I've gone over the basic flavor, the mechanics of the set, and a little on my history with the set and Magic. I'm now just letting you loose upon my set. I would greatly appreciate comments and critiques about individual cards on this post. Also, let me know if you can't see the cards for some reason. I'm attempting to use Google/Picasa to host the pictures because I don't particularly feel like paying for Imgur to host more than 225 pics and it allows me to easily include pictures in my blog posts here.
Complete Spoiler for Dawn
Have at it!
Friday, June 7, 2013
Dawn Part 3: The Mechanics
Like most new sets, I have developed several new mechanics to support a decent amount of planeswalkers and pulled one old mechanic from the past. Let's dive in:
Planeswalkers
As stated, this set has a lot more planeswalkers than traditional 229-card big sets. Generally, those sets only have 2 planeswalkers at mythic rarity. In this set, however, there are 7 mythic, 12 rare, and 10 uncommon planeswalkers. Now, I am supporting the new planeswalker uniqueness rule that will come into effect with the release of M14 (something I hadn't intended on before, obviously), so remember that you can control your own version of a planeswalker. In typical FAQ fashion, here is a pretty typical planeswalker from my block:
This guy follows the typical planeswalker design of a small plus ability, a small minus ability, and a large ultimate. He is one of the three multicolor planeswalkers in the set (all of which fill certain...voids) and he came relatively late in design. The rare and mythic planeswalkers either follow this design characteristic to the T or wildly deviate from normal 'walker design. Here is one of those wild deviations:
So this guy has a 0 ability and 2 minus abilities. Sarkhan the Mad had a similar design and the fact that both cards are black is no coincidence. Black is a very selfish color and while Sarkhan's design made him seem "mad", this guy simply only has so much loyalty to give. Well, I assume that you are probably wondering about the uncommon planeswalkers and their impact on gameplay, so here is a sample of one of those:
Two very simple effects: one that protects, and one that incrementally helps you. All of my uncommon planeswalkers only have two abilities, mostly for balance reasons. I think one will always play a uncommon planeswalker in Limited, but despite there being many more planeswalkers around, they have to watch out for the potential downsides...
Bounty
Bounty was the first mechanic I came up with for this set. In a set filled to the brim with 'walkers, you may spend a lot of your time attacking them to get rid of them. Well, when you are attacking planeswalkers, you aren't killing your opponent, so there is always a pretty decent trade-off between the two. Cue the whynotboth?.jpg.
Bounty - Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a planeswalker, DO SOMETHING.
For this longest time, I called this "walker strike" and while I wish I can just call it that and be done with it, I needed a flavorful name. Bounty, in this sense, is like what it means in bounty hunter: you are rewarded for attacking planeswalkers instead of people. Some creatures in this set have bounty, which makes attacking planeswalkers a much more attractive thing to do. Here is a common design:
Woahhhhhh. Pretty big effect we have going on here. Thankfully, she costs a lot of mana. Finally, a rare design:
Hopefully, her little poke doesn't kill the planeswalker, but having her take an entire team of planeswalkers would be a glorious thing to do in Limited. Bounty appears across all colors and rarity levels (except mythic) and was one of the mechanics I made to help define the gameplay of the set to feature heavy interaction between planeswalkers and creatures.
Mana Counters
This is the other mechanic I created for the set. Flavorfully, I wanted to get into how the denizens of the Dawn use small amounts mana like a currency that I would connect to mana counters. The bulk of mana counter-associated cards are in red, green, and black since those are the main mana generation colors. Here is a card to explain the mechanic:
So we see the mechanic here: Permanents with mana counters have "Remove a mana counter: Add one mana of any of this permanent's colors to your mana pool. Activate this ability once per turn." This cycle is across all of the colors and uses the color indicator to show what color mana the particular Conduitron produces. There are many ways that cards produce mana counters in this set:
A simple aura to get at least one mana counter per turn on something. Here is another:
A pretty typical black mana counter card, and a pretty typical black mana generation card (see Pawn of Ulamog). Now that we have creatures with mana counters, what can we use them for?
This is a pretty saucy uncommon with a high potential to kill a lot of smaller things (it may need some balancing :P). Finally, I have a black mythic to show off the mechanic:
I know, it is an enchantment that taps, but I wanted to limit this action to once per turn and I find tapping a cleaner way of doing it instead of the bulky "you may only activate this ability once per turn and only on your turn".
