What is Planescrawler?
Planescrawler is a dungeon crawling deckbuilder designed with Magic the Gathering cards as its primary components. It is a non-traditional co-operative format that can be played solo or with a group of up to 4 players.
How to Play
Pick any level up creature from Magic: the Gathering's history. This is your adventurer. Next, build a deck of 10 cards: 6 basic lands of your choosing, a Class card, a Background card, a Food token, and one Deck of Many Things (AFR). Place your adventurer in the command zone, then construct the dungeon deck.
The traditional dungeon deck involves taking three booster packs per player and then shuffling them together. Additional rules for building the dungeon deck can be found in “Building the Dungeon Deck”.
In Planescrawler, the players always go first. Before the first turn, each player reveals the top card of the dungeon deck. Then adds those cards to the dungeon’s “hand”, face up. Rules for the cards revealed this way are covered in “The Dungeon’s Turn”. Finally, each player draws a starting hand of 5 cards, and is allowed only one mulligan.
Backgrounds and Classes
The text on a background that refers to your commander instead refers to your adventurer. They cannot be destroyed, exiled, or sacrificed.
Adventurers
Adventurers start the game in the command zone, and can be cast at any point they could be normally cast. Each time an adventurer dies, you may return it to the command zone. For each time an adventurer has been cast from the command zone, increase its casting cost by 2 generic mana.
The Player’s Turn
Each player starts with 10 life.
Mana in Planescrawl functions differently from traditional Magic. Instead of playing lands and tapping them to generate mana, players may discard lands from their hand to generate the mana that land would generate. Players may also discard nonland cards from their hand to generate 1 mana of that card’s casting cost. Other mana generation functions as it would in traditional Magic.
The player’s turn functions similarly to a traditional turn in Magic, with some key differences:
1. Players skip their draw during their draw phase.
2. Players take their turn at the same time.
3. Players may attack the dungeon deck as though it were a player. If it is dealt damage, mill that many cards from the top of it. When the dungeon deck no longer has any cards, it is completed. If the dungeon were to gain life, simply place that many cards from the top of the graveyard back on top of the deck.
4. Players may attack creatures that are on the dungeon’s side of the battlefield, unless those creatures have hexproof or shroud.
5. Players may pay the casting cost of any artifacts or enchantments on the dungeon’s side of the battlefield to draft that card to their graveyard.
6. Players may choose to flee the dungeon at sorcery speed on their turn. In order to flee the dungeon, roll 1d6. If this roll is higher than your life total, you flee successfully.
In the end step, discard your hand and then draw up to your starting max hand size (5). If your deck no longer has any cards, shuffle your graveyard into your deck, then draw until you are at your starting max hand size. (Important note: if you are to ever draw cards from your library and it is not the cleanup phase of the end step, if your library would be empty, skip that draw.)
The Dungeon’s Turn
The dungeon’s turn functions similarly to a regular turn in Magic. It contains all the steps and phases that a regular turn has, but has some key differences:
1. During the draw phase, the dungeon “draws” cards equal to the number of players in the game. These cards are drawn face up and revealed. They remain in the dungeon’s “hand” until the start of its next turn. Even though these cards are drawn and revealed by the players, for the sake of any rulings, they are considered drawn by the dungeon.
2. During the dungeon’s main phase, it plays all of the cards in its hand. If a spell were to be cast this way, it is considered to have had its mana requirements fulfilled. In the case of X spells, X is always equal to the number of players in the game.
3. Spells cast this way are always hostile. Hostile means that any time a card could target anything, it always targets the player that revealed it, or any permanents that player controls. The player it is hostile to chooses which permanents it targets.
Creatures cast this way are hostile. Any ETBs they have target the player they are hostile to.
Planeswalkers cast this way are hostile. Ignore the loyalty costs of any Planeswalker cast this way, then activate the first ability of that Planeswalker. At the beginning of the dungeon’s upkeep, activate the next ability of that planeswalker. Continue this until the planeswalker has activated all of its abilities this way, then it flees. A planeswalker that flees cannot be drafted. Players may damage planeswalkers the same way they would normally damage them. If a planeswalker’s loyalty reaches 0, they are considered defeated, and may be drafted to the player’s graveyard at the end of the dungeon turn.
