fleeting and ethereal type of magic but you are correct that it is a massive drawback on the power level. I costed it very conservatively because modal cards are powerful even with limited modality and the telepathy ability as designed is completely non-interactive.
Discarding could work as well but I loved the cuteness of a planeswalker taking the idea of spell out of their library and using the essence of it rather than summoning it. But I guess that could work via discarding too. Would definitely mean that you couldn't make any flashier spell with it though and all the telepathy abilities would need to be kept pretty weak/fairly costed.
Maybe more narrow but more elegantly:
Telepathy (cost) ((Cost), exile ~ from your hand: You may activate an ability of ~ without paying its cost.)