I love flavor. Any idea how to translate that favor to the game, mechanically?
Here's a clunky draft.
Caeian Bunker2
Artifact - Fortification (R)
Fortified land has 'T, exile target creature you control."
As long as fortified land has one or more creatures exiled by it, it also has "T: Fortified land deals 2 damage to target creature."
Whenever you unequip Caeian Bunker, return all creatures exiled by fortified land to the battlefield.
Fortify land 2
Caeian Bunker2
Artifact - Fortification (R)
Fortified land has 'T, exile target creature you control."
As long as fortified land has one or more creatures exiled by it, it also has "T: Fortified land deals 2 damage to target creature."
Whenever you unequip Caeian Bunker, return all creatures exiled by fortified land to the battlefield.
Fortify land 2
Interesting idea. Here's another take:
Goblin Wallwatcher
Creature - Goblin Soldier (U) Shelter -- 1R(Pay 1R. Exile this creature undeneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step or whenever fortified land leaves the battlefield or is unattached, return ~ to the battlefield.)
Whenever ~ becomes sheltered, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature.
1/1
Goblin Wallwatcher
Creature - Goblin Soldier (U) Shelter -- 1R(Pay 1R. Exile this creature undeneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step or whenever fortified land leaves the battlefield or is unattached, return ~ to the battlefield.)
Whenever ~ becomes sheltered, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature.
1/1
Where's the mana cost?
Putting Shelter on creatures might be the way to go. Anything else?
Putting Shelter on creatures might be the way to go. Anything else?
Ah I didn't really think of the mana cost... but you get the basic point. I'm curious on the wording, I feel like I worded it a bit 'off'. Also, there would need to be quite a bit of fortification hate for something like this to work, as this could really be a powerful effect.
Ah I didn't really think of the mana cost... but you get the basic point. I'm curious on the wording, I feel like I worded it a bit 'off'. Also, there would need to be quite a bit of fortification hate for something like this to work, as this could really be a powerful effect.
Are you willing to consider this one of your "twists" on fortifications?
Are you willing to consider this one of your "twists" on fortifications?
I also agree that it should be on creatures.
Absolutely, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It's far more flavorful, and works in a much more unique way than simply 'you get this extra ability if you control a fortified land'.
Absolutely, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It's far more flavorful, and works in a much more unique way than simply 'you get this extra ability if you control a fortified land'.
How did my wording look? It feels off to me,.
It looks OK to me for now. All of those "ors" feel clunky, though.
Shelter [COST] -- (Pay [COST] . Exile this creature undeneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step or whenever fortified land leaves the battlefield or is unattached, return ~ to the battlefield.)
The problem is that, grammitically, I think that's how it would have to work. However, we could reduce the wordiness of it by removing the 'or is unattached' portion of it. That would, however, limit the possibility or forcibly bringing your creatures back from shelter (might actually be a good thing, limiting it like that.)
This is a pretty powerful ability,as is, however. Basically, a creature with shelter can chump huge things with no fear of reprisal till the cows come home. Also, attack with a creature and then shelter it to basically give it pseudo vigilance.
Actually, the more I think about it, it needs to be changed, OR only appear in cases where it's given a huge activation cost. Being able to block without fear of dying forever, as well as be able to attack AND defend with impunity, is just far too hard to balance around.
The problem is that, grammitically, I think that's how it would have to work. However, we could reduce the wordiness of it by removing the 'or is unattached' portion of it. That would, however, limit the possibility or forcibly bringing your creatures back from shelter (might actually be a good thing, limiting it like that.)
This is a pretty powerful ability,as is, however. Basically, a creature with shelter can chump huge things with no fear of reprisal till the cows come home. Also, attack with a creature and then shelter it to basically give it pseudo vigilance.
Actually, the more I think about it, it needs to be changed, OR only appear in cases where it's given a huge activation cost. Being able to block without fear of dying forever, as well as be able to attack AND defend with impunity, is just far too hard to balance around.
~Activate this ability only when you can cast a sorcery.
Something like this? I agree it's broken at instant speed.