The dungeon’s creatures will always be hostile. In the case of creature tokens summoned by any means, the target of their hostility will always be tied to the source of whatever summoned them. So if, for instance, Player 3 reveals a Lingering Souls, then the spirits summoned by that spell will always target Player 3. If Player 3 should flee or die, then the spirits summoned will attack the player to the right of the original target. If there is no player to the right, then they will target any legal target.
After you have successfully resolved all attacks and hostile effects from the dungeon, end the dungeon turn. At the end of the dungeon turn, each player may draft the card that was considered hostile to them to their graveyard. If the dungeon deck contains no cards, and each player is still alive, then you may draft a card from your reward deck. Exile the cards that remain in the dungeon deck.
The Reward Deck
Before play, a player may construct a 45 card reward deck. To draft a card as a reward, draw and reveal three cards from the top of the reward deck. Pick 1 of these cards to add to your deck, then exile the rest.
Building the Dungeon Deck
There are multiple ways to build a dungeon. The typical dungeon will contain either 42-45 cards per player. Sometimes, foils and bonus sheets can change this number. Simply treat those cards as bonus cards, and consider them part of the deck.
The first way is to take three booster packs for each player and then shuffle them together.
The second way is to build a cube, and then use booster packs from that, in order to create an experience closer to a curated adventure path.
Finally, there may be preconstructed dungeon decks online the players can use.
Campaign Play
Players may want to construct decks around their chosen planeswalker, using cards from various sets and going into more challenging dungeons, eventually leading to an end boss. This is called a campaign. To engage in a campaign, simply continue to play with the same deck you have built, but be warned, if your loyalty reaches 0, your deck is lost, and you will have to start over again.
It is recommended that dungeonmasters create dungeons on a curve, and creativity is especially encouraged here. Perhaps your party travels from Kamigawa to Zendikar to Phyrexia, leading towards an epic boss fight against Atraxa herself. Whatever you decide, it is encouraged to make a campaign yours, and to build interesting dungeons that compliment and challenge your players.
Boss Decks
Boss decks are decks led by a legendary creature, and are considered to be far more challenging than a traditional dungeon deck. To create a boss deck, a player chooses a legendary creature, then constructs a 100 card singleton deck that only contains cards of that legendary creature’s color identity. Currently, boss decks use the vintage banned and restricted list, as well as the Canadian Highlander points list. A boss deck may only contain up to 10 points.
The boss exists in the command zone. For each turn that it is in the command zone, it gains a boss point. When it has gained boss points equal to its mana value, it casts the boss from the command zone. Should a Boss be defeated, it returns to the command zone and gains commander tax. Because it is now back in the command zone, it begins to accumulate boss points again. Note: When a boss is cast using boss points, boss points are not expended.
Some bosses may prefer to use activated abilities instead of attacking, or may simply choose to do nothing at all. This allows for boss encounter designs to be different challenges when compared to dungeon delves. Should a boss have non-standard AI (i.e., it taps for mana each turn instead of attacking) these notes should be included with the boss deck. It is also worth noting that for the sake of design simplicity, bosses should do the same thing each turn, though if you wish to create a more complex fight, feel free.
You do not draft cards from a boss deck to your graveyard as you would a dungeon deck, though after you defeat a boss, one player may draft the boss to their deck.
Treasure/gold
Outside of the dungeon, Treasure/gold tokens can be traded with interplanar merchants who adore the shiny things in life. You can remove three treasure or gold tokens from your deck to remove a card from your deck, or add a card that was added to the shop.
The Shop
The shop is a deck composed of every card that has been exiled in your adventure. You may use Treasure tokens and Gold tokens to purchase cards from the shop and add them to your deck.
