Hargen Fen2UR
Planeswalker - Hargen M [+1] Draw a card. You get an emblem with "Your maximum hand size is reduced by one." [-2] You get an emblem with "At the beginning of each upkeep, you may tap or untap target permanent." [0] You may lose any number of emblems you have. Hargen Fen deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is three times the number of emblems lost. [[3]]
Alright, so, I'm moving a little slow on replying to Diord, but it's in the works. You guys can expect a reply within the next day or so.
@avatarz: Yeah, introducing new characters is fine. I actually was expecting that. The only issue is that we might have differing opinions on how a character should behave. Like, with this town you've walked up to. I was thinking that guards would be very alert, patrolling the walls and caring about their job. You were thinking they would probably have a very boring job (and, I might assume, be playing cards to pass the time), so you introduced him as being bored. Two different directions for the same character. But, no harm, no foul, really. I can work with a guard who is bored with his job.
Also, your English is fine, don't worry about it.
@SecretInfiltrator: Yeah, I would consider that a method of cheating on mana consumption, as the main limiter on card design is your mana bank. But you can still cast it for it's mana cost, if you want.
Flameform InvokerRR
Creature - Human Shaman (R)
First strike
When Flameform Invoker leaves the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to each player. RR: Exile Flameform Invoker. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
2/1
IIW: players get priority after first strike damage but before regular combat damage
<3
Chaos Sight3RRR
Enchantment R
Play with the top three cards of your library revealed.
You may play the top card of your library.
You may play the second card from the top of your library if it's a nonland card.
You may play the third card from the top of your library if it's an instant or sorcery card.
Uhm, I've been on this forum designing cards since back in 2010. I consider myself a veteran card designer as I tend get to at least to the finals almost every time I play a game at all. I've taken about a year off recently, but I am definitely not just starting out and I am clear on modern practices in development.
My frustration comes from a judgement that docked a great number of points for what was clearly a very minor issue with the card. Not only that, but I was nickled and dimed in categories where there are no logical complaints, and these fractional losses put me into a losing position. This is even one of my favorite designs that I've ever produced, and is actually a repost from my custom cube.
Even with that in mind, I would usually just shrug and go on my way. However Brave Lion has, to effect, said "check out my blogs, because I know how to design cards amazingly well, and you reading them will make you better at designing cards." So I am examining his words with increased scrutiny, and holding him to a higher standard than I otherwise would. I am expecting a genius. The fact that I found what I consider to be obvious flaws with the first review of his that I read, has made me want to express my frustration.
If you took away the text of one of Dimir Guildmage's abilities, it would become an altogether different card and you would have to change the name. Yet when you take away reminder text, it is still the same card. Supposing you judge differently on whether or not reminder text is included, then the reprint of Dimir Guildmage would score lower than the original printing of it, even though they are both the exact same card. After all, a new player would not necessarily know how hybrid mana actually works.
Well, yeah, I'd be okay for loosing points for not including reminder text, but I'd still probably be upset about it, since reminder text is meant to just be a reminder of the rules as they exist in the game, and not an actual part of the card. That is why some versions of a card include reminder text, while others don't.
Either way, even if you stubbornly stick to the idea that it is difficult to understand, it definitely not so difficult to understand that I should lose several points over it, considering that you only need one sentence to clarify how the card works.
Okay, Brave Lion. A Genius Loci is the God of a location or the overall spirit of the place and it's wishes. In media, specifically Dungeons and Dragons, it has been adapted to mean, more broadly, "a piece of terrain that is living". I am using it here as a term for a generic piece of living land, because it is naturally a ubiquitous term for a land creature.
Now then, you took off half a point for a lack of uniqueness and then expound that there is only one card in existence even remotely similar, and I will detail that this one functions in a drastically different way than that similar card. You absolutely cannot say that this is less than a perfect 3 on uniqueness.
You took off half a point for a lack of viability, then describe how there is nothing wrong with it's viability at all.
Almost all the points you subtracted said "people won't get it", to which I reply "Then add reminder text that reads (This card is affected by summoning sickness.)" If they don't know what summoning sickness is, then that's a massive issue with their understanding of the game, not the card. Reminder text is generally treated as not being there anyways, but I could understand maybe a point being taken off because I didn't include that, but when it's so easy to clear up, it's not an issue.
It is not a delayed Evolving Wilds at all. It gives you the land untapped, so you get the mana at the same time, so it instantly proves to be better than Evolving Wilds, as this thing blocks Goblin Guide, Kird Ape, and dozens of other small guys in modern and legacy until you crack him for mana, so of course he would see constructed play. Maybe not in every deck, but Sakura Tribe Elder proves that a creature that can be freely sacked for a land is a useful commodity.
Alright everybody, Diord has it's first post up and ready for your reactions. I took some liberties with people who gave short descriptions of the characters. Hope you enjoy reading and I hope to read your replies soon.
The castle was in disrepair where it sat, among the barren mountains of what was once a great nation. The west wing had been encased in an avalanche some years back, and they had never managed to dig out all that snow. The east wing was simply abandoned, with no one living over there. Some rooms of the main castle were decaying, the roof sagging in or having collapsed entirely. In fact, there were only a few rooms left that were still accessible, including the armory, the food stores in the basement, the main hall, and the bedrooms that people shared to keep heat between them as to stave off the encroaching cold.