~Activate this ability only when you can cast a sorcery.
Something like this? I agree it's broken at instant speed.
This is probably the best solution, but I worry that it's too wordy. Gonna toss it in MSE and see how it looks...
Here's how it would look on a card, along with some changes I made to the wording. The card itself shouldn't really be given much thought on, rather just the ability and how wordy it is.
Agreed. Maybe make this an uncommon-up mechanic? Common could maybe have only one or two, and well as some basic-level fortified land interactions.
Yup yup. I'm gonna play around with this mechanic some more and post up some images later this evening. I'm not completely sold on the name... Shelter makes sense, I guess, just doesn't sound that awesome. Might change it back to reinforce (which sounds more like it belongs on a fortification and not a creature, IMO) or Garrison. Any ideas you have regarding the mechanic and unique/flavorful ways to use it, toss them up!
First thoughts on a cycle of fortifications meant to push the fortification theme in common. Effects are fairly varied, and likely need a lot of rebalancing, but you get the general idea:
EDIT: I keep forgetting that some people can't view, or don't like to view, images. I'll do my best to start posting text in the future, starting with these just as soon as I get home.
The shelter ability on the lands shouldn't be there. It pushes the cards to uncommon, makes them weak, and raises their mana cost. I would rather see a cycle of cheap wall fortifications at uncommon instead. You don't need to combine two different effects on one card - and at common.
The shelter ability on the lands shouldn't be there. It pushes the cards to uncommon, makes them weak, and raises their mana cost. I would rather see a cycle of cheap wall fortifications at uncommon instead. You don't need to combine two different effects on one card - and at common.
You're probably right, but I want to play around with pushing a cycle like this at common. I'm hesitant to just put a cycle of vanilla wall lands because I don't think they would see play outside of limited (unless they were made to be too far powerful) and I don't want to bloat the number of fortifications in the set unnecessarily (already there are going to be a LOT, I'm sure).
Still, as I said you're *probably* right. Some of these (black, green) have effects that simply would be too unbalancing at common, even at the high cost they're currently set at. Others (white) have abilities that are pretty underpowered compared to the others in the cycle.
You're probably right, but I want to play around with pushing a cycle like this at common. I'm hesitant to just put a cycle of vanilla wall lands because I don't think they would see play outside of limited (unless they were made to be too far powerful) and I don't want to bloat the number of fortifications in the set unnecessarily (already there are going to be a LOT, I'm sure).
Still, as I said you're *probably* right. Some of these (black, green) have effects that simply would be too unbalancing at common, even at the high cost they're currently set at. Others (white) have abilities that are pretty underpowered compared to the others in the cycle.
Stick an fortification wall lord in the set somewhere and your walls WILL get played. You even have a bit of a parasitic theme there.
Well, I've been bouncing around between different themes and whatnot, and I've felt myself losing some focus. So I figure now that we have what I feel is a strong, flavorful mechanic (though I'm not sold on the name. Shelter seems goofy sounding. Garrison sounds much better, given that it's fortifications, however another [very similar] mechanic popped up and was called garrison - I don't want to seem like I'm stealing people's mechanics)
So, to recap the set's themes:
New Mechanic: Shelter [cost] (Pay [cost]: Exile this creature underneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return it to the battlefield. Use this ability only when you could cast a sorcery)
Eldrazi: Fatties in Mythic, Rare, and Uncommon. Drones in Rare, Uncommon, and Common. Drones will both create and buff spawn, which will have a stronger tribal theme than in ROE.
Fortifications: To interact with the new mechanic. Fortifications will be present in all rarities and should be costed aggresively enough to be playable. Fortifications need to be more defensive rather than offensive.
Colorless Spells (ala Ghostfire). Not as prevalent as in the last set, but some support needs to be given here.
Purity: The key mechanic from the last set. Not as prevalent, but still very much a factor.
Prismatic: This time appearing on more than just artifacts. These should represent strong defensive cards that should be playable in any color.
Tribal. Every color has a semi-tribal theme running through it.
