Welcome to the newest and one of the more experimental contests to hit MTG Salvation: The Magic Wars. In this contest, you will come up with an entirely new, magic-specific race/species, then you'll be put on one of four teams. Each round, you will have a variety of tasks, all involving creating cards that shows what your race stands for. Most rounds will involve you fighting an individual on one of the teams in a card creating contest with special requirements. Some rounds, however, will involve you being paired up with 2 or 3 people on your team, or that round is an entire team effort.
When designing your race, please follow these guidelines:
Your new race cannot be from any type of media, whether it be a book, television show or movie, BUT it can be inspired by that race.
Your race can't be something too close to an existing Magic race. For example, if your race is Hypnotoad, I could easily just say "Frog Wizard".
Your race is allowed up to five mechanics and themes. You are only allowed two new mechanics and themes, however. If you choose to make two new mechanics/themes, you can choose three existing ones.
NEW RULES:
Scry N and Fateseal N count as one mechanic. You may choose to only include one though.
Evergreen keywords will not count as one of the mechanics/themes.
Themes could be "equipment-based", "attacking each turn", "+1/+1 counters", ect.
Remember: This isn't about who is the most powerful, but about who can make the best cards, so plan accordingly.
Also, please follow this format, I'm gonna post an example of the format in a little bit, using my own race:
Name:
Color(s):
Description:(Basically, a quick opening, if you sum up most of this in other categories, you can just delete this section)
Physical Description:
Culture/Beliefs:
Additional Information:(Optional)
Mechanics:
How Scoring Will be Done
Everyone starts with 25 Universal Points (UP). When your UP becomes Zero, you are Vanquished, or out of this contest, so you always want to have a high, positive UP count to be in the safe zone.
Each round, you will be paired up with a race from one of the three other enemy teams.
I'm gonna go the CCL route (since I'm unoriginal) and one team, not facing your team that round, will be judging your team. (God, that was a confusing sentence). Your Total Round Score will be an average, rounded up, and that will decide your UP change. Depending on whether you win or lose, your UP changes based on the difference of the average score in the end.
For example, lets say Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are fighting in one round. Bugs has 3 UP and Daffy Duck has 8 UP. For that round, Bugs got 18 out of 25, and Daffy got 10 out of 25. The difference in scores is 8. Since Bugs won that round, his UP rises to 11, and since Daffy lost that round, his UP drops by 8 to 0, making him Vanquished. I hope it's not that confusing.
EXAMPLE RACE:
Name: Laminar
Color(s): BUG
Physical Description:
Laminars are an aquatic, anthropodic race. Compared to humans, they tend to be much bigger heights, but can be the same height. Length-wise, however, the Laminars are giant, because of their horseshoe crab-body. They have a husky whitish-grey shell on their back that is attached to their body and also have large brownish-red pinchers.
Culture/Beliefs:
Laminars are very underground creatures and do not like others, for the most part, especially humans and creatures of the surface. They feel more in tuned with outworldly beings and others who live under the surface.
The Laminars have a very animistic and savage approach to living. They're resilient to most diseases will eat rats right off the ground. They mainly stick to their territory and will kill any thing that comes close. They only have certain times a year when they breed and they keep their eggs in underground burials.
Additional Information:
They have an odd weakness to sound and any high pitched noise can cause them to go into a frenzy and even die.
Mechanics:
Armor X (Prevent X damage to combat damage)
The Laminar's heavy shell helps it prevent damage from weapons, but magic is good against it.
Obtaining other's possessions. The Laminars are naturally greedy, without reason, and they don't even realize it. They try to take control of others' belongings (not creatures, necessarily), but with a price.
Frenzy (When this creature is dealt damage, [EFFECT] until end of turn)
Most of the flavor of the abilities come from territory and living underground also.
The Rendrens are one of the more inquisitive creatures of the multiverse, interested in anything and everything that aren't themselves. They are very emotional, and if Interrupted while doing something (usually to the thing they're interested about at the time), they usually do something drastic and nasty to the Interruptor. For example, the Rendren might burst into flames, gain the strength of a wurm, or one mess with your head, for a short while. There are three tribes, each based around one of the 3 mana they use, Who are each led by the Matron of that tribe. There's a main village where all tribes mingle and the Matrons live, but each tribe has it's own village a little ways outside the main one. Rendrens live for very long times, and the Matrons live even longer than that.
Physical Description
The Rendrens look like tiny slender humans, however When they are strong enough, they can change the shape of their lower bodies into that of an animals, the one that interests them the most (Think centaur, but with any animal). The Rendren then takes on a few characteristics from that animal, aside from just physical (like reach from a spider, or flying from a bird). Deryn's choice is a spider, Aryria's is a griffin, and Cierna has chosen a hydra.
Culture and Tribes:
As you may have read, the Derynials tend to be the infrastructure of the village, the Aryrlians are the soldiers and troops, and the Grenciers are the gatherers and hunters. They tend to move to a new forest every once in a while if something threatens them too much in their current one, and any government that knows they are there, will try there best to warn everyone else not to mess with them (of course there are some people who will occasionally think it's fun to mess with the Rendrens). The Matrons make all final decisions regarding the village as a whole, but each one leads their respective tribes in whatever way they feel fit. Aside from the Matron=leader and the tribes' roles in their society, there's no real caste system.
The Derynials:
The Derynials are the most calculating type, being aligned with blue mana. They go about their life systematically, they tend to be the ones who distribute the food, that the Grenaciers find, equally. If someone is Interrupts a Derynial, a few things can happen; they could lose their memory, be put to sleep, have terrible nightmares, etc. If you Interrupt a Derynial (and your god/s help you if you do), they will make sure that you know that they have yet to pay you back, they will hunt you down and can be stopped only by death, The Aryrlyians are instant death, the Grenaciers don't make fun of killing you, the Derynials take delight in revenge. Deryn can even manipulate time a bit, just to toy with her victim/s.
The Aryrlians:
The Aryrlians are more attuned to red mana, making them the most emotional. If someone is unfortunate enough to Interrupt them, an Aryrlian will burst into flames, slightly harming itself, but most likely fatally burning the target. Only the more powerful of them may go out and explore, mostly because the weaker ones would probably kill themselves if interrupted. Their Matron is Aryrla, a very temperamental, but strict and controlled Rendren. She is one of the few who can burst and go unscathed, while leaving nothing of the Interruptor.
The Grenaciers:
The Grenaciers are more Green aligned and absolutely love to study the flora and fauna. When Interrupted, they will either use animals to help them savage the Interruptor, or gain the strength of a wurm and do it themselves. They have less risk of being harmed due to the fact that they can naturally call a beast to their beck even when young (They don't tell the young about that fact until they're older.). Cierna is their Matron, she can be seen either with the young, or out and about, studying things like hydras and even dragons.
Mechanics and Themes:
The Rendrens are all about revenge tactics, they try to make it so players don't want to do things to permanents.
IntrigueX (You may tap ~ and pay X, target permanent gets Interesting until end of turn. Activate this ability only once per turn and only as a sorcery)
Interesting (Whenever a permanent with Interesting is dealt damage or destroyed, put an Interruptor Counter on the source. If the source is an instant or sorcery, instead put the counter on it's caster)
Most Rendren cards will have some ability that has to do with Interesting/Interruptor counters, such as dealing more damage, discarding/drawing cards, or getting buffs in some way or another, etc, etc.
Derynials will mostly have abilities to manipulate the hand/library
Aryrlians are mainly burn creatures
and Grenaciers will probably summon creatures and buff them
Additional Notes/Changes:
Originally, the Rendren were supposed to be able to be all 5 colors of mana, with the white ones doing damage prevention and the black ones doing -1/-1, but NotoriousLynx made the no more than 3 colors and 2 new mechanics rule.
I've changed the physical description so that they aren't so fairy/pixie like, at first they just had different animal parts, but a friend of mine pointed out that they wouldn't have the same # of those annoying chromosomes, so I've changed it so that they just choose it as a personal preference with magic (NOT a mechanic, purely for aesthetics).
Description: Imperialistic parasites composed of three distinct sub-races with no compassion in a single one of them.
Daesseclus, in their pure form, are microscopic amoeba that live in specialized sac on the appendages of other Daesseclus that have already subsumed a host. A Daesseclus is not really alive until it has a host because, in their amoebic state, they are not concious and simply driven by instinct. When a Daesseclus does aquire a host they immediately take control of the lower levels of the brain but that is where the similarities between the three varieties of Daesseclus end. The only other similarity, in fact the only mark of Daesseclus infection (though it is usually a fairly obvious one), are chitinous segmented appendages that terminate in a wicked point and are glossy black to endless blue to dull green. Between each race the length, profusion, position and complexity of these appendages varies and each individual within the race has a unique set of these defining protrusions. The three types of Daesseclus and their appearance are as follows:
Gran Coga: The Gran Coga effect their host the least physically. The Gran Coga amoebas immediately attack the brain and replace it in its entirity with efficient Daesseclus structures while simotaneously attatching to the spinal column and the circulatory system. The Gran Coga uses organs already in place to nurish itself and only canabalizes the external body in times of stress or when they reach great age. The Gran Coga require large brain to body size ratios in their hosts because their tissues, particularly when they are young, are more suited towards cognitive exercise than to increasing skull size or expanding into areas more difficult to subsume than the squishy brains. To this end Gran Coga typically choose hosts from among the other thinking races of the Plane, the smarter the better. The external protrusions of a Gran Coga are almost universally are localized in the head and spinal regions and only with great age to they replace entire limbs or organs as one or the other starts to fail.
Mors Minorem: The Mors Minorem take over their host's body both internally and esternally. They do a less thorough job of subsuming the brain as their tissues are less suited towards thinking than those usually already present within the host and the though processes are simply co-opted by the Mors Minorem organism. The musce tissue of a Mors Minorem is usually stronger than that of the host and the internal structures that a Mors Minorem can create more efficient so they spend their energy in taking over those areas. Mors Minorem often create extra limbs or digits to aid in everyday tasks but some simply use what the body already has. The Mors Minorem have protusion all over their bodies. Mors Minorem are usually given thinking beings or intelligent animals but not ususally the cream of the crop, those being reserved for the Gran Coga.
Fractus Meti: The Fractus Meti have the hardest and most invasive tissues among Daesseclus. They attack the lower-brain region first taking over the motion centers then pretty much leaving the brain alone. There have been cases where the host is still cognitive throughout infection until the upper reaches of the brain die from lack of nurishment. After the brain is rudimentraly overtaken the Fractus Meti focus entirely on the body. All organs are taken over, including skin. The Fractus Meti retain only the basic shape of their host overgrown with gleaming exoskeleton and clattering blades. The internal organs are all entirely changed by Daesseclus tissues producing more efficiently than the original host's and working in overdrive to fulfil the strenuous demands of Fractus Meti infections. This variety of Daesseclus never stops growing. From the moment of infection the Fractus Meti class increases the mass of their host in every way they can. The oldest Fractus Meti can weight many tons and tower over the tallest trees, fortunately very very few get that old.
Society:The parastic tri-teired nature of the Daesseclus organism has created a unique society. Several basic needs drive the Daesseclus. Chief among these is reproduction. The Daesseclus are not sexual creatures however they do feel the urge to pass on their genes. When a host is obtained a Daesseclus inserts their amoebas into the host's body and lets the seed grow in the fallow ground. However it is not so easy as simple touch, Daesseclus must spend three to four months of minimal activity beforehand forming the specialized organs in which their amoebas are stored and from which they can be transported safely into a host.
Because Daesseclus are assexual and all capable of producing offspring if they all did so at once there would be no one doing anything else. By long-standing tradition and sacredly upheld law only a few Daesseclus in any one community are allowed to reproduce at any one time. Each class within each community selects their reproducer differently but it is almost always a competition of some kind to determine which Daesseclus has the traits that are considered most desirable in the next generation of offspring. The hosts that that community has are then divided up by an outside party into whatever class is needed or has payed the most.
