Just so everyone knows in case there is any confusion, you are not obligated to use color(s) matching your character unless it says so in the challenge restrictions. But you are welcome to play that way if you want.
Careless Theft
Design: I think this is a great synergy of abilities. It saves the trouble of “combos well with a sac outlet” by being its own sac outlet, if the price is right. Innovative. The only thing I’m bumping on with this is the name - It just doesn’t feel careless, it feels more ruthless or the like. Also think the cost could be lower/maybe 2R given the specificity of what it can steal. 8.5/10
Flavor: Your text gives some explanation to how this works, but I can’t shake the feeling that is doesn’t feel like something that pulls something up from the bottom of a deep well. Mechanically, though, if the well were a bit shallower or something, this does make sense for the generally concept of “getting a teddy bear.” 5/10
Score: 13.5 - SUCCESS
You retrieve the teddy bear from the well and, after some deliberation, return it to the child. He thanks you with a Toy Sword (One time use, add +1.5 to score during combat).
“Debu,” the goblin replies as he scampers up the road to the north, getting out of sight remarkably quickly.
You proceed to the south to Cabernak Sinkhole, an area surrounded on all sides by ocean except for the north, from where you came. The salty air swirls in your face as you come startlingly to the edge of a giant sinkhole, maybe a quarter-mile in diameter and descending down farther than you can see by a great deal. Presumably, if there is a crystal around here somewhere, it’s more likely down there than up here.
You also can barely see anything down there, so you will need a light source.
CHALLENGE
Descend to the bottom of the sinkhole and give yourself a way to see down there.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
None
Difficulty: 13
Thief’s Agility
Design: This is very interesting. Used on a big enough dude and it’s damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t for the opponent, plus you get to draw a card. I think my favorite version of this card would be to take away the cantrip and make it a common, or maybe add 1 to the cost. It just feels like a card that can sometimes be 4 life advantage + draw a card for one mana is pretty good. But I really like the colorshifting into black like this. 6.5/10
Flavor: The name works well here but I’m not sure that can’t-be-blocked feels like it ties into going down a cliff. 4.5/10
Score: 11 - SUCCESS
You make your way quickly to the shore and meet up with your new comrades. Together, the three of you venture into the cavern. It’s not long until you all start bumping into things - the translucent rocks playing tricks on you as they always do.
“The loot shouldn’t be too far now-- What was that?” One of the treasure hunters stops in his tracks. “You, wait here,” he says to you, before summoning his companion and scouting a few steps ahead with him. You wait as told for a minute before they beckon you to join them again. You slither ahead and find them, swords drawn, facing you. “Looks like we found our treasure.”
CHALLENGE
You are attacked by two of these:
Cave BanditUB
Creature - Human Rogue
Whenever Cave Bandit deals combat damage to a player, you may discard an Island card. If you do, that player discards a card.
2/2
Survive.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a common.
You can fight or run or do anything you want, but you can only make one card.
Difficulty: 12
OOC NOTE: Another player (Necarg) has made his way to the cave’s entrance by now. If you wish, you could call out for assistance.
The two of you convene midway through the Horizon Coast Road and find yourselves traveling the same way. You both go east and arrive at the Tree of Vessels.
This tree is incredibly wide - it would take upwards of twenty people to form a circle all around it, but also quite short considering - maybe only 30 feet, making it dimensionally look almost more like a bush than a tree. Surrounding it is a grassy expanse, the fertility of the plant life seemingly augmented. Blooming flowers are larger and more colorful than in other nearby areas. To the west is the Horizon Coast Road, to the east is the northern half of a road called Sorrow’s Trail, to the south is a large lake, and to the north are some distant sea cliffs.
If there is a crystal here, it is not out in the open. You could search for it yourself, or, you notice there is a druid investigating a small sapling a few yards away from the main tree. Perhaps he knows something about the place, or perhaps not.
You hear the goblin introduce himself as “Debu” to your brief companion, then he scampers up the road. You proceed north as a more reasonable pace onto Sorrow’s Trail.
This road runs along the coast. It appears rather standard - the reasons it has its ominous name are not apparent just from walking onto it. To the south is Hanged Man’s Crossroads, and to the north you see what looks to be a proper city. To the west is a lake, and a bit of the ways up the road to the east appears to be some sort of strange tree. To the east is ocean, but you can just make out a glimpse of what appears to be another large land mass, but smaller - a small continent perhaps in the distant horizon.
You proceed up the road, heading north, past the lake entirely. The city is now fuller in view, but you stop quite suddenly at the sight of a being staring out into the ocean. It appears to be some sort of bipedal horse creature - it also appears to be very much a ghost. You may address him or, if you would rather seek your reward from Debu, head up to Fantaff.
OOC: Events at the cliffs changed due to other players (read poison counter’s spoiler this round) such that they aren’t there when you get there. As such, I am modifying events a bit.
You come to the Lucent Cavern and see nothing, but hear a commotion that seems to come from just below your feet. You walk to the cliff’s edge and peer over, hearing the word “treasure...” echo from the caves, uttered by a voice that sounds like it belongs to a weakling. As such, you attempt to make your way down and investigate.
Scale the Treacherous
Design: Coin flip cards are always tricky and this is no exception. I think it’s a bit strange that this is a sorcery. Yes, you can possibly boost a creature’s attacking power by a lot, but you’re doing it at great risk and not granting evasion. I think I would like this better if it were an instant that could only target a non-blocking creature. The balance seems OK in terms of the coin flip though. 6.5/10
Flavor: The name works and the notion of bulking up for the task also makes some sense. You’ve also captured the perils of doing so. 8/10
Score: 14.5 - SUCCESS
You make your way to the base of the cave and the ruckus inside seems to be continuing. (I have given poison the option to reach out to you for help, or not to. If poison and you decide to work together, great. If not, you will arrive at the scene inside the cave only in time for the aftermath of whatever poison decides to do.)
Moldering Malady
Design: They make some pretty expensive artifacts these days so this has some pretty strong potential, but I think it’s balanced right. The only thing I think is that you could possibly get away with this being an instant. Cool name. 8.5/10
Flavor: I had not expected destroying the gallows completely, but this rotting-away makes sense and seems like an acceleration of what would already be happening. 7.5/10
Score: 16 - SUCCESS
The gallows start to rot away, the post tipping over as it does, giving the goblin a relatively gentle landing. You walk up and untie the knot. See spoiler below.
Chesphon walks up as Emeric unbinds the goblin and offers the goblin his Black Fruit, which the famished goblin devours while he expresses his thanks to you. He reaches into his pocket and hands each of you two gold coins. “I’m sorry, this is all I have on me right now. If you meet me at my home in the outskirts of Fantaff, I can give you more.” Off your unknowing looks, he continues, “Fantaff is to the north of here, at the other end of Sorrow’s Path.”
The goblin marches away to the north, leaving you to decide whether to follow him for your reward straightaway, or continue on your intended journey down to the sinkhole.
Spark Invocation
Design: I think this is fine. It’s red getting a slightly enhanced version of “draw a card” but with plenty of risk/drawback in there too. Seems balanced. 8.5/10
Flavor: Yeah, this works for me. You’re drawing power from something for sure, with all the ritual-esque flavor the word “invocation” brings. 8.5/10
Score: 17+1 - SUCCESS
Your avatar becomes: VatbornR
Creature - Human Werewolf (C)
1/1
see appropriate spoiler below
Cultural Surge
Design: This seems way too strong, I think? I feel like any evasion and/or token deck can just destroy with this, and it’s so cheap. I think the fairness of it applying to everything is just outmatched by the fact it ends at the turn. If it were “until your next turn” so your opponent got to attack with the bonus too, then I could see it happening at one mana. All of this said, I admire the idea for being very interesting, but I just think this isn’t quite the right execution. 5.5/10
Flavor: I do admire what your going for and while I think the jump to making this qhite crystal the embodiment of civilization is a bit of a stretch, that is a white theme and the word “surge” helps you here. I get the general vibe. 6.5/10
Score: 12+1 - SUCCESS
Your avatar becomes: VatbornW
Creature - Minotaur (C)
1/1
see spoiler below
“My Gods, it’s true,” the archer exclaims as you each manage to harness the energy from one of the crystals without dying. You each feel your forms take a stronger hold and then, suddenly, it feels like a small extra weight has been added to your body - not a real weight, but the weigh of permanence. Your form and your energies have been locked in.
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish. Feel free to add the name to your avatar right away.
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
OOC: If you choose to read spoilers of the game thusfar, you can feel free to skip ahead over locations and dialogue you don’t want to waste turns on repeating. But again, if you prefer the spoiler-free experience, I can provide it for you.
OOC: You aren’t bound to red just because you’re red, unless you elect to play that way. Also, your avatar seems to be named Vatborn again.
You go to the child and ask what’s wrong. He explains that he dropped his teddy bear down the well. Looking down, you can’t see it. It’s probably sunk to the very bottom by now.
CHALLENGE
Retrieve the teddy bear from the bottom of the well.
”A warning? N-no? Am I supposed to?” He looks around, confused as to whether or not someone is trying to play a trick on him or something, then he looks back at you. “So... goodbye, then?”
You disengage from conversation and look around. You see a boy peering despondently down into a well.
You make your way out of town heading north to the Horizon Coast Road. This road is very long and bordered on its west entirely by ocean. At first, to the east, all you see is a large lake a short ways off into the distance. The tree must be some ways into the distance, as the road seems to go well beyond what you can see.
You see what appears to be a man being bothered by a bandit-type, but it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on. Any magical interaction you take here will face a difficulty score of 13 and must be an instant or sorcery with CMC 4 or greater, or you could investigate further nonmagically, or proceed without doing anything.
ALERT: FAILURE TO POST YOUR PLAYER INFO MAY RESULT IN RANDOM, ARBITRARY BAD THINGS HAPPENING TO YOUR CHARACTER
You slither toward the cliff’s edge and peer down. “Hello up there!” exclaims the climber who has already reached bottom. You ask what’s going on. “We heard rumor there may be a small treasure not too far into the cavern. If you don’t mind taking a 25-percent stake, you’re welcome to join. It seems only fair we should split a greater pot, since we had the idea.” The treasure-hunter’s companion doesn’t seem thrilled that his partner has extended the offer to you without first consulting him. The second treasure-hunter reaches the bottom. With no equipment, you are left to find your own way down.
You also happen to notice a flightless faerie (SelesnyaNewLife) you recognize from the vat factory approaching from Gunlunshire.
CHALLENGE
Descend the cliffside.
Restrictions/Clairifications:
Can’t use “flying” or Equipment
Difficulty: 11
Davison lays out the general directions to each place: Halfway up the northern road then to the east for Tree of Vessels, or east past the caves then south at the crossroads to the sinkhole. You accordingly make your way east to Lucent Cavern. This coastal area is known for its many smaller sea caves and one large one: The Lucent Cavern, which is named for the many translucent boulders which lie within it. The reflections and images of these rocks turn the cavern into a perilous maze of sorts, where it is easy to get lost and difficult to hide. The main travelers’ path, though, is above all these caverns, safe from their denizens. To the west is Gunlunshire, to the east is Hanged Man’s Crossroads, and to the north in the distance you can see some sort of large lake.
From here, you also think you can see a strange, large creature shambling toward the lake to the north. It’s slow-moving enough that you could surely catch up if you took the detour.
You see a Naga (poison counter) you recognize from the vats attempting to descend the cliffs and join a couple of treasure hunters, and a merfolk (Coyote King) proceed further east down your current path, toward Hanged Man’s Crossroads. [ooc: feel free to “catch up” with either of them if you mutually agree to journey together.]