The themes in each color are as follows:
White: Human Soldiers/Knights. Starting in this set, will have a strong focus on equipment (as well as fortifications, but that's in all colors)
Blue: Merfolk. Strong Mill focus.
Black: Vampires. Strong Discard focus.
Red: Goblins. In the previous set, might have been too fast. In this set, with the addition of Koth and some of his Vulshok, hoping to establish a mid-range burn feel.
Green - Elves and Ramp.
Rarity breakdown:
Common - 10 per color, 15 colorless/artifact, 5 land
Uncommon - 7 per color, 7 artifact/colorless
Rare - 6 per color, 7 Artifact/Colorless
Mythic - TBD
Finally, when looking at this set, I want to keep an eye on the previous set and make sure this one is reinforcing and building upon the themes established before. In limited, it would be drafted Caeia - Caiea - [Amaretto]
So.... with that basic information, I'd like to start work on the commons, beginning with white. I'll post my thoughts in white a bit later, but I'm open to any thoughts on the subject as well.
Blessed City W
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, gain 1 life for every fortified land you control.
This might prove it be better or worse than intended. At common, it's sure to come up in a limited lifegain strategy.
Blessed Rebuke 4W
Instant
Destroy target creature and any equipment attached to it
Purity - as long as white is the only color among permanents you control, gain life equal to that creature's toughness
While white needs some removal, I felt that effecient removal was covered well in the last set. This takes it in the opposite direction - making it an expensive, but useful, removal spell. Probably not for constructed play at all
Defender of the Ruined City 1W
Creature - Human Soldier
As long as you control a fortified plains, ~ gets +0/+2
2/2
yay defensive things.
Sanctified Ground 2W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Fortification
Enchanted fortification gets "Whenever a creature you control would be dealt damage, prevent one of that damage" so long as it is attached to a land you control.
I can see this being changed to trigger only once per turn. Otherwise, it might be too good for common.
Toraian Pegasus 2WW
Creature - Pegasus
Flying
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield, target white creature you control gains flying until end of turn.
2/2
I worry about this one. While white needs fliers, evasive creatures are much more valuable in this format. However, it dies to so much of the cheap removal found in the first set, that I think it's ok for now.
Toraian Vanguard 2W
Creature - Human Soldier
Whenever ~ dies, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control
Purity - As long as white is the only color among permanents you control, ~ gets +1/+0
2/2
Too complicated for common?
Undying Defense 1W
Instant
Target creature you control gets +0/+4 and can block an additional creature until end of turn. If it is tapped, untap it. Play only if two or more creatures are attacking
Again, reinforcing the defensive feel of the early game.
Wandering Refugee 3W
Creature
Shelter 0 - (Pay 0: Exile this creature underneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return it to the battlefield. Use this ability only when you could cast a sorcery)
As long as ~ is sheltered, fortifications cost 2 less to attach to lands you control.
1/1
Too complicated for common?
Harrying Pikemen W
Creature - Human Soldier
Shelter W - (Pay W: Exile this creature underneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return it to the battlefiel. Use this ability only when you could cast a Sorcery)
Whenever ~ becomes sheltered, tap target creature.
1/1
Simple example of the Shelter mechanic
Divine Offering 1W
Instant
Destroy target artifact. Gain life equal to its converted mana cost.
Reprint. White needed an effecient artifact removal spell, and this fit the bill nicely I think.
I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the shelter mechanic. You attach fortifications to a land and then you can attach a creature to the fortification? there are too many unnessecary steps.
while fortifications are a new concept, they won't feel mechanically any different than simple artifacts if you don't think of good designs for them. for example, the blue fortification from caeia could just read "2U,T: Draw a card with CMC equal to the casting cost + fortify cost (hope I remembered that one correct).
since you want to focus on expensive creatures, there won't be much land destruction in the set and fortifying a land will most likely be permanent for the rest of the game.
shelter might be flavorful (although I think the creatures you summon are more defending the fortifications rather than hiding in them?), but mechanically wise it just reads "activate only if you control a fortification" since the creature will return anyway. if you want to keep this mechanic, I would change it to a permanent exile that can be aborted manually and gives a static effect.
what happens if you shelter a creature and the land gets destroyed? does the creature return to the battlefield at the end of turn?
your cards:
Sanctified ground: I have the same problem with this as with the shelter mechanic.