Because Daesseclus cannot create bodies, merely consume them, they need a constant supply of fresh hosts to continue the expansion fo the population. Hosts are gained in three ways. First they are cultivated. Daesseclus keep large farms of domesticated animals in all shapes, sizes and levels of intelligence for easy access when new Daesseclus are required. These farms are generally controlled by the Gran Coga and are extremely profitable. However few farms produce thinking hosts that the Gran Coga covet because escape attempts are a constant problem and there is never any certainty that two thinking creature can be forced to breed. Particularly powerful Gran Coga do manage to raise farms of cognitive beings by keeping them under illusion or compulsion magic to prevent escape attempts and force breeding however the constant interferance of magic with the mind creates hosts of lesser intelligence and stunted physical capacity which means they are generally considered inferior to host captured in other ways. The second way that hosts are obtained are through raiding parties. Because beasts can be raised within their own borders Daesseclus do not often venture outwards to capture animals except when one Gran Coga or another has fixated his attention upon a wurm for his favorite Fractus Meti to other hard to obtain creature. Much more frequently the raiding parties are focused on isolated villages of other races and steal citizens away in the night to be converted into the next generation. Obviously this is not taken kindly to which leads directly the final way in which hosts are obtained. War. Outright war. Prisoners are taken by the hundreds in any war in which the Daesseclus are involved to be brought back to face a fate worse than death. The Daesseclus, either by their own design or by attack from outsiders (usually because raiding parties were stealing their people) are nearly always embroiled in one war or another. War with the Daesseclus is peculiar as they do not aim to decimate other populations because, without other races, the leader class of the Daesseclus would decline exponentially and the Daesseclus race itself would eventually be destroyed. At the same time the citizens of the other race know what awaits them if they surrender or if they are captured and fight harder than they might against a threat whose worse punishment is oblivion and who may have at least minimal mercy in their hearts.
If the Daesseclus conquer a nation they do not stay overlords for long. For the first few years they take huge tributes of people from the conquered but at the first signs of meaningful resistance they cut their losses and let the population regenerate again. In a way the Daesseclus farm the other races of the Plane.
In war every race fights in some way. The Gran Coga are the tacticians, wizards and assassins, the Mors Minorem are the primary infantry and trusted with most the combat, the Fractus Meti are living engines of war but not used as frequently as they could be because they most cannot be trained to leave potential hosts alive, their purpose is fear and scorched earth.
The Daesseclus are also motivated by power. Every Daesseclus wants to be on top of the pile. They fight with each other when they do not have external forces to worry about. The Gran Coga occupy the highest office among the Daesseclus and have a tight grip upon its political system. The Gran Coga are the smartest and most adept at magic of any of the Daesseclus and are therefore generally considered superior to the other forms of Daesseclus. The whole of Daesseclus society is a meritocracy with those most deserving controlling as much power as they can take. Within each class obtaining power is different but, because of their inherently parasitic nature, the Daesseclus believe that nothing can be obtained that is not taken from another.
Within the Gran Coga class superiority over others is established by showing superior intelligence, cunning or aptitude in the particular field that the usurping Daesseclus wishes to take. Contests are held without announcement and the finest ones are done without the conquered even realizing they are taking place. Killing an opponent highly frowned upon in Gran Coga society because it shows that the usurper fears his opponent enough to make sure it never challenges its usurper again.
Mors Minorem are the working class of Daesseclus and accept their position as second to the Gran Coga in society. Very infrequently will a Mors Minorem attempt to hold office within Daesseclus society and on even fewer occasions will they actually get it. Within the established boundries of the Mors Minorem superiority is shown by how efficient and productive the individual is, a standard which is derived from the opinions of the Gran Coga on their work. The Gran Coga police both their own the other classes for which individual has the most merit, they are the ultimate arbiters of power within the Daesseclus race.
The Fractus Meti have virtually no role other than war and their worth is judged on one standard and one standard only, how well they destroy. Strangely, though few of the Fractus Meti possess it (or perhaps because of that), intelligence is weighed more heavily than strength when determining position within the Fractus Meti.
Beliefs: To the Daesseclus the other races are really nothing more than food to be farmed and eventually consumed. Their goals are simple, to exist and expand gaining power in anyway they can. the Daesseclus see nature as seomthing to be exploited and used for their own benefits in any way possible. The green part of their nature is expressed by their inexorible ties to the organic however they are, in every other way, perversions of it. In terms of goals Daesseclus want nothing more than growth. They want more land, more resources, more power more Daesseclus. This is not to say that they wish to destroy other races but they do want to enslave them although the they accept that all slave-taking cultures are doomed to downfall when they began to rely too much on their servants.
In terms of allies the Daesseclus prefers races which they cannot infect simply because they are usually the only ones that will ally with them. The cultural stigma against the Born (how the Daesseclus refer to infectable races) also hinders them from forming alliances.
Religion among the Daesseclus is a strange affair. The text which codifies the dogma of the Daesseclus is called the Tome of Risen and Fallen Stars. Its origins are either unknown or intentially obscured but it appears to be the schizophrenic ravings of an absolute lunatic. Each increasingly disjointed and nonsensical passage, however, holds a truly improbably number of layers of meaning for the Daesseclus. The priests of the Daesseclus, entirely composed of Gran Coga, have only one job and that is to discover further meaning or Implications as they are called within the Tome. Religion is delivered regularly to the population including passages being red aloud to even the most simple-minded of the Fractus Meti on an almost daily basis. Outsider cannot hope to comprehend the Tome yet one thing seems clear: whatever the Daesseclus believe it completely frees them from all sympathy or restraint in their treatment of other races and only vaguely limits what Daesseclus feel justified in doing to one another.
Daesseclus are effectively immortal, or at least, they can live for a very very lng time. The Daesseclus tissues replace failing organs (if they still remain) with their own "healthy" version which almost always last longer than the original versions. As they grow older all Daesseclus lose more and more of their host's original form and some even develop to the point where nothing remains at all. Because they do not die from old age and do not have gender they cannot (or simply do not) differentiate between men, women, elders and children when taking hosts. No one is safe. Ever.
Evolution, Written: Evolution #-Condition (At the beginning of your/every upkeep if Condition place # +1/+1 counters on this creature)
Slavedriver, Written: Slavedriver # (When you play this permanent put # 0/1 colorless Slave creature tokens into play.)
Devour, Written: Devour # (As this permanent enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature enters the battlefield with # times that many +1/+1 counters on it.)
Infection, Infections means gaining control of your opponent's creatures, for a Daesseclus the process is not instantaneous, it takes some time symbolized by the use of the Suspend mechanic.
Mutation, Daesseclus sculp flesh and use specilized Daesseclus organisms to make their buildings and weapons. They prune members of the race who have grown large enough for samples to extrapolate their equipment from, this is symbolized by tricks with +1/+1 counters, usually removing them from your creatures for benefit.
By anndr at DeviantArt
With a little imagination the Daesseclus pictured here could be any one of the classes. It could be an extremely old Gran Coga with a warrior bent, a particularly important Mors Minorem or a superbly intelligent and extremely young Fractus Meti. I like the first option the most.
Does the race need to be mechanically represented as a new creature type (ex. viashino and dinosaurs are different races, but both are Lizard creature type)?
There are two main breed-races of Xenarthrans, though the two are entirely able to interbreed, and there are large parts of the population that aren't clearly one or the other.
The first group, known as Pure-breeds or the Brood, mainly live in the city, and appear similar to armadillos, with short statures and natural armored plates growing from their backs.
The second lives in the forest and are near identical to Earth sloths, though many times more intelligent and possessing opposable thumbs.
Society:
There are three major groups of Xenarthrans, the Brood in the city, the Hermits in the jungles, and the Ferals- nomadic tribes that roam anywhere they can.
City Folk/ The Brood ((R/W),G with small amounts of green for the farmers):
- One large, above ground capital city connected by underground routes to the nearest cities, which are in turn connected by over-ground roads to the more far-flung outposts.
- 7 main divisions, mostly based on family tradition and profession, as well as racial traits:
- The Royals, the bishop-generals, the merchant-artisans, the farmers, the soldiers/guards, the scholar-clerics and the dregs (all non-pures, including the rare non-Xenarthrans allowed to live in the city)
- Though uncommon, movement between the castes is possible, especially if the individual in question is highly skilled or shows great service to the Brood.
- Armor is very important in society, both natural and artificial, one way an official's importance is measured us by the weight of his or her armor, as this both shows how well protected one is, but slows one down, and only those of great importance are worth waiting for.
Jungle-dwellers/Hermits:
- Much, much, much more laid back than the city folk
- Still in connection with the city, but with more independence and personal freedoms, and no official caste system
- Generally foragers and shamans, using their skill in plant magic and herbology to create medicines from plants that can’t be domesticated
- Three main factions of ideological belief about the jungle’s relation with the city:
-Those for complete separation (R), those for complete, submission(W), and those happy with the way it is now(G)
Ferals/Nomads (R/G)):
-Roam in bands usually lead by the strongest or smartest member
-Will try to get food from natural resources first, then if that fails raid any available civilizations
-Can be hired out as bodyguards, mercenaries, trail guides and in some rare cases assassins, if the price is right and a good report is made with that certain tribe's leader.
Religion:
There is an official national religion based on the veneration of the Holy Brood in the city- with the Wise Mother being the highest of all religious and civil ranks, with the Strong Father being the commander-in-chief. Each of the other 5 pure-breed castes has an official tribunal that meets with the two heads of the state, each getting one vote- though the W-Mother and S-Father get the final decision, depending on the issue at hand.
On the other hand the forest-dwellers usually worship nature in its pure form, adapting any deities or philosophies from other races they come in contact with, while paying lip-service to the Imperial Religion and the small temple of missionaries stationed there.
Mechanics/Colors:
(W/R): Equipment theme, absorb/defender and other defensive bonuses while tapped
: Last Strike- exactly as it sounds, the opposite of first strike (G/R),R: Split strike-As double strike with first and last strike phases. WRG: Untapping effects with unusual costs.
I could just copypasta my current (unfinished) race profile, but let me try to see if I can sum it up easier and quicker with your format.
Name: Nhe'Ma
Color(s):RG
The Nhe'Ma look, for the most part, Human. Certain physical characteristics set them apart however, such as slightly elongated canine teeth, larger body proportions (Average height of a male Nhe'Ma is roughly 6'5, and the average weight is approx. 240lbs, the vast majority of it from pure muscle.), slightly flattened brows, their nails are much thicker, almost claws, and the plentiful amounts of hair that cover large portions of their bodies, such as their arms, legs, hands and feet, backs, the backs of their necks, their chests, and their faces (think Wolverine). These are not the only physical characteristics that set them apart from the average human, however.
Their skin is much tougher and thicker than that of a man's, almost like a hide. Their bones as well are much tougher and less porous. Their senses in general are much keener, more attuned to nature's elements.
The Nhe'Ma are a hunting people. As such, their clothing typically is made of furs and hides, stitched together to make up clothing pieces. By design, their clothing is logical and practical, displaying colors that would help them remain unseen by their prey, and contain odors that would disguise their own scents from would-be predators. Only during the winters however do they wear their clothing for warmth. Otherwise, they wear it as a sign of rank. All hunters of the tribe wear a type of loincloth called a "Gao'lo". It displays on it the tribe's "Kran", or representative symbol. They act as a sort of flag and identifier, if you will. The chief of the tribe, when not on a hunt (all hunters remove most pieces of clothing so as not to be hindered by their weight and by loose peices), wears a much larger Gao'lo, reaching almost to their feet, and they also wear a large hide belt that wraps across their waist (in width, it reaches from about their navel to beneath their pectorals) that also displays the tribe's Kran. They simply refer to the belt as "Kran" as well. They believe their leader to be the ultimate representation of the prowess and esteem of the tribe as a whole, and so he alone is allowed to display the Kran.