Misc Rules
Deck of Many Things 20
If a player chooses a creature in a hostile graveyard with Deck of Many Things, and that creature would die, then the dungeon is considered completed. You may draft that creature that died this way to your deck. Exile the cards remaining in the dungeon deck.
Targeting
Treat any spell or ability that says “you control” as “your team controls”.
Tokens
Whenever a token would be generated, treat that object as a non-token permanent with a mana value of 0. This means you can add tokens to your deck, should you choose. Should a token you control be removed from the board by any means, remove it from your deck.
Counterspells
Counterspells will always target the next spell that the player that revealed it plays, even on the player’s turn. Players can also cast counterspells on their turn. Treat this as “queuing” a counterspell, and use it to target any spell that the dungeon will cast on its turn.
Hostile Emblems
Treat any emblems you draw from the dungeon deck as active. You may not draft emblems to your deck.
Looting/rummaging
If the dungeon resolves a spell that has a looting effect (i.e., draw a card then discard a card, or vice versa.), treat it as first in first out. If the dungeon resolves a spell that has a rummaging effect, and it has no other cards in hand to pay for the required discard, then that spell fizzles.
Venture Into The Dungeon/Initiative
As of the current rules, these mechanics function identically to their traditional Magic rules.
Banlist
Hexdrinker is banned as adventurer.
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Planescrawler is a dungeon crawling deckbuilder designed with Magic the Gathering cards as its primary components. It is a non-traditional co-operative format that can be played solo or with a group of up to 4 players.
How to Play
Pick any level up creature from Magic: the Gathering's history. This is your adventurer. Next, build a deck of 10 cards: 6 basic lands of your choosing, a Class card, a Background card, a Food token, and one Deck of Many Things (AFR). Place your adventurer in the command zone, then construct the dungeon deck.
The traditional dungeon deck involves taking three booster packs per player and then shuffling them together. Additional rules for building the dungeon deck can be found in “Building the Dungeon Deck”.
In Planescrawler, the players always go first. Before the first turn, each player reveals the top card of the dungeon deck. Then adds those cards to the dungeon’s “hand”, face up. Rules for the cards revealed this way are covered in “The Dungeon’s Turn”. Finally, each player draws a starting hand of 5 cards, and is allowed only one mulligan.
Backgrounds and Classes
The text on a background that refers to your commander instead refers to your adventurer. They cannot be destroyed, exiled, or sacrificed.
Adventurers
Adventurers start the game in the command zone, and can be cast at any point they could be normally cast. Each time an adventurer dies, you may return it to the command zone. For each time an adventurer has been cast from the command zone, increase its casting cost by 2 generic mana.
The Player’s Turn
Each player starts with 10 life.
Mana in Planescrawl functions differently from traditional Magic. Instead of playing lands and tapping them to generate mana, players may discard lands from their hand to generate the mana that land would generate. Players may also discard nonland cards from their hand to generate 1 mana of that card’s casting cost. Other mana generation functions as it would in traditional Magic.
The player’s turn functions similarly to a traditional turn in Magic, with some key differences:
In the end step, discard your hand and then draw up to your starting max hand size (5). If your deck no longer has any cards, shuffle your graveyard into your deck, then draw until you are at your starting max hand size. (Important note: if you are to ever draw cards from your library and it is not the cleanup phase of the end step, if your library would be empty, skip that draw.)
The Dungeon’s Turn
The dungeon’s turn functions similarly to a regular turn in Magic. It contains all the steps and phases that a regular turn has, but has some key differences:
After you have successfully resolved all attacks and hostile effects from the dungeon, end the dungeon turn. At the end of the dungeon turn, each player may draft the card that was considered hostile to them to their graveyard. If the dungeon deck contains no cards, and each player is still alive, then you may draft a card from your reward deck. Exile the cards that remain in the dungeon deck.
The Reward Deck
Before play, a player may construct a 45 card reward deck. To draft a card as a reward, draw and reveal three cards from the top of the reward deck. Pick 1 of these cards to add to your deck, then exile the rest.