Today, they were all gathered around Tokashi Shinten's bed. He was an old man, from before the days of the endless winter, and he had been strong for many years. Yet, now, he had taken to sickness, and it seemed none of the riders they had sent out to find medicine would be returning in time. He seemed so small now, coughing beneath his thick furs, surrounded by his family and retainers, few as they were. Twenty two men and women all together. All were kneeling in respectful silence, a single oil lantern lighting the room.
Tokashi slept through most of the day, but, around sunset, he stirred, looking more alert than he had in days, and, looking around in a mild panic, he locked eyes on Masakenshi. Reaching up, he urged the samurai to lean down above him, draw his ear up to his lips, and whispered, his voice faint against the distant howling of mountain winds, "Restore us to our former glory, Masakenshi."
A trembling hand lifted up his wakizashi from where it rested next to his head, and pushed it into Masakenshi's hand, "You are the Diamyo now."
A moment later he seemed to fall asleep once again, and he breathed no more.
Mana Bank:3WWW Experience: 0/25
Rafe RadethiR
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer 2, T: Put a charge counter on target artifact.
1/1
Rafe's cupboard was empty.
But that wasn't the greatest of his worries. He was also out of scrap metal to work on his creations. How woeful this was, that he had a warm, stone house in one of the last secure bastions in this blasted winter land, partially buried beneath the permafrost, with a raging furnace and tools to practice his craft, but he had no metal with which to work! Oh, calamity indeed. This would not be so irksome if he could go to the cupboard and grab a snack, but it seems he had eaten the last of the auroch jerky yesterday.
Well, he had some gold to spend, about five pieces. Perhaps he could go about to any of the other shops and see if they had any metal to spare. Maybe he'd even get lucky and find a caravan rolling in. He should probably get some more food while he's out as well.
Racking his mind, he compiled a list of different possible locations he could go. There was market street, but they mostly sold food and furs, which he probably didn't need, but that was where the caravans would be, if there were any there. There were the sparse forges spattered across the walled village as well, so he could visit them one at a time. Lastly, he could go about to the neighbors on his street. They usually didn't have metal, but, it was just outside.
Mana Bank:3RRR Experience: 0/25
Vergant(B/G)
Legendary Creature - Rhino Shaman
Sacrifice a creature: Target creature other than Vergant gains deathtouch until end of turn.
1/1
This place was horrible.
Sure, the normal world was all starving and covered in snow, but they at least didn't have to deal with tophat-wearing frogs the size of buildings and rivers of blood and tar every five minutes. Still, this place served it's purpose, and Vergant had paid a lot of money to be able to project himself down here. Right now, he was actually in a coma-like dream up in the material world, and his mind was giving him physical form down here. If he could find some objects while he was here, though, he'd find them in his hand when he woke up, which would be in about five hours.
So far he'd spent three hours of his nap to get up on top of a mountain and take in the lay of the land. Looking out, he saw a tangled wood to the east and south as far as the eye could see, with giant frogs hopping about and having tea parties with the slightly-less-immense granddaddy long-leg spiders (who were wearing monocles and mustaches). He could probably guess that there were some magical teas and plants out there, but he'd have to deal with the giant creatures constantly.
To the west was that river of tar and blood he'd come out next to, with inky-black lakes of tar and shores of stone that bled when you walked on them. Among them were the lake people he had met before, and they could be friendly enough, but they would cry at the drop of a hat, and he swore, the sound of that crying unhinged his sanity a little bit more every time. They would probably have some information, if he could understand them this time, but, really, it was just an uncomfortable experience.
To the north were some more tarry fens, but, beyond that lay a chessboard with what appeared to be an Egyptian pyramid (not that Vergant knew what Egypt was) in it's middle, and, beyond that, mountains towering into the clouds. Clouds which took the shape of hands grabbing at the mountain side. On the slope of this mountain was actually something that caused the Rhino some alarm: A pile of giant, black and yellow poker chips piled up in a haphazard way that gave the strike appearance of a castle. That was a place of Underland royalty, and they were particularly demented and powerful. Sure, he could probably steal some mountain of magic from there, but, chances were that he would get caught and... he didn't want to think about it.
So the question was: Which way?
Mana Bank:1BBGG Experience: 0/25
Ace Sheeke(R/G)
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior
Ace Sheeke gets +2/+0 if you control a red or green Dragon creature with converted mana cost 6 or more.
1/1
Ace had to leave his tribe.
It was a common practice in this times. With the eternal winter and the dwindling sources of food, the strongest tribesmen would take more than their fair share, leaving less and less for the weaker tribesmen. Now, Ace was by no means small, but there were far larger men in the tribe, and the lack of food had already killed off all of the truly small tribesmen. Then things had escalated, and now Ace didn't have enough food for himself. Even when he had taken down a beast by himself, he would be the last to eat.
This had happened to others, many of Ace's friends. One had even died, falling before a Rex because he was too weak to run. But most had decided to leave, and become lone wolves, keeping what they had killed. They had all gone towards the fields in the north and east, knowing they would have better chances out there than in these forests. But there was also the mountains in the distant west and south, and there were rumors that there were still dragons in those craggy reaches.