The Nhe'Ma are a strong and agile people, often hunting most prey with nothing but their bodies, and easily able to scale tall trees hundreds of feet high in a matter of minutes. Though they are more than able to survive without weapons, they are well versed in the art of war, when it comes to it.
The name "Nhe'Ma" in their own tongue roughly translates to "people of the 'green world'", 'green world' referring to the environment in which they live in (there are others, cousins if you will, who live far away and make their homes within the mountains and under the rock and stone.).
They draw strength from their surroundings, from the planet, from other living beings, from each other. But they dont merely take it for themselves. It is more of a "borrowing" of power, power that will be returned to the earth in the form of food (i.e. decomposing bodies of the enemies of the earth). As a people, they share such a strong bond, that it goes beyond that of mere psychological feelings. All Nhe'Ma have a sort of "general spirit" residing within them, connecting them. They are not individual spirits, but rather all pieces of a greater spirit. They refer to this connection simply as "O'oma".
As a people, they are very connected to one another, and to the earth. They are wary when outsiders enter their territory, but not hostile, unless given cause to be. When a "pack" of hunters move together, they make a "spiritual bond" that allows them to work together much more efficiently. They can feel to some degree what others in the pack feel. Smell what they smell. Hear what they hear.
In general, they are very tribal, so all (or most) Nhe'Ma (thinking of making the creature type just "Ma", for in their fake language, thats the part that means "people") creatures will benefit each other in some ways, whether it be through keywords or not.
Fight (Each creature deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Trample
Assembly (working name) (Whenever a creature with Assembly enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on all other creatures you control that share a creature type with it. When that creature leaves the battlefield, remove a +1/+1 from all creatures that share a creature type with it.)
I expect with this [Transform] mechanic that everyone playing a Werewolf tribal deck will say "Autobots, rollout!" whenever the majority of their army transforms.
The Espion are a race of elemental thieves/spies who specialize in stealth, uncovering information, and abusing that information to their ends (and to their opponent's end).
Physical Description:
Most Espions do not remain in their humanoid shape most of the time, as they are composed of water/air (blue) and/or shadow (black), so their bodies can morph into various shapes (they aren't like changelings, however, and can't transform into ANYTHING). In their humanoid ("normal") forms, blue Espions have dark blue skin with light blue, liquidy hair, and wear skin-tight leather jumpsuits that cover their entire body. They often have numerous pouches on their arms and legs where they store various potions and items they use while trying to gather intel. Black Espions have medium-grey skin with pitch-black, thin, straggly hair, cloaks that cover their torso and upper legs and other-wise bare arms and legs (they keep their tools in their cloaks). Blue/black Espions tend to be various mixtures of both kinds. All Espions have purple eyes, skeletal hands/feet with longer-than-average fingers/toes, webbed feet, and various protruding spikes and fins on their body. They can grow larger if exposed to sources of energy, and become significantly more powerful because of it, though usually not quite as evasive as they usually are.
Culture/Beliefs:
Espions prefer to live hidden in a society (in the water/air/shadows), observing their practices and seeing where important, powerful people go. Eventually, however, with the knowledge that they gain, they will converge with other Espions, exchange information, and go about doing what they please, breaking in to vaults using their knowledge of the places they lived in and acquiring different kinds of ancient scrolls and powerful relics which they use to increase their abilities.
Espions battle using physical and psychic abilities. The more physical Espions (often the black ones) use daggers, hidden blades, and poisoned needles to defeat an opponent with minimal effort. Espions with psychic abilities (often blue) use them to interfere with the minds of their enemies, hurt them mentally, and create psychic fields of energy. Espions are quite good at concocting and using potions to help them enhance their abilities in battle.
Although Espions are self-serving creatures and work alone when possible, they are all connected psychically. They cannot read each others minds or communicate with each other (at least, not without being very close to another Espion) and there is no "hive mind". Espions can simply feel when an Espion has discovered something incredible or when another Espion close by is in trouble.
Espions are asexual; at some point in each Espion's life, when their life feels most threatened, they will excrete a portion of their body in a hidden place and leave it to grow by itself. The plasm usually takes around 3 months to mature into a fully grown, adult Espion, during which time it moves around the world, putting its body to the limits, trying to morph into its humanoid form (which is when an Espion is considered fully mature). An Espion often lives between 130 and 140 years. If, at some point in time, many Espion die before they can give birth, this sentiment is felt amongst the collective Espion network, and Espions will reproduce extra times/reproduce earlier to ensure the continuing of their race. An Espion's offspring is extremely similar to the parent; in fact, for many, many centuries, the Espion's population has essentially remained the same in terms of their personalities.
The Espion's language consists of breathing. When an Espion exhales or inhales, the speed of their breath, the formation their tongue makes, and the breath's tone all communicate ideas and information efficiently and secretly. This allows Espion to talk to each other in public places without attracting attention.
Espions believe that all information is theirs for the taking. They despise things that get in their way, and do their utmost to find workarounds to situations where the normal route won't work. They love finding out new things, especially things that other people don't know yet, and use this concealed information to push their advantage against their foes. Although Espions are secretive, they aren't afraid to share information with other Espions. They rarely do this with non-Espions (except in times of war), as Espions are taught to always trust other Espions and noone else.
Additional Information:
Even when disguised in the shadows or in various forms of water, there will always be two small, purple glints of light where their eyes are, which is one of the ways someone can detect an Espion.
In play, I want the Espion player to feel like they're setting a big "heist" up; fiddling with people's hands and decks, planning things out, knowing what's coming, and then finally going in for the "kill" (usually with a a card with Outwit). Sometimes one plan leads straight into another, and sometimes two plans are being prepared simultaneously and the opponent doesn't even know which move is in accordance with which plan. I want the person playing against the Espion to feel like the Espion player is manipulating info and constructing a plan right in front of their eyes, but still not know what's going on until the plan is put into action.
Mechanics:
Intel Collection - Espions love information, especially hidden information. They look at player's hands, libraries, and face-down cards, and can often do something with that intel. They rarely ever reveal the cards they see unless it's to their (great) benefit.
Evasion - Espions need to avoid the opponent's defenses in order to do their job, as many of their abilities trigger or can only be activated if they weren't blocked/deal damage to an opponent (i.e. landwalk, flying, intimidate, unblockable, returning to hand after being blocked, other keyworded/nonkeyworded abilities).
Morph [COST]:(You may cast this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
Scry N (To scry N, look at the top N cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.) and Fateseal N (To fateseal N, look at the top N cards of an opponent's library, then put any number of them on the bottom of that library and the rest on top in any order.)
Outwit - When [something happens/this card is cast], name a card/card type OR an opponent names a card/card type. [PLAYER] reveals [A CARD/CARDS FROM A ZONE]. If that card/one of those cards is/isn't the named card/card type, [EFFECT]. [it can also have small variants on this, though the basic effect is someone names a card or card type and if the card/card type is/isn't wherever the card asks for, something happens. this will only appear at uncommon or rare]
Does the race need to be mechanically represented as a new creature type (ex. viashino and dinosaurs are different races, but both are Lizard creature type)?
Completely new, magic-specific race, like myrs or kor. Not a subrace like auriok.
This is actually surprisingly tough. I've been thinking of several different options, but they all boil down to an old creature type. Its kind of a shame, because the ideas I've been tossing around are things like the Rhox tribe, which are very different from non-sentient rhinos, but still use the rhino type.
Well, don't hurt yourself over it, lol. I just want people to have fun. We all have races close to others. You can somewhat break the originality rule, but if you have just the Rhox tribe, I might ask you to change it, lol.
Remember guys, this isn't about who is most powerful, but about who is the best card designer, so plan accordingly. Balance and printability are HUGE aspects of judging.
I gotcha chief. I believe I have enough to work with as is, but i'll try and add in more lore little by little.
Oh, what about planes? Should we include what plane they're from, or does that not really matter?
In the lore of this war, what planes are we fighting on, if any?
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Quote from Ninja Caterpie »
I expect with this [Transform] mechanic that everyone playing a Werewolf tribal deck will say "Autobots, rollout!" whenever the majority of their army transforms.
It's a new plane. All races originate from this plane. No outside forces or any of that. Dominaria is probably the closest thing to this plane. Once we get the races, then lore will be decided by the rounds. Most team rounds revolve around making the lore, in fact.
I was planning to take the cards we designed (that being, they're well-designed) and make a set in the set forum.
Description: Lisandarians, known to most as "Lisans", are a semi-aquatic race of humanoids with octopus-like lower-bodies.
Physical Description: Lisandarians are near-humanoid; the upper portion of their body looks (mostly) human. However, instead of two legs like humans, Lisans have a number of snake-like tentacles (the exact number depends on the Lisan in question - they can range from one to more than a squid, although most are at either end (ie. one or a lot)) which they use to move around. They are often covered in a slimy liquid which they use to make it easier for them to slither around. Although they have these extra appendages, most Lisans you will meet will look normal to you - as a powerful spellcasting race, they are capable of temporarily disguise their form. Usually, this is done non-maliciously, as a way to not scare the people they live around and work with.
Most Lisans are slightly shorter than humans, as their tentacles are not large enough to push them above the height advantage legs bring. When they transform, they are usually the same height.
Culture/Beliefs: There are a number of different views between Lisandarians, split into three main factions:
- The UG Lunarians believe that Lisandarians must work with others and become a valued member of the world around them. There are a large number of scientists within the Lunarian society, all who aim to benefit the world in some way. Many merchants and politician Lisans are also aligned with this faction, causing many non-Lisans to like them. Common classes among them are Advisors and Wizards
- The UB Sinarians, on the other hand, believe that the greatness of the Lisandarians must be achieved through other means, and the many spies and thieves of their faction show this very clearly. Their shifty nature leads to distrust, not only between them and other Lisandarians or races, but even between themselves. Common classes among them are Rogues and Assassins.
- The BG Donarians distrust all non-Lisandarian races. While the others, although having differing views about non-Lisans, generally believe that they are more useful than not, Donarians believe that true Lisandarians should live away from the hustle and bustle of city life. They live in small settlements in swamps and wild woods far from the rest of the plane's inhabitants. Furthermore, they distrust all forms of technology and live savage lives. Common classes among them are Shamans and Druids
Although their philosophies might differ (quite greatly, as can be seen between the three factions), all Lisandarians share common inherent traits. They all believe in saving resources and reusing things. In this way, they become very good merchants and traders, able to take every opportunity, as well as to save as much as possible and reuse. Even the animistic ways of the Donarian Lisans follow a cycle - the cycle of life and death.
Lisandarians, being knowledge-motivated peoples, are uninterested in warfare and the chaos it brings, preferring instead to research (or 'research', as the Sinarians do) stuff instead. They are mostly peaceful, although they are able to fight quite well if necessary. Using magic, usually.
Additional Info: Lisans have no night vision. They are completely blind at night, meaning they are surprisingly dependent on fire and heated light, especially for a semi-aquatic race. While the city Lisans have the use of non-fire based light, the Donarians, considered 'backwards' by the rest of the Lisans, have no such luxury.
The cards will contain the creature type "Lisan" (mostly to save space), although they may be referred to otherwise in names and flavour text.
The closest thing to a one-'legged' Lisandarian would be a Lamia (one of the Final Fantasy variants) or Coiling Oracle without the reeallly long tail. A multi-'legged' Lisan would be somewhat closer to Sheoldred if she had tentacles instead of a creepy spider thing.
Mechanics: MorphX (You may cast this card as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
With the ability to transform and assume normal shapes, the ability to fit in with everything else as a completely uninteresting 2/2 fits the Lisandarians - well, the Lunarians and Sinarians, at least - perfectly. Lunarians try to experiment with their transformations to see if they can be made better (ie. when turned up effects), while Sinarians use this to evade detection (ie. combat damage effects). Donarians are more simplistic and just have Morph as an alternate way to cast their dudes.
Proliferate (You choose any number of permanents and/or players with counters on them, then give each another counter of a kind already there.)