Wandering Refugee: Now it's really getting out of hand. You play a land, then play a fortification, then attach said fortification to that land, then you play that guy, then you shelter him, then you may attach that fortification to another land for 2 less, then you return him to the battlefield. and i don't even see a reason to reattach the fortification yet.
no critique on the other cards.
ideas:
shelter creatures at instant speed to avoid removal - give the fortification the ability instead of the creature?
the fortified land becomes a creature that is in some way related to the creature that was sheltered.
"Fortified land doesn't untap during its controller's untap steps"? so you actually have to reattach the fortifications.
while fortifications are a new concept, they won't feel mechanically any different than simple artifacts if you don't think of good designs for them. for example, the blue fortification from caeia could just read "2u,t: Draw a card with CMC equal to the casting cost + fortify cost (hope I remembered that one correct).
This is a good point, and unfortunately a lot of the common fortifications from the first set fall into this category. For this set, I want the fortifications either to turn their perspective lands into creatures with defender, or I want them to have some kind of trigger when they become tapped (ala Darksteel Garrison). I want to try and avoid have "T: [Effect]" triggers on fortifications this time around, because that basically gives the player the un-fun decision of 'do I use my fortification's ability, or play a spell from my hand?'
since you want to focus on expensive creatures, there won't be much land destruction in the set and fortifying a land will most likely be permanent for the rest of the game.
While there isn't much in terms of land destruction, there will be quite a bit of hate for fortifications. Hell, even black had some fortification hate in the last set (which typically would be off-color), just because the legendary fortifications in the last set could be that powerful.
shelter might be flavorful (although I think the creatures you summon are more defending the fortifications rather than hiding in them?), but mechanically wise it just reads "activate only if you control a fortification" since the creature will return anyway. if you want to keep this mechanic, I would change it to a permanent exile that can be aborted manually and gives a static effect.
I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right. Changing it to a permanent exile that can be aborted manually would probably be a better way to approach it, but how would you word that without the reminder text being too long?
what happens if you shelter a creature and the land gets destroyed? does the creature return to the battlefield at the end of turn?
In the current version of the mechanic (which I'm certain, now, will not remain), the creature simply still returns from exile at the next end step. This was to cut down on lengthy reminder text.
Sanctified ground: I have the same problem with this as with the shelter mechanic.
This is where I may differ a bit. Though I think the effect might prove to be a bit too powerful, I do like the basic idea of auras that enchant fortifications and equipment.
Wandering Refugee: Now it's really getting out of hand. You play a land, then play a fortification, then attach said fortification to that land, then you play that guy, then you shelter him, then you may attach that fortification to another land for 2 less, then you return him to the battlefield. and i don't even see a reason to reattach the fortification yet.
This guy could probably just change to a static effect. But he's supposed to affect the cost of all your fortify abilities. I don't want to encourage swapping the same fortification around so much as I want to encourage playing multiple fortifications.
shelter creatures at instant speed to avoid removal - give the fortification the ability instead of the creature?
Had considered that earlier, but the conclusion that I came to then was that instant speed exiling your own creatures gets way too powerful and would have to be costed so high that I don't think it would see much play.
the fortified land becomes a creature that is in some way related to the creature that was sheltered.
Although this isn't something I want to do as a mechanic, I do intend on doing things very close to this on the fortifications.
"Fortified land doesn't untap during its controller's untap steps"? so you actually have to reattach the fortifications.
The thing I want to avoid is the player having to continually invest resources into the fortification. I want to avoid having to reattach fortifications evry bit as much as having to reattach equipment.
Thanks for the feedback... Gives a lot to think about as far as the mechanics go.
So, over the weekend I realized that, if I scrap the shelter mechanic, I have nothing for a fortification-related mechanic. So I decided to play with the mechanic a little.