There wasn't really anyone to tie him to this place. He only had a couple of friends remaining, Shank and Bullet, and they knew he wanted to leave. Maybe he could visit them one last time and convince them to come with him, but, beyond that chance, he simply had to decide when and how he would leave.
Mana Bank:1RRGG Experience: 0/25
Lewys Beynon(W/U)
Legendary Creature - Kor Cleric
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may exile Lewys Beynon. Then return him to the battlefield.
0/2
Lewys knew the man on the table before him.
Lewys had been a member of a street gang for years, here in Essin, before the day he had narrowly escaped death in a duel, and instead managed to skewer his foe. It was that day, looking down at the bloody corpse of his enemy, that he had decided to leave the violent world of street fights, and join the church as a cleric.
Now, Essin was on the coast near the equator, and they were spared from the bitterest winter storm, and they could gather up lots of crabs from their trap fields, resulting in a larger sustainable population than any other place in the world (that Lewys knew of). Large enough to even have different castes, and even a delinquent population, but when Lewys had joined the church, he had left behind that delinquent population, joining a different caste entirely. It had been years since he had seen this boy, and now here he was, thawing out on the altar, while Lewys sprinkled holy water on his head.
The boy had been named Artys, and he'd been a viashino in the same gang as Lewys had been. He was taller now, and whoever had killed him, they had beaten him pretty badly, but it was definitely Artys. It was painful for Lewys to look at his former friend, as the viashino had died in pain. Had he been right to choose cleric over rogue?
Mana Bank:1WWUU Experience: 0/25
Stranglefume, Cinder Hushblade(B/R)
Legendary Creature - Elemental Assassin
Stranglefume, Cinder Hushblade gets +1/+1 and can't block as long as seven or more creature cards are in your graveyard.
1/1
"You don't have to do this!" the old man pleaded.
Stranglefume was surrounded by the wreckage of their little caravan, five corpses on the ground. Two guards and three holy men. Strangely enough, the holy men had put up more of a fight than the guards. They had just taken a couple of cuts and they were on the ground, but the holy men had thrown holy water in his face. One had even kept fighting after his neck had been cut. Not long, mind you, but long enough that the cinder was surprised. He was just glad he had chosen to throw in a small bomb to take their wagons down, else he'd never had caught them back up.
Now all that was left was the actual target, the old man. Some kind of saint or something, on a pilgrimage to Essin, with three retainers and two cheap guards who had clearly been hired to deter polar bears, not assassins. He couldn't run or anything, so it would be a ridiculously easy task.
Kill Elder Priest Telor.
Challenge Rating: 5 Opponent
20 life.
One card in hand. WWW open.
Five creatures in graveyard. (Two "Winter Huntsman." Three "Defenders of Peace.")
One creature on battlefield. (Elder Priest Telor) You
20 life.
Three cards in hand.
Mana Bank open.
Your Legendary Creature on the battlefield.
Winter Huntsman(G/W)
Creature - Human Druid
Bear, Elk, and Wolf creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 1.
0/1
Defender of PeaceW
Creature - Human Cleric 2W, T: Tap target creature.
0/2
Elder Priest Telor1W
Legendary Creature - Kor Cleric
Whenever Elder Priest Telor blocks, you gain 5 life.
0/5
Mana Bank:1BBRR Experience: 0/25
KorsaG
Legendary Creature - Centaur Druid T: Lands you control gain "T: Add G to your mana pool." until end of turn.
1/1
It was time for Korsa to leave the herd.
Snow drifted lazily from the sky where they were gathered, everyone paying their respects to the Druid as he stood in silent respect to those who had been his family for his entire life. It was tradition that, when a centaur of the Shuul clan reached a certain age, they would go out on their own, and return, maybe months, maybe years later, with something to strengthen the herd, such as the location of a lush field of cud, or a spell to make their lives easily.
Some chose to go into the Underland for their pilgrimage, but that was usually considered to be suicide, as very few ever returned from that strange place. Those who did, though, always brought something of great value back, but Korsa was more interested in the leylines of the natural world anyways. Besides, they didn't have access to a portal right now, not since that cult had overtaken the one at the bottom of the Testen Gorge.
The high priestess slowly approached Korsa as he stood there, carrying a thick blanket and a basket of grass. When she reached her fellow centaur, she carefully lay the quilt over his back, and embraced him to fasten the basket of cud around his shoulder. She was an ancient centaur, the high priestess, so she could only whisper the words to Korsa, "Here is a quilt to keep you warm in this cold world, and a month of cud to feed you should you wander in a barren way. Now go, and find whatever you will find."
And she pulled away, the herd watching in silence as their brother decided which way he would travel.
Mana Bank:3GGG Experience: 0/25
Isos Bartoque(U/R)
Legendary Creature - Spirit Monger (U/R), T, Discard a card: Draw a card.
0/2
There was a walled village in the distance.
Isos had never been on this side of the Great Plains before. There was a wide river that ran through the middle of the Plains, with tall pine forests for miles on either bank, and most of the time it was flowing too fast and too deep and too cold to hope to cross. However, this year, as bitter as the cold was, it had actually been frozen over, so he could just walk across it to see about exploring this side of the Plains for some artifacts worthy of salvaging.