The Lisans are a very knowledge-based race - most important, of course, the Lunarian scientists, who use proliferate. However, unlike the original, Phyrexian source of this mechanic, Lunarian scientists combine Proliferate with all manner of fun counters, and +1/+1 counters (which is a small-ish theme among all Lisandarians)
The transforming abilities of the Lisandarians lend themselves to another mechanic - TransfigureX (X, Sacrifice this creature: Search your library for a creature with the same converted mana cost as this card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. Transmute only as a sorcery.) This one will mostly be seen in the Sinarian group as they assume disguises and stuff.
The Donarians, as they hate techy new things, have no specific mechanic to call their own. However, they do have a strong 'natural' theme, which includes artifact/enchantment hate and graveyard/battlefield manipulation. Specifically, they believe in reincarnation and rebirth.
There is a little bit of use of +1/+1 counters, mostly through the use of Lunarian's proliferate. However, each faction has their own special way to play with +1/+1 counters.
Colors: White, Red, Blue
Description: Verbines are beings marked by and dedicated to a concept or idea (idos). They are prominently marked with the sigil of the idea they serve. Possessed, are living creatures who chose to dedicate themself to an idos. They are white and red. They generally have 2 types, a type and verbine. They are living creatures with their native personality changed so their idos is the dominant motivation. Husks are constructs animated by a idos. They have two creature types, a job type and verbine. They are almost always blue.
Physical description: Posessed can be of any intelligent race. They have prominent glowing tattoos of broad lined runes. They have little physical gear, weapons and armor are often glowing energy matching the tattoos. Husks can be made of any material from parchment to metal. They have broad thin plates with prominent runes as their bodies. Their limbs are flat and spidery, making them appear almost two dimensional.
Culture: Verbines are dedicated to whatever concept they are linked to. Possessed view themselves as elites. They view the wordless (any being without a idos) as unpredictable, treacherous, and weak. There is conflict and even war between verbines of conflicting idos. Generally they have a very low technology level. Idos for possessed include rage, lust, honor, and other human motivations.
Husk have no culture. They simply do what they are. Creating an husk is a risky process as they serve their idos, not their creator. Idos for etchings are verbs like protect, observe, destroy, or collect. They can also be other spells via imprint.
Mechanics: Imprint (for etchings)
Impose. A mechanic similar to imprint, where the card exiles itself imposed on another card. (for posessed)
Totem Armor
Recall : X. You may cast this card from your graveyard. A card cast this way has an additional cost of X. A more general version of retrace, but costs are generally life or sacrificing a permanent of an appropriate type. It can also appear on creatures.
Sorry, but you are only limited to three colors. And I also stated no outworldy forces. All the creatures have to exist and come from the physical world.
I do like the idea though and you should keep the same mechanics, but change the race to fit the requirement.
Physical Description: Long and slender hairless bodies that consist generally of either pale blue scales or pitch black scales. Rarely is a mixed scaled Xironaxi ever seen.
Culture/Beliefs: The reason why you rarely see these beings with a mix color of scales is they are seen as perfect. The Xironaxi are the types that will either experiment on, redesign, or eliminate a race outright (although a few 'parts' may be used). They have no religions as they do not view anything better than themselves, however they do follow several leaders, known as Originaes. The Originaes are leaders of Circles and usually have disciples that are 'near perfection' known as "Durae" and "Trinae".
Additional Information: These creatures are methodical and often precise. They take no qualms with ridding themselves of what they view as imperfect. Originae are known as the Originators of perfection (at least to them), while Durae are closest to them and Trinae are a close 'third'. The Circles are known by several names, but their main known names are Sky (Researchers), Skinners (Development), and Shredders (Warriors).
Sky (Researchers): Mainly blue with black splashing, they primarily deal with the hand matters aspect and make sure that people lose spells (instants, sorceries and enchantments) by having them discarded or drawn based on hand size.
Skinners (Development): Mainly black with blue splash, they are based in the graveyard matters aspect by either bringing something back, or exiling it all together. Sometimes though, developments do go...wrong.
Shredders (Warrior): Either black or blue, they are deadly in their own right.
Dual Colored (Any): Usually legendary and part of the Originae, Durae, or Trinae.
Mechanics:
Blue Evergreens
Common - Flying
Uncommon - Shroud
Rare - Flash
Black Evergreens
Common - Regeneration
Uncommon - Hexproof
Rare - Lifelink
Existing Mechanics
Imprint, Replicate
Themes
Black side of the Xironaxi - Graveyard Matters
Blue side of the Xironaxi - Hand Matters
New Mechanic(s)
Redesign <cost> (Pay <cost>, Sacrifice <cardname>: Put a creature card from your hand on the battlefield tapped with the converted mana cost equal to or less than <cardname>'s redesign cost.)
NOTE: and :symu::symb: Xironaxi can have any combination of the above.
Humanoid, but with variably-pigmented skin that changes as they migrate to better absorb the area's mana. There is also no human digestive tract (replaced with organs for storing absorbed mana and converting it to usable energy), and there are large folds of skin between the legs and under the arms that are spread while basking.
Culture/Beliefs
Rather than eating, Vitrions absorb mana to convert into energy in much the same way plants absorb light for photosynthesis. Their heavily-pigmented skin absorbs ambient mana naturally, but they normally must spend about a third of each day "basking" to absorb enough latent mana from the environment to recharge for the active part of the day (analogous to human sleep). However, the amount of basking time required changes depending on the richness of the area's mana and the number of other Vitrions that are also drawing on the area- therefor, a Vitrion living in a crowded, mana-starved community may need to bask for as much as 2/3 of the day while a lone Vitrion in a particularly mana-rich area may not need to consciously absorb mana at all. Thus, where you live is the highest marker of esteem in Vitrion society.
Because of this, there are two basic divisions of Vitrion society. Some dwell in cities built upon unusually mana-rich environments where there is enough latent mana to support large populations. The center of such a city is usually built on the focal point of the region's mana, with distributors spreading the flow into other districts and intakes pulling mana in from surrounding regions. This means that a stable supply of mana can be established, which increases productivity, but it also comes with some drawbacks. Those that can't afford properties near the city center must live on its outskirts, where, despite the distributors, the supply of mana is sparser and and more Vitrions draw on it. It is not unusual for Vitrions in these areas to "enter the deep sleep", in which they die during basking because they couldn't absorb enough energy to maintain their vital functions. The second drawback is that the outlying regions, and eventually the city center itself, are drained of mana (although this may take centuries if the city's locus is particularly strong and it has a large netwrok of feeder states). The eventual decline in mana is usually accompanied by growing civil unrest, with large chunks of the populations emigrating to younger cities, leaving the city defenseless before the attacks of the second other segment of Vitrion society, the nomads.
Vitrion nomads are constantly on the move, refreshing their mana supply by physically finding new lands rather than by centralizing and storing it. As a result of this, the relationships between nomad tribes are often openly hostile, since their survival depends on being able to claim and temporarily hold large pieces of land. Small nomad groups often owe allegiance to larger groups in exchange for protection from other large nomad groups, which commonly attack smaller groups for profit and slaves. Loose coalitions of smaller groups that owe allegiance to a larger group often travel near that group, and large groups and their entourages are known as caravans. Its not unusual for particularly large caravans to either raid a weak city or establish trade relations with a strong one in order to access their manufactured goods and mana supplies.
There is one main difference between hereditary city-dwellers and hereditary nomads. The nomads' skin can vary its pigment to better absorb different varieties and concentrations of mana, whereas the city-dwellers' skin has become accustomed to a certain type of mana and has a fixed pigment.
As far as belief systems go ancestor worship is very prominent among Vitrion societies, with cityfolk worshipping the city's founders while nomads place religious significance on their bloodlines (pure bloodlines are holy, whereas mixed bloodlines are unclean). The land is worshipped above all else, though, as the great provider and source of all life, and most regions have a regional deity that must be honored before the mana from that land is used, or the deity's anger will cause trouble for the inhabitants The methods vary from daily prayer in the cities to a ritual offering when the nomads enter new territory.
Additional Information
Foreign Policy:
Since large concentrations of Vitrions place a heavy burden on an area's mana, it's not uncommon for Vitrions to live among other races, especially if those races use relatively little mana (low-magic).
Mechanics
The clockwork mechanic would work well for the recharge feel, especially if mana is required to recharge counters. I could even keyword it as Mechanic Name # (This creature enters the battlefield with # +1/+1 counters on it. When this creature attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.)
Also thinking of a Manafeed ability word with abilities that trigger when a player casts a spell or that turn on if a player has cast a spell this turn, representing the ambient mana spellcasting would unleash.
"Color matters" should be a huge mechanical theme. Colorless mana should be hugely disincentivized as "weak" mana.
Purity would be a cool mechanic to use for the city-dwellers. It would give benefits if a spell was cast using entirely one color of mana. It could be implemented either as an ability word or as a rules term (leaning toward rules term). If it's a rules term, it would be "if this spell is pure" (A spell is pure if all mana spent to cast it was the same color.)
By the same token, modal "color matters" spells (if X was spent to play this, do _____. If Y was spent to play this, do _____.) could be nice for the nomads. This could be implemented with hybrid mana (see Moonhold), monocolored spells (see Ribbons of Night, or both.
If it becomes a problem, I suppose I could consider making my race mono green...
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I expect with this [Transform] mechanic that everyone playing a Werewolf tribal deck will say "Autobots, rollout!" whenever the majority of their army transforms.
The Niari are a sapient race of creatures that live deep inside the forests of Niar, vast life-rich forests that are heavily enchanted. Magic is all around the forests of Niar and nothing there lives or grows without it. Magical lights gleam everywhere, the plants themselves are filled with mana, and they say when outsider wizards enter there they often grow mad. For these reasons exactly the inhabitants of the forests are often immune to outside spells, and magic is part of their very existence and they depend on it. Like them are the Niari, a friendly pacifistic race that sees itself as the essence of mana
itself.
Physical:
The Niari are the size of bears, and both genders physically look the same. They have a thick yet short fur that vary in color from dark blue to green and can have different patterns on it. They have 4 legs with bear like claws that they can use the grasp things, and a very long yet powerful tail that they use to manipulate objects. They are herbivores and feed on branches, mushrooms, fruits, but mainly on leaves. Their favorite leaves are the ones of the “Nikara” tree, which is almost sacred to them as it is said to be very rich in mana. It is said that the Niari must consume mana all the time or they will starve, and studies of darker crueler races on Niari prisoners show that if they are fed none-enchanted leaves they will slowly die. Because mana flows so strongly through them often plants will start and grow on their skins. They often wouldn’t mind and let those get to impressive sizes.
First Draft using Spore's creature creator:
(A naked Niari, with quite a few of plants growing on it. Niari can sometimes where clothes, and not all Niari choose to grow plants on them. Made in Spore)
Culture and Society:
The Niari are essentially a friendly peaceful race. They have no aggressive intensions and as long as they are left to live their unique way of life they are pleased. They are even known to be generous to strangers and trade or even give gifts to others who visit them. As they live deep in the Niara forests they are protected from outsiders usually, especially those who use magical means, but if they are attacked they are capable of defending themselves using natural spells and wizardry, or rarely even sheer force and size.
The Niari lives in small tribes, but those are only symbolic and are told apart mainly by their rulers and symbols, and it is not rare for a family to move from one tribe to another or marry between tribes. There are 4 main tribes and many small tribes that live between them. Most Niari are either gatherers which go around the forest collecting leaves, or farmers that grow the mana-rich plants that are crucial to their survival. Other Niari are adepts, and they learn the secrets of Niari magic and are considered among the most important members of their tribes. Another form of magic that is common in the Niari society is the shamanic spells, which come from the natural magical abilities of this race, and those who study them are called shamans. Other professions that are common are the craftsmen, scholars, and very few are from the warrior caste – a special group that moves around the forests between the different tribes and helps them fight against outside enemies.
