Trading Card Game Mechanic/Feature Suggestions

[Tovarish24]

Hello there MMO-C goers! I am currently in the very early alpha stages of creating a TCG, and was interested in hearing what fellow gamers might like to see in a TCG. I won't go into detail about what the game already includes, because things are still changing rather fluidly, but I want to get ideas on what people would be interested to see. (EDIT: 4 Posts down you will find details about the game)

Obviously the standard Power/Toughness or Damage/Health mechanic is long outdated, and is only really fun in TCG's that have a hold on the market, such as our beloved favorite, Magic: the Gathering. Because of this, I've strayed away from some of those classic systems and traded them out for some mildly more complicated design, though at the end of the day, it's still a card game.

So, if you were on the development team of a Trading Card Game, and had your say on what would be included, what would you choose to see?

If I enjoy your idea, or intend to use it, I'll PM you with info on how you could become characterized in the game, potentially on a card that uses your very idea! Also, if you're interested in hearing more, you can PM me and I can supply you with the website when it goes live!

[lupii]

Unfortunately your description is very vauge (meant to hower clearly) so the types of sugestions probably wont be all the best for you.

Far as a mechanic, I would say add something with an air of chance. A roll chance where an effect adds value to the card but has an additional cost. There could also be a threshold where the roll has to hit a number or the effect would not even work. So a sort of Bonus/hit chance effect.

Heres an example: Your card effect has [6]-4 with a cost of # (whatever the resource is, but it would be low of course) The [0] would be whatever sided die you would roll, you would also place the rolled number into the box. So if you rolled a 5, it woudl be [5]-4, which would cause an appropriate effect of 1.

A ebtter example would be for damage calculation by card effect: [20]-13. You would have to roll higher than 13 to do damage and you have a chance to do up to 7 damage with the one effect. However, you take a large risk by not having anything happen and wasting the resources to activate the effect.

It could be applied to anything from choice-activated card effects to defense-modifier effects. The idea would be to add an extra shakeup of the game and could be used to make the old fashion trade-weak-for-small happen less and instead reward more for the large pushes, with the multiple sources of damage being a cushion to a bad roll.

I would probably call it: Feint or something along the lines of it.

(C) 2013 Lupii Industries Canada

[Tovarish24]

Yeah I know it's vague, but it has to be for now. For starters I don't want to begin releasing information too early, and also, the game is so early in development that I'd probably have to update the post every couple of days just to keep it accurate.

As far as your suggestion goes, it's a great one! It is, however, already implemented into the game in a sense. There was early playtesting with Rolling a D20 to determine if abilities hit or miss, and with that, the game felt a little too RNG, as when I attempted to "alpha strike" my opponent (though "alpha striking" works a little differently than the phrase might suggest), I ended up not being able to cast a single spell, and thus lost a game I was far ahead in.

Once that happened, it was determined that D20 Rolls, or any Roll for that matter, had to be in addition to another effect, rather than determine the effect as a whole. Therefore, I use D20 rolls to dictate "pumps."

Instead of "Pay X [Resource] to cast 'Ability Y', then pay an additional X [Resource] to add 'Effect Z' to 'Ability Y'"
it is now "Pay X [Resource] to cast 'Ability Y', then Roll 12/20 (ie: 12 and under hits, 13-20 does not hit) to add 'Effect Z' to 'Ability Y'

So that's currently where rolls are in the game. I really enjoyed the act of rolling the dice when I tested the game using dice rolls for everything, but as I said, it was just too much RNG for a strategy game. However, I love the mechanic and plan to include it in some other fun ways too other than just pumping abilities.

[Hraklea]

I have to say that it is really hard to suggest mechanics without knowing the theme of your game, because my suggestions might not fit your ideas (lands works for MtG, but wouldn't make any sense in Pokemon TCG, for example). That said:

- Make a very detailed timing structure, it should be at least as good as MtG stack. I play Android: Netrunner, and we have a lot of problems with some cards combinations because there's no "stack" rule.

- I love games where you play with a character. In MtG, Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, you're yourself (with laser, but yourself). I like games like Android: Netrunner and Magi-Nation Duel because rather than be yourself, you have a card that represents you and your unique abilities. I particularly like the Magi-Nation Duel system, where you have 3 characters and change them as they die, like a King of Fighters game.

