Magic has always lacked one thing for me and that is a sense of true movement and other associated experiences. In recent years WotC attempted numerous ways employing such ideas in the game (planes, venture, attractions, board games etc.) so I thought a general discussion thread might be fruitful.
These are various mechanics & ideas employed by Wizards that in some way touch on these ideas (under construction):
Area-Defining Options
- World Enchantments - The concept of World Enchantments, which define battlefield conditions for all players and function under a uniqueness rule that permits only one in play at a time, originated in Legends along with what we now call the Legendary Supertype. It is the only Supertype with a uniqueness rule that still functions in the original mode where all players permanents are accounted for rather than just the controlling player. Though they have not been supported in recent years (or decades) their interesting vector of interaction makes them prime for further exploration in a new format.
- Snow - Snow Supertype came with the Ice Age and basically does just that, it tells you which lands (and later many other types of permanents) are frozen and which are not. This makes for the interesting idea of both further defining the terrain of the game, and opening the possibility of seasonal conditions to the game.
- Raging River - The original geography-defining card from Alpha.
- Space Jace
- Problematic Volcano
- Obsidian Fireheart
- Planes
Speaking for myself, I've had an idea for a movement mechanism tied to an outer space setting I've long played with. The main idea would be using the back of the card as the map envisioned as a pentacle and some kind of dice and/or secondary deck to navigate the map. Part of the concept is having a library tied to each location and a hand/graveyard/exile/phasing/command zone you carry with you. There would also be NPC decks to drop loot & enemies/events.
I want to create a sense of a great unknown to confront, the proverbial undiscovered country, that you are trying to map and conquer.
Mountainbane (This creature gets -1/-1 when attacking players that control Mountains or red creatures. Otherwise, this creature [effect].)
Borrowing from Yu-Gi-Oh! terrain.
I don't think he refers to the Yugioh rpg pseudo rules
BUT it does have an equivalent movement based game style is Riding Duels with the Speed Spell Field "Speed World"
Anyways on the topic
One idea I had in mind using templating we already have is using the Daybound Mechanic but in a more fixed way along the adventures template to have a card have 2 different text boxes based if we are in the lorwynn or shadowmoor side of the Aurora
(The most common idea would be just using daybound/nightbound renamed to fit the flavor, and modal double faced cards to represent the two versions of a card from each state of the plane)
Mountainbane (This creature gets -1/-1 when attacking players that control Mountains or red creatures. Otherwise, this creature [effect].)
Borrowing from Yu-Gi-Oh! terrain.
I don't think he refers to the Yugioh rpg pseudo rules
BUT it does have an equivalent movement based game style is Riding Duels with the Speed Spell Field "Speed World"
Anyways on the topic
Just ignore them.
One idea I had in mind using templating we already have is using the Daybound Mechanic but in a more fixed way along the adventures template to have a card have 2 different text boxes based if we are in the lorwynn or shadowmoor side of the Aurora
(The most common idea would be just using daybound/nightbound renamed to fit the flavor, and modal double faced cards to represent the two versions of a card from each state of the plane)
Another category that completely slipped my mind! I'm going to edit the main post when I get some time and build a compilation of all things like Day/Night that could contribute to generating a changing & interactive world.
Happy holidays all! Thought I'd post an update so everyone knows this thread is not dead.
If you check out the parent post you'll see I've both begun cataloging the various types of related material existing in the game under categorical headings. This is to both build a basis of what we are working with, and give some language to define original concepts as we develop them.
I've also decided to start looking at various other card games (Reap, you get all the credit here) for inspiration. One that has really jumped out at me is a game called Card Thief. I will work on getting a comprehensive set of rules for it, but it does movement in a very interesting way. Once I finish the in-game catalog I'll work on adding outside games, so please prepare your suggestions with some comments about why they belong in this thread. Have a great day all.
I could see a mechanic combining a few things to give a sense of movement/exploration. The most common sense of movement in board games comes from simple roll and move (think Ludo, Monopoly etc.), which every Magic player will be familiar with already, so it makes sense as a starting point.
You could combine that with a dungeon-like mechanic using a simple board - phase out a creature (so it feels like it's gone off somewhere), then roll a (six-sided) die and add its power, and off you go around the board drawing cards, getting +1/+1 counters, whatever. As you pass Go, collect 200 life etc.
Does this lead to good games of Magic? I don't know. My personal opinion is (as much as I love Ruby Storm and Oops All Spells and High Tide and...) the less the game relies on attacking and blocking, the less it feels like Magic. And this would cut down on that if the rewards were stronger than simply making your opponent dead by turning things sideways (see Trap! in the Undercity bending Legacy to its will).
I also think I've just designed a worse version of dungeons - more random, less choice, less stuff on the battlefield.