As you make your way past the caverns, noticing a flightless faerie (selesnyanewlife) in the distance behind you, you emerge onto a path and come to hanged man’s crossroads, a fork in the road with ocean to the east, cabernak sinkhole to the south, and a road called sorrow’s path to the north. At the center of the crossroads, next to the signpost, is a large spread of gallows, now abandoned and falling apart.
You do, however, see one that is “in use.” A small goblin hangs upside down, his ankle bound in a makeshift noose. “Help!” he cries out to you. “My friends played a trick on me!” The rope and goblin are both too high for you to reach. Of course, you could just ignore him.
CHALLENGE
Get the goblin down safely.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a multicolored sorcery
Difficulty: 11
Gloomweaver
Design: This is a tough one. First things first, I don’t know why this needs defender. It’s a normal spider, and at 1 power it’s not really posing a giant power threat by being able to attack. Then there’s that activated ability, though. If you don’t have a way to pump this guy, then he can sort of chump everything and kill one thing, and if you can also pump him, he can become a kills-all-attackers force to be reckoned with. I think maybe if that activated ability cost 1G instead and it didn’t have defender, I’d feel better about all this, but it is an interesting card. 6.5/10
Flavor: Yeah, this makes sense. A creature with reach works, especially a spider that can weave a web and possibly trap the pixies without necessarily killing them, since we don’t really know what they’re up to yet. I might actually like it better here without defender and deathtouch for that reason, but I don’t think they interfere too much. 8/10
Score: 14.5 - SUCCESS
The spiders shoots some sticky webbing with great precision at the pixies, pinning them down to the ground and leaving the wizard unscatched. He thanks you for your trouble and casts some spell you cannot identify on the pixies, and they disappear.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t killed them,” he explains “Simply sent them back where they belong. Here.” He gives you a scroll. “This can help you do the same, if you ever need it.”
Add the following text to your inventory: “Scroll of Escape (One time use, adds +4 to score when trying to escape)”
(I’m assuming you read the story so I won’t retroactively go into it here)
Monument of the Eclipse
Design: I’m not sure how dangerous this is. On the one hand, it’s likely pretty slow. Without some shenanigans, it isn’t going to happen every turn, or even every one of your own turns. My only worry is in multiples, but since it doesn’t do anything when it enters the field, getting multiples of these out without losing ground makes the ensuing benefits just fine. Not sure I like this being colorless though. It feels like an effect that belongs in red, or at a higher cost. 7/10
Flavor: I did get that this was the werewolf mechanic, so I was pretty sure that’s where it was going. For the sake of the game so that you don’t just end up as “wolf,” well, see below. 8/10
Score: 15 - SUCCESS
Your creature type changes to Human Werewolf and you lose Changeling.
See appropriate spoiler below for the continuation.
Jarlhorn Memorial
Design: I like this in theory but I have one problem with it: The gimmick of the card is that it gives you mana at a time that isn’t usually super helpful, but gives you a way to make it helpful at the same time. That said, it is never useful to give vigilance in the middle of combat. I think maybe another ability could have been swapped in its place. I do understand that on your turn, you can activate that before combat for the benefit, but still, it hurts the internal synergy of the card a bit. I also worry that if you have a solid mana base of both red and white, being able to give multiple creatures those abilities for two mana each per turn can be pretty devastating. But its a rare that doesn’t do much on its own, so, OK. 7/10
Flavor: I got what it was before even getting to the flavor text, so that’s a success if you ask me. Good name, all works, etc. 9.5/10
Score: 16.5 - SUCCESS
Your creature type changes to Minotaur and you lose Changeling.
see spoiler just below
“Interesting choices,” the mysterious archer remarks to the crowd. “I suppose they’ll have to do. Now come with me. Let’s see if you can do what you were made for.”
You follow the archer through one of the courtyard exits and are surrounded by tall, thick brush which obscures your view. You can only see behind you, ahead, and above, where you see a gloomy night sky. It seems as though dawn may be approaching as a glimmer of yellow is peeking from the eastern horizon.
You come into another courtyard, much like the one you just left in terms of shape and size. But rather than have statues around the edge, there is a smaller ring of pedestals in the center of the courtyard.
“As I had mentioned, the magic of this place has all but wasted away. Hopefully, though, there was enough left when you were created to give you the power we need. To any natural-born son or daughter of Krynsia, these crystals would bring only pain. But to you, they can bring strength and powerful magicks. I fear in your weaker forms, though, it may still bring great strain upon you to accomplish this. You will likely only have the strength to harness power from a single crystal, and even then, not without great effort.”
You look at the five crystals before you: One white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green.
CHALLENGE:
Design a card that represents you harnessing the energy of a crystal.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
It must be an instant or sorcery.
It must cost exactly one mana and exactly match the color of the crystal you’re trying to harness. (This is, if you hadn’t guessed, the color your avatar will become.)
Bonuses/Penalties:
Doesn’t use “target”: +1
Is rare: -1
As always, reading each other's spoilers is recommended if you like knowledge and don't mind spoilers.
You awaken - for lack of a better word - in the middle of muck. Your vision is blurry and all you can see is a sort of translucent dark blueness all around. Your sense of touch comes more quickly, and you feel... “oozy.” The word struggles to come to your mind. All language, in fact, seems belabored, as does any self-reflexive thought. “Where am I?” leads to other questions: Who am I, What am I, etc. These precious seconds spent lost in philosophy have given your senses time to acclimate to your consciousness. You feel gravity - your first indication that one direction is “down” while another is “up.” You turn to look up and the color around you changes slightly for the browner. You move your body up through the ooze and emerge, suddenly flooded by a world of new images.
Looking around, you see several large black vats.
“We haven’t much time. Please, come with me.”
You look to an arched doorway, where you see a man - or perhaps the projection of a man - an apparent archer or ranger of sorts - standing and looking at you. “Please hurry, there’s no time to explain.”
You emerge from your vat and follow the man. You go up a spiral staircase that seems almost endless, finally emerging into a small circular courtyard, walled off by tall stones. Around the circumference stand a set of statues.
“The magic of this place has waned long ago. It took all of its power to create you in the first place, but you aren’t like the others who came before. Soon your form will be set for life.”
This remark from the mysterious archer triggers a realization in you. You look down to your own arm and watch as you shift it from a human arm to a long bat’s wing to a giant hammer and back to an arm again.
“I know you don’t have much to go on, but you must choose a form now before it’s too late. Look to the statues for guidance. It is important that you be able to blend in, or else I fear you’ll be the subject of unwanted attention.”
GAME DETAILS:
Here is your avatar and info for the time-being. Please start including it all in your posts, just to get in the habit of it, since it will be more crucial later.
Design a non-creature artifact card to represent the statue in the courtyard that you’re choosing to take the form of. It should be clear from the card what creature type (race, not class) the statue is, and this will become your creature type for the rest of the game - so choose wisely. It should be something that can travel on land, hold objects, and talk. I have given this challenge a pretty low difficulty, but if you fail this challenge, you may not end up being the creature type you were hoping for.
Difficulty Score: 12
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a colorless non-creature artifact
Tribal is allowed
OOC1: (Poison, I believe the rocky beach is what you meant by mountains, but let me know if I was mistaken)
OOC2: I’m putting your spoilers together cuz you’re taking the same route, but no pressure to work together/interact if you don’t want to.
Ithrul and Emeric each head eastward from Gunlunshire to a region called Lucent Cavern. This coastal area is known for its many smaller sea caves and one large one: The Lucent Cavern, which is named for the many translucent boulders which lie within it. The reflections and images of these rocks turn the cavern into a perilous maze of sorts, where it is easy to get lost and difficult to hide. The main travelers’ path, though, is above all these caverns, safe from their denizens. To the west is Gunlunshire, to the east is Hanged Man’s Crossroads, and to the north in the distance you can see some sort of large lake.
You see a couple of climbers descending down the rocks to the caverns below. You think you may be able to overhear one of them mention the word “gold,” but the waves crashing against the more distant rocks obscures much of their dialogue.
You can proceed east and then south to the sinkhole of which Davison spoke, investigate these possible treasure-seekers, or do literally anything else you wish.
“Both sides are very much human - or at least predominantly so. The new war is between two factions: The Umbric Flame and the Crystal Blade. The flame started as a disorganized rebellion against the Crystal Empire, but when its leaders discovered that organization could breed profits, it became a war of two true, organized armies. Both factions have camps scattered throughout the islands. Obviously I would never suggest you sign up - this war will tear us apart just like the last one did, the evidence of which is all before you. But the nearest outpost is an umbric flame camp at the end of the very long road to the north of here. It’s likely more than a day’s journey on foot, or else I would be uncomfortable conducting these operations in their immediate shadow.”
Hydrodrift
Design: This card is a functional reprint of Disperse, so while that means it’s printable, it seems odd to really award much of anything in the way of points here. 2/10
Flavor: You get a much better score here - floating it up on the water makes sense and “return to its owner” makes sense given the challenge. 9/10
Score: 11 - FAILURE
The teddy bear floats most of the way to the top, but your concentration fizzles and it falls back to the bottom. Leaving the sad boy behind, you make your way north out of town onto the Horizon Coast Road.
This road is very long and bordered on its west entirely by ocean. At first, to the east, all you see is a large lake a short ways off into the distance. Your path ahead is obstructed by a strange sight. A wizard of sorts is being pestered, poked, and prodded by a trio of small pixie-like creatures. “Help me, please!” he exclaims.
CHALLENGE:
Help the wizard deal with his pixie problem.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a common, non-planeswalker permanent card
Difficulty: 12
Davison tells you what he can about the crystals, “The closest crystal we’ve found to here is in the Cabernak Sinkhole, past the caverns to the east, and to the south through Hanged Man’s Crossroads. We believe there is another halfway up the road to the north, and then to the east, at the Tree of Vessels.”
You attempt to peer into his mind for more (Diff:14).
Mind Tunnel
Design: Two mental effects put together, each of which could be seen as tunneling through a mind. Seems like the right balance to me for a common sorcery. Many decks are going to choose to play this on the opponent so my only wish is that the name of the card were somehow altered to refer to plural minds. 9/10
Flavor: While the scry part of the card makes sense for what you’re trying to do, the milling part feels more like how you would wipe someone’s memories, rather than try to retrieve them for yourself. But then name and general flavor work well here. 6/10
Score: 15 - SUCCESS
While you do not catch any glimpses of other crystal locations - perhaps this is genuinely all he knows - you do see something: You get a vision of the inside of a cave, presumably somewhere in or around that aforementioned sinkhole - and inside this cave you see a giant, menacing Golem, seemingly on some sort of patrol. Something to watch out for, for sure.
Hmm. I hoped the weekend might bring more players, not fewer.
Davison Lanke answers your questions in reverse order: “The closest crystal we’ve found to here is in the Cabernak Sinkhole, past the caverns to the east, and to the south through Hanged Man’s Crossroads. We believe there is another halfway up the road to the north, and then to the east, at the Tree of Vessels.”
“The new war is between two factions: The Umbric Flame and the Crystal Blade. The flame started as a disorganized rebellion against the Crystal Empire, but when its leaders discovered that organization could breed profits, it became a war of two true, organized armies. Both factions have camps scattered throughout the islands.”
You go to the child and ask what’s wrong. He explains that he dropped his teddy bear down the well. Looking down, you can’t see it. It’s probably sunk to the very bottom by now.
CHALLENGE
Retrieve the teddy bear from the bottom of the well.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
None
Difficulty: 12.5
Valor of Battle
Design: This seems good to me. It’s an interesting use of raid to let red have a defensive combat trick that just happens to be a little better on offense. It all works for me. My only qualm is that “valor” doesn’t feel like a word that goes with first strike. 8.5/10
Flavor: Full points here. 10/10
Score: 18.5 - SUCCESS
You strike down that spirit with ease and proceed down the path to Gunlunshire. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures. To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
You emerge from the path and spot a man leaning against the wall of a ruined home, and he spots you at the same time. His eyes seem to light up, and he walks toward you.