- No dice, no coin, please. If there's something more irritating than losing because you failed to draw the card you needed, it is when you make the right moves and the randomness betrays you. Serious games should be about skills, not about luck.

- TCG sucks, it is disrespectful with the players. Sell all cards in a pack, like Summoner Wars.

[Tovarish24]

@Hraklea.

This is a response to your post directly, and then I'll create a separate post that includes some more information on the game so that people can focus their comments.

1: There is a stack, and clear defined rules that allow you to know the order in which spells and abilities will resolve. I'm a huge fan of MtG, and while I'm attempting to create some new mechanics so as to not create a clone, I'm also not going to fix what isn't broken.

2: The player is represented by a card. Their Archweaver. The second part of your comment actually almost directly represents the original setup of Archweaver, but the rules on a limit of 3 cards has been removed due to other changes. If you like games that have those mechanics, however, then Archweaver should appeal to you.

3: As I said, I noticed in playtesting that the pure RNG of rolling for an ability is simply too much. That said, I really enjoy the act of rolling die, so for now, it's been merged into the "pump" mechanic. In a game such as magic, if you want to pump, it's a matter of keeping extra Lands, or Mana, untapped for the pump. In Archweaver, you still enjoy the same fun of getting the ability or card that you want for its Mana cost, with the added fun of potentially getting a turn 2 pump off with a sick roll. It's there to add to the enjoyment of something you're already getting at value. The roll is simply bonus value to an already balanced value, thus being fun because if you miss the roll, you still get your value.

4: Come production time, the Alpha block will be available in full for a certain price. The trouble is, you are allowed up to 3 copies of a card in your deck (barring unlimited Essences [ie: Lands or Mana cards]). This means that the production cost of an entire set of cards will be 3 times the production cost of say, a booster box. So while it might be available as an option for those willing, it will be an expensive one. I do enjoy the idea of being able to pay once and be set until the next block or expansion, but it will still have to be an investment on the part of the player. Cards will also be available in the traditional TCG format. There will be cards that are unique and you can only have 1 of in a deck. These cards include Archweavers and Elements. Archweavers represent the player, and Elements are powerful cards that are limited and separated from the main deck. It is uncertain how these will be distributed. There is a chance that Archweavers could appear at about the rarity of Planeswalkers in MtG in booster packs. Perhaps they will be available by themselves, or in special packs of their own. These are things that have yet to be determined and will be based factors of production cost.

Thank you for your feedback! I'll get something up very soon that states some overarching features of the game to better allow people to be specific to my game.

- - - Updated - - -

I am currently in the process of creating a website for the game. I wish to wait a little further into development before writing up the entire thing, due to the fact that I don't want to have to update every page, including the rules page, every other day. It would make it too difficult for testers to keep up, and it would take too much valuable time off of my hands. That being said, it is in the works, and will be very helpful, open, and inclusive.

Until then, I'll write out some basics of the game, and link to the website with more detailed information when it's ready.

The game is based in the Milky Way Universe. I am a huge fan of Science, and a proponent of human existence and progress, and those ideals will be commonly represented in the game and its lore. The lore exists independently of the game, and was created before the game was a concept. The story takes place on Future Earth, sometime in early 2300. In mid 2150, the human race came together and abolished politics, religion, and greed. It was a great movement, and happened only after mankind faced the brink of self destruction. Out of the ashes of relentless war, spawned a renewed hope for world peace. 200 years later, Man has reconnected with the Earth. We have regressed our footsteps, become one with the Earth, and learned to live in harmony with both it, and each other. Out of this mutual bond, some are lucky enough to be embraced by the Earth, just as they had been in the distant past (kind of a comedic throwback to the fact that most high fantasy takes place in Medieval times). When this connection occurs, the human is imbued with Elemental powers, allowing them to control Magics that represent the Element they were empowered by. These powerful Future-Wizards are called Elemancers, and are one with the Earth. If they are destroyed, with them the Earth is destroyed, and in their prime, with them is the Earth in its prime. This is all made possible by a mysterious new Element found on a crashed asteroid. While not much is yet known about the Element (yet to be named), it has now been cultivated by the human race as a primary source of energy, and by some stroke of luck, the science behind which to be discovered, the new material is both hyper-potent, and incredibly non-pollutant.