Each tribe is leaded by the tribe chieftain, a hereditary role, and his two advisors - the tribe’s archshaman and archmage. The archshaman deals with matters of nature and the forests itself, agriculture, and the natural flow of mana. The archmage deals with the none-agricultural professions and mainly the wizard guilds, the sacred libraries, and keeping of all knowledge known to the Niari. The chieftain’s role is to keep peace, deal with outside races, and generally his word is the final one. All possessions can be filled by either males of females (and often are filled by both). Archmages and Archshamans become so by election from their own kind.
The Nirari are not religious and have no faith in any gods, but see everything that has to do with nature or magic as sacred and holy to them.
Colors:
Main – Green G, Secondary – Blue U.
Mechanisms:
Anything that has to do with mana. Also enchantments and auras (and hexproof), and some manipulation spells. The general feeling that mana and spells flow through them.
Existing Mechanisms:
Hexproof (evergreen). Proliferate.
New Mechanisms:
1)Mana counters: Some effects will put mana counters on creatures which will have different effects on those creatures depending on other cards. Some effects could consume them to gain mana.
2)Touched – If this creature is enchanted or has a mana counter on it, something happens.
3)Spell and abilities that will work only on enchanted creatures or creatures with mana counters on them.
4) Abilities that count the amount of enchantments you control
.
By the way Mundus, I was thinking of making my race mono green as well, as it is the main color (and all the mechanisms are basically green) and blue secondary, but hopefully more none-green races will join.
Either that, or I can make a whole new race that are totally different colors.
Let's see, what are the most popular colors...
W - 11* = 2/3
U - 111111* = 6/7
B - 1111* = 4/5
R - 1111* = 4/5
G - 1111111 = 7
* = +1 or -1, based on what three colors FuriouslySleepingIdea chooses.
Jeez, so much green and blue!
Yeah, if you want Lynx, I'd be down with making a mono-white race. Im sure I can whip something up.
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Quote from Ninja Caterpie »
I expect with this [Transform] mechanic that everyone playing a Werewolf tribal deck will say "Autobots, rollout!" whenever the majority of their army transforms.
I'd be down for changing mine into something to white/red or white/black if that what needs to happen. I made the Daesseclus in a day I can easily make something else.
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A silent evil where there shouldn't be another.
This awesome signature is tbe work of DNC at Heroes of the Plane Studio!
Signup Round
Welcome to the newest and one of the more experimental contests to hit MTG Salvation: The Magic Wars. In this contest, you will come up with an entirely new, magic-specific race/species, then you'll be put on one of four teams. Each round, you will have a variety of tasks, all involving creating cards that shows what your race stands for. Most rounds will involve you fighting an individual on one of the teams in a card creating contest with special requirements. Some rounds, however, will involve you being paired up with 2 or 3 people on your team, or that round is an entire team effort.
*T*E*A*M*S*
Team One
Greymarx - Mundus
Kelthian - Rimeshade
Lrin - Lordshuft
Lucidii - Bpy6
Rosar - Froxbite
Teebeedee - PachoPonceN
Team Two
Caverna - Marr965
Daesseclus - TransmutionOrchestra
Espion - Stapler
Laminar - NotoriousLynx
Lisandarian - Ninja Caterpie
Xironaxi - PsiJet
Team Three
Altraitors - Lanxal
Corvite - Zelderex
Illika - Doom Lich
Reste and Lanmila - Megiddo
Scallomourn - void_nothing
Verbine - FuriouslySleepingIdea
Team Four
Niari - RubyClaw
Org - Brofaux
Rendren - Gargroyal
Taravin - brasil_dude101
Vitrion - Takaline
Xenarthran - Gallus
Making Your Race
When designing your race, please follow these guidelines:
Your new race cannot be from any type of media, whether it be a book, television show or movie, BUT it can be inspired by that race.
Your race can't be something too close to an existing Magic race. For example, if your race is Hypnotoad, I could easily just say "Frog Wizard".
Your race is allowed up to five mechanics and themes. You are only allowed two new mechanics and themes, however. If you choose to make two new mechanics/themes, you can choose three existing ones.
NEW RULES:
Scry N and Fateseal N count as one mechanic. You may choose to only include one though.
Evergreen keywords will not count as one of the mechanics/themes.
Themes could be "equipment-based", "attacking each turn", "+1/+1 counters", ect.
Remember: This isn't about who is the most powerful, but about who can make the best cards, so plan accordingly.
Also, please follow this format, I'm gonna post an example of the format in a little bit, using my own race:
Color(s):
Description: (Basically, a quick opening, if you sum up most of this in other categories, you can just delete this section)
Physical Description:
Culture/Beliefs:
Additional Information: (Optional)
Mechanics:
How Scoring Will be Done
Everyone starts with 25 Universal Points (UP). When your UP becomes Zero, you are Vanquished, or out of this contest, so you always want to have a high, positive UP count to be in the safe zone.
Each round, you will be paired up with a race from one of the three other enemy teams.
I'm gonna go the CCL route (since I'm unoriginal) and one team, not facing your team that round, will be judging your team. (God, that was a confusing sentence). Your Total Round Score will be an average, rounded up, and that will decide your UP change. Depending on whether you win or lose, your UP changes based on the difference of the average score in the end.
For example, lets say Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are fighting in one round. Bugs has 3 UP and Daffy Duck has 8 UP. For that round, Bugs got 18 out of 25, and Daffy got 10 out of 25. The difference in scores is 8. Since Bugs won that round, his UP rises to 11, and since Daffy lost that round, his UP drops by 8 to 0, making him Vanquished. I hope it's not that confusing.
EXAMPLE RACE:
Color(s): BUG
Physical Description:
Laminars are an aquatic, anthropodic race. Compared to humans, they tend to be much bigger heights, but can be the same height. Length-wise, however, the Laminars are giant, because of their horseshoe crab-body. They have a husky whitish-grey shell on their back that is attached to their body and also have large brownish-red pinchers.
Culture/Beliefs:
Laminars are very underground creatures and do not like others, for the most part, especially humans and creatures of the surface. They feel more in tuned with outworldly beings and others who live under the surface.
The Laminars have a very animistic and savage approach to living. They're resilient to most diseases will eat rats right off the ground. They mainly stick to their territory and will kill any thing that comes close. They only have certain times a year when they breed and they keep their eggs in underground burials.
Additional Information:
They have an odd weakness to sound and any high pitched noise can cause them to go into a frenzy and even die.
Mechanics:
Armor X (Prevent X damage to combat damage)
The Laminar's heavy shell helps it prevent damage from weapons, but magic is good against it.
Obtaining other's possessions. The Laminars are naturally greedy, without reason, and they don't even realize it. They try to take control of others' belongings (not creatures, necessarily), but with a price.
Frenzy (When this creature is dealt damage, [EFFECT] until end of turn)
Most of the flavor of the abilities come from territory and living underground also.
Altraitor - U(U/R)R - Lanxal
Caverna - WUB - Marr965
Corvite - B(B/R)R - Zelderex
Daesseclus - UBG - TrasmutionOrchestra
Espion - U(U/B)B - Stapler
Greymarx - WWW - Mundus
Illika - B(B/G)G - Doom Lich
Kelthian - URW - Rimeshade
Laminar - UBG - NotoriousLynx
Lisandarian - UBG - Ninja Caterpie
Lrin - WXB - Lordshuft
Lucidii - URG - Bpy6
Niari - G(U/G)U -RubyClaw
Org - UBG - Brofaux
Rendren - URG - Gargroyal
Reste and Lanmila - R(R/W)W - Megiddo
Rosar - UUU - Froxbite
Scallomourn - WBR - void_nothing
Taravin - GWB - brasil_dude101
Teebeedee - R(R/W)W - PachoPonceN
Verbine - URW - FuriouslySleepingIdea
Vitrion - RGW - Takaline
Xenarthran - RGW - Gallus
Xironaxi - U(U/B)B - PsiJet
URG
Description:
The Rendrens are one of the more inquisitive creatures of the multiverse, interested in anything and everything that aren't themselves. They are very emotional, and if Interrupted while doing something (usually to the thing they're interested about at the time), they usually do something drastic and nasty to the Interruptor. For example, the Rendren might burst into flames, gain the strength of a wurm, or one mess with your head, for a short while. There are three tribes, each based around one of the 3 mana they use, Who are each led by the Matron of that tribe. There's a main village where all tribes mingle and the Matrons live, but each tribe has it's own village a little ways outside the main one. Rendrens live for very long times, and the Matrons live even longer than that.
The Rendrens look like tiny slender humans, however When they are strong enough, they can change the shape of their lower bodies into that of an animals, the one that interests them the most (Think centaur, but with any animal). The Rendren then takes on a few characteristics from that animal, aside from just physical (like reach from a spider, or flying from a bird). Deryn's choice is a spider, Aryria's is a griffin, and Cierna has chosen a hydra.
As you may have read, the Derynials tend to be the infrastructure of the village, the Aryrlians are the soldiers and troops, and the Grenciers are the gatherers and hunters. They tend to move to a new forest every once in a while if something threatens them too much in their current one, and any government that knows they are there, will try there best to warn everyone else not to mess with them (of course there are some people who will occasionally think it's fun to mess with the Rendrens). The Matrons make all final decisions regarding the village as a whole, but each one leads their respective tribes in whatever way they feel fit. Aside from the Matron=leader and the tribes' roles in their society, there's no real caste system.
The Derynials are the most calculating type, being aligned with blue mana. They go about their life systematically, they tend to be the ones who distribute the food, that the Grenaciers find, equally. If someone is Interrupts a Derynial, a few things can happen; they could lose their memory, be put to sleep, have terrible nightmares, etc. If you Interrupt a Derynial (and your god/s help you if you do), they will make sure that you know that they have yet to pay you back, they will hunt you down and can be stopped only by death, The Aryrlyians are instant death, the Grenaciers don't make fun of killing you, the Derynials take delight in revenge. Deryn can even manipulate time a bit, just to toy with her victim/s.
The Aryrlians are more attuned to red mana, making them the most emotional. If someone is unfortunate enough to Interrupt them, an Aryrlian will burst into flames, slightly harming itself, but most likely fatally burning the target. Only the more powerful of them may go out and explore, mostly because the weaker ones would probably kill themselves if interrupted. Their Matron is Aryrla, a very temperamental, but strict and controlled Rendren. She is one of the few who can burst and go unscathed, while leaving nothing of the Interruptor.
The Grenaciers are more Green aligned and absolutely love to study the flora and fauna. When Interrupted, they will either use animals to help them savage the Interruptor, or gain the strength of a wurm and do it themselves. They have less risk of being harmed due to the fact that they can naturally call a beast to their beck even when young (They don't tell the young about that fact until they're older.). Cierna is their Matron, she can be seen either with the young, or out and about, studying things like hydras and even dragons.
The Rendrens are all about revenge tactics, they try to make it so players don't want to do things to permanents.
GUB
Description: Imperialistic parasites composed of three distinct sub-races with no compassion in a single one of them.
Gran Coga: The Gran Coga effect their host the least physically. The Gran Coga amoebas immediately attack the brain and replace it in its entirity with efficient Daesseclus structures while simotaneously attatching to the spinal column and the circulatory system. The Gran Coga uses organs already in place to nurish itself and only canabalizes the external body in times of stress or when they reach great age. The Gran Coga require large brain to body size ratios in their hosts because their tissues, particularly when they are young, are more suited towards cognitive exercise than to increasing skull size or expanding into areas more difficult to subsume than the squishy brains. To this end Gran Coga typically choose hosts from among the other thinking races of the Plane, the smarter the better. The external protrusions of a Gran Coga are almost universally are localized in the head and spinal regions and only with great age to they replace entire limbs or organs as one or the other starts to fail.