“Davison Lanke,” he says, reaching for a handshake. “Wow, you feel real. Amazing. Listen, I’m not sure how much Alster filled you in on, but--” You assure Davison that Alster did a whole long speech that you’d rather not hear again. “Ah, yes, that does sound like he covered most of it. What he may not have gone into detail about is the nature of the crystals scattered throughout Krynsia. They each are attuned to a very specific magical energy. Some glow with a certain color of magic, like the ones you saw at the Old Changeling War Factory, but others hover in the other, some jitter around madly, some turn invisible seemingly at their own will, some bring instant death to any natural-born who even grazes them. The variety of them seems nearly limitless. These powers they hold can become yours, if you seek them out.”
“But I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as it was at the factory. After the changeling wars, a council of mages did what they could to scatter the crystals and hide them - sending magical guardians to watch after them as well. Alster and I believe we have tracked a few down - and I could direct you to them if you wish. But Alster instructed me not to be clear: We will not force you into anything. I am here if you have any questions about the crystal locations, or the new war.”
Yes, skipping to here is fine!
Davison tells you of the nearby crystals they believe they’ve discovered: “The closest crystal we’ve found to here is in the Cabernak Sinkhole, past the caverns to the east, and to the south through Hanged Man’s Crossroads. We believe there is another halfway up the road to the north, and then to the east, at the Tree of Vessels.”
You proceed down the path to Gunlunshire. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures. To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
You emerge from the path and spot a man leaning against the wall of a ruined home, and he spots you at the same time. His eyes seem to light up, and he walks toward you.
“Davison Lanke,” he says, reaching for a handshake. “Wow, you feel real. Amazing. Listen, I’m not sure how much Alster filled you in on, but--” You assure Davison that Alster did a whole long speech that you’d rather not hear again. “Ah, yes, that does sound like he covered most of it. What he may not have gone into detail about is the nature of the crystals scattered throughout Krynsia. They each are attuned to a very specific magical energy. Some glow with a certain color of magic, like the ones you saw at the Old Changeling War Factory, but others hover in the other, some jitter around madly, some turn invisible seemingly at their own will, some bring instant death to any natural-born who even grazes them. The variety of them seems nearly limitless. These powers they hold can become yours, if you seek them out.”
“But I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as it was at the factory. After the changeling wars, a council of mages did what they could to scatter the crystals and hide them - sending magical guardians to watch after them as well. Alster and I believe we have tracked a few down - and I could direct you to them if you wish. But Alster instructed me not to be clear: We will not force you into anything. I am here if you have any questions about the crystal locations, or the new war.”
TO EVERYONE AT THE NAMING STAGE: FEEL FREE TO CHANGE THE NAME OF YOUR AVATAR FROM "VATBORN" TO YOUR NAME.
TO EVERYONE IN GENERAL: FEEL FREE/ENCOURAGED TO READ EACH OTHER’S SPOILERS - IT CAN HELP YOU NOT WASTE TURNS IF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT/WHO IS IN THE TOWN/AREA AHEAD BEFORE YOU GET THERE.
THIS IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL IN TERMS OF LEARNING THE GEOGRAPHY AND BEING ABLE TO SKIP OVER LOCATIONS IN WHICH YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN STOPPING.
Apologies, but I actually have a way planned for players to gain abilities like flying already, and this isn’t it, but you can make it happen relatively soon if you want. [Big Hint, but it’s also mentioned in spoilers below, so why not say it here: Not every crystal in Krynsia is about color/mana.] I’ll still grade your card for design, as you went to the trouble:
Chesphon’s Glamer
Design: This is a fun little common. I do wonder though if you could get the card when it enters the battlefield instead of when it leaves, just to make the card a little stronger. I think we’re at the point where that would be fine. But either way, nice simple common. 7.5/10
You manage to take flight, but just for a few seconds before you feel yourself descending again. Still, it’s enough time for you to grab a Black Fruit and put it in your inventory.
Nyx-Blessed Touch
Design: I wonder if this wouldn’t be rare, being a tutor at this cost, but being a library-topper definitely makes it much weaker and easier to disrupt. Honestly, if this cost 1 more, I think it would be perfect, so I won’t take off much for any balance issues. Internal flavor makes sense. I’m feeling like 8/10.
Flavor: The word “touch” in the name helps you here, but the word “nyx” hurts you, since we’re not in a plane where that’s a thing. Still, if you just took the work “Nyx-” away, it’d be perfect, so again I’m gonna say 8/10.
Score: 16+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the white crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornW
Creature - Human (C)
1/1
**Don’t forget to post your avatar and stuff in all your posts, please.**
You catch the main portion of the archer’s speech to the group:
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
“Were my ancestors alive today, I fear they would be my own enemy - and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I acknowledge there is danger in awakening forces such as yourselves - and I take that responsibility seriously. But I know what war can do, and if it can be prevented, it is worth the cost. You will find Davison to be of the same mindset, I’m sure. He can help you grow your strength and turn into the peacekeepers we so desperately need, if you would accept that burden.”
Ainok Altar
Design: I like this card a lot, but it’s the static ability that worries me, being colorless at that cost. I don’t think blue and white should be able to get that must-be-blocked for two mana. If that were another activated ability, possibly costing RG, I think this card would be much improved. As is, I’m inclined to put it at 7/10.
Flavor: I had to reconfirm what the Ainok are, since I haven’t actually played with newer cards in a little while, despite being a big rumor-mill-lurker. But having done so, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be one, and this card feels like it could be a statue of one. 8.5/10
Score: 15.5 - SUCCESS
Your creature type becomes Hound and you lose Changeling.
You run ahead to where you can hear the others, and see that they are tapping into the energies of a set of crystals. There is one white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green. You are told by one of your fellow vatborn that it is a taxing process, and you will likely only have the energy to call upon one crystal’s power for now.
CHALLENGE:
Design a card that represents you harnessing the energy of a crystal.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
It must be an instant or sorcery.
It must cost exactly one mana and exactly match the color of the crystal you’re trying to harness. (This is, if you hadn’t guessed, the color your avatar will become.)
Bonuses/Penalties:
Doesn’t use “target”: +1
Is rare: -1
Difficulty Score: 13
On your path through the haunted wood-arch path, you grab a random tree branch (add to inventory) and use it as a little walking stick. Your journey feels long, but it is safe, and you emerge into Gunlunshire - a small town where every other building appears to be in ruins. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures, but you see a child peering down the well as though he’s looking for something.
To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
See spoiler below with your name on it for more.
Your journey through the haunted wood-arch path feels long, but it is safe, and you emerge into Gunlunshire - a small town where every other building appears to be in ruins. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures, but you see a child peering down the well as though he’s looking for something.
To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
See spoiler immediately below with your name on it for more.
You emerge from the path simultaneously and spot a man leaning against the wall of a ruined home, and he spots you at the same time. His eyes seem to light up, and he walks toward you.
“Davison Lanke,” he says, grabbing each of your hands for a handshake. “Wow, you feel real. Amazing. Listen, I’m not sure how much Alster filled you in on, but--” You assure Davison that Alster did a whole long speech that you’d rather not hear again. “Ah, yes, that does sound like he covered most of it. What he may not have gone into detail about is the nature of the crystals scattered throughout Krynsia. They each are attuned to a very specific magical energy. Some glow with a certain color of magic, like the ones you saw at the Old Changeling War Factory, but others hover in the other, some jitter around madly, some turn invisible seemingly at their own will, some bring instant death to any natural-born who even grazes them. The variety of them seems nearly limitless. These powers they hold can become yours, if you seek them out.”
“But I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as it was at the factory. After the changeling wars, a council of mages did what they could to scatter the crystals and hide them - sending magical guardians to watch after them as well. Alster and I believe we have tracked a few down - and I could direct you to them if you wish. But Alster instructed me not to be clear: We will not force you into anything. I am here if you have any questions about the crystal locations, or the new war.”
Inverted Knowledge
Design: I’m not sure if you purposely omitted “until end of turn,” but I don’t think they like to play with memory issues like that. That said, I’m not hasbro, and I think it’s a very cool card that’s well balanced and makes good internal sense. 8.5/10
Flavor: I get both a struggle-vibe and an accumulation-of-knowledge-vibe and that’s what we needed here. The struggle could be a little more real, but it’s still a strong flavor showing. 7.5/10
Score: 16 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the blue crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornU
Creature - Merfolk (C)
1/1
You catch the main portion of the archer’s speech to the group:
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
You march through the haunted wood-arch path with battle on your mind. These thoughts alone make your desires come true, as you find yourself face-to-face with:
Spectre of Astral War1B
Creature - Spirit
Deathtouch
2/1
CHALLENGE:
Survive combat with the spectre.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Your card must have a CMC of exactly 2
The spectre is “attacking,” you are “blocking.”
Energy of Rage
Design: I like this, but can’t help but wonder if that spell mastery change might make it a pushed common.But I guess by the time you’ve mastered spells, a 1 damage sweep isn’t so devastating, and I do think it’s a cool use of spell mastery as a sort of overload-esque thing. 7.5/10
Flavor: I don’t get a huge energy-harnessing vibe from this. I kind of get it with the word energy in the name - which makes me think this is the energy itself that you’re harnessing, and it’s damaging you in the process like I said it would. I’m gonna call this not a total flavor win, but something that I can understand making some sense in the scenario. 6.5/10
Score: 14+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the red crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornR
Creature - Minotaur (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Show of Talent
Design: Sure. A sort of underwhelming “trick” to get some evasion and another ability that you can maybe make use of, maybe not. This feels like a common that would be printed, ignored for constructed, and taken maybe in like the 9 to 12 slot in draft then end up being useful. I do think it could’ve been an instant still at common and been a little better maybe. Internal flavor is cool. 7/10
Flavor: Sure. A little arrogant of you to just decide your character is great at harnessing crystals, but I do see how the card ties into the situation pretty well. I do wish it matched my description of it taking great pain and effort a bit, but hey, freedom of action is part of the game, so 6.5/10
Score: 13.5 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the blue crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornU
Creature - Faerie (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Dark Pulse
Design: Yeah, why not. Makes sense to me as a little win-more common. Obviously this isn’t getting played competitively but it feels printable as a sort of cute junk common. I do have some concern about it being a little too unexciting though. Internal flavor is fine though. 6.5/10
Flavor: I guess this is supposed to represent the energy emanating from the crystal which makes it harmful to people. We don’t really see a harnessing action here, but you’ve still stayed true to the lore of what’s going on around you in a believable way, and that’s good. 6/10
Score: 12.5+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the blue crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornB
Creature - Elf (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Unstable Knowledge
Design: This feels like a pretty reasonable card to me. You’re probably not going to play it without landfall, but with it, it’s fine, and if you manage to cast it with landfall and no cards in hand, then it’s very very good. (Too good?) I’m a fan of this card and its internal flavor, even if I do have some power-variance concerns. 8/10
Flavor: Yeah, I like this one a lot. It embodies the concept that you’re gaining fundamental knowledge and having to give something up/struggle in the process. It might go better off the crystal thing if it had artifactfall instead of landfall, but still, I’m a fan. 8/10
Score: 16+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the red crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornR
Creature - Satyr (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Necromantic Toxin
Design: I like this a lot, it’s simple and effective, my only concern is whether it should maybe cost 1 more or be uncommon. Flavor text seems like it conflicts a tiny bit with the mechanic of the card. (Having them come back stronger sounds more like undying than persist.) 8.5/10
Flavor: I like the subtle ways this works flavorfully, with deathtouch making it feel like you can safely touch death, and persist showing that there is endurance of suffering involved. 9/10
Score - 17.5 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the black crystal and your avatar becomes:
VatbornB
Creature - Naga (C)
1/1
***DONT FORGET TO UPDATE THIS IN YOUR POSTS**
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Your new lives begin:
“My Gods, it’s true,” the archer exclaims as you each manage to harness the energy from one of the crystals without dying. You each feel your forms take a stronger hold and then, suddenly, it feels like a small extra weight has been added to your body - not a real weight, but the weigh of permanence. Your form and your energies have been locked in.