For inspiration, I really love the movement mechanic from Tokaido. Basically, you get big rewards for being the first to get to a place. And you can move as far as you like. But, there's a catch. It's always the turn of the player who is furthest behind. So if you move 4 spaces. They can move 1 and get a smaller reward, then move 1, and get another one etc. until they catch up to where you are. So there's a tension of how far you choose to move each turn, especially in games with more players, as lots of smaller rewards can outweigh having fewer bigger ones.
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"Did you think to kill me? There's no flesh and blood within this cloak to kill. There is only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof." - V, V for Vendetta. Alan Moore
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These are various mechanics & ideas employed by Wizards that in some way touch on these ideas (under construction):
Area-Defining Options
- World Enchantments - The concept of World Enchantments, which define battlefield conditions for all players and function under a uniqueness rule that permits only one in play at a time, originated in Legends along with what we now call the Legendary Supertype. It is the only Supertype with a uniqueness rule that still functions in the original mode where all players permanents are accounted for rather than just the controlling player. Though they have not been supported in recent years (or decades) their interesting vector of interaction makes them prime for further exploration in a new format.
- Snow - Snow Supertype came with the Ice Age and basically does just that, it tells you which lands (and later many other types of permanents) are frozen and which are not. This makes for the interesting idea of both further defining the terrain of the game, and opening the possibility of seasonal conditions to the game.
- Raging River - The original geography-defining card from Alpha.
- Space Jace
- Problematic Volcano
- Obsidian Fireheart
- Planes
Time-Defining Options
- Day/Night
- Experience
- Monarch
- Sharazad
- Baron Von Count
Direction-Defining Options
- Aminatou
- Barroom Brawl
- Mystic Barrier
- Order of Succession
- Pramikon, Sky Rampart
- Sly Spy
Movement-Defining Options
- Attractions
- Initiative
- Venture
Obatacles
- Fortifications
I want to create a sense of a great unknown to confront, the proverbial undiscovered country, that you are trying to map and conquer.
As far as exploration, something akin to venturing in the dungeon but with a randomized deck would be interesting.
If you want NPC decks, the Hero's Path decks from original Theros are a quite good place to start.
And Planeschase using the Eternities Map variant was a terrific "exploration" experience.
Borrowing from Yu-Gi-Oh! terrain.
I don't think he refers to the Yugioh rpg pseudo rules
BUT it does have an equivalent movement based game style is Riding Duels with the Speed Spell Field "Speed World"
Anyways on the topic
One idea I had in mind using templating we already have is using the Daybound Mechanic but in a more fixed way along the adventures template to have a card have 2 different text boxes based if we are in the lorwynn or shadowmoor side of the Aurora
(The most common idea would be just using daybound/nightbound renamed to fit the flavor, and modal double faced cards to represent the two versions of a card from each state of the plane)
Just throwing something out there.
Maybe still, [Otherwise, put a shield counter on this creature if it has no shield counters on it].
Starting to get lengthy then, but that form becomes dynamic for Commander.
Totally forgot about these cards, thanks for reminding me.
I've never played this Eternities Map, I'll have to check it out.
Just ignore them.
Another category that completely slipped my mind! I'm going to edit the main post when I get some time and build a compilation of all things like Day/Night that could contribute to generating a changing & interactive world.
If you check out the parent post you'll see I've both begun cataloging the various types of related material existing in the game under categorical headings. This is to both build a basis of what we are working with, and give some language to define original concepts as we develop them.
I've also decided to start looking at various other card games (Reap, you get all the credit here) for inspiration. One that has really jumped out at me is a game called Card Thief. I will work on getting a comprehensive set of rules for it, but it does movement in a very interesting way. Once I finish the in-game catalog I'll work on adding outside games, so please prepare your suggestions with some comments about why they belong in this thread. Have a great day all.
I could see a mechanic combining a few things to give a sense of movement/exploration. The most common sense of movement in board games comes from simple roll and move (think Ludo, Monopoly etc.), which every Magic player will be familiar with already, so it makes sense as a starting point.
You could combine that with a dungeon-like mechanic using a simple board - phase out a creature (so it feels like it's gone off somewhere), then roll a (six-sided) die and add its power, and off you go around the board drawing cards, getting +1/+1 counters, whatever. As you pass Go, collect 200 life etc.
Does this lead to good games of Magic? I don't know. My personal opinion is (as much as I love Ruby Storm and Oops All Spells and High Tide and...) the less the game relies on attacking and blocking, the less it feels like Magic. And this would cut down on that if the rewards were stronger than simply making your opponent dead by turning things sideways (see Trap! in the Undercity bending Legacy to its will).
I also think I've just designed a worse version of dungeons - more random, less choice, less stuff on the battlefield.
For inspiration, I really love the movement mechanic from Tokaido. Basically, you get big rewards for being the first to get to a place. And you can move as far as you like. But, there's a catch. It's always the turn of the player who is furthest behind. So if you move 4 spaces. They can move 1 and get a smaller reward, then move 1, and get another one etc. until they catch up to where you are. So there's a tension of how far you choose to move each turn, especially in games with more players, as lots of smaller rewards can outweigh having fewer bigger ones.