Mors Minorem: The Mors Minorem take over their host's body both internally and esternally. They do a less thorough job of subsuming the brain as their tissues are less suited towards thinking than those usually already present within the host and the though processes are simply co-opted by the Mors Minorem organism. The musce tissue of a Mors Minorem is usually stronger than that of the host and the internal structures that a Mors Minorem can create more efficient so they spend their energy in taking over those areas. Mors Minorem often create extra limbs or digits to aid in everyday tasks but some simply use what the body already has. The Mors Minorem have protusion all over their bodies. Mors Minorem are usually given thinking beings or intelligent animals but not ususally the cream of the crop, those being reserved for the Gran Coga.
Fractus Meti: The Fractus Meti have the hardest and most invasive tissues among Daesseclus. They attack the lower-brain region first taking over the motion centers then pretty much leaving the brain alone. There have been cases where the host is still cognitive throughout infection until the upper reaches of the brain die from lack of nurishment. After the brain is rudimentraly overtaken the Fractus Meti focus entirely on the body. All organs are taken over, including skin. The Fractus Meti retain only the basic shape of their host overgrown with gleaming exoskeleton and clattering blades. The internal organs are all entirely changed by Daesseclus tissues producing more efficiently than the original host's and working in overdrive to fulfil the strenuous demands of Fractus Meti infections. This variety of Daesseclus never stops growing. From the moment of infection the Fractus Meti class increases the mass of their host in every way they can. The oldest Fractus Meti can weight many tons and tower over the tallest trees, fortunately very very few get that old.
Society:The parastic tri-teired nature of the Daesseclus organism has created a unique society. Several basic needs drive the Daesseclus. Chief among these is reproduction. The Daesseclus are not sexual creatures however they do feel the urge to pass on their genes. When a host is obtained a Daesseclus inserts their amoebas into the host's body and lets the seed grow in the fallow ground. However it is not so easy as simple touch, Daesseclus must spend three to four months of minimal activity beforehand forming the specialized organs in which their amoebas are stored and from which they can be transported safely into a host.
Because Daesseclus are assexual and all capable of producing offspring if they all did so at once there would be no one doing anything else. By long-standing tradition and sacredly upheld law only a few Daesseclus in any one community are allowed to reproduce at any one time. Each class within each community selects their reproducer differently but it is almost always a competition of some kind to determine which Daesseclus has the traits that are considered most desirable in the next generation of offspring. The hosts that that community has are then divided up by an outside party into whatever class is needed or has payed the most.
Because Daesseclus cannot create bodies, merely consume them, they need a constant supply of fresh hosts to continue the expansion fo the population. Hosts are gained in three ways. First they are cultivated. Daesseclus keep large farms of domesticated animals in all shapes, sizes and levels of intelligence for easy access when new Daesseclus are required. These farms are generally controlled by the Gran Coga and are extremely profitable. However few farms produce thinking hosts that the Gran Coga covet because escape attempts are a constant problem and there is never any certainty that two thinking creature can be forced to breed. Particularly powerful Gran Coga do manage to raise farms of cognitive beings by keeping them under illusion or compulsion magic to prevent escape attempts and force breeding however the constant interferance of magic with the mind creates hosts of lesser intelligence and stunted physical capacity which means they are generally considered inferior to host captured in other ways. The second way that hosts are obtained are through raiding parties. Because beasts can be raised within their own borders Daesseclus do not often venture outwards to capture animals except when one Gran Coga or another has fixated his attention upon a wurm for his favorite Fractus Meti to other hard to obtain creature. Much more frequently the raiding parties are focused on isolated villages of other races and steal citizens away in the night to be converted into the next generation. Obviously this is not taken kindly to which leads directly the final way in which hosts are obtained. War. Outright war. Prisoners are taken by the hundreds in any war in which the Daesseclus are involved to be brought back to face a fate worse than death. The Daesseclus, either by their own design or by attack from outsiders (usually because raiding parties were stealing their people) are nearly always embroiled in one war or another. War with the Daesseclus is peculiar as they do not aim to decimate other populations because, without other races, the leader class of the Daesseclus would decline exponentially and the Daesseclus race itself would eventually be destroyed. At the same time the citizens of the other race know what awaits them if they surrender or if they are captured and fight harder than they might against a threat whose worse punishment is oblivion and who may have at least minimal mercy in their hearts.
If the Daesseclus conquer a nation they do not stay overlords for long. For the first few years they take huge tributes of people from the conquered but at the first signs of meaningful resistance they cut their losses and let the population regenerate again. In a way the Daesseclus farm the other races of the Plane.
In war every race fights in some way. The Gran Coga are the tacticians, wizards and assassins, the Mors Minorem are the primary infantry and trusted with most the combat, the Fractus Meti are living engines of war but not used as frequently as they could be because they most cannot be trained to leave potential hosts alive, their purpose is fear and scorched earth.
The Daesseclus are also motivated by power. Every Daesseclus wants to be on top of the pile. They fight with each other when they do not have external forces to worry about. The Gran Coga occupy the highest office among the Daesseclus and have a tight grip upon its political system. The Gran Coga are the smartest and most adept at magic of any of the Daesseclus and are therefore generally considered superior to the other forms of Daesseclus. The whole of Daesseclus society is a meritocracy with those most deserving controlling as much power as they can take. Within each class obtaining power is different but, because of their inherently parasitic nature, the Daesseclus believe that nothing can be obtained that is not taken from another.
Within the Gran Coga class superiority over others is established by showing superior intelligence, cunning or aptitude in the particular field that the usurping Daesseclus wishes to take. Contests are held without announcement and the finest ones are done without the conquered even realizing they are taking place. Killing an opponent highly frowned upon in Gran Coga society because it shows that the usurper fears his opponent enough to make sure it never challenges its usurper again.
Mors Minorem are the working class of Daesseclus and accept their position as second to the Gran Coga in society. Very infrequently will a Mors Minorem attempt to hold office within Daesseclus society and on even fewer occasions will they actually get it. Within the established boundries of the Mors Minorem superiority is shown by how efficient and productive the individual is, a standard which is derived from the opinions of the Gran Coga on their work. The Gran Coga police both their own the other classes for which individual has the most merit, they are the ultimate arbiters of power within the Daesseclus race.
The Fractus Meti have virtually no role other than war and their worth is judged on one standard and one standard only, how well they destroy. Strangely, though few of the Fractus Meti possess it (or perhaps because of that), intelligence is weighed more heavily than strength when determining position within the Fractus Meti.
Beliefs: To the Daesseclus the other races are really nothing more than food to be farmed and eventually consumed. Their goals are simple, to exist and expand gaining power in anyway they can. the Daesseclus see nature as seomthing to be exploited and used for their own benefits in any way possible. The green part of their nature is expressed by their inexorible ties to the organic however they are, in every other way, perversions of it. In terms of goals Daesseclus want nothing more than growth. They want more land, more resources, more power more Daesseclus. This is not to say that they wish to destroy other races but they do want to enslave them although the they accept that all slave-taking cultures are doomed to downfall when they began to rely too much on their servants.
In terms of allies the Daesseclus prefers races which they cannot infect simply because they are usually the only ones that will ally with them. The cultural stigma against the Born (how the Daesseclus refer to infectable races) also hinders them from forming alliances.
Daesseclus are effectively immortal, or at least, they can live for a very very lng time. The Daesseclus tissues replace failing organs (if they still remain) with their own "healthy" version which almost always last longer than the original versions. As they grow older all Daesseclus lose more and more of their host's original form and some even develop to the point where nothing remains at all. Because they do not die from old age and do not have gender they cannot (or simply do not) differentiate between men, women, elders and children when taking hosts. No one is safe. Ever.
Slavedriver, Written: Slavedriver # (When you play this permanent put # 0/1 colorless Slave creature tokens into play.)
Devour, Written: Devour # (As this permanent enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature enters the battlefield with # times that many +1/+1 counters on it.)
Infection, Infections means gaining control of your opponent's creatures, for a Daesseclus the process is not instantaneous, it takes some time symbolized by the use of the Suspend mechanic.
Mutation, Daesseclus sculp flesh and use specilized Daesseclus organisms to make their buildings and weapons. They prune members of the race who have grown large enough for samples to extrapolate their equipment from, this is symbolized by tricks with +1/+1 counters, usually removing them from your creatures for benefit.
By anndr at DeviantArt
With a little imagination the Daesseclus pictured here could be any one of the classes. It could be an extremely old Gran Coga with a warrior bent, a particularly important Mors Minorem or a superbly intelligent and extremely young Fractus Meti. I like the first option the most.
This awesome signature is tbe work of DNC at Heroes of the Plane Studio!
Magic Wars: DaesseclusMagic Wars Reboot Race:Emesmaa
Orammis Bhasir
Asirri Rokhane
Ursinus Koliel
General Description/ Animal Inspiration:
The first group, known as Pure-breeds or the Brood, mainly live in the city, and appear similar to armadillos, with short statures and natural armored plates growing from their backs.
The second lives in the forest and are near identical to Earth sloths, though many times more intelligent and possessing opposable thumbs.
City Folk/ The Brood ((R/W),G with small amounts of green for the farmers):
- One large, above ground capital city connected by underground routes to the nearest cities, which are in turn connected by over-ground roads to the more far-flung outposts.
- 7 main divisions, mostly based on family tradition and profession, as well as racial traits:
- The Royals, the bishop-generals, the merchant-artisans, the farmers, the soldiers/guards, the scholar-clerics and the dregs (all non-pures, including the rare non-Xenarthrans allowed to live in the city)
- Though uncommon, movement between the castes is possible, especially if the individual in question is highly skilled or shows great service to the Brood.
- Armor is very important in society, both natural and artificial, one way an official's importance is measured us by the weight of his or her armor, as this both shows how well protected one is, but slows one down, and only those of great importance are worth waiting for.
Jungle-dwellers/Hermits:
- Much, much, much more laid back than the city folk
- Still in connection with the city, but with more independence and personal freedoms, and no official caste system
- Generally foragers and shamans, using their skill in plant magic and herbology to create medicines from plants that can’t be domesticated
- Three main factions of ideological belief about the jungle’s relation with the city:
-Those for complete separation (R), those for complete, submission(W), and those happy with the way it is now(G)
Ferals/Nomads (R/G)):
-Roam in bands usually lead by the strongest or smartest member
-Will try to get food from natural resources first, then if that fails raid any available civilizations
-Can be hired out as bodyguards, mercenaries, trail guides and in some rare cases assassins, if the price is right and a good report is made with that certain tribe's leader.
On the other hand the forest-dwellers usually worship nature in its pure form, adapting any deities or philosophies from other races they come in contact with, while paying lip-service to the Imperial Religion and the small temple of missionaries stationed there.
: Last Strike- exactly as it sounds, the opposite of first strike
(G/R),R: Split strike-As double strike with first and last strike phases.
WRG: Untapping effects with unusual costs.
Name: Nhe'Ma
Color(s): RG
The Nhe'Ma look, for the most part, Human. Certain physical characteristics set them apart however, such as slightly elongated canine teeth, larger body proportions (Average height of a male Nhe'Ma is roughly 6'5, and the average weight is approx. 240lbs, the vast majority of it from pure muscle.), slightly flattened brows, their nails are much thicker, almost claws, and the plentiful amounts of hair that cover large portions of their bodies, such as their arms, legs, hands and feet, backs, the backs of their necks, their chests, and their faces (think Wolverine). These are not the only physical characteristics that set them apart from the average human, however.
Their skin is much tougher and thicker than that of a man's, almost like a hide. Their bones as well are much tougher and less porous. Their senses in general are much keener, more attuned to nature's elements.