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
Hopefully nothing got jumbled in all my pasting back and forth between this and google drive:
The Minotaur’s Image
Design: Starting off nitpicky, I feel like the player-friendly wording would have it say “Whenever ~ or another Minotaur” but I almost never take off for small wording things like that and I don’t plan to here. This is a fun tribal lordly artifact. It can be a little dangerous that it does indeed trigger off itself, especially if you have a decent minotaur deck and get this out in multiples. That said, minotaur support isn’t exactly brilliant right now so that’s not a huge worry. This is to say: It’s a fun card but bears the risk of being too bad in an environment without good minotaurs and too good in an environment with them, especially in limited at uncommon. I like all the internal flavor though. 7.5/10
Flavor: Yes, perfect, not much to say here. Couldn’t be truer to the challenge. 10/10
Score: 17.5 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Minotaur (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Image of Revelry and Wandering
Design: That’s a long name! I’m on an MSE-less mac so I can’t test if it’s too long, but maybe... ANYWAY, I worry a bit about the power level of this, though at rare these days, I guess it’s really just a drop in the bucket. I would be more comfortable seeing it as a spellshaper artifact, which cheaper mana costs for the abilities but with “discard a card” costs added - and the main cost dropped. That said, it’s a four mana artifact that takes three more mana to make any immediate impact, so it’s probably absolutely fine and I’m just paranoid. I do like how the abilities each correspond to the words in the name. 7/10
Flavor: My barometer for this challenge is “can I look at the card first without reading the text and know what the creature type is” and with yours, I actually could, even though you don’t name it outright. That seems like a good thing to me. 9.5/10
Score: 16.5 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Satyr (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Soul of Alabaster
Design: Very interesting. I’m sure there’s a way to break that cost reduction but since you have to play an artifact that’s not immediately threatening AND use Auras, maybe you deserve it if you manage to get a big win with this card. I worry a little about this at uncommon but it’s probably too weak for rare. It’s a nice niche card. 7.5/10
Flavor: My barometer for this challenge is “can I look at the card first without reading the text and know what the creature type is” and with yours, I couldn’t quite manage it. Then I read your game text and I still couldn’t quite tell if we’re going for human or angel or human angel. You have good statue-flavor here and I’m a sucker for the word alabaster, but you might not end up with the creature type you want just because I am not sure what it is. 4.5/10
Score: 12 - SUCCESS (barely)
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Human (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Cloudwalker Idol
Design: This seems right. I think you had a lower-costed-ability version up earlier and that one seemed too pushed, but now it’s much more balanced. Flavor makes sense internally, yada yada yada... 9/10
Flavor: Yup. Clearly a statue of a clearly specified creature type. 10/10
Score: 19 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Faerie (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Sultai Relic
Design: Even with delve, I can’t help but feel like most aspects of this card are overcosted. If the grave-to-hand cost 1 less and the the casting cost were 1 or 2 less, I think we’d be looking at something a little more competitive, especially at rare these days. That said, even as-is, I can see this having a lot of combo potential, so maybe your playing it safer on costs is wise. It feels Sultai. I’m gonna go with 7/10
Flavor: My barometer for this challenge is “can I look at the card first without reading the text and know what the creature type is” and with yours, I wasn’t sure. Clearly it’s something of Sultai relevance, so probably Naga, but they also have zombies and stuff - though that sort of wouldn’t make sense for this game. A minor thing also - It’s a little odd that this courtyard in a plane that doesn’t have Sultai in it would have a statue called “Sultai Relic.” Just something to keep in mind moving forward. Reading your game text it almost looks like “snake” is what you want, but snakes don’t have hands so... 5/10
Score: 12 - SUCCESS (barely, and mostly because I like the idea of a Naga player)
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Naga (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Whirlpool Idol
Design: Yup, feels like a good accessory to what blue merfolk can do. Like that it has a reason to be tribal because it triggers off of itself. I think I might like it better without the islandwalk just because I do agree with phasing out mechanics that are so situational, but other than that, cool fun card. 7.5/10
Flavor: Yeah, makes sense to me. Clear and what I asked for. 10/10
Score: 17.5 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Merfolk (C)
1/1
You flop around for a bit and ensure that your final form is a sort of variant of merfolk that can actually travel on land and breathe oxygen. You finally end up with something mostly stable.
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Groove Watch
Design: The mana accel is a little aggressive by current standards but at rare with that condition MAYBE you can get away with it. That second ability is very cool though. Temporarily cloning based on creature type is interesting and new at least to me, and I feel like that ability is costed correctly. Not sure why it’s called what it’s called - thinking you meant grove. Let’s say 7/10
Flavor: The name doesn’t feel very statue-y and there’s no flavor text to help on that front, but I guess seeing as it’s an artifact with those abilities, what else could it be. And the creature type is clear and specific. 7/10
Score: 14 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn1
Creature - Elf (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
The group’s adventure continues...
“Interesting choices,” the mysterious archer remarks to the crowd. “I suppose they’ll have to do. Now come with me. Let’s see if you can do what you were made for.”
You follow the archer through one of the courtyard exits and are surrounded by tall, thick brush which obscures your view. You can only see behind you, ahead, and above, where you see a gloomy night sky. It seems as though dawn may be approaching as a glimmer of yellow is peeking from the eastern horizon.
You come into another courtyard, much like the one you just left in terms of shape and size. But rather than have statues around the edge, there is a smaller ring of pedestals in the center of the courtyard.
“As I had mentioned, the magic of this place has all but wasted away. Hopefully, though, there was enough left when you were created to give you the power we need. To any natural-born son or daughter of Krynsia, these crystals would bring only pain. But to you, they can bring strength and powerful magicks. I fear in your weaker forms, though, it may still bring great strain upon you to accomplish this. You will likely only have the strength to harness power from a single crystal, and even then, not without great effort.”
You look at the five crystals before you: One white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green.
CHALLENGE:
Design a card that represents you harnessing the energy of a crystal.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
It must be an instant or sorcery.
It must cost exactly one mana and exactly match the color of the crystal you’re trying to harness. (This is, if you hadn’t guessed, the color your avatar will become.)
Bonuses/Penalties:
Doesn’t use “target”: +1
Is rare: -1
You awaken - for lack of a better word - in the middle of muck. Your vision is blurry and all you can see is a sort of translucent dark blueness all around. Your sense of touch comes more quickly, and you feel... “oozy.” The word struggles to come to your mind. All language, in fact, seems belabored, as does any self-reflexive thought. “Where am I?” leads to other questions: Who am I, What am I, etc. These precious seconds spent lost in philosophy have given your senses time to acclimate to your consciousness. You feel gravity - your first indication that one direction is “down” while another is “up.” You turn to look up and the color around you changes slightly for the browner. You move your body up through the ooze and emerge, suddenly flooded by a world of new images.
Looking around, you see several large black vats. One by one, you see forms emerge from them, each as confused-looking as you, and each seemingly made of the same ooze in which you were swimming, but in a vaguely humanoid form. You see one of the others climb out from their vat and step onto the ground. You look around and find that you are in a quite large room. There are no windows and the light is dim. You get the feeling you’re underground.
“We haven’t much time. Please, come with me.”
You and your oozy brethren look to an arched doorway, where you see a man - an apparent archer or ranger of sorts - standing and looking at you. “Please hurry, there’s no time to explain.”
The lot of you emerge from your vats and follow the man. You go up a spiral staircase that seems almost endless, finally emerging into a small circular courtyard, walled off by tall stones. Around the circumference stand a set of statues.
“The magic of this place has waned long ago. It took all of its power to create you in the first place, but you aren’t like the others who came before. Soon your form will be set for life.”
This remark from the mysterious archer triggers a realization in you. You look down to your own arm and watch as you shift it from a human arm to a long bat’s wing to a giant hammer and back to an arm again.
“I know you don’t have much to go on, but you must choose a form now before it’s too late. Look to the statues for guidance. It is important that you be able to blend in, or else I fear you’ll be the subject of unwanted attention.”
GAME DETAILS:
Here, everyone, is your avatar and info for the time-being. Please start including it all in your posts, just to get in the habit of it, since it will be more crucial later.
Design a non-creature artifact card to represent the statue in the courtyard that you’re choosing to take the form of. It should be clear from the card what creature type (race, not class) the statue is, and this will become your creature type for the rest of the game - so choose wisely. It should be something that can travel on land, hold objects, and talk. I have given this challenge a pretty low difficulty, but if you fail this challenge, you may not end up being the creature type you were hoping for.
Difficulty Score: 12
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a colorless non-creature artifact
Tribal is allowed
I couldn't resist: I will be creating one of these games very soon. Due to the nature of its main story, signups will not include anything other than saying "I'm in" and I will accept those signups either here or in the thread for the game itself once I put it up later tonight. Just make sure I can tell you're talking to me specifically if it's in this thread.
Feel free to join mine if you're already in another - I'm not going to cap it for now.
While I'm totally in, I just wanted to clarify: You still in mine?
Hello and welcome to my Massively Multiplayer Online Custom Card Creation Role Playing Game. My ruleset/game methodology it slightly different than others, so I am going to lay it out here in this post: You will play as a character in a world of my creation, voyaging forth and doing whatever you want. Obstacles and challenges will stand in your path (and hopefully you will seek them out) and you will have to create custom magic cards to overcome them. These cards will be graded on a scale from 0-20, with up to 10 points assigned based on card design, and up to 10 points assigned based on how well it fits the lore and situation, including whether it feels connected to your particular character. If your card scores high enough (each challenge will have a score required for success that I will tell you), you succeed and move forward. If not, you may have to suffer the consequences. Each challenge will also have guidelines, restrictions, and in some cases bonus point opportunities.
You have no persistent mana pool or hand size for the purposes of your adventuring. Your only limitations for what you can design are those laid forth in the specific challenge. Also, as has always been a general rule for my MMOCCCRPGS, you can't take permanent cards with you. There may be exceptions for this, but they will have to be earned. The basic rule, though, is you can't design a creature/artifact/enchantment/land and then have access to it for the rest of the game.
You will be represented by a card, and as you progress through the story and world, your avatar will improve. You will also have abilities distinct from your card, which can be earned through progressing, and an inventory. It is up to you to keep track of your avatar, abilities, and inventory, and I beg of you to please post all three in every post you make in this thread, whether they've changed since your last post or not.
The final rule of the game is more lore-based: Please do not build the world too much. What I enjoy most in this is building the world and telling these stories, and I often have some long term plans in mind - please don't disrupt these plans by inventing your own locations or major characters - and please try to avoid speaking on NPCs' behalf in your posts.
I think, hopefully, that is all the rules I need to lay out. You can do whatever you want, and explore as you see fit. I will do my best to keep the lore consistent, from NPCs to geography to story and history and all that jazz. Your job is to have fun, explore, design interesting magic cards, and possibly decide the fate of our home plane:
KRYNSIA
I will not say much about this plane, partially because I want to give myself freedom to make stuff up, and partially because what I do know for sure about the plane is part of the story that I want you to unfold for yourselves. Hopefully that's more intriguing than it is frustrating.