He'd been walking several days now, and this was the first thing he had seen, looming in the distance between two mountains like a fortress of some sort. Isos would probably be happy if it were, they would probably have a vault and lots of stuff to salvage, but it looked like there were trails of smoke above the place, and he thought he could hear the distant chatter of women and children on the wind.
Well, surely he could approach them to gather the lay of the land, or maybe drum up some business for after finding something, but, would he just walk up to the front gate?
Can I have some examples of what power level I'm supposed to be aiming for?
Sure, yeah:
A GuyW
Legendary Shoe T: You gain 1 life.
1/1
Another GuyU
Map Legend - Creature
Sacrifice an artifact: Tap target creature unless it's controller pays 2.
1/1
Last Example(B/G)
Totally Not a Legendary Creature
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, Last Example gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
Okay, I've added some description to my post. It may seem a little short but I didn't want to go on and on; he's something of a roleplay flagship character for me, so I could go on for days about the guy.
Looks great. Only issue is that we aren't on Kamigawa. I haven't named the world we're in yet, but I did describe it in the OP. It's a wintery, post-apocalyptic world. Not that you can't have the exact same backstory, but just switch it out to use new names.
We'll need a bunch of gold to keep this party together then, I suppose.
Just to let you know, you guys won't necessarily be in the same party. If you want, you can even fight each other. I intend to start you in different places and let your actions maybe move you away or towards other players.
[Separately...] I do have a question about your planned hand size and mana pool mechanics. Would these be a thing that carries over, such that it's to your advantage to cast fewer, cheaper spells? Or would they reset and be challenge-specific, existing on a case-by-case basis regardless of what you've done just before?
Well, hand size will reset with each new challenge, but mana pools will carry over, so people don't constantly have to be designing "draw a card" cards. Then again, I suppose I could hand out "draw a card" events like I will be handing out mana.
I've played in each iteration of the MMO-CCCG-RPG, so I figure I can give this a go as well.
Yeah, sorry guys, I'm doing "first come, first serve" on this, but definitely stick around. Players can be added in if slots open up due to RL situations or whatever, and CC has already said he'll be losing interest immediately anyways. Beside anyone who wants to make their own MMORP&CCCG could pick up your profile for their game.
That being said, with the game all filled up, our players are:
SkyBoundFencer with Masakenshi Shinten.
CrustaceanCrusader with Rafe Radethi.
KoolKoal with Vergant.
RaikouRider with Ace Sheeke.
Prophylaxis with Lewys Beynon.
Atogoholic with Reyne Beaufort.
SecretInfiltrator with Stranglefume, Cinder Hushblade.
SelesnyaNewLife with Korsa.
I'll probably have the actual thread up some time in the next 24 hours. Later more likely than sooner, though.
Well, the 1-drop will be capable of affecting the battlefield, so I'm more in favor of designing the cards myself, to make sure you don't get repeatable effects that swing the game too much, but you have a design in mind, shoot it past me, and if it's okay, it might wind up being your card.
On that same note, every time you level up, you will actually get one of a few different options for your new self, so there will be some customization there as well.
Yeah, that looks good, but if you have any details in mind for his background, personality, or anything like that, go ahead and post them too, as that would help me figure out where to put you in the beginning, and what kind of card to design for him.
Alright, so this is the discussion and sign up thread for any particular MMORP&CCCG. For those new to that really long anagram, it stands for "Massive Muliplayer Online Role Playing and Custom Card Creation Game." It's a simple concept: you have a character whom you play, who is represented as a legendary creature card. You start at level 1, with a cmc of 1 and a very weak, niche card which is provided to you. Your character goes on an adventure, and encounters challenges along the way, be they giant Wurm attacks, or wanted criminals who frame you for something they did.
When you encounter a challenge, the GM describes a board state, with creatures on the battlefield, life totals, spells on the stack, etcetera, and you must design cards that allows your side to win, makes your legendary creature card survive, and which would be printable. To design a card, you must have the mana in your mana pool to to spend on that card (you gather mana from remarkable events or by spending time in a place, and carry it around in your mana pool indefinitely). Also, each challenge has a challenge rating and is judged on a scale of 0 to 25, by the GM. In order for the card to resolve, it's score must exceed the challenge rating, and, if it does, you gain exp equal to the challenge rating of the challenge (even if it doesn't resolve the board state, so you can end up in the stomach of a Wurm and still advance a level). You can design a number of cards equal to the number of cards that are described as being "in your hand" to resolve a situation, and even design cards to draw more cards and get more slots to design cards with, but each card is judged separately, while you only gain exp once.
As for "cheating" cards, such as Simian Spirit Guide, or Dark Ritual, which would allow you to gain more mana to spend on a particular challenge, you can design them freely, but each time you try to resolve one, you must "spend" exp equal to half the challenge rating of the current challenge (rounded down). Designing land cards to play and get more mana is considered a type of "cheating."
As far as actual gameplay goes, the GM presents a situation around your character, and you decide what your character proceeds to do. The GM can also give you suggestions of things you could choose, but you are not limited to these options, and can do anything that you could logically think of. You can even create challenges that the GM did not plan for, though it is still up to the GM to describe the board state and set a challenge rating.