The Nhe'Ma are a hunting people. As such, their clothing typically is made of furs and hides, stitched together to make up clothing pieces. By design, their clothing is logical and practical, displaying colors that would help them remain unseen by their prey, and contain odors that would disguise their own scents from would-be predators. Only during the winters however do they wear their clothing for warmth. Otherwise, they wear it as a sign of rank. All hunters of the tribe wear a type of loincloth called a "Gao'lo". It displays on it the tribe's "Kran", or representative symbol. They act as a sort of flag and identifier, if you will. The chief of the tribe, when not on a hunt (all hunters remove most pieces of clothing so as not to be hindered by their weight and by loose peices), wears a much larger Gao'lo, reaching almost to their feet, and they also wear a large hide belt that wraps across their waist (in width, it reaches from about their navel to beneath their pectorals) that also displays the tribe's Kran. They simply refer to the belt as "Kran" as well. They believe their leader to be the ultimate representation of the prowess and esteem of the tribe as a whole, and so he alone is allowed to display the Kran.
The Nhe'Ma are a strong and agile people, often hunting most prey with nothing but their bodies, and easily able to scale tall trees hundreds of feet high in a matter of minutes. Though they are more than able to survive without weapons, they are well versed in the art of war, when it comes to it.
The name "Nhe'Ma" in their own tongue roughly translates to "people of the 'green world'", 'green world' referring to the environment in which they live in (there are others, cousins if you will, who live far away and make their homes within the mountains and under the rock and stone.).
They draw strength from their surroundings, from the planet, from other living beings, from each other. But they dont merely take it for themselves. It is more of a "borrowing" of power, power that will be returned to the earth in the form of food (i.e. decomposing bodies of the enemies of the earth). As a people, they share such a strong bond, that it goes beyond that of mere psychological feelings. All Nhe'Ma have a sort of "general spirit" residing within them, connecting them. They are not individual spirits, but rather all pieces of a greater spirit. They refer to this connection simply as "O'oma".
As a people, they are very connected to one another, and to the earth. They are wary when outsiders enter their territory, but not hostile, unless given cause to be. When a "pack" of hunters move together, they make a "spiritual bond" that allows them to work together much more efficiently. They can feel to some degree what others in the pack feel. Smell what they smell. Hear what they hear.
In general, they are very tribal, so all (or most) Nhe'Ma (thinking of making the creature type just "Ma", for in their fake language, thats the part that means "people") creatures will benefit each other in some ways, whether it be through keywords or not.
Fight (Each creature deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Trample
Assembly (working name) (Whenever a creature with Assembly enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on all other creatures you control that share a creature type with it. When that creature leaves the battlefield, remove a +1/+1 from all creatures that share a creature type with it.)
Thinking of more...
Amazing banners made by Brofaux.
Color(s): UB
Description:
The Espion are a race of elemental thieves/spies who specialize in stealth, uncovering information, and abusing that information to their ends (and to their opponent's end).
Physical Description:
Most Espions do not remain in their humanoid shape most of the time, as they are composed of water/air (blue) and/or shadow (black), so their bodies can morph into various shapes (they aren't like changelings, however, and can't transform into ANYTHING). In their humanoid ("normal") forms, blue Espions have dark blue skin with light blue, liquidy hair, and wear skin-tight leather jumpsuits that cover their entire body. They often have numerous pouches on their arms and legs where they store various potions and items they use while trying to gather intel. Black Espions have medium-grey skin with pitch-black, thin, straggly hair, cloaks that cover their torso and upper legs and other-wise bare arms and legs (they keep their tools in their cloaks). Blue/black Espions tend to be various mixtures of both kinds. All Espions have purple eyes, skeletal hands/feet with longer-than-average fingers/toes, webbed feet, and various protruding spikes and fins on their body. They can grow larger if exposed to sources of energy, and become significantly more powerful because of it, though usually not quite as evasive as they usually are.
Culture/Beliefs:
Espions prefer to live hidden in a society (in the water/air/shadows), observing their practices and seeing where important, powerful people go. Eventually, however, with the knowledge that they gain, they will converge with other Espions, exchange information, and go about doing what they please, breaking in to vaults using their knowledge of the places they lived in and acquiring different kinds of ancient scrolls and powerful relics which they use to increase their abilities.
Espions battle using physical and psychic abilities. The more physical Espions (often the black ones) use daggers, hidden blades, and poisoned needles to defeat an opponent with minimal effort. Espions with psychic abilities (often blue) use them to interfere with the minds of their enemies, hurt them mentally, and create psychic fields of energy. Espions are quite good at concocting and using potions to help them enhance their abilities in battle.
Although Espions are self-serving creatures and work alone when possible, they are all connected psychically. They cannot read each others minds or communicate with each other (at least, not without being very close to another Espion) and there is no "hive mind". Espions can simply feel when an Espion has discovered something incredible or when another Espion close by is in trouble.
Espions are asexual; at some point in each Espion's life, when their life feels most threatened, they will excrete a portion of their body in a hidden place and leave it to grow by itself. The plasm usually takes around 3 months to mature into a fully grown, adult Espion, during which time it moves around the world, putting its body to the limits, trying to morph into its humanoid form (which is when an Espion is considered fully mature). An Espion often lives between 130 and 140 years. If, at some point in time, many Espion die before they can give birth, this sentiment is felt amongst the collective Espion network, and Espions will reproduce extra times/reproduce earlier to ensure the continuing of their race. An Espion's offspring is extremely similar to the parent; in fact, for many, many centuries, the Espion's population has essentially remained the same in terms of their personalities.
The Espion's language consists of breathing. When an Espion exhales or inhales, the speed of their breath, the formation their tongue makes, and the breath's tone all communicate ideas and information efficiently and secretly. This allows Espion to talk to each other in public places without attracting attention.
Espions believe that all information is theirs for the taking. They despise things that get in their way, and do their utmost to find workarounds to situations where the normal route won't work. They love finding out new things, especially things that other people don't know yet, and use this concealed information to push their advantage against their foes. Although Espions are secretive, they aren't afraid to share information with other Espions. They rarely do this with non-Espions (except in times of war), as Espions are taught to always trust other Espions and noone else.
Additional Information:
Even when disguised in the shadows or in various forms of water, there will always be two small, purple glints of light where their eyes are, which is one of the ways someone can detect an Espion.
In play, I want the Espion player to feel like they're setting a big "heist" up; fiddling with people's hands and decks, planning things out, knowing what's coming, and then finally going in for the "kill" (usually with a a card with Outwit). Sometimes one plan leads straight into another, and sometimes two plans are being prepared simultaneously and the opponent doesn't even know which move is in accordance with which plan. I want the person playing against the Espion to feel like the Espion player is manipulating info and constructing a plan right in front of their eyes, but still not know what's going on until the plan is put into action.
Mechanics:
Intel Collection - Espions love information, especially hidden information. They look at player's hands, libraries, and face-down cards, and can often do something with that intel. They rarely ever reveal the cards they see unless it's to their (great) benefit.
Evasion - Espions need to avoid the opponent's defenses in order to do their job, as many of their abilities trigger or can only be activated if they weren't blocked/deal damage to an opponent (i.e. landwalk, flying, intimidate, unblockable, returning to hand after being blocked, other keyworded/nonkeyworded abilities).
Morph [COST]:(You may cast this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
Scry N (To scry N, look at the top N cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.) and Fateseal N (To fateseal N, look at the top N cards of an opponent's library, then put any number of them on the bottom of that library and the rest on top in any order.)
Outwit - When [something happens/this card is cast], name a card/card type OR an opponent names a card/card type. [PLAYER] reveals [A CARD/CARDS FROM A ZONE]. If that card/one of those cards is/isn't the named card/card type, [EFFECT]. [it can also have small variants on this, though the basic effect is someone names a card or card type and if the card/card type is/isn't wherever the card asks for, something happens. this will only appear at uncommon or rare]
Completely new, magic-specific race, like myrs or kor. Not a subrace like auriok.
Join the Poetry Running Contest!
Evergreen mechanics do not take away from the five.
Oh, what about planes? Should we include what plane they're from, or does that not really matter?
In the lore of this war, what planes are we fighting on, if any?
Amazing banners made by Brofaux.
I was planning to take the cards we designed (that being, they're well-designed) and make a set in the set forum.
Physical Description: Lisandarians are near-humanoid; the upper portion of their body looks (mostly) human. However, instead of two legs like humans, Lisans have a number of snake-like tentacles (the exact number depends on the Lisan in question - they can range from one to more than a squid, although most are at either end (ie. one or a lot)) which they use to move around. They are often covered in a slimy liquid which they use to make it easier for them to slither around. Although they have these extra appendages, most Lisans you will meet will look normal to you - as a powerful spellcasting race, they are capable of temporarily disguise their form. Usually, this is done non-maliciously, as a way to not scare the people they live around and work with.
Most Lisans are slightly shorter than humans, as their tentacles are not large enough to push them above the height advantage legs bring. When they transform, they are usually the same height.
Culture/Beliefs: There are a number of different views between Lisandarians, split into three main factions:
- The UG Lunarians believe that Lisandarians must work with others and become a valued member of the world around them. There are a large number of scientists within the Lunarian society, all who aim to benefit the world in some way. Many merchants and politician Lisans are also aligned with this faction, causing many non-Lisans to like them. Common classes among them are Advisors and Wizards
- The UB Sinarians, on the other hand, believe that the greatness of the Lisandarians must be achieved through other means, and the many spies and thieves of their faction show this very clearly. Their shifty nature leads to distrust, not only between them and other Lisandarians or races, but even between themselves. Common classes among them are Rogues and Assassins.
- The BG Donarians distrust all non-Lisandarian races. While the others, although having differing views about non-Lisans, generally believe that they are more useful than not, Donarians believe that true Lisandarians should live away from the hustle and bustle of city life. They live in small settlements in swamps and wild woods far from the rest of the plane's inhabitants. Furthermore, they distrust all forms of technology and live savage lives. Common classes among them are Shamans and Druids
Although their philosophies might differ (quite greatly, as can be seen between the three factions), all Lisandarians share common inherent traits. They all believe in saving resources and reusing things. In this way, they become very good merchants and traders, able to take every opportunity, as well as to save as much as possible and reuse. Even the animistic ways of the Donarian Lisans follow a cycle - the cycle of life and death.
Lisandarians, being knowledge-motivated peoples, are uninterested in warfare and the chaos it brings, preferring instead to research (or 'research', as the Sinarians do) stuff instead. They are mostly peaceful, although they are able to fight quite well if necessary. Using magic, usually.
Additional Info: Lisans have no night vision. They are completely blind at night, meaning they are surprisingly dependent on fire and heated light, especially for a semi-aquatic race. While the city Lisans have the use of non-fire based light, the Donarians, considered 'backwards' by the rest of the Lisans, have no such luxury.
The cards will contain the creature type "Lisan" (mostly to save space), although they may be referred to otherwise in names and flavour text.
The closest thing to a one-'legged' Lisandarian would be a Lamia (one of the Final Fantasy variants) or Coiling Oracle without the reeallly long tail. A multi-'legged' Lisan would be somewhat closer to Sheoldred if she had tentacles instead of a creepy spider thing.
Mechanics: Morph X (You may cast this card as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
With the ability to transform and assume normal shapes, the ability to fit in with everything else as a completely uninteresting 2/2 fits the Lisandarians - well, the Lunarians and Sinarians, at least - perfectly. Lunarians try to experiment with their transformations to see if they can be made better (ie. when turned up effects), while Sinarians use this to evade detection (ie. combat damage effects). Donarians are more simplistic and just have Morph as an alternate way to cast their dudes.
Proliferate (You choose any number of permanents and/or players with counters on them, then give each another counter of a kind already there.)
The Lisans are a very knowledge-based race - most important, of course, the Lunarian scientists, who use proliferate. However, unlike the original, Phyrexian source of this mechanic, Lunarian scientists combine Proliferate with all manner of fun counters, and +1/+1 counters (which is a small-ish theme among all Lisandarians)
The transforming abilities of the Lisandarians lend themselves to another mechanic - Transfigure X (X, Sacrifice this creature: Search your library for a creature with the same converted mana cost as this card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. Transmute only as a sorcery.) This one will mostly be seen in the Sinarian group as they assume disguises and stuff.
The Donarians, as they hate techy new things, have no specific mechanic to call their own. However, they do have a strong 'natural' theme, which includes artifact/enchantment hate and graveyard/battlefield manipulation. Specifically, they believe in reincarnation and rebirth.
There is a little bit of use of +1/+1 counters, mostly through the use of Lunarian's proliferate. However, each faction has their own special way to play with +1/+1 counters.
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
Colors: White, Red, Blue
Description: Verbines are beings marked by and dedicated to a concept or idea (idos). They are prominently marked with the sigil of the idea they serve. Possessed, are living creatures who chose to dedicate themself to an idos. They are white and red. They generally have 2 types, a type and verbine. They are living creatures with their native personality changed so their idos is the dominant motivation. Husks are constructs animated by a idos. They have two creature types, a job type and verbine. They are almost always blue.
Physical description: Posessed can be of any intelligent race. They have prominent glowing tattoos of broad lined runes. They have little physical gear, weapons and armor are often glowing energy matching the tattoos. Husks can be made of any material from parchment to metal. They have broad thin plates with prominent runes as their bodies. Their limbs are flat and spidery, making them appear almost two dimensional.
Culture: Verbines are dedicated to whatever concept they are linked to. Possessed view themselves as elites. They view the wordless (any being without a idos) as unpredictable, treacherous, and weak. There is conflict and even war between verbines of conflicting idos. Generally they have a very low technology level. Idos for possessed include rage, lust, honor, and other human motivations.
Husk have no culture. They simply do what they are. Creating an husk is a risky process as they serve their idos, not their creator. Idos for etchings are verbs like protect, observe, destroy, or collect. They can also be other spells via imprint.
Mechanics: Imprint (for etchings)
Impose. A mechanic similar to imprint, where the card exiles itself imposed on another card. (for posessed)
Totem Armor
Recall : X. You may cast this card from your graveyard. A card cast this way has an additional cost of X. A more general version of retrace, but costs are generally life or sacrificing a permanent of an appropriate type. It can also appear on creatures.
Revised.
Sorry, but you are only limited to three colors. And I also stated no outworldy forces. All the creatures have to exist and come from the physical world.
I do like the idea though and you should keep the same mechanics, but change the race to fit the requirement.
Physical Description: Long and slender hairless bodies that consist generally of either pale blue scales or pitch black scales. Rarely is a mixed scaled Xironaxi ever seen.
Culture/Beliefs: The reason why you rarely see these beings with a mix color of scales is they are seen as perfect. The Xironaxi are the types that will either experiment on, redesign, or eliminate a race outright (although a few 'parts' may be used). They have no religions as they do not view anything better than themselves, however they do follow several leaders, known as Originaes. The Originaes are leaders of Circles and usually have disciples that are 'near perfection' known as "Durae" and "Trinae".
Additional Information: These creatures are methodical and often precise. They take no qualms with ridding themselves of what they view as imperfect. Originae are known as the Originators of perfection (at least to them), while Durae are closest to them and Trinae are a close 'third'. The Circles are known by several names, but their main known names are Sky (Researchers), Skinners (Development), and Shredders (Warriors).
Sky (Researchers): Mainly blue with black splashing, they primarily deal with the hand matters aspect and make sure that people lose spells (instants, sorceries and enchantments) by having them discarded or drawn based on hand size.
Skinners (Development): Mainly black with blue splash, they are based in the graveyard matters aspect by either bringing something back, or exiling it all together. Sometimes though, developments do go...wrong.
Shredders (Warrior): Either black or blue, they are deadly in their own right.
Dual Colored (Any): Usually legendary and part of the Originae, Durae, or Trinae.
Mechanics:
Blue Evergreens
Common - Flying
Uncommon - Shroud
Rare - Flash
Black Evergreens
Common - Regeneration
Uncommon - Hexproof
Rare - Lifelink
Existing Mechanics
Imprint, Replicate
Themes
Black side of the Xironaxi - Graveyard Matters
Blue side of the Xironaxi - Hand Matters
New Mechanic(s)
Redesign <cost> (Pay <cost>, Sacrifice <cardname>: Put a creature card from your hand on the battlefield tapped with the converted mana cost equal to or less than <cardname>'s redesign cost.)
NOTE: and :symu::symb: Xironaxi can have any combination of the above.
Physical description
Culture/Beliefs
Because of this, there are two basic divisions of Vitrion society. Some dwell in cities built upon unusually mana-rich environments where there is enough latent mana to support large populations. The center of such a city is usually built on the focal point of the region's mana, with distributors spreading the flow into other districts and intakes pulling mana in from surrounding regions. This means that a stable supply of mana can be established, which increases productivity, but it also comes with some drawbacks. Those that can't afford properties near the city center must live on its outskirts, where, despite the distributors, the supply of mana is sparser and and more Vitrions draw on it. It is not unusual for Vitrions in these areas to "enter the deep sleep", in which they die during basking because they couldn't absorb enough energy to maintain their vital functions. The second drawback is that the outlying regions, and eventually the city center itself, are drained of mana (although this may take centuries if the city's locus is particularly strong and it has a large netwrok of feeder states). The eventual decline in mana is usually accompanied by growing civil unrest, with large chunks of the populations emigrating to younger cities, leaving the city defenseless before the attacks of the second other segment of Vitrion society, the nomads.
Vitrion nomads are constantly on the move, refreshing their mana supply by physically finding new lands rather than by centralizing and storing it. As a result of this, the relationships between nomad tribes are often openly hostile, since their survival depends on being able to claim and temporarily hold large pieces of land. Small nomad groups often owe allegiance to larger groups in exchange for protection from other large nomad groups, which commonly attack smaller groups for profit and slaves. Loose coalitions of smaller groups that owe allegiance to a larger group often travel near that group, and large groups and their entourages are known as caravans. Its not unusual for particularly large caravans to either raid a weak city or establish trade relations with a strong one in order to access their manufactured goods and mana supplies.
There is one main difference between hereditary city-dwellers and hereditary nomads. The nomads' skin can vary its pigment to better absorb different varieties and concentrations of mana, whereas the city-dwellers' skin has become accustomed to a certain type of mana and has a fixed pigment.
As far as belief systems go ancestor worship is very prominent among Vitrion societies, with cityfolk worshipping the city's founders while nomads place religious significance on their bloodlines (pure bloodlines are holy, whereas mixed bloodlines are unclean). The land is worshipped above all else, though, as the great provider and source of all life, and most regions have a regional deity that must be honored before the mana from that land is used, or the deity's anger will cause trouble for the inhabitants The methods vary from daily prayer in the cities to a ritual offering when the nomads enter new territory.
Additional Information
Foreign Policy:
Since large concentrations of Vitrions place a heavy burden on an area's mana, it's not uncommon for Vitrions to live among other races, especially if those races use relatively little mana (low-magic).
Mechanics
The clockwork mechanic would work well for the recharge feel, especially if mana is required to recharge counters. I could even keyword it as Mechanic Name # (This creature enters the battlefield with # +1/+1 counters on it. When this creature attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.)
Also thinking of a Manafeed ability word with abilities that trigger when a player casts a spell or that turn on if a player has cast a spell this turn, representing the ambient mana spellcasting would unleash.
"Color matters" should be a huge mechanical theme. Colorless mana should be hugely disincentivized as "weak" mana.
Purity would be a cool mechanic to use for the city-dwellers. It would give benefits if a spell was cast using entirely one color of mana. It could be implemented either as an ability word or as a rules term (leaning toward rules term). If it's a rules term, it would be "if this spell is pure" (A spell is pure if all mana spent to cast it was the same color.)
By the same token, modal "color matters" spells (if X was spent to play this, do _____. If Y was spent to play this, do _____.) could be nice for the nomads. This could be implemented with hybrid mana (see Moonhold), monocolored spells (see Ribbons of Night, or both.
If it becomes a problem, I suppose I could consider making my race mono green...
Amazing banners made by Brofaux.
General:
The Niari are a sapient race of creatures that live deep inside the forests of Niar, vast life-rich forests that are heavily enchanted. Magic is all around the forests of Niar and nothing there lives or grows without it. Magical lights gleam everywhere, the plants themselves are filled with mana, and they say when outsider wizards enter there they often grow mad. For these reasons exactly the inhabitants of the forests are often immune to outside spells, and magic is part of their very existence and they depend on it. Like them are the Niari, a friendly pacifistic race that sees itself as the essence of mana
itself.
The Niari are the size of bears, and both genders physically look the same. They have a thick yet short fur that vary in color from dark blue to green and can have different patterns on it. They have 4 legs with bear like claws that they can use the grasp things, and a very long yet powerful tail that they use to manipulate objects. They are herbivores and feed on branches, mushrooms, fruits, but mainly on leaves. Their favorite leaves are the ones of the “Nikara” tree, which is almost sacred to them as it is said to be very rich in mana. It is said that the Niari must consume mana all the time or they will starve, and studies of darker crueler races on Niari prisoners show that if they are fed none-enchanted leaves they will slowly die. Because mana flows so strongly through them often plants will start and grow on their skins. They often wouldn’t mind and let those get to impressive sizes.
First Draft using Spore's creature creator:
(A naked Niari, with quite a few of plants growing on it. Niari can sometimes where clothes, and not all Niari choose to grow plants on them. Made in Spore)
The Niari are essentially a friendly peaceful race. They have no aggressive intensions and as long as they are left to live their unique way of life they are pleased. They are even known to be generous to strangers and trade or even give gifts to others who visit them. As they live deep in the Niara forests they are protected from outsiders usually, especially those who use magical means, but if they are attacked they are capable of defending themselves using natural spells and wizardry, or rarely even sheer force and size.
The Niari lives in small tribes, but those are only symbolic and are told apart mainly by their rulers and symbols, and it is not rare for a family to move from one tribe to another or marry between tribes. There are 4 main tribes and many small tribes that live between them. Most Niari are either gatherers which go around the forest collecting leaves, or farmers that grow the mana-rich plants that are crucial to their survival. Other Niari are adepts, and they learn the secrets of Niari magic and are considered among the most important members of their tribes. Another form of magic that is common in the Niari society is the shamanic spells, which come from the natural magical abilities of this race, and those who study them are called shamans. Other professions that are common are the craftsmen, scholars, and very few are from the warrior caste – a special group that moves around the forests between the different tribes and helps them fight against outside enemies.
Each tribe is leaded by the tribe chieftain, a hereditary role, and his two advisors - the tribe’s archshaman and archmage. The archshaman deals with matters of nature and the forests itself, agriculture, and the natural flow of mana. The archmage deals with the none-agricultural professions and mainly the wizard guilds, the sacred libraries, and keeping of all knowledge known to the Niari. The chieftain’s role is to keep peace, deal with outside races, and generally his word is the final one. All possessions can be filled by either males of females (and often are filled by both). Archmages and Archshamans become so by election from their own kind.
The Nirari are not religious and have no faith in any gods, but see everything that has to do with nature or magic as sacred and holy to them.
Existing Mechanisms:
2)Touched – If this creature is enchanted or has a mana counter on it, something happens.
3)Spell and abilities that will work only on enchanted creatures or creatures with mana counters on them.
4) Abilities that count the amount of enchantments you control
By the way Mundus, I was thinking of making my race mono green as well, as it is the main color (and all the mechanisms are basically green) and blue secondary, but hopefully more none-green races will join.
Let's see, what are the most popular colors...
W - 11* = 2/3
U - 111111* = 6/7
B - 1111* = 4/5
R - 1111* = 4/5
G - 1111111 = 7
* = +1 or -1, based on what three colors FuriouslySleepingIdea chooses.
Jeez, so much green and blue!
Yeah, if you want Lynx, I'd be down with making a mono-white race. Im sure I can whip something up.
Amazing banners made by Brofaux.
This awesome signature is tbe work of DNC at Heroes of the Plane Studio!
Magic Wars: DaesseclusMagic Wars Reboot Race:Emesmaa
Orammis Bhasir
Asirri Rokhane
Ursinus Koliel