SIGNUPS ARE BACK OPEN:
You can sign up one of two ways: 1) just say you want to play, or 2) if you want to skip the "character creation" part of the game, read what has happened up through post #27 and post a character who could exist at that point. I'd say what that means, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't been reading along and is looking to be surprised.
I couldn't resist: I will be creating one of these games very soon. Due to the nature of its main story, signups will not include anything other than saying "I'm in" and I will accept those signups either here or in the thread for the game itself once I put it up later tonight. Just make sure I can tell you're talking to me specifically if it's in this thread.
Feel free to join mine if you're already in another - I'm not going to cap it for now.
I fear I'm too late for the first eight, but I did invent this format, so maybe that counts for something.
Name: Jamble Auker Race: Human Class: Cleric Colors: W Zone: Battlefield
Jamble is a borderline-druid of a cleric, but his focus on healing and light puts him squarely under the Cleric umbrella. He's all about finding the healing powers in the lands and all its living bounty, including both plant and animal life. His healing grace makes him friend to many, as he offers aid with no expectation of reward. He is a humble, minimalist nomad of this world, accruing enough to live comfortably in his travels, but no more. To sum him up: He is humble, attuned, and benevolent.
Careless Theft
Design: I think this is a great synergy of abilities. It saves the trouble of “combos well with a sac outlet” by being its own sac outlet, if the price is right. Innovative. The only thing I’m bumping on with this is the name - It just doesn’t feel careless, it feels more ruthless or the like. Also think the cost could be lower/maybe 2R given the specificity of what it can steal. 8.5/10
Flavor: Your text gives some explanation to how this works, but I can’t shake the feeling that is doesn’t feel like something that pulls something up from the bottom of a deep well. Mechanically, though, if the well were a bit shallower or something, this does make sense for the generally concept of “getting a teddy bear.” 5/10
Score: 13.5 - SUCCESS
You retrieve the teddy bear from the well and, after some deliberation, return it to the child. He thanks you with a Toy Sword (One time use, add +1.5 to score during combat).
“Debu,” the goblin replies as he scampers up the road to the north, getting out of sight remarkably quickly.
You proceed to the south to Cabernak Sinkhole, an area surrounded on all sides by ocean except for the north, from where you came. The salty air swirls in your face as you come startlingly to the edge of a giant sinkhole, maybe a quarter-mile in diameter and descending down farther than you can see by a great deal. Presumably, if there is a crystal around here somewhere, it’s more likely down there than up here.
You also can barely see anything down there, so you will need a light source.
CHALLENGE
Descend to the bottom of the sinkhole and give yourself a way to see down there.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
None
Difficulty: 13
Thief’s Agility
Design: This is very interesting. Used on a big enough dude and it’s damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t for the opponent, plus you get to draw a card. I think my favorite version of this card would be to take away the cantrip and make it a common, or maybe add 1 to the cost. It just feels like a card that can sometimes be 4 life advantage + draw a card for one mana is pretty good. But I really like the colorshifting into black like this. 6.5/10
Flavor: The name works well here but I’m not sure that can’t-be-blocked feels like it ties into going down a cliff. 4.5/10
Score: 11 - SUCCESS
You make your way quickly to the shore and meet up with your new comrades. Together, the three of you venture into the cavern. It’s not long until you all start bumping into things - the translucent rocks playing tricks on you as they always do.
“The loot shouldn’t be too far now-- What was that?” One of the treasure hunters stops in his tracks. “You, wait here,” he says to you, before summoning his companion and scouting a few steps ahead with him. You wait as told for a minute before they beckon you to join them again. You slither ahead and find them, swords drawn, facing you. “Looks like we found our treasure.”
CHALLENGE
You are attacked by two of these:
Cave Bandit UB
Creature - Human Rogue
Whenever Cave Bandit deals combat damage to a player, you may discard an Island card. If you do, that player discards a card.
2/2
Survive.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a common.
You can fight or run or do anything you want, but you can only make one card.
Difficulty: 12
OOC NOTE: Another player (Necarg) has made his way to the cave’s entrance by now. If you wish, you could call out for assistance.
The two of you convene midway through the Horizon Coast Road and find yourselves traveling the same way. You both go east and arrive at the Tree of Vessels.
This tree is incredibly wide - it would take upwards of twenty people to form a circle all around it, but also quite short considering - maybe only 30 feet, making it dimensionally look almost more like a bush than a tree. Surrounding it is a grassy expanse, the fertility of the plant life seemingly augmented. Blooming flowers are larger and more colorful than in other nearby areas. To the west is the Horizon Coast Road, to the east is the northern half of a road called Sorrow’s Trail, to the south is a large lake, and to the north are some distant sea cliffs.
If there is a crystal here, it is not out in the open. You could search for it yourself, or, you notice there is a druid investigating a small sapling a few yards away from the main tree. Perhaps he knows something about the place, or perhaps not.
You hear the goblin introduce himself as “Debu” to your brief companion, then he scampers up the road. You proceed north as a more reasonable pace onto Sorrow’s Trail.
This road runs along the coast. It appears rather standard - the reasons it has its ominous name are not apparent just from walking onto it. To the south is Hanged Man’s Crossroads, and to the north you see what looks to be a proper city. To the west is a lake, and a bit of the ways up the road to the east appears to be some sort of strange tree. To the east is ocean, but you can just make out a glimpse of what appears to be another large land mass, but smaller - a small continent perhaps in the distant horizon.
You proceed up the road, heading north, past the lake entirely. The city is now fuller in view, but you stop quite suddenly at the sight of a being staring out into the ocean. It appears to be some sort of bipedal horse creature - it also appears to be very much a ghost. You may address him or, if you would rather seek your reward from Debu, head up to Fantaff.
You come to the Lucent Cavern and see nothing, but hear a commotion that seems to come from just below your feet. You walk to the cliff’s edge and peer over, hearing the word “treasure...” echo from the caves, uttered by a voice that sounds like it belongs to a weakling. As such, you attempt to make your way down and investigate.
Scale the Treacherous
Design: Coin flip cards are always tricky and this is no exception. I think it’s a bit strange that this is a sorcery. Yes, you can possibly boost a creature’s attacking power by a lot, but you’re doing it at great risk and not granting evasion. I think I would like this better if it were an instant that could only target a non-blocking creature. The balance seems OK in terms of the coin flip though. 6.5/10
Flavor: The name works and the notion of bulking up for the task also makes some sense. You’ve also captured the perils of doing so. 8/10
Score: 14.5 - SUCCESS
You make your way to the base of the cave and the ruckus inside seems to be continuing. (I have given poison the option to reach out to you for help, or not to. If poison and you decide to work together, great. If not, you will arrive at the scene inside the cave only in time for the aftermath of whatever poison decides to do.)
Moldering Malady
Design: They make some pretty expensive artifacts these days so this has some pretty strong potential, but I think it’s balanced right. The only thing I think is that you could possibly get away with this being an instant. Cool name. 8.5/10
Flavor: I had not expected destroying the gallows completely, but this rotting-away makes sense and seems like an acceleration of what would already be happening. 7.5/10
Score: 16 - SUCCESS
The gallows start to rot away, the post tipping over as it does, giving the goblin a relatively gentle landing. You walk up and untie the knot. See spoiler below.
Chesphon walks up as Emeric unbinds the goblin and offers the goblin his Black Fruit, which the famished goblin devours while he expresses his thanks to you. He reaches into his pocket and hands each of you two gold coins. “I’m sorry, this is all I have on me right now. If you meet me at my home in the outskirts of Fantaff, I can give you more.” Off your unknowing looks, he continues, “Fantaff is to the north of here, at the other end of Sorrow’s Path.”
The goblin marches away to the north, leaving you to decide whether to follow him for your reward straightaway, or continue on your intended journey down to the sinkhole.
Spark Invocation
Design: I think this is fine. It’s red getting a slightly enhanced version of “draw a card” but with plenty of risk/drawback in there too. Seems balanced. 8.5/10
Flavor: Yeah, this works for me. You’re drawing power from something for sure, with all the ritual-esque flavor the word “invocation” brings. 8.5/10
Score: 17+1 - SUCCESS
Your avatar becomes:
Vatborn R
Creature - Human Werewolf (C)
1/1
see appropriate spoiler below
Cultural Surge
Design: This seems way too strong, I think? I feel like any evasion and/or token deck can just destroy with this, and it’s so cheap. I think the fairness of it applying to everything is just outmatched by the fact it ends at the turn. If it were “until your next turn” so your opponent got to attack with the bonus too, then I could see it happening at one mana. All of this said, I admire the idea for being very interesting, but I just think this isn’t quite the right execution. 5.5/10
Flavor: I do admire what your going for and while I think the jump to making this qhite crystal the embodiment of civilization is a bit of a stretch, that is a white theme and the word “surge” helps you here. I get the general vibe. 6.5/10
Score: 12+1 - SUCCESS
Your avatar becomes:
Vatborn W
Creature - Minotaur (C)
1/1
see spoiler below
“My Gods, it’s true,” the archer exclaims as you each manage to harness the energy from one of the crystals without dying. You each feel your forms take a stronger hold and then, suddenly, it feels like a small extra weight has been added to your body - not a real weight, but the weigh of permanence. Your form and your energies have been locked in.
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish. Feel free to add the name to your avatar right away.
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
OOC: If you choose to read spoilers of the game thusfar, you can feel free to skip ahead over locations and dialogue you don’t want to waste turns on repeating. But again, if you prefer the spoiler-free experience, I can provide it for you.
OOC: You aren’t bound to red just because you’re red, unless you elect to play that way. Also, your avatar seems to be named Vatborn again.
You go to the child and ask what’s wrong. He explains that he dropped his teddy bear down the well. Looking down, you can’t see it. It’s probably sunk to the very bottom by now.
CHALLENGE
Retrieve the teddy bear from the bottom of the well.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
None
Difficulty: 12.5
You disengage from conversation and look around. You see a boy peering despondently down into a well.
You make your way out of town heading north to the Horizon Coast Road. This road is very long and bordered on its west entirely by ocean. At first, to the east, all you see is a large lake a short ways off into the distance. The tree must be some ways into the distance, as the road seems to go well beyond what you can see.
You see what appears to be a man being bothered by a bandit-type, but it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on. Any magical interaction you take here will face a difficulty score of 13 and must be an instant or sorcery with CMC 4 or greater, or you could investigate further nonmagically, or proceed without doing anything.
ALERT: FAILURE TO POST YOUR PLAYER INFO MAY RESULT IN RANDOM, ARBITRARY BAD THINGS HAPPENING TO YOUR CHARACTER
You slither toward the cliff’s edge and peer down. “Hello up there!” exclaims the climber who has already reached bottom. You ask what’s going on. “We heard rumor there may be a small treasure not too far into the cavern. If you don’t mind taking a 25-percent stake, you’re welcome to join. It seems only fair we should split a greater pot, since we had the idea.” The treasure-hunter’s companion doesn’t seem thrilled that his partner has extended the offer to you without first consulting him. The second treasure-hunter reaches the bottom. With no equipment, you are left to find your own way down.
You also happen to notice a flightless faerie (SelesnyaNewLife) you recognize from the vat factory approaching from Gunlunshire.
CHALLENGE
Descend the cliffside.
Restrictions/Clairifications:
Can’t use “flying” or Equipment
Difficulty: 11
From here, you also think you can see a strange, large creature shambling toward the lake to the north. It’s slow-moving enough that you could surely catch up if you took the detour.
You see a Naga (poison counter) you recognize from the vats attempting to descend the cliffs and join a couple of treasure hunters, and a merfolk (Coyote King) proceed further east down your current path, toward Hanged Man’s Crossroads. [ooc: feel free to “catch up” with either of them if you mutually agree to journey together.]
