Card Game Idea Ramblings
Jul. 8th, 2011 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rakathspseudonymOkay, so a while back when I was bigger in on YGO (and, naturally, had more ire at things involved) and was trying out the Naruto TCG I thought 'what if there was a universal manga vs. system that didn't annoy me as much as Vs. system does itself. So I started coming up with a system I thought took the best aspects from each card game out there there and this is what I came up with... some of my own personal charms were added.
- Game Basics and your Ace Card -
The basic set-up is two decks, a main deck and a resource deck. The main deck is 40 or so odd cards, maybe 50 to just be more than YGO. Insert a bigger is better joke here. The second deck is a resource deck, this is 10-20 cards depending on the last card which is your Ace (Square Border). A character card that sets your draw and resource gains per turn.
Your Ace determines your:
Your Ace also has a name and features, allowing for use of certain cards that might require such things. They aren't a Character or Creature, they can't be killed or damaged by normal means. They take hits from Ace damage and attacks, as they carry your Health points. The main victory condition is dropping the opponent's Health points to 0.
Alternate Win Condition is what separates this from other games. Each Ace has a themed victory condition special to the type of deck you're playing. It might be gathering certain cards to your field. Certain situations for your opponent's play area. A combination of the two, some examples:
Your Ace is a key part of your strategy, as such it decides quite a number of aspects to your play style. How large your resource deck is, how you gain resources, hand and draw sizes. Some Ace Cards are very good for drawing (but make resources a chore to maintain. Others will have less draw and resources in exchange for high Health and Regeneration scores. You might draw cards quickly but have a small handsize.
Another thing to vary is personal abilities. These work like the abilities of Creatures and Characters. Examples would be to increase stats, or to have an Interupt on hand at any time. There's not much reason to go into that.
- The Resource Deck and Field -
The resource deck (Hexagonal cards - Grey) is made up of face-up cards that have usable effects while in play. Resources have 5 ways to be used (for the effects of the Resource and from other card costs):
The more powerful an Objects standby is, the less you will want to expend it in a lasting way. Weaker Resources of course are easier to expend, but not as interesting to have. And with the above win conditions some you can't expend if you want to win without a long drawn out fight.
Your Ace impacts how you gain Resources. And every card costs something based on Resources in one way or another. If your deck begins with a high resource field you can press an advantage early but if your hand suffers or you don't gain resources quickly you might suffer later on. The main difference this has from other games is that the field resources don't clutter or drag away from other parts of the game. You don't have to worry about drawing Land, not drawing Land, etc.
Attacking someones resources is a viable strategy, but most of the time the best an outside force can hope for is to Cycle them.
- Main Deck -
The main deck is structured with two types of cards, both are further subsets based from these main ideas: Beings (Hexagonal Border) and Actions (Round Border).
- Being Cards -
Beings are separated into two casts: Characters and Creatures. Both carry the same card anatomy:
Creatures are basic footsoldiers, there's no limit to the number of such you can play of any given type. They are the bread and butter of decks focusing on superior creature numbers to take on opposing enemies. They are weaker than characters but that comes with lower costs to play them.
Characters are creatures with the boons of a name. Stronger but you can't have as many named characters out at a time. You can control four Characters, and only one character of any given name at a time. Attribute Colors and Features impact how this card interacts with others, often Ace cards might give a bonus to cards that share one of these aspects with it. Other cards might require a Being of such aspects to be in play to activate them.
Blade, Armor, and Energy are the three stats all Beings have. Blade is the offense a card can throw, Armor is the defense for what it can take, and energy is its Health Points. Which may also be used as a part of Person Effect costs (and some Action costs). Battle decreases the energy on both monsters based on how their stats interact. If Energy hits 0 a card is discarded... except Undead.
Cost functions like everything, using the same system as outlined with Resources. Personal effects function the same as with your Ace, only the effects will have different limitations as creatures need to be brought out and are not a constant threat or boon.
- Action Cards -
Actions are separated in a similar way. The two casts in this case being Commands and Tactics. They also share the same anatomy:
Actions have direct effects on the field of play, the creatures in play, and the actions of others. Most go to the Discard after use, but others attach to cards in play to aid them in some way. Depending on effect, for a card to attach they must share the same Attribute Color (or be a Resource). Requirements and Costs are needed for a card to be played, and dealt with as the card is played. Some requirements might discard a Being, Energy from a Being, Health Points, Discarding a card, or Exiling a card.
The distinction between Commands and Tactics is when they are played. Commands are free to play during your turn. Tactics are played in response to another gameplay event (listed in its Requirements). Both carry much the same impact in play, but you carry more freedom with Commands, and more cunning with a Tactic.
I have yet to figure out the exact order of play, or any of the nitty gritty of that.
- Game Basics and your Ace Card -
The basic set-up is two decks, a main deck and a resource deck. The main deck is 40 or so odd cards, maybe 50 to just be more than YGO. Insert a bigger is better joke here. The second deck is a resource deck, this is 10-20 cards depending on the last card which is your Ace (Square Border). A character card that sets your draw and resource gains per turn.
Your Ace determines your:
- Health Points | Regeneration.
- Alternate Victory Condition.
- Attribute Color (Black, White, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, or Purple)
- Resource Deck size.
- Opening Hand size.
- Opening Resource field.
- Number of cards drawn per turn.
- Number of resources added per turn.
- 0-2 Personal Abilities you can play.
Your Ace also has a name and features, allowing for use of certain cards that might require such things. They aren't a Character or Creature, they can't be killed or damaged by normal means. They take hits from Ace damage and attacks, as they carry your Health points. The main victory condition is dropping the opponent's Health points to 0.
Alternate Win Condition is what separates this from other games. Each Ace has a themed victory condition special to the type of deck you're playing. It might be gathering certain cards to your field. Certain situations for your opponent's play area. A combination of the two, some examples:
- Your only four Resources on your field are "Seiryu", "Suzaku", "Byakko", and "Genbu".
- Your opponent has 15 exiled Characters.
- Your opponent's maximum handsize is 0.
- Your opponent's deck is empty.
- Your "Altar of Tribute" has gained 10 counters.
- You cannot lose by having 0 Health Points. (Zombies are Jerks)
Your Ace is a key part of your strategy, as such it decides quite a number of aspects to your play style. How large your resource deck is, how you gain resources, hand and draw sizes. Some Ace Cards are very good for drawing (but make resources a chore to maintain. Others will have less draw and resources in exchange for high Health and Regeneration scores. You might draw cards quickly but have a small handsize.
Another thing to vary is personal abilities. These work like the abilities of Creatures and Characters. Examples would be to increase stats, or to have an Interupt on hand at any time. There's not much reason to go into that.
- The Resource Deck and Field -
The resource deck (Hexagonal cards - Grey) is made up of face-up cards that have usable effects while in play. Resources have 5 ways to be used (for the effects of the Resource and from other card costs):
- Standby - An effect applied while a Resource is on the field.
- Expend - You can expend any resource on any given turn, this does not cancel any Standby effect. It restores at the start of your next turn.
- Flip - This turns a resource face down AND expends it. You cannot do this with a Resource that was already expended. It cancels any Standby effect, the card restores on the next turn.
- Cycle - This returns the resource to the bottom of your resource deck. For the more expensive of card effects.
- Destroy - This Exiles a resource, the ultimate price. Be wary.
The more powerful an Objects standby is, the less you will want to expend it in a lasting way. Weaker Resources of course are easier to expend, but not as interesting to have. And with the above win conditions some you can't expend if you want to win without a long drawn out fight.
Your Ace impacts how you gain Resources. And every card costs something based on Resources in one way or another. If your deck begins with a high resource field you can press an advantage early but if your hand suffers or you don't gain resources quickly you might suffer later on. The main difference this has from other games is that the field resources don't clutter or drag away from other parts of the game. You don't have to worry about drawing Land, not drawing Land, etc.
Attacking someones resources is a viable strategy, but most of the time the best an outside force can hope for is to Cycle them.
- Main Deck -
The main deck is structured with two types of cards, both are further subsets based from these main ideas: Beings (Hexagonal Border) and Actions (Round Border).
- Being Cards -
Beings are separated into two casts: Characters and Creatures. Both carry the same card anatomy:
- Card Name
- Attribute Color
- Features
- Cost
- Blade | Armor | Energy
- Personal Effects (0-3)
Creatures are basic footsoldiers, there's no limit to the number of such you can play of any given type. They are the bread and butter of decks focusing on superior creature numbers to take on opposing enemies. They are weaker than characters but that comes with lower costs to play them.
Characters are creatures with the boons of a name. Stronger but you can't have as many named characters out at a time. You can control four Characters, and only one character of any given name at a time. Attribute Colors and Features impact how this card interacts with others, often Ace cards might give a bonus to cards that share one of these aspects with it. Other cards might require a Being of such aspects to be in play to activate them.
Blade, Armor, and Energy are the three stats all Beings have. Blade is the offense a card can throw, Armor is the defense for what it can take, and energy is its Health Points. Which may also be used as a part of Person Effect costs (and some Action costs). Battle decreases the energy on both monsters based on how their stats interact. If Energy hits 0 a card is discarded... except Undead.
Cost functions like everything, using the same system as outlined with Resources. Personal effects function the same as with your Ace, only the effects will have different limitations as creatures need to be brought out and are not a constant threat or boon.
- Action Cards -
Actions are separated in a similar way. The two casts in this case being Commands and Tactics. They also share the same anatomy:
- Card Name
- Attribute Color
- Requirements
- Cost
- Effect
Actions have direct effects on the field of play, the creatures in play, and the actions of others. Most go to the Discard after use, but others attach to cards in play to aid them in some way. Depending on effect, for a card to attach they must share the same Attribute Color (or be a Resource). Requirements and Costs are needed for a card to be played, and dealt with as the card is played. Some requirements might discard a Being, Energy from a Being, Health Points, Discarding a card, or Exiling a card.
The distinction between Commands and Tactics is when they are played. Commands are free to play during your turn. Tactics are played in response to another gameplay event (listed in its Requirements). Both carry much the same impact in play, but you carry more freedom with Commands, and more cunning with a Tactic.
I have yet to figure out the exact order of play, or any of the nitty gritty of that.