Life is not all happiness, peace, and joy on Earth. The Elemancers have a prime duty to protect the Earth from multiple enemies. It is not uncommon to find the Earth under attack by Alien forces. While still not invaded by a large fleet from any far away neighbor, Earth does find itself having to ward small visits, and who knows what lies in the distance. On top of that, not everyone on Earth is so quick to love the...well, love. Only 300 years after Earth as we know it today, urges such as greed, un-inhibited lust, power, and riches, still permeate through the cracks of human existence. Without Politics or Religion to dictate right and wrong, or lay out the lives of humans for them, it is up to the Elemancers to make judgements, on behalf of the Earth, who is the true 'God' of the human race, because without it, no more would the human race exist.

Where Archweavers come into the story, will have to wait. I still need to flesh out some plot points, and also I don't want to spoil everything here before the website goes up. Onto the game then.

DISCLAIMER::: Everything here is subject to change! This game is in very, very early development stages, and changes like an organism might.

Players start with a deck of 60 cards for the original format. In addition to that, there are an undetermined amount of Element cards that will be a counterpart to the main deck, but I'll get to that later.

The main deck consists of 3 types of cards. Essences, which act as "Lands" or "Mana." Elemancers, which are your "Creatures" essentially, but work very differently. Finally, Tech Pieces (working name), which are a sort of "Enchantment" type of card.

-Essences represent one of the 4 elements in the game, Fire (Red), Earth (Brown), Air (Gray/White), and Water (Blue). They are used (tapped) to cast Elemancer and Tech Piece cards.

-Elemancers have a number of things on them.
-Converted Mana Cost, which is in the top righthand corner, and represents the Essence cost of the card. For example [1 colorless, 2 Water(Blue)].
-Name, top left corner
-Mana total. This number is at the bottom center of the card, and represents a fixed mana total for the Elemancer.
-O/D/U. The "O/D/U" or "Offensive / Defensive / Utility" is a section of the card that represents the Elemancer's 3 abilities, one Offensive, one
Defensive, and one Utility.
-O- This is the Offensive ability of an Elemancer, and typically does damage or some sort of Offensive effect.
-D- This is the Defensive ability of an Elemancer, and typically blocks a type or types of Damage, or otherwise counteracts, some sort of Offensive ability.
-U- This is the Utility ability of an Elemancer, and typically does something fun or controlling, such as a counterspell, mana or health regeneration, creation of token
Elementals, Untap effects, modify another ability effects, draw effects, etc.
-Abilities have a Mana cost that is represented to the right of the ability. This mana cost would be deducted from the fixed Mana total of the Elemancer should it be
activated. To activate an ability, one must pay the Mana cost, and then tap the Elemancer. It is undetermined how Defensive abilities and having to tap them to
cast will work, as the combat phase works similarly to the one found in MtG.
-If an Elemancer consumes all of their Mana, reaching 0 Mana, they become exhausted, and retreat (in other words, they die and go to the graveyard.)

-Tech Pieces act as enhancements to the Elemancers. The game takes place in a Universe that has both Fantasy and Sci-Fi at play, and this is the fun connection between the two.
-Tech Pieces will modify or enhance Elemancers in specific ways. For example, a rusty jetpack could allow your Elemancer to gain the Aerial effect on their
Offensive ability. Perhaps a hoverboard gives your Elemancer extra speed, and they don't have to tap to cast an ability. You see where I'm going with this.

Then, there are Element cards. The idea here is that your team is introducing a large concentration of a specific element to the battlefield, thus having a particular effect on all Elemancers (both yours and the enemy's) in play. I get to have fun here and really break down and investigate the Periodic table in a fantastic way, and give some really epic flavor to these cards. Cesium, for example, is an alkali metal, that melts at such low temperatures, that just rubbing your finger on it can melt it into a thin liquid. It is also very reactive. Thus, play Cesium and deal 2 Afflict damage (a damage over time effect, found commonly in the Fire Element) per turn. Or play Helium and grant all Elemancers Aerial damage (because they're floating haha). It is undetermined how these cards will come in and out of play. The idea is that they are uncommonly played, players have equal opportunity to use their own, and sometimes they can benefit or hinder one side, or both. They are cards that are added to create a level of fluctuation in play, and add game changing factors to excite the battle.