You do, however, see one that is “in use.” A small goblin hangs upside down, his ankle bound in a makeshift noose. “Help!” he cries out to you. “My friends played a trick on me!” The rope and goblin are both too high for you to reach. Of course, you could just ignore him.
CHALLENGE
Get the goblin down safely.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a multicolored sorcery
Difficulty: 11
Gloomweaver
Design: This is a tough one. First things first, I don’t know why this needs defender. It’s a normal spider, and at 1 power it’s not really posing a giant power threat by being able to attack. Then there’s that activated ability, though. If you don’t have a way to pump this guy, then he can sort of chump everything and kill one thing, and if you can also pump him, he can become a kills-all-attackers force to be reckoned with. I think maybe if that activated ability cost 1G instead and it didn’t have defender, I’d feel better about all this, but it is an interesting card. 6.5/10
Flavor: Yeah, this makes sense. A creature with reach works, especially a spider that can weave a web and possibly trap the pixies without necessarily killing them, since we don’t really know what they’re up to yet. I might actually like it better here without defender and deathtouch for that reason, but I don’t think they interfere too much. 8/10
Score: 14.5 - SUCCESS
The spiders shoots some sticky webbing with great precision at the pixies, pinning them down to the ground and leaving the wizard unscatched. He thanks you for your trouble and casts some spell you cannot identify on the pixies, and they disappear.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t killed them,” he explains “Simply sent them back where they belong. Here.” He gives you a scroll. “This can help you do the same, if you ever need it.”
Add the following text to your inventory: “Scroll of Escape (One time use, adds +4 to score when trying to escape)”
(I’m assuming you read the story so I won’t retroactively go into it here)
Monument of the Eclipse
Design: I’m not sure how dangerous this is. On the one hand, it’s likely pretty slow. Without some shenanigans, it isn’t going to happen every turn, or even every one of your own turns. My only worry is in multiples, but since it doesn’t do anything when it enters the field, getting multiples of these out without losing ground makes the ensuing benefits just fine. Not sure I like this being colorless though. It feels like an effect that belongs in red, or at a higher cost. 7/10
Flavor: I did get that this was the werewolf mechanic, so I was pretty sure that’s where it was going. For the sake of the game so that you don’t just end up as “wolf,” well, see below. 8/10
Score: 15 - SUCCESS
Your creature type changes to Human Werewolf and you lose Changeling.
See appropriate spoiler below for the continuation.
Jarlhorn Memorial
Design: I like this in theory but I have one problem with it: The gimmick of the card is that it gives you mana at a time that isn’t usually super helpful, but gives you a way to make it helpful at the same time. That said, it is never useful to give vigilance in the middle of combat. I think maybe another ability could have been swapped in its place. I do understand that on your turn, you can activate that before combat for the benefit, but still, it hurts the internal synergy of the card a bit. I also worry that if you have a solid mana base of both red and white, being able to give multiple creatures those abilities for two mana each per turn can be pretty devastating. But its a rare that doesn’t do much on its own, so, OK. 7/10
Flavor: I got what it was before even getting to the flavor text, so that’s a success if you ask me. Good name, all works, etc. 9.5/10
Score: 16.5 - SUCCESS
Your creature type changes to Minotaur and you lose Changeling.
see spoiler just below
You follow the archer through one of the courtyard exits and are surrounded by tall, thick brush which obscures your view. You can only see behind you, ahead, and above, where you see a gloomy night sky. It seems as though dawn may be approaching as a glimmer of yellow is peeking from the eastern horizon.
You come into another courtyard, much like the one you just left in terms of shape and size. But rather than have statues around the edge, there is a smaller ring of pedestals in the center of the courtyard.
“As I had mentioned, the magic of this place has all but wasted away. Hopefully, though, there was enough left when you were created to give you the power we need. To any natural-born son or daughter of Krynsia, these crystals would bring only pain. But to you, they can bring strength and powerful magicks. I fear in your weaker forms, though, it may still bring great strain upon you to accomplish this. You will likely only have the strength to harness power from a single crystal, and even then, not without great effort.”
You look at the five crystals before you: One white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green.
CHALLENGE:
Design a card that represents you harnessing the energy of a crystal.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
It must be an instant or sorcery.
It must cost exactly one mana and exactly match the color of the crystal you’re trying to harness. (This is, if you hadn’t guessed, the color your avatar will become.)
Bonuses/Penalties:
Doesn’t use “target”: +1
Is rare: -1
Difficulty Score: 13
You awaken - for lack of a better word - in the middle of muck. Your vision is blurry and all you can see is a sort of translucent dark blueness all around. Your sense of touch comes more quickly, and you feel... “oozy.” The word struggles to come to your mind. All language, in fact, seems belabored, as does any self-reflexive thought. “Where am I?” leads to other questions: Who am I, What am I, etc. These precious seconds spent lost in philosophy have given your senses time to acclimate to your consciousness. You feel gravity - your first indication that one direction is “down” while another is “up.” You turn to look up and the color around you changes slightly for the browner. You move your body up through the ooze and emerge, suddenly flooded by a world of new images.
Looking around, you see several large black vats.
“We haven’t much time. Please, come with me.”
You look to an arched doorway, where you see a man - or perhaps the projection of a man - an apparent archer or ranger of sorts - standing and looking at you. “Please hurry, there’s no time to explain.”
You emerge from your vat and follow the man. You go up a spiral staircase that seems almost endless, finally emerging into a small circular courtyard, walled off by tall stones. Around the circumference stand a set of statues.
“The magic of this place has waned long ago. It took all of its power to create you in the first place, but you aren’t like the others who came before. Soon your form will be set for life.”
This remark from the mysterious archer triggers a realization in you. You look down to your own arm and watch as you shift it from a human arm to a long bat’s wing to a giant hammer and back to an arm again.
“I know you don’t have much to go on, but you must choose a form now before it’s too late. Look to the statues for guidance. It is important that you be able to blend in, or else I fear you’ll be the subject of unwanted attention.”
GAME DETAILS:
Here is your avatar and info for the time-being. Please start including it all in your posts, just to get in the habit of it, since it will be more crucial later.
Vatborn 1
Creature - Shapeshifter (C)
Changeling
1/1
Abilities: None
Inventory: None
CHALLENGE:
Design a non-creature artifact card to represent the statue in the courtyard that you’re choosing to take the form of. It should be clear from the card what creature type (race, not class) the statue is, and this will become your creature type for the rest of the game - so choose wisely. It should be something that can travel on land, hold objects, and talk. I have given this challenge a pretty low difficulty, but if you fail this challenge, you may not end up being the creature type you were hoping for.
Difficulty Score: 12
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a colorless non-creature artifact
Tribal is allowed
OOC1: (Poison, I believe the rocky beach is what you meant by mountains, but let me know if I was mistaken)
OOC2: I’m putting your spoilers together cuz you’re taking the same route, but no pressure to work together/interact if you don’t want to.
Ithrul and Emeric each head eastward from Gunlunshire to a region called Lucent Cavern. This coastal area is known for its many smaller sea caves and one large one: The Lucent Cavern, which is named for the many translucent boulders which lie within it. The reflections and images of these rocks turn the cavern into a perilous maze of sorts, where it is easy to get lost and difficult to hide. The main travelers’ path, though, is above all these caverns, safe from their denizens. To the west is Gunlunshire, to the east is Hanged Man’s Crossroads, and to the north in the distance you can see some sort of large lake.
You see a couple of climbers descending down the rocks to the caverns below. You think you may be able to overhear one of them mention the word “gold,” but the waves crashing against the more distant rocks obscures much of their dialogue.
You can proceed east and then south to the sinkhole of which Davison spoke, investigate these possible treasure-seekers, or do literally anything else you wish.
Hydrodrift
Design: This card is a functional reprint of Disperse, so while that means it’s printable, it seems odd to really award much of anything in the way of points here. 2/10
Flavor: You get a much better score here - floating it up on the water makes sense and “return to its owner” makes sense given the challenge. 9/10
Score: 11 - FAILURE
The teddy bear floats most of the way to the top, but your concentration fizzles and it falls back to the bottom. Leaving the sad boy behind, you make your way north out of town onto the Horizon Coast Road.
This road is very long and bordered on its west entirely by ocean. At first, to the east, all you see is a large lake a short ways off into the distance. Your path ahead is obstructed by a strange sight. A wizard of sorts is being pestered, poked, and prodded by a trio of small pixie-like creatures. “Help me, please!” he exclaims.
CHALLENGE:
Help the wizard deal with his pixie problem.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a common, non-planeswalker permanent card
Difficulty: 12
You attempt to peer into his mind for more (Diff:14).
Mind Tunnel
Design: Two mental effects put together, each of which could be seen as tunneling through a mind. Seems like the right balance to me for a common sorcery. Many decks are going to choose to play this on the opponent so my only wish is that the name of the card were somehow altered to refer to plural minds. 9/10
Flavor: While the scry part of the card makes sense for what you’re trying to do, the milling part feels more like how you would wipe someone’s memories, rather than try to retrieve them for yourself. But then name and general flavor work well here. 6/10
Score: 15 - SUCCESS
While you do not catch any glimpses of other crystal locations - perhaps this is genuinely all he knows - you do see something: You get a vision of the inside of a cave, presumably somewhere in or around that aforementioned sinkhole - and inside this cave you see a giant, menacing Golem, seemingly on some sort of patrol. Something to watch out for, for sure.
Davison Lanke answers your questions in reverse order: “The closest crystal we’ve found to here is in the Cabernak Sinkhole, past the caverns to the east, and to the south through Hanged Man’s Crossroads. We believe there is another halfway up the road to the north, and then to the east, at the Tree of Vessels.”
“The new war is between two factions: The Umbric Flame and the Crystal Blade. The flame started as a disorganized rebellion against the Crystal Empire, but when its leaders discovered that organization could breed profits, it became a war of two true, organized armies. Both factions have camps scattered throughout the islands.”
You go to the child and ask what’s wrong. He explains that he dropped his teddy bear down the well. Looking down, you can’t see it. It’s probably sunk to the very bottom by now.
CHALLENGE
Retrieve the teddy bear from the bottom of the well.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
None
Difficulty: 12.5
Valor of Battle
Design: This seems good to me. It’s an interesting use of raid to let red have a defensive combat trick that just happens to be a little better on offense. It all works for me. My only qualm is that “valor” doesn’t feel like a word that goes with first strike. 8.5/10
Flavor: Full points here. 10/10
Score: 18.5 - SUCCESS
You strike down that spirit with ease and proceed down the path to Gunlunshire. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures. To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
“Davison Lanke,” he says, reaching for a handshake. “Wow, you feel real. Amazing. Listen, I’m not sure how much Alster filled you in on, but--” You assure Davison that Alster did a whole long speech that you’d rather not hear again. “Ah, yes, that does sound like he covered most of it. What he may not have gone into detail about is the nature of the crystals scattered throughout Krynsia. They each are attuned to a very specific magical energy. Some glow with a certain color of magic, like the ones you saw at the Old Changeling War Factory, but others hover in the other, some jitter around madly, some turn invisible seemingly at their own will, some bring instant death to any natural-born who even grazes them. The variety of them seems nearly limitless. These powers they hold can become yours, if you seek them out.”
“But I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as it was at the factory. After the changeling wars, a council of mages did what they could to scatter the crystals and hide them - sending magical guardians to watch after them as well. Alster and I believe we have tracked a few down - and I could direct you to them if you wish. But Alster instructed me not to be clear: We will not force you into anything. I am here if you have any questions about the crystal locations, or the new war.”