I printed up proxies of several cards in each color using the current wording for the shelter mechanic, popped them in my 'cube' that consists of the previous set (Caeia) and did a few Winchester drafts.
What I found is that the mechanic actually works very well, and can be pretty fun. A few notes on the experience:
Putting shelter on aggressive creatures is a waste of time, because most of the time you want to attack with them, and the abilities I'd played with on the aggressive creatures were not the kind that you'd want to play on your second main phase.
Speaking of the second main phase, that had the unintended effect of turning all the defensive, utility creatures into attackers that would then use their shelter ability for utility during the 2nd main phase, only to return and be able to block. Being able to attack, be a useful utility creature, AND block is a bit much.
The flavor of it is awesome. It really does feel like your dudes are taking shelter in your castle, and it makes for a fairly unique game experience.
Fortification hate is a must in every color.
So, all that being said, I want to stick with the basic idea of the mechanic, but it needs some fine-tuning and I'd like to propose changing the name to garrison (I've held back on changing that because another poster came up with a very similar mecahnic to this, albeit after ours was posted, and he used the same term. However, I'd been considering it even before he posted that up, and it just makes sense for this mechanic. I asked him if he objects but haven't gotten an answer for a few days, if he does object we'll change it back.
Garrison [cost] (Pay [cost]: Exile this creature underneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of your next upkeep, return it to the battlefield. Use this ability only on your turn, before combat.)
I'm not entirely sure of the wording, but I think you guys get the gist. This also opens up some more design room, as you can now have effects during your opponent's turn as well..
I'll get to commenting on the designs in a bit, but have you considered a twist on Hideaway?
I hadn't considered that, but I won't rulle anything out at this stage. What are you thinking?
With these creatures returning to the battlefield at the beginning of your next upkeep instead of the end step, this mechanic makes much more sense. I'm ok with it now :thumbsup:.
What about also triggering the returning to the battlefield when the fortification leaves play?
However, wouldn't it be much cleaner to just have T in the activation costs of all shelter abilities rather than "use only before combat" (btw, activate is the term now)? And it leaves you more design space, combining it with vigilance for example.
Ah, I now see the decision tree that led you down to that path.
What about creatures "living" in fortifications? There might be some wonky rules, but I find it a great attempt at flavor.
I love flavor. Any idea how to translate that favor to the game, mechanically?
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Here's a clunky draft.
Caeian Bunker 2
Artifact - Fortification (R)
Fortified land has 'T, exile target creature you control."
As long as fortified land has one or more creatures exiled by it, it also has "T: Fortified land deals 2 damage to target creature."
Whenever you unequip Caeian Bunker, return all creatures exiled by fortified land to the battlefield.
Fortify land 2
Interesting idea. Here's another take:
Goblin Wallwatcher
Creature - Goblin Soldier (U)
Shelter -- 1R (Pay 1R. Exile this creature undeneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step or whenever fortified land leaves the battlefield or is unattached, return ~ to the battlefield.)
Whenever ~ becomes sheltered, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature.
1/1
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Where's the mana cost?
Putting Shelter on creatures might be the way to go. Anything else?
Ah I didn't really think of the mana cost... but you get the basic point. I'm curious on the wording, I feel like I worded it a bit 'off'. Also, there would need to be quite a bit of fortification hate for something like this to work, as this could really be a powerful effect.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Are you willing to consider this one of your "twists" on fortifications?
I also agree that it should be on creatures.
Absolutely, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It's far more flavorful, and works in a much more unique way than simply 'you get this extra ability if you control a fortified land'.
How did my wording look? It feels off to me,.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
It looks OK to me for now. All of those "ors" feel clunky, though.
The problem is that, grammitically, I think that's how it would have to work. However, we could reduce the wordiness of it by removing the 'or is unattached' portion of it. That would, however, limit the possibility or forcibly bringing your creatures back from shelter (might actually be a good thing, limiting it like that.)
This is a pretty powerful ability,as is, however. Basically, a creature with shelter can chump huge things with no fear of reprisal till the cows come home. Also, attack with a creature and then shelter it to basically give it pseudo vigilance.