Now then, I'm holding my own MMORP&CCCG soon. For flavor, it will technically be set in two different worlds, one which is a wintery post-apocalyptic fantasy world, and one which is akin to Wonderland from Alice in Wonderland, if Silent Hill were part of Wonderland. This Wonderland is kind of a dream world to the post-apocalyptic real world, and can either be accessed by portals in the near world, or by sleeping after a specific and expensive magical ritual has been enacted to allow you to cross over.
I held one before, but kept it open for any number of players, which drove me insane, so, this time, things will be limited to eight players. If you're interested in playing, post in this thread with the following details:
Your character's name.
Your character's race.
Your character's class.
Your character's colors (up to two at the beginning)
The zone that your character cares most about (hand, battlefield, exile, stack)
If anyone wants to start up their own MMORP&CCCG, they can feel free to use this thread for their sign-ups, and I will keep an up-to-date list on games here in the OP, all linking to different threads.
Well, that's a bummer. Kind of makes me glad I just leapfrogged over the transition. Maybe we could get those game started up again. So, who would like to see another MMORP&CCCG?
Also:
Desire3R
Creature - Incarnation R T: Gain control of target creature you own.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Desire is in your graveyard, you may pay 2R. If you do, untap and gain control of target creature until end of turn. It gains haste until end of turn.
3/3
So, what ever happened to the Club Flamingo games? Like the Battle Factory and that Poker game?
Also, does anyone remember those old MMORP&CCCG games that were up a while back? I was running one at the time, but I believe I had far too many players to keep track of, because I really just got overwhelmed, and just stopped posting on these forums altogether for a while. But, now that I'm back, I was thinking I might start one up, but this time with a maximum number of players, to protect my sanity.
Planeswalker - Hargen M
[+1] Draw a card. You get an emblem with "Your maximum hand size is reduced by one."
[-2] You get an emblem with "At the beginning of each upkeep, you may tap or untap target permanent."
[0] You may lose any number of emblems you have. Hargen Fen deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is three times the number of emblems lost.
[[3]]
IIW: Artifacts that are cakes
@avatarz: Yeah, introducing new characters is fine. I actually was expecting that. The only issue is that we might have differing opinions on how a character should behave. Like, with this town you've walked up to. I was thinking that guards would be very alert, patrolling the walls and caring about their job. You were thinking they would probably have a very boring job (and, I might assume, be playing cards to pass the time), so you introduced him as being bored. Two different directions for the same character. But, no harm, no foul, really. I can work with a guard who is bored with his job.
Also, your English is fine, don't worry about it.
@SecretInfiltrator: Yeah, I would consider that a method of cheating on mana consumption, as the main limiter on card design is your mana bank. But you can still cast it for it's mana cost, if you want.
<3
Chaos Sight 3RRR
Enchantment R
Play with the top three cards of your library revealed.
You may play the top card of your library.
You may play the second card from the top of your library if it's a nonland card.
You may play the third card from the top of your library if it's an instant or sorcery card.
IIW: Artifact cakes
My frustration comes from a judgement that docked a great number of points for what was clearly a very minor issue with the card. Not only that, but I was nickled and dimed in categories where there are no logical complaints, and these fractional losses put me into a losing position. This is even one of my favorite designs that I've ever produced, and is actually a repost from my custom cube.
Even with that in mind, I would usually just shrug and go on my way. However Brave Lion has, to effect, said "check out my blogs, because I know how to design cards amazingly well, and you reading them will make you better at designing cards." So I am examining his words with increased scrutiny, and holding him to a higher standard than I otherwise would. I am expecting a genius. The fact that I found what I consider to be obvious flaws with the first review of his that I read, has made me want to express my frustration.
Dryad Arbor (Future Sight)
Dimir Guildmage (Ravinca: City of Guilds)
Dimir Guildmage (Modern Masters)
If you took away the text of one of Dimir Guildmage's abilities, it would become an altogether different card and you would have to change the name. Yet when you take away reminder text, it is still the same card. Supposing you judge differently on whether or not reminder text is included, then the reprint of Dimir Guildmage would score lower than the original printing of it, even though they are both the exact same card. After all, a new player would not necessarily know how hybrid mana actually works.
Example:
Duskdale Wurm (Eventide)
Duskdale Wurm (2013)
Either way, even if you stubbornly stick to the idea that it is difficult to understand, it definitely not so difficult to understand that I should lose several points over it, considering that you only need one sentence to clarify how the card works.
Now then, you took off half a point for a lack of uniqueness and then expound that there is only one card in existence even remotely similar, and I will detail that this one functions in a drastically different way than that similar card. You absolutely cannot say that this is less than a perfect 3 on uniqueness.
You took off half a point for a lack of viability, then describe how there is nothing wrong with it's viability at all.
Almost all the points you subtracted said "people won't get it", to which I reply "Then add reminder text that reads (This card is affected by summoning sickness.)" If they don't know what summoning sickness is, then that's a massive issue with their understanding of the game, not the card. Reminder text is generally treated as not being there anyways, but I could understand maybe a point being taken off because I didn't include that, but when it's so easy to clear up, it's not an issue.
It is not a delayed Evolving Wilds at all. It gives you the land untapped, so you get the mana at the same time, so it instantly proves to be better than Evolving Wilds, as this thing blocks Goblin Guide, Kird Ape, and dozens of other small guys in modern and legacy until you crack him for mana, so of course he would see constructed play. Maybe not in every deck, but Sakura Tribe Elder proves that a creature that can be freely sacked for a land is a useful commodity.