Davison tells you of the nearby crystals they believe they’ve discovered: “The closest crystal we’ve found to here is in the Cabernak Sinkhole, past the caverns to the east, and to the south through Hanged Man’s Crossroads. We believe there is another halfway up the road to the north, and then to the east, at the Tree of Vessels.”
You proceed down the path to Gunlunshire. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures. To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
“Davison Lanke,” he says, reaching for a handshake. “Wow, you feel real. Amazing. Listen, I’m not sure how much Alster filled you in on, but--” You assure Davison that Alster did a whole long speech that you’d rather not hear again. “Ah, yes, that does sound like he covered most of it. What he may not have gone into detail about is the nature of the crystals scattered throughout Krynsia. They each are attuned to a very specific magical energy. Some glow with a certain color of magic, like the ones you saw at the Old Changeling War Factory, but others hover in the other, some jitter around madly, some turn invisible seemingly at their own will, some bring instant death to any natural-born who even grazes them. The variety of them seems nearly limitless. These powers they hold can become yours, if you seek them out.”
“But I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as it was at the factory. After the changeling wars, a council of mages did what they could to scatter the crystals and hide them - sending magical guardians to watch after them as well. Alster and I believe we have tracked a few down - and I could direct you to them if you wish. But Alster instructed me not to be clear: We will not force you into anything. I am here if you have any questions about the crystal locations, or the new war.”
TO EVERYONE IN GENERAL: FEEL FREE/ENCOURAGED TO READ EACH OTHER’S SPOILERS - IT CAN HELP YOU NOT WASTE TURNS IF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT/WHO IS IN THE TOWN/AREA AHEAD BEFORE YOU GET THERE.
THIS IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL IN TERMS OF LEARNING THE GEOGRAPHY AND BEING ABLE TO SKIP OVER LOCATIONS IN WHICH YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN STOPPING.
Apologies, but I actually have a way planned for players to gain abilities like flying already, and this isn’t it, but you can make it happen relatively soon if you want. [Big Hint, but it’s also mentioned in spoilers below, so why not say it here: Not every crystal in Krynsia is about color/mana.] I’ll still grade your card for design, as you went to the trouble:
Chesphon’s Glamer
Design: This is a fun little common. I do wonder though if you could get the card when it enters the battlefield instead of when it leaves, just to make the card a little stronger. I think we’re at the point where that would be fine. But either way, nice simple common. 7.5/10
You manage to take flight, but just for a few seconds before you feel yourself descending again. Still, it’s enough time for you to grab a Black Fruit and put it in your inventory.
Nyx-Blessed Touch
Design: I wonder if this wouldn’t be rare, being a tutor at this cost, but being a library-topper definitely makes it much weaker and easier to disrupt. Honestly, if this cost 1 more, I think it would be perfect, so I won’t take off much for any balance issues. Internal flavor makes sense. I’m feeling like 8/10.
Flavor: The word “touch” in the name helps you here, but the word “nyx” hurts you, since we’re not in a plane where that’s a thing. Still, if you just took the work “Nyx-” away, it’d be perfect, so again I’m gonna say 8/10.
Score: 16+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the white crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn W
Creature - Human (C)
1/1
**Don’t forget to post your avatar and stuff in all your posts, please.**
You catch the main portion of the archer’s speech to the group:
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
“Were my ancestors alive today, I fear they would be my own enemy - and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I acknowledge there is danger in awakening forces such as yourselves - and I take that responsibility seriously. But I know what war can do, and if it can be prevented, it is worth the cost. You will find Davison to be of the same mindset, I’m sure. He can help you grow your strength and turn into the peacekeepers we so desperately need, if you would accept that burden.”
Ainok Altar
Design: I like this card a lot, but it’s the static ability that worries me, being colorless at that cost. I don’t think blue and white should be able to get that must-be-blocked for two mana. If that were another activated ability, possibly costing RG, I think this card would be much improved. As is, I’m inclined to put it at 7/10.
Flavor: I had to reconfirm what the Ainok are, since I haven’t actually played with newer cards in a little while, despite being a big rumor-mill-lurker. But having done so, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be one, and this card feels like it could be a statue of one. 8.5/10
Score: 15.5 - SUCCESS
Your creature type becomes Hound and you lose Changeling.
You run ahead to where you can hear the others, and see that they are tapping into the energies of a set of crystals. There is one white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green. You are told by one of your fellow vatborn that it is a taxing process, and you will likely only have the energy to call upon one crystal’s power for now.
CHALLENGE:
Design a card that represents you harnessing the energy of a crystal.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
It must be an instant or sorcery.
It must cost exactly one mana and exactly match the color of the crystal you’re trying to harness. (This is, if you hadn’t guessed, the color your avatar will become.)
Bonuses/Penalties:
Doesn’t use “target”: +1
Is rare: -1
Difficulty Score: 13
On your path through the haunted wood-arch path, you grab a random tree branch (add to inventory) and use it as a little walking stick. Your journey feels long, but it is safe, and you emerge into Gunlunshire - a small town where every other building appears to be in ruins. There are perhaps 11 homes that look livable in the entire town, only a couple of which have accompanying fertile land to grow crops. One also has a small livestock pen with some downtrodden-looking farm animals milling about. The town centers around a dilapidated water well. You don’t see any real communal structures, but you see a child peering down the well as though he’s looking for something.
To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
See spoiler below with your name on it for more.
To the west, you see a sprawling ocean, but the town has no dock of any kind. To the north is a long road that goes off into the distance, and to the east is some sort of jagged, rocky-looking beach area with more ocean to its south. To the immediate south is the pathway through which you just walked.
See spoiler immediately below with your name on it for more.
You emerge from the path simultaneously and spot a man leaning against the wall of a ruined home, and he spots you at the same time. His eyes seem to light up, and he walks toward you.
“Davison Lanke,” he says, grabbing each of your hands for a handshake. “Wow, you feel real. Amazing. Listen, I’m not sure how much Alster filled you in on, but--” You assure Davison that Alster did a whole long speech that you’d rather not hear again. “Ah, yes, that does sound like he covered most of it. What he may not have gone into detail about is the nature of the crystals scattered throughout Krynsia. They each are attuned to a very specific magical energy. Some glow with a certain color of magic, like the ones you saw at the Old Changeling War Factory, but others hover in the other, some jitter around madly, some turn invisible seemingly at their own will, some bring instant death to any natural-born who even grazes them. The variety of them seems nearly limitless. These powers they hold can become yours, if you seek them out.”
“But I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as it was at the factory. After the changeling wars, a council of mages did what they could to scatter the crystals and hide them - sending magical guardians to watch after them as well. Alster and I believe we have tracked a few down - and I could direct you to them if you wish. But Alster instructed me not to be clear: We will not force you into anything. I am here if you have any questions about the crystal locations, or the new war.”
Inverted Knowledge
Design: I’m not sure if you purposely omitted “until end of turn,” but I don’t think they like to play with memory issues like that. That said, I’m not hasbro, and I think it’s a very cool card that’s well balanced and makes good internal sense. 8.5/10
Flavor: I get both a struggle-vibe and an accumulation-of-knowledge-vibe and that’s what we needed here. The struggle could be a little more real, but it’s still a strong flavor showing. 7.5/10
Score: 16 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the blue crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn U
Creature - Merfolk (C)
1/1
You catch the main portion of the archer’s speech to the group:
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
You march through the haunted wood-arch path with battle on your mind. These thoughts alone make your desires come true, as you find yourself face-to-face with:
Spectre of Astral War 1B
Creature - Spirit
Deathtouch
2/1
CHALLENGE:
Survive combat with the spectre.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Your card must have a CMC of exactly 2
The spectre is “attacking,” you are “blocking.”
Difficulty Score: 12
Energy of Rage
Design: I like this, but can’t help but wonder if that spell mastery change might make it a pushed common.But I guess by the time you’ve mastered spells, a 1 damage sweep isn’t so devastating, and I do think it’s a cool use of spell mastery as a sort of overload-esque thing. 7.5/10
Flavor: I don’t get a huge energy-harnessing vibe from this. I kind of get it with the word energy in the name - which makes me think this is the energy itself that you’re harnessing, and it’s damaging you in the process like I said it would. I’m gonna call this not a total flavor win, but something that I can understand making some sense in the scenario. 6.5/10
Score: 14+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the red crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn R
Creature - Minotaur (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Show of Talent
Design: Sure. A sort of underwhelming “trick” to get some evasion and another ability that you can maybe make use of, maybe not. This feels like a common that would be printed, ignored for constructed, and taken maybe in like the 9 to 12 slot in draft then end up being useful. I do think it could’ve been an instant still at common and been a little better maybe. Internal flavor is cool. 7/10
Flavor: Sure. A little arrogant of you to just decide your character is great at harnessing crystals, but I do see how the card ties into the situation pretty well. I do wish it matched my description of it taking great pain and effort a bit, but hey, freedom of action is part of the game, so 6.5/10
Score: 13.5 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the blue crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn U
Creature - Faerie (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Dark Pulse
Design: Yeah, why not. Makes sense to me as a little win-more common. Obviously this isn’t getting played competitively but it feels printable as a sort of cute junk common. I do have some concern about it being a little too unexciting though. Internal flavor is fine though. 6.5/10
Flavor: I guess this is supposed to represent the energy emanating from the crystal which makes it harmful to people. We don’t really see a harnessing action here, but you’ve still stayed true to the lore of what’s going on around you in a believable way, and that’s good. 6/10
Score: 12.5+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the blue crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn B
Creature - Elf (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Unstable Knowledge
Design: This feels like a pretty reasonable card to me. You’re probably not going to play it without landfall, but with it, it’s fine, and if you manage to cast it with landfall and no cards in hand, then it’s very very good. (Too good?) I’m a fan of this card and its internal flavor, even if I do have some power-variance concerns. 8/10
Flavor: Yeah, I like this one a lot. It embodies the concept that you’re gaining fundamental knowledge and having to give something up/struggle in the process. It might go better off the crystal thing if it had artifactfall instead of landfall, but still, I’m a fan. 8/10
Score: 16+1 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the red crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn R
Creature - Satyr (C)
1/1
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Necromantic Toxin
Design: I like this a lot, it’s simple and effective, my only concern is whether it should maybe cost 1 more or be uncommon. Flavor text seems like it conflicts a tiny bit with the mechanic of the card. (Having them come back stronger sounds more like undying than persist.) 8.5/10
Flavor: I like the subtle ways this works flavorfully, with deathtouch making it feel like you can safely touch death, and persist showing that there is endurance of suffering involved. 9/10
Score - 17.5 - SUCCESS
You harness the energy of the black crystal and your avatar becomes:
Vatborn B
Creature - Naga (C)
1/1
***DONT FORGET TO UPDATE THIS IN YOUR POSTS**
See appropriate spoiler below for your continued adventure
Your new lives begin:
“My Gods, it’s true,” the archer exclaims as you each manage to harness the energy from one of the crystals without dying. You each feel your forms take a stronger hold and then, suddenly, it feels like a small extra weight has been added to your body - not a real weight, but the weigh of permanence. Your form and your energies have been locked in.
“Perhaps now there is some time to explain. There was a time, not all that long ago, when your kind was created for - and then sacrificed upon - the battlefield. Soldiers, born from the vat, able to take on the forms of fearsome monsters and grow more and more powerful by harnessing the power of the mysterious crystals scattered through Krynsia. But this practice was seen as immoral by many, and it wasn’t long until natural-born civilians were caught up in the collateral damage of the changeling wars.”
“Those wars have come and gone, but now a new war has taken hold in the lands, as it always seems to. I have no allegiance in this war - my loyalty belongs to the world itself, and to its people, who I see suffer under the threat of steel. Please, come with me”
The archer leads you down another pathway out from this courtyard. Again, your view is mostly obstructed. You come to a point where the path widens greatly, and seems to stretch on forever. Although dawn is setting in, you can hardly tell. The sun is nearly blocked out entirely by the trees on either side of this path, which lean in to form an arch overhead, and whose branches have gnarled and intertwined to the point of resembling walls more than nature.