Actually, the more I think about it, it needs to be changed, OR only appear in cases where it's given a huge activation cost. Being able to block without fear of dying forever, as well as be able to attack AND defend with impunity, is just far too hard to balance around.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
~Activate this ability only when you can cast a sorcery.
Something like this? I agree it's broken at instant speed.
This is probably the best solution, but I worry that it's too wordy. Gonna toss it in MSE and see how it looks...
Here's how it would look on a card, along with some changes I made to the wording. The card itself shouldn't really be given much thought on, rather just the ability and how wordy it is.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Yup yup. I'm gonna play around with this mechanic some more and post up some images later this evening. I'm not completely sold on the name... Shelter makes sense, I guess, just doesn't sound that awesome. Might change it back to reinforce (which sounds more like it belongs on a fortification and not a creature, IMO) or Garrison. Any ideas you have regarding the mechanic and unique/flavorful ways to use it, toss them up!
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
EDIT: I keep forgetting that some people can't view, or don't like to view, images. I'll do my best to start posting text in the future, starting with these just as soon as I get home.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
You're probably right, but I want to play around with pushing a cycle like this at common. I'm hesitant to just put a cycle of vanilla wall lands because I don't think they would see play outside of limited (unless they were made to be too far powerful) and I don't want to bloat the number of fortifications in the set unnecessarily (already there are going to be a LOT, I'm sure).
Still, as I said you're *probably* right. Some of these (black, green) have effects that simply would be too unbalancing at common, even at the high cost they're currently set at. Others (white) have abilities that are pretty underpowered compared to the others in the cycle.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Stick an fortification wall lord in the set somewhere and your walls WILL get played. You even have a bit of a parasitic theme there.
What about if you add keywords, such as reach?
So, to recap the set's themes:
The themes in each color are as follows:
Rarity breakdown:
Finally, when looking at this set, I want to keep an eye on the previous set and make sure this one is reinforcing and building upon the themes established before. In limited, it would be drafted Caeia - Caiea - [Amaretto]
So.... with that basic information, I'd like to start work on the commons, beginning with white. I'll post my thoughts in white a bit later, but I'm open to any thoughts on the subject as well.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Blessed City W
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, gain 1 life for every fortified land you control.
Blessed Rebuke 4W
Instant
Destroy target creature and any equipment attached to it
Purity - as long as white is the only color among permanents you control, gain life equal to that creature's toughness
Defender of the Ruined City 1W
Creature - Human Soldier
As long as you control a fortified plains, ~ gets +0/+2
2/2
Sanctified Ground 2W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Fortification
Enchanted fortification gets "Whenever a creature you control would be dealt damage, prevent one of that damage" so long as it is attached to a land you control.
Toraian Pegasus 2WW
Creature - Pegasus
Flying
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield, target white creature you control gains flying until end of turn.
2/2
Toraian Vanguard 2W
Creature - Human Soldier
Whenever ~ dies, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control
Purity - As long as white is the only color among permanents you control, ~ gets +1/+0
2/2
Undying Defense 1W
Instant
Target creature you control gets +0/+4 and can block an additional creature until end of turn. If it is tapped, untap it. Play only if two or more creatures are attacking
Wandering Refugee 3W
Creature
Shelter 0 - (Pay 0: Exile this creature underneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return it to the battlefield. Use this ability only when you could cast a sorcery)
As long as ~ is sheltered, fortifications cost 2 less to attach to lands you control.
1/1
Harrying Pikemen W
Creature - Human Soldier
Shelter W - (Pay W: Exile this creature underneath a fortified land you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return it to the battlefiel. Use this ability only when you could cast a Sorcery)
Whenever ~ becomes sheltered, tap target creature.