Legendary Creature - Human Samurai
Bushido 1
1/1
The Shinten Diamyo was dying.
The castle was in disrepair where it sat, among the barren mountains of what was once a great nation. The west wing had been encased in an avalanche some years back, and they had never managed to dig out all that snow. The east wing was simply abandoned, with no one living over there. Some rooms of the main castle were decaying, the roof sagging in or having collapsed entirely. In fact, there were only a few rooms left that were still accessible, including the armory, the food stores in the basement, the main hall, and the bedrooms that people shared to keep heat between them as to stave off the encroaching cold.
Today, they were all gathered around Tokashi Shinten's bed. He was an old man, from before the days of the endless winter, and he had been strong for many years. Yet, now, he had taken to sickness, and it seemed none of the riders they had sent out to find medicine would be returning in time. He seemed so small now, coughing beneath his thick furs, surrounded by his family and retainers, few as they were. Twenty two men and women all together. All were kneeling in respectful silence, a single oil lantern lighting the room.
Tokashi slept through most of the day, but, around sunset, he stirred, looking more alert than he had in days, and, looking around in a mild panic, he locked eyes on Masakenshi. Reaching up, he urged the samurai to lean down above him, draw his ear up to his lips, and whispered, his voice faint against the distant howling of mountain winds, "Restore us to our former glory, Masakenshi."
A trembling hand lifted up his wakizashi from where it rested next to his head, and pushed it into Masakenshi's hand, "You are the Diamyo now."
A moment later he seemed to fall asleep once again, and he breathed no more.
Mana Bank: 3WWW
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer
2, T: Put a charge counter on target artifact.
1/1
Rafe's cupboard was empty.
But that wasn't the greatest of his worries. He was also out of scrap metal to work on his creations. How woeful this was, that he had a warm, stone house in one of the last secure bastions in this blasted winter land, partially buried beneath the permafrost, with a raging furnace and tools to practice his craft, but he had no metal with which to work! Oh, calamity indeed. This would not be so irksome if he could go to the cupboard and grab a snack, but it seems he had eaten the last of the auroch jerky yesterday.
Well, he had some gold to spend, about five pieces. Perhaps he could go about to any of the other shops and see if they had any metal to spare. Maybe he'd even get lucky and find a caravan rolling in. He should probably get some more food while he's out as well.
Racking his mind, he compiled a list of different possible locations he could go. There was market street, but they mostly sold food and furs, which he probably didn't need, but that was where the caravans would be, if there were any there. There were the sparse forges spattered across the walled village as well, so he could visit them one at a time. Lastly, he could go about to the neighbors on his street. They usually didn't have metal, but, it was just outside.
Mana Bank: 3RRR
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Rhino Shaman
Sacrifice a creature: Target creature other than Vergant gains deathtouch until end of turn.
1/1
This place was horrible.
Sure, the normal world was all starving and covered in snow, but they at least didn't have to deal with tophat-wearing frogs the size of buildings and rivers of blood and tar every five minutes. Still, this place served it's purpose, and Vergant had paid a lot of money to be able to project himself down here. Right now, he was actually in a coma-like dream up in the material world, and his mind was giving him physical form down here. If he could find some objects while he was here, though, he'd find them in his hand when he woke up, which would be in about five hours.
So far he'd spent three hours of his nap to get up on top of a mountain and take in the lay of the land. Looking out, he saw a tangled wood to the east and south as far as the eye could see, with giant frogs hopping about and having tea parties with the slightly-less-immense granddaddy long-leg spiders (who were wearing monocles and mustaches). He could probably guess that there were some magical teas and plants out there, but he'd have to deal with the giant creatures constantly.
To the west was that river of tar and blood he'd come out next to, with inky-black lakes of tar and shores of stone that bled when you walked on them. Among them were the lake people he had met before, and they could be friendly enough, but they would cry at the drop of a hat, and he swore, the sound of that crying unhinged his sanity a little bit more every time. They would probably have some information, if he could understand them this time, but, really, it was just an uncomfortable experience.
To the north were some more tarry fens, but, beyond that lay a chessboard with what appeared to be an Egyptian pyramid (not that Vergant knew what Egypt was) in it's middle, and, beyond that, mountains towering into the clouds. Clouds which took the shape of hands grabbing at the mountain side. On the slope of this mountain was actually something that caused the Rhino some alarm: A pile of giant, black and yellow poker chips piled up in a haphazard way that gave the strike appearance of a castle. That was a place of Underland royalty, and they were particularly demented and powerful. Sure, he could probably steal some mountain of magic from there, but, chances were that he would get caught and... he didn't want to think about it.
So the question was: Which way?
Mana Bank: 1BBGG
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior
Ace Sheeke gets +2/+0 if you control a red or green Dragon creature with converted mana cost 6 or more.
1/1
Ace had to leave his tribe.
It was a common practice in this times. With the eternal winter and the dwindling sources of food, the strongest tribesmen would take more than their fair share, leaving less and less for the weaker tribesmen. Now, Ace was by no means small, but there were far larger men in the tribe, and the lack of food had already killed off all of the truly small tribesmen. Then things had escalated, and now Ace didn't have enough food for himself. Even when he had taken down a beast by himself, he would be the last to eat.