Building the Dungeon Deck
There are multiple ways to build a dungeon. The typical dungeon will contain either 42-45 cards per player. Sometimes, foils and bonus sheets can change this number. Simply treat those cards as bonus cards, and consider them part of the deck.
The first way is to take three booster packs for each player and then shuffle them together.
The second way is to build a cube, and then use booster packs from that, in order to create an experience closer to a curated adventure path.
Finally, there may be preconstructed dungeon decks online the players can use.
Campaign Play
Players may want to construct decks around their chosen planeswalker, using cards from various sets and going into more challenging dungeons, eventually leading to an end boss. This is called a campaign. To engage in a campaign, simply continue to play with the same deck you have built, but be warned, if your loyalty reaches 0, your deck is lost, and you will have to start over again.
It is recommended that dungeonmasters create dungeons on a curve, and creativity is especially encouraged here. Perhaps your party travels from Kamigawa to Zendikar to Phyrexia, leading towards an epic boss fight against Atraxa herself. Whatever you decide, it is encouraged to make a campaign yours, and to build interesting dungeons that compliment and challenge your players.
Boss Decks
Boss decks are decks led by a legendary creature, and are considered to be far more challenging than a traditional dungeon deck. To create a boss deck, a player chooses a legendary creature, then constructs a 100 card singleton deck that only contains cards of that legendary creature’s color identity. Currently, boss decks use the vintage banned and restricted list, as well as the Canadian Highlander points list. A boss deck may only contain up to 10 points.
The boss exists in the command zone. For each turn that it is in the command zone, it gains a boss point. When it has gained boss points equal to its mana value, it casts the boss from the command zone. Should a Boss be defeated, it returns to the command zone and gains commander tax. Because it is now back in the command zone, it begins to accumulate boss points again. Note: When a boss is cast using boss points, boss points are not expended.
Some bosses may prefer to use activated abilities instead of attacking, or may simply choose to do nothing at all. This allows for boss encounter designs to be different challenges when compared to dungeon delves. Should a boss have non-standard AI (i.e., it taps for mana each turn instead of attacking) these notes should be included with the boss deck. It is also worth noting that for the sake of design simplicity, bosses should do the same thing each turn, though if you wish to create a more complex fight, feel free.
You do not draft cards from a boss deck to your graveyard as you would a dungeon deck, though after you defeat a boss, one player may draft the boss to their deck.
Treasure/gold
Outside of the dungeon, Treasure/gold tokens can be traded with interplanar merchants who adore the shiny things in life. You can remove three treasure or gold tokens from your deck to remove a card from your deck, or add a card that was added to the shop.
The Shop
The shop is a deck composed of every card that has been exiled in your adventure. You may use Treasure tokens and Gold tokens to purchase cards from the shop and add them to your deck.
Misc Rules
Deck of Many Things 20
If a player chooses a creature in a hostile graveyard with Deck of Many Things, and that creature would die, then the dungeon is considered completed. You may draft that creature that died this way to your deck. Exile the cards remaining in the dungeon deck.
Targeting
Treat any spell or ability that says “you control” as “your team controls”.
Tokens
Whenever a token would be generated, treat that object as a non-token permanent with a mana value of 0. This means you can add tokens to your deck, should you choose. Should a token you control be removed from the board by any means, remove it from your deck.
Counterspells
Counterspells will always target the next spell that the player that revealed it plays, even on the player’s turn. Players can also cast counterspells on their turn. Treat this as “queuing” a counterspell, and use it to target any spell that the dungeon will cast on its turn.
Hostile Emblems
Treat any emblems you draw from the dungeon deck as active. You may not draft emblems to your deck.
Looting/rummaging
If the dungeon resolves a spell that has a looting effect (i.e., draw a card then discard a card, or vice versa.), treat it as first in first out. If the dungeon resolves a spell that has a rummaging effect, and it has no other cards in hand to pay for the required discard, then that spell fizzles.
Venture Into The Dungeon/Initiative
As of the current rules, these mechanics function identically to their traditional Magic rules.
Banlist
Hexdrinker is banned as adventurer.