Finally, there are Archweaver cards. These represent the player, with a fixed, unmarked Health total of 20 (most likely going to change to perhaps, 25, depending on testing.)
-They have no O/D/U, but still use 3 ability slots in a similar way.
-Each turn, from turn 0 and on, they gain 1 Mana Counter.
-It is up to the player whether they want to use their cheaper Archweaver abilities early, or wait for late game to drop big bombs.
-Archweavers in the lore help, modify, and enhance the Magics of Elemancers with Arcane energy and Telepathic/Telekinetic powers.
This is represented in the flavor of the cards, with abilities such as Energy Flux (Target Offensive spell costs 1 Mana less to cast, and target enemy Defensive spell
costs 1 Mana more to cast, this turn), or Mind Control (Untap target enemy Elemancer, then cast its offensive ability for free, then tap it.) Energy Flux is a 3 Mana
cost spell, where Mind Control is a 9.

Currently players draw to 7. Essence cards are placed at a rate of 1 max per turn. Cards will have effects that alter that rule however. There is a Main phase, Combat phase where Offensive spells are declared, followed by Defensive spells being declared in response, then a 2nd Main Phase and a turn pass. Utility Abilities cast at "Instant Speed" and are usable at any time during any players turn, except during someone's upkeep phase. Offensive spells are only usable during the player who's turn it is, and Defensive spells are only usable during the Defensive stage of a Combat phase.

I'll go into more detail as time goes on and more rules are determined, and when the website is released. I'd be happy to clarify anything I've already written, as I don't have time to proof read, I have to leave home for a bit. Other than that, I hope that helps, and thanks in advance for any suggestions or feedback!

[Hraklea]

1: There is a stack, and clear defined rules that allow you to know the order in which spells and abilities will resolve. I'm a huge fan of MtG, and while I'm attempting to create some new mechanics so as to not create a clone, I'm also not going to fix what isn't broken.

2: The player is represented by a card. Their Archweaver. The second part of your comment actually almost directly represents the original setup of Archweaver, but the rules on a limit of 3 cards has been removed due to other changes. If you like games that have those mechanics, however, then Archweaver should appeal to you.

Sounds cool.

The trouble is, you are allowed up to 3 copies of a card in your deck (barring unlimited Essences [ie: Lands or Mana cards]). This means that the production cost of an entire set of cards will be 3 times the production cost of say, a booster box. So while it might be available as an option for those willing, it will be an expensive one.

A Game of Thrones card game "core set" (the first edition) comes with 3 copies of each card and it costs ~30 bucks. A booster box of Avacin Restored costs ~120 bucks and you'll hardly find 4 copies of the best card in a single box. I really doubt that selling entire sets would be more expensive to the players rather than releasing it in a TCG format. (both prices checked on CoolStuffInc. website)

I'll go into more detail as time goes on and more rules are determined, and when the website is released.

I'll be waiting for it.

[Tovarish24]

A Game of Thrones card game "core set" (the first edition) comes with 3 copies of each card and it costs ~30 bucks. A booster box of Avacin Restored costs ~120 bucks and you'll hardly find 4 copies of the best card in a single box. I really doubt that selling entire sets would be more expensive to the players rather than releasing it in a TCG format. (both prices checked on CoolStuffInc. website)

I would have to look deeper into the GoT game to see how or why they are able to do that. Perhaps they make their cost back in another way. However, judging based on the production facilities I currently intend to use, I won't be able to push it out for that cheap. Not a 3 copy super set of all the cards anyway. Perhaps they have fewer cards than I plan on having, I'm not sure. Either way, I do plan on having multiple purchase avenues to fit people's styles.

[Halicia]

I would have to look deeper into the GoT game to see how or why they are able to do that. Perhaps they make their cost back in another way. However, judging based on the production facilities I currently intend to use, I won't be able to push it out for that cheap. Not a 3 copy super set of all the cards anyway. Perhaps they have fewer cards than I plan on having, I'm not sure. Either way, I do plan on having multiple purchase avenues to fit people's styles.

The top cost for your game should be artwork, not the production. So selling 15 cards of unique artwork should be considerably more expensive then 5 cards in triplicate. If your production costs are limiting you, then you need to do some research and find someone else, or a plan to deal in a larger quantity that's more cost-efficient.