This had happened to others, many of Ace's friends. One had even died, falling before a Rex because he was too weak to run. But most had decided to leave, and become lone wolves, keeping what they had killed. They had all gone towards the fields in the north and east, knowing they would have better chances out there than in these forests. But there was also the mountains in the distant west and south, and there were rumors that there were still dragons in those craggy reaches.
There wasn't really anyone to tie him to this place. He only had a couple of friends remaining, Shank and Bullet, and they knew he wanted to leave. Maybe he could visit them one last time and convince them to come with him, but, beyond that chance, he simply had to decide when and how he would leave.
Mana Bank: 1RRGG
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Kor Cleric
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may exile Lewys Beynon. Then return him to the battlefield.
0/2
Lewys knew the man on the table before him.
Lewys had been a member of a street gang for years, here in Essin, before the day he had narrowly escaped death in a duel, and instead managed to skewer his foe. It was that day, looking down at the bloody corpse of his enemy, that he had decided to leave the violent world of street fights, and join the church as a cleric.
Now, Essin was on the coast near the equator, and they were spared from the bitterest winter storm, and they could gather up lots of crabs from their trap fields, resulting in a larger sustainable population than any other place in the world (that Lewys knew of). Large enough to even have different castes, and even a delinquent population, but when Lewys had joined the church, he had left behind that delinquent population, joining a different caste entirely. It had been years since he had seen this boy, and now here he was, thawing out on the altar, while Lewys sprinkled holy water on his head.
The boy had been named Artys, and he'd been a viashino in the same gang as Lewys had been. He was taller now, and whoever had killed him, they had beaten him pretty badly, but it was definitely Artys. It was painful for Lewys to look at his former friend, as the viashino had died in pain. Had he been right to choose cleric over rogue?
Mana Bank: 1WWUU
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Elemental Assassin
Stranglefume, Cinder Hushblade gets +1/+1 and can't block as long as seven or more creature cards are in your graveyard.
1/1
"You don't have to do this!" the old man pleaded.
Stranglefume was surrounded by the wreckage of their little caravan, five corpses on the ground. Two guards and three holy men. Strangely enough, the holy men had put up more of a fight than the guards. They had just taken a couple of cuts and they were on the ground, but the holy men had thrown holy water in his face. One had even kept fighting after his neck had been cut. Not long, mind you, but long enough that the cinder was surprised. He was just glad he had chosen to throw in a small bomb to take their wagons down, else he'd never had caught them back up.
Now all that was left was the actual target, the old man. Some kind of saint or something, on a pilgrimage to Essin, with three retainers and two cheap guards who had clearly been hired to deter polar bears, not assassins. He couldn't run or anything, so it would be a ridiculously easy task.
Kill Elder Priest Telor.
Challenge Rating: 5
Opponent
20 life.
One card in hand.
WWW open.
Five creatures in graveyard. (Two "Winter Huntsman." Three "Defenders of Peace.")
One creature on battlefield. (Elder Priest Telor)
You
20 life.
Three cards in hand.
Mana Bank open.
Your Legendary Creature on the battlefield.
Creature - Human Druid
Bear, Elk, and Wolf creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 1.
0/1
Creature - Human Cleric
2W, T: Tap target creature.
0/2
Legendary Creature - Kor Cleric
Whenever Elder Priest Telor blocks, you gain 5 life.
0/5
Mana Bank: 1BBRR
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Centaur Druid
T: Lands you control gain "T: Add G to your mana pool." until end of turn.
1/1
It was time for Korsa to leave the herd.
Snow drifted lazily from the sky where they were gathered, everyone paying their respects to the Druid as he stood in silent respect to those who had been his family for his entire life. It was tradition that, when a centaur of the Shuul clan reached a certain age, they would go out on their own, and return, maybe months, maybe years later, with something to strengthen the herd, such as the location of a lush field of cud, or a spell to make their lives easily.
Some chose to go into the Underland for their pilgrimage, but that was usually considered to be suicide, as very few ever returned from that strange place. Those who did, though, always brought something of great value back, but Korsa was more interested in the leylines of the natural world anyways. Besides, they didn't have access to a portal right now, not since that cult had overtaken the one at the bottom of the Testen Gorge.
The high priestess slowly approached Korsa as he stood there, carrying a thick blanket and a basket of grass. When she reached her fellow centaur, she carefully lay the quilt over his back, and embraced him to fasten the basket of cud around his shoulder. She was an ancient centaur, the high priestess, so she could only whisper the words to Korsa, "Here is a quilt to keep you warm in this cold world, and a month of cud to feed you should you wander in a barren way. Now go, and find whatever you will find."
And she pulled away, the herd watching in silence as their brother decided which way he would travel.
Mana Bank: 3GGG
Experience: 0/25
Legendary Creature - Spirit Monger
(U/R), T, Discard a card: Draw a card.
0/2
There was a walled village in the distance.
Isos had never been on this side of the Great Plains before. There was a wide river that ran through the middle of the Plains, with tall pine forests for miles on either bank, and most of the time it was flowing too fast and too deep and too cold to hope to cross. However, this year, as bitter as the cold was, it had actually been frozen over, so he could just walk across it to see about exploring this side of the Plains for some artifacts worthy of salvaging.