“This path is the only way to leave this place. At the end of it, you will find the town of Gunlunshire, mostly a ruin of what it once was - a casualty of the changeling wars. I have an associate there - his name is Davison Lanke. Seek him out, and perhaps we can stop this war from causing too much damage before it truly ramps up into chaos. But I cannot force you. I have learned from my ancestors’ mistakes - one cannot and should not try to control a changeling as though he were anything less than a natural-born.”
“Also, how rude of me not to introduce myself - my name is Alster. I will be staying behind to assist any more who emerge from the vats. Good luck. All of you.”
You may choose a sensible name for yourself (shouldn't reference specific lore outside of this plane) and proceed as you wish
There is, for now, only one direction to go, though: Through the Haunted Wood-Arch Path toward Gunlunshire. But you can divert yourself within that path to explore or try to do things if you want, or you can just proceed efficiently to town.
The Minotaur’s Image
Design: Starting off nitpicky, I feel like the player-friendly wording would have it say “Whenever ~ or another Minotaur” but I almost never take off for small wording things like that and I don’t plan to here. This is a fun tribal lordly artifact. It can be a little dangerous that it does indeed trigger off itself, especially if you have a decent minotaur deck and get this out in multiples. That said, minotaur support isn’t exactly brilliant right now so that’s not a huge worry. This is to say: It’s a fun card but bears the risk of being too bad in an environment without good minotaurs and too good in an environment with them, especially in limited at uncommon. I like all the internal flavor though. 7.5/10
Flavor: Yes, perfect, not much to say here. Couldn’t be truer to the challenge. 10/10
Score: 17.5 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Minotaur (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Image of Revelry and Wandering
Design: That’s a long name! I’m on an MSE-less mac so I can’t test if it’s too long, but maybe... ANYWAY, I worry a bit about the power level of this, though at rare these days, I guess it’s really just a drop in the bucket. I would be more comfortable seeing it as a spellshaper artifact, which cheaper mana costs for the abilities but with “discard a card” costs added - and the main cost dropped. That said, it’s a four mana artifact that takes three more mana to make any immediate impact, so it’s probably absolutely fine and I’m just paranoid. I do like how the abilities each correspond to the words in the name. 7/10
Flavor: My barometer for this challenge is “can I look at the card first without reading the text and know what the creature type is” and with yours, I actually could, even though you don’t name it outright. That seems like a good thing to me. 9.5/10
Score: 16.5 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Satyr (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Soul of Alabaster
Design: Very interesting. I’m sure there’s a way to break that cost reduction but since you have to play an artifact that’s not immediately threatening AND use Auras, maybe you deserve it if you manage to get a big win with this card. I worry a little about this at uncommon but it’s probably too weak for rare. It’s a nice niche card. 7.5/10
Flavor: My barometer for this challenge is “can I look at the card first without reading the text and know what the creature type is” and with yours, I couldn’t quite manage it. Then I read your game text and I still couldn’t quite tell if we’re going for human or angel or human angel. You have good statue-flavor here and I’m a sucker for the word alabaster, but you might not end up with the creature type you want just because I am not sure what it is. 4.5/10
Score: 12 - SUCCESS (barely)
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Human (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Cloudwalker Idol
Design: This seems right. I think you had a lower-costed-ability version up earlier and that one seemed too pushed, but now it’s much more balanced. Flavor makes sense internally, yada yada yada... 9/10
Flavor: Yup. Clearly a statue of a clearly specified creature type. 10/10
Score: 19 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Faerie (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Sultai Relic
Design: Even with delve, I can’t help but feel like most aspects of this card are overcosted. If the grave-to-hand cost 1 less and the the casting cost were 1 or 2 less, I think we’d be looking at something a little more competitive, especially at rare these days. That said, even as-is, I can see this having a lot of combo potential, so maybe your playing it safer on costs is wise. It feels Sultai. I’m gonna go with 7/10
Flavor: My barometer for this challenge is “can I look at the card first without reading the text and know what the creature type is” and with yours, I wasn’t sure. Clearly it’s something of Sultai relevance, so probably Naga, but they also have zombies and stuff - though that sort of wouldn’t make sense for this game. A minor thing also - It’s a little odd that this courtyard in a plane that doesn’t have Sultai in it would have a statue called “Sultai Relic.” Just something to keep in mind moving forward. Reading your game text it almost looks like “snake” is what you want, but snakes don’t have hands so... 5/10
Score: 12 - SUCCESS (barely, and mostly because I like the idea of a Naga player)
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Naga (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Whirlpool Idol
Design: Yup, feels like a good accessory to what blue merfolk can do. Like that it has a reason to be tribal because it triggers off of itself. I think I might like it better without the islandwalk just because I do agree with phasing out mechanics that are so situational, but other than that, cool fun card. 7.5/10
Flavor: Yeah, makes sense to me. Clear and what I asked for. 10/10
Score: 17.5 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Merfolk (C)
1/1
You flop around for a bit and ensure that your final form is a sort of variant of merfolk that can actually travel on land and breathe oxygen. You finally end up with something mostly stable.
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
Groove Watch
Design: The mana accel is a little aggressive by current standards but at rare with that condition MAYBE you can get away with it. That second ability is very cool though. Temporarily cloning based on creature type is interesting and new at least to me, and I feel like that ability is costed correctly. Not sure why it’s called what it’s called - thinking you meant grove. Let’s say 7/10
Flavor: The name doesn’t feel very statue-y and there’s no flavor text to help on that front, but I guess seeing as it’s an artifact with those abilities, what else could it be. And the creature type is clear and specific. 7/10
Score: 14 - SUCCESS
Your form shifts, eventually becoming
Vatborn 1
Creature - Elf (C)
1/1
See the spoiler below for the large group to continue your adventure
The group’s adventure continues...
“Interesting choices,” the mysterious archer remarks to the crowd. “I suppose they’ll have to do. Now come with me. Let’s see if you can do what you were made for.”
You follow the archer through one of the courtyard exits and are surrounded by tall, thick brush which obscures your view. You can only see behind you, ahead, and above, where you see a gloomy night sky. It seems as though dawn may be approaching as a glimmer of yellow is peeking from the eastern horizon.
You come into another courtyard, much like the one you just left in terms of shape and size. But rather than have statues around the edge, there is a smaller ring of pedestals in the center of the courtyard.
“As I had mentioned, the magic of this place has all but wasted away. Hopefully, though, there was enough left when you were created to give you the power we need. To any natural-born son or daughter of Krynsia, these crystals would bring only pain. But to you, they can bring strength and powerful magicks. I fear in your weaker forms, though, it may still bring great strain upon you to accomplish this. You will likely only have the strength to harness power from a single crystal, and even then, not without great effort.”
You look at the five crystals before you: One white, one blue, one black, one red, and one green.
CHALLENGE:
Design a card that represents you harnessing the energy of a crystal.
Restrictions/Clarifications:
It must be an instant or sorcery.
It must cost exactly one mana and exactly match the color of the crystal you’re trying to harness. (This is, if you hadn’t guessed, the color your avatar will become.)
Bonuses/Penalties:
Doesn’t use “target”: +1
Is rare: -1
Difficulty Score: 13
The Story Begins...
You awaken - for lack of a better word - in the middle of muck. Your vision is blurry and all you can see is a sort of translucent dark blueness all around. Your sense of touch comes more quickly, and you feel... “oozy.” The word struggles to come to your mind. All language, in fact, seems belabored, as does any self-reflexive thought. “Where am I?” leads to other questions: Who am I, What am I, etc. These precious seconds spent lost in philosophy have given your senses time to acclimate to your consciousness. You feel gravity - your first indication that one direction is “down” while another is “up.” You turn to look up and the color around you changes slightly for the browner. You move your body up through the ooze and emerge, suddenly flooded by a world of new images.
Looking around, you see several large black vats. One by one, you see forms emerge from them, each as confused-looking as you, and each seemingly made of the same ooze in which you were swimming, but in a vaguely humanoid form. You see one of the others climb out from their vat and step onto the ground. You look around and find that you are in a quite large room. There are no windows and the light is dim. You get the feeling you’re underground.
“We haven’t much time. Please, come with me.”
You and your oozy brethren look to an arched doorway, where you see a man - an apparent archer or ranger of sorts - standing and looking at you. “Please hurry, there’s no time to explain.”
The lot of you emerge from your vats and follow the man. You go up a spiral staircase that seems almost endless, finally emerging into a small circular courtyard, walled off by tall stones. Around the circumference stand a set of statues.
“The magic of this place has waned long ago. It took all of its power to create you in the first place, but you aren’t like the others who came before. Soon your form will be set for life.”
This remark from the mysterious archer triggers a realization in you. You look down to your own arm and watch as you shift it from a human arm to a long bat’s wing to a giant hammer and back to an arm again.
“I know you don’t have much to go on, but you must choose a form now before it’s too late. Look to the statues for guidance. It is important that you be able to blend in, or else I fear you’ll be the subject of unwanted attention.”
GAME DETAILS:
Here, everyone, is your avatar and info for the time-being. Please start including it all in your posts, just to get in the habit of it, since it will be more crucial later.
Vatborn 1
Creature - Shapeshifter (C)
Changeling
1/1
Abilities: None
Inventory: None
CHALLENGE:
Design a non-creature artifact card to represent the statue in the courtyard that you’re choosing to take the form of. It should be clear from the card what creature type (race, not class) the statue is, and this will become your creature type for the rest of the game - so choose wisely. It should be something that can travel on land, hold objects, and talk. I have given this challenge a pretty low difficulty, but if you fail this challenge, you may not end up being the creature type you were hoping for.
Difficulty Score: 12
Restrictions/Clarifications:
Must be a colorless non-creature artifact
Tribal is allowed
Yeah for sure.
You have no persistent mana pool or hand size for the purposes of your adventuring. Your only limitations for what you can design are those laid forth in the specific challenge. Also, as has always been a general rule for my MMOCCCRPGS, you can't take permanent cards with you. There may be exceptions for this, but they will have to be earned. The basic rule, though, is you can't design a creature/artifact/enchantment/land and then have access to it for the rest of the game.
You will be represented by a card, and as you progress through the story and world, your avatar will improve. You will also have abilities distinct from your card, which can be earned through progressing, and an inventory. It is up to you to keep track of your avatar, abilities, and inventory, and I beg of you to please post all three in every post you make in this thread, whether they've changed since your last post or not.
The final rule of the game is more lore-based: Please do not build the world too much. What I enjoy most in this is building the world and telling these stories, and I often have some long term plans in mind - please don't disrupt these plans by inventing your own locations or major characters - and please try to avoid speaking on NPCs' behalf in your posts.
I think, hopefully, that is all the rules I need to lay out. You can do whatever you want, and explore as you see fit. I will do my best to keep the lore consistent, from NPCs to geography to story and history and all that jazz. Your job is to have fun, explore, design interesting magic cards, and possibly decide the fate of our home plane:
I will not say much about this plane, partially because I want to give myself freedom to make stuff up, and partially because what I do know for sure about the plane is part of the story that I want you to unfold for yourselves. Hopefully that's more intriguing than it is frustrating.
SIGNUPS ARE BACK OPEN:
You can sign up one of two ways: 1) just say you want to play, or 2) if you want to skip the "character creation" part of the game, read what has happened up through post #27 and post a character who could exist at that point. I'd say what that means, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't been reading along and is looking to be surprised.
Feel free to join mine if you're already in another - I'm not going to cap it for now.