1/1
Divine Offering 1W
Instant
Destroy target artifact. Gain life equal to its converted mana cost.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
while fortifications are a new concept, they won't feel mechanically any different than simple artifacts if you don't think of good designs for them. for example, the blue fortification from caeia could just read "2U,T: Draw a card with CMC equal to the casting cost + fortify cost (hope I remembered that one correct).
since you want to focus on expensive creatures, there won't be much land destruction in the set and fortifying a land will most likely be permanent for the rest of the game.
shelter might be flavorful (although I think the creatures you summon are more defending the fortifications rather than hiding in them?), but mechanically wise it just reads "activate only if you control a fortification" since the creature will return anyway. if you want to keep this mechanic, I would change it to a permanent exile that can be aborted manually and gives a static effect.
what happens if you shelter a creature and the land gets destroyed? does the creature return to the battlefield at the end of turn?
your cards:
Sanctified ground: I have the same problem with this as with the shelter mechanic.
Wandering Refugee: Now it's really getting out of hand. You play a land, then play a fortification, then attach said fortification to that land, then you play that guy, then you shelter him, then you may attach that fortification to another land for 2 less, then you return him to the battlefield. and i don't even see a reason to reattach the fortification yet.
no critique on the other cards.
ideas:
shelter creatures at instant speed to avoid removal - give the fortification the ability instead of the creature?
the fortified land becomes a creature that is in some way related to the creature that was sheltered.
"Fortified land doesn't untap during its controller's untap steps"? so you actually have to reattach the fortifications.
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!
This is a good point, and unfortunately a lot of the common fortifications from the first set fall into this category. For this set, I want the fortifications either to turn their perspective lands into creatures with defender, or I want them to have some kind of trigger when they become tapped (ala Darksteel Garrison). I want to try and avoid have "T: [Effect]" triggers on fortifications this time around, because that basically gives the player the un-fun decision of 'do I use my fortification's ability, or play a spell from my hand?'
While there isn't much in terms of land destruction, there will be quite a bit of hate for fortifications. Hell, even black had some fortification hate in the last set (which typically would be off-color), just because the legendary fortifications in the last set could be that powerful.
I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right. Changing it to a permanent exile that can be aborted manually would probably be a better way to approach it, but how would you word that without the reminder text being too long?
In the current version of the mechanic (which I'm certain, now, will not remain), the creature simply still returns from exile at the next end step. This was to cut down on lengthy reminder text.
This is where I may differ a bit. Though I think the effect might prove to be a bit too powerful, I do like the basic idea of auras that enchant fortifications and equipment.
This guy could probably just change to a static effect. But he's supposed to affect the cost of all your fortify abilities. I don't want to encourage swapping the same fortification around so much as I want to encourage playing multiple fortifications.
Had considered that earlier, but the conclusion that I came to then was that instant speed exiling your own creatures gets way too powerful and would have to be costed so high that I don't think it would see much play.
Although this isn't something I want to do as a mechanic, I do intend on doing things very close to this on the fortifications.
The thing I want to avoid is the player having to continually invest resources into the fortification. I want to avoid having to reattach fortifications evry bit as much as having to reattach equipment.
Thanks for the feedback... Gives a lot to think about as far as the mechanics go.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
I printed up proxies of several cards in each color using the current wording for the shelter mechanic, popped them in my 'cube' that consists of the previous set (Caeia) and did a few Winchester drafts.
What I found is that the mechanic actually works very well, and can be pretty fun. A few notes on the experience:
So, all that being said, I want to stick with the basic idea of the mechanic, but it needs some fine-tuning and I'd like to propose changing the name to garrison (I've held back on changing that because another poster came up with a very similar mecahnic to this, albeit after ours was posted, and he used the same term. However, I'd been considering it even before he posted that up, and it just makes sense for this mechanic. I asked him if he objects but haven't gotten an answer for a few days, if he does object we'll change it back.
I'm not entirely sure of the wording, but I think you guys get the gist. This also opens up some more design room, as you can now have effects during your opponent's turn as well..
I hadn't considered that, but I won't rulle anything out at this stage. What are you thinking?
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
What about also triggering the returning to the battlefield when the fortification leaves play?
However, wouldn't it be much cleaner to just have T in the activation costs of all shelter abilities rather than "use only before combat" (btw, activate is the term now)? And it leaves you more design space, combining it with vigilance for example.
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!