He'd been walking several days now, and this was the first thing he had seen, looming in the distance between two mountains like a fortress of some sort. Isos would probably be happy if it were, they would probably have a vault and lots of stuff to salvage, but it looked like there were trails of smoke above the place, and he thought he could hear the distant chatter of women and children on the wind.
Well, surely he could approach them to gather the lay of the land, or maybe drum up some business for after finding something, but, would he just walk up to the front gate?
Mana Bank: 1UURR
Experience: 0/25
Sure, yeah:
A Guy W
Legendary Shoe
T: You gain 1 life.
1/1
Another Guy U
Map Legend - Creature
Sacrifice an artifact: Tap target creature unless it's controller pays 2.
1/1
Last Example (B/G)
Totally Not a Legendary Creature
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, Last Example gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
Looks great. Only issue is that we aren't on Kamigawa. I haven't named the world we're in yet, but I did describe it in the OP. It's a wintery, post-apocalyptic world. Not that you can't have the exact same backstory, but just switch it out to use new names.
Just to let you know, you guys won't necessarily be in the same party. If you want, you can even fight each other. I intend to start you in different places and let your actions maybe move you away or towards other players.
Well, hand size will reset with each new challenge, but mana pools will carry over, so people don't constantly have to be designing "draw a card" cards. Then again, I suppose I could hand out "draw a card" events like I will be handing out mana.
Yeah, sorry guys, I'm doing "first come, first serve" on this, but definitely stick around. Players can be added in if slots open up due to RL situations or whatever, and CC has already said he'll be losing interest immediately anyways. Beside anyone who wants to make their own MMORP&CCCG could pick up your profile for their game.
That being said, with the game all filled up, our players are:
I'll probably have the actual thread up some time in the next 24 hours. Later more likely than sooner, though.
On that same note, every time you level up, you will actually get one of a few different options for your new self, so there will be some customization there as well.
Sign-ups and Discussion Thread
Alright, so this is the discussion and sign up thread for any particular MMORP&CCCG. For those new to that really long anagram, it stands for "Massive Muliplayer Online Role Playing and Custom Card Creation Game." It's a simple concept: you have a character whom you play, who is represented as a legendary creature card. You start at level 1, with a cmc of 1 and a very weak, niche card which is provided to you. Your character goes on an adventure, and encounters challenges along the way, be they giant Wurm attacks, or wanted criminals who frame you for something they did.
When you encounter a challenge, the GM describes a board state, with creatures on the battlefield, life totals, spells on the stack, etcetera, and you must design cards that allows your side to win, makes your legendary creature card survive, and which would be printable. To design a card, you must have the mana in your mana pool to to spend on that card (you gather mana from remarkable events or by spending time in a place, and carry it around in your mana pool indefinitely). Also, each challenge has a challenge rating and is judged on a scale of 0 to 25, by the GM. In order for the card to resolve, it's score must exceed the challenge rating, and, if it does, you gain exp equal to the challenge rating of the challenge (even if it doesn't resolve the board state, so you can end up in the stomach of a Wurm and still advance a level). You can design a number of cards equal to the number of cards that are described as being "in your hand" to resolve a situation, and even design cards to draw more cards and get more slots to design cards with, but each card is judged separately, while you only gain exp once.
As for "cheating" cards, such as Simian Spirit Guide, or Dark Ritual, which would allow you to gain more mana to spend on a particular challenge, you can design them freely, but each time you try to resolve one, you must "spend" exp equal to half the challenge rating of the current challenge (rounded down). Designing land cards to play and get more mana is considered a type of "cheating."
As far as actual gameplay goes, the GM presents a situation around your character, and you decide what your character proceeds to do. The GM can also give you suggestions of things you could choose, but you are not limited to these options, and can do anything that you could logically think of. You can even create challenges that the GM did not plan for, though it is still up to the GM to describe the board state and set a challenge rating.
Now then, I'm holding my own MMORP&CCCG soon. For flavor, it will technically be set in two different worlds, one which is a wintery post-apocalyptic fantasy world, and one which is akin to Wonderland from Alice in Wonderland, if Silent Hill were part of Wonderland. This Wonderland is kind of a dream world to the post-apocalyptic real world, and can either be accessed by portals in the near world, or by sleeping after a specific and expensive magical ritual has been enacted to allow you to cross over.
I held one before, but kept it open for any number of players, which drove me insane, so, this time, things will be limited to eight players. If you're interested in playing, post in this thread with the following details:
If anyone wants to start up their own MMORP&CCCG, they can feel free to use this thread for their sign-ups, and I will keep an up-to-date list on games here in the OP, all linking to different threads.
Also:
Desire 3R
Creature - Incarnation R
T: Gain control of target creature you own.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Desire is in your graveyard, you may pay 2R. If you do, untap and gain control of target creature until end of turn. It gains haste until end of turn.
3/3
IIW: I wanna see artifact cakes.
Also, does anyone remember those old MMORP&CCCG games that were up a while back? I was running one at the time, but I believe I had far too many players to keep track of, because I really just got overwhelmed, and just stopped posting on these forums altogether for a while. But, now that I'm back, I was thinking I might start one up, but this time with a maximum number of players, to protect my sanity.