Type cycling
The returning mechanic of the set is type cycling. Cycling is one of the most beloved Limited mechanics as many would attest, and this set expands the type-cycling mechanic to other types beyond basic lands. We do have some good reprints with basic landcycling and some new friends as well at the common rarity:
Traumatic Visions is typical "good early, good late" quality that we expect from basic landcyclers. Haze occupies a similar vein in which it gives you lands when you really need them and still is very relevant late-game. Like I said previously, I have expanded the typecycling to include other card types in this set:
They mostly appear at uncommon and rare, but there are some common typecyclers that aren't basic landcycling. The whole point of the cycling is flexibility; either the card itself is good early and the cycling good late, or vice versa, all very card dependent. Awesome Elf is a great mana ramper, but it can find your bomb creature if you have enough mana. Finally, a mythic rare design:
Namely talking about the Survival of the Fittest-esque ultimate here. It both invokes the great cards of ages past and incorporates the typecycling effect I wanted to include. I think that this emblem is just finely worded.
Well, there you have it: my mechanic preview is complete. Join me soon as I spoil the entire set as it stands currently!
Planeswalkers
As stated, this set has a lot more planeswalkers than traditional 229-card big sets. Generally, those sets only have 2 planeswalkers at mythic rarity. In this set, however, there are 7 mythic, 12 rare, and 10 uncommon planeswalkers. Now, I am supporting the new planeswalker uniqueness rule that will come into effect with the release of M14 (something I hadn't intended on before, obviously), so remember that you can control your own version of a planeswalker. In typical FAQ fashion, here is a pretty typical planeswalker from my block:
Two very simple effects: one that protects, and one that incrementally helps you. All of my uncommon planeswalkers only have two abilities, mostly for balance reasons. I think one will always play a uncommon planeswalker in Limited, but despite there being many more planeswalkers around, they have to watch out for the potential downsides...
Bounty
Bounty was the first mechanic I came up with for this set. In a set filled to the brim with 'walkers, you may spend a lot of your time attacking them to get rid of them. Well, when you are attacking planeswalkers, you aren't killing your opponent, so there is always a pretty decent trade-off between the two. Cue the whynotboth?.jpg.
Bounty - Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a planeswalker, DO SOMETHING.
For this longest time, I called this "walker strike" and while I wish I can just call it that and be done with it, I needed a flavorful name. Bounty, in this sense, is like what it means in bounty hunter: you are rewarded for attacking planeswalkers instead of people. Some creatures in this set have bounty, which makes attacking planeswalkers a much more attractive thing to do. Here is a common design:
This is a lovely damned-if-you-block, damned-if-you-don't-block type of design we've come to expect from those sneaky snakes (looking at you, Orhan Viper!). Uncommon one next!
Hopefully, her little poke doesn't kill the planeswalker, but having her take an entire team of planeswalkers would be a glorious thing to do in Limited. Bounty appears across all colors and rarity levels (except mythic) and was one of the mechanics I made to help define the gameplay of the set to feature heavy interaction between planeswalkers and creatures.
Mana Counters
This is the other mechanic I created for the set. Flavorfully, I wanted to get into how the denizens of the Dawn use small amounts mana like a currency that I would connect to mana counters. The bulk of mana counter-associated cards are in red, green, and black since those are the main mana generation colors. Here is a card to explain the mechanic:
So we see the mechanic here: Permanents with mana counters have "Remove a mana counter: Add one mana of any of this permanent's colors to your mana pool. Activate this ability once per turn." This cycle is across all of the colors and uses the color indicator to show what color mana the particular Conduitron produces. There are many ways that cards produce mana counters in this set:
A simple aura to get at least one mana counter per turn on something. Here is another:
A pretty typical black mana counter card, and a pretty typical black mana generation card (see Pawn of Ulamog). Now that we have creatures with mana counters, what can we use them for?
This is a pretty saucy uncommon with a high potential to kill a lot of smaller things (it may need some balancing :P). Finally, I have a black mythic to show off the mechanic:
I know, it is an enchantment that taps, but I wanted to limit this action to once per turn and I find tapping a cleaner way of doing it instead of the bulky "you may only activate this ability once per turn and only on your turn".
Type cycling
The returning mechanic of the set is type cycling. Cycling is one of the most beloved Limited mechanics as many would attest, and this set expands the type-cycling mechanic to other types beyond basic lands. We do have some good reprints with basic landcycling and some new friends as well at the common rarity:
Traumatic Visions is typical "good early, good late" quality that we expect from basic landcyclers. Haze occupies a similar vein in which it gives you lands when you really need them and still is very relevant late-game. Like I said previously, I have expanded the typecycling to include other card types in this set:
Namely talking about the Survival of the Fittest-esque ultimate here. It both invokes the great cards of ages past and incorporates the typecycling effect I wanted to include. I think that this emblem is just finely worded.
Well, there you have it: my mechanic preview is complete. Join me soon as I spoil the entire set as it stands currently!
Dawn Part 2: The Flavor
The Flavor of Dawn
It is quiet on the bridge. The imagers and seers sit patiently while Xulah reads the final calculations. Years of preparation have led to this moment; you can see the anticipation on every face of every member of the Navigation Crew. "Looks good to me, what do you think Adamis?" "The Protector Crew is on standby, ready to jump, sir!" Xulah nodded as Adamis saluted him. "Well....jump stations everyone!" A sigh of relief quickly turned into seers and imagers shuffling about, making contact with the Engine, Rot, and Creation Crews to prepare for launch. Several hours later, Xulah sat at his helm, deep in telepathic communication with the powerful being on the other side. The Dawn hummed and buzzed expectantly, ready for the go ahead. Finally, its purpose can be achieved. Finally, the denizens of Quadrant Beta will receive the understanding that follows with the ability to planeswalk. The high council can only guess the extent of understanding this Quadrant needed however...major instabilities have been recorded in the years before. Planes colliding, planes being destroyed, powerful beings escaping planes and bringing souls from the outside in. All bad happenings that the Dawn was designed to fix. Its distance, however, made it difficult for the Dawn to make its way there. But that was all about to change. The mission of the Dawn is simple: stabilize interplanar interactions and teach the understanding required to responsibly travel the Blind Eternities to those who travel them. Finally, Quadrant Beta will receive that mission. Frenzel tapped Xulah on the shoulder. Xulah slowly raised his eyes, looked to the helm, and smiled. "Punch it."
So why would a ton of planeswalkers meet in one place? What would change in the "spark acquisition process" that would cause a bunch of 'walkers to be made at once? The planes we have been to with planeswalkers have all been pretty stressful, yet not many receive sparks. This lends credence to the fact that planeswalkers are an oddity in the multiverse; a very select minority despite what happens internally in the planes from which they come from. So I gravitated towards having the setting of this set/block not be on a plane, per se. Then I found an angle that is similar to another setting that some are familiar with: Star Trek. In that series, Earth limped along until we got our shit together and went faster-than-light for the first time. The Vulcuns noticed that, then came to us, told us we were not alone, and then began the long process of allying with us humans. I'm generalizing heavily (and probably getting some details wrong), but the point is that it gave me inspiration to draw a similar parallel: the Magic universe was chugging along until the Mending, then planeswalkers started receiving their sparks at a regular pace, going between planes and started interacting with those planes' denizens (and causing havoc in some cases). What if a similar large body of planeswalkers "flew" in on a giant ship and did the same thing the Vulcuns did for these newly-endowed planeswalkers? It could be a massive artificial plane that can move through the Blind Eternities and be able to attract nearby planeswalkers to come visit and learn from them. They could have a large host of planeswalkers and other creatures/humanoids to interact with. They could have an academy to learn combat tactics and deep magics from. Since the plane has to move, they could have navigators, engine specialists, and crews dedicated to the production and recycling of mana. And finally, several of the regular standby 'walkers can come up and check out what's up with the Dawn.
This is very much an brief overview of the flavor of Dawn. I hope it gave you a picture of the vision I had for this planeswalker block and how to rationalize why there are a whole host of them in one place. Next, I will go into detail about the mechanics of the block.
It is quiet on the bridge. The imagers and seers sit patiently while Xulah reads the final calculations. Years of preparation have led to this moment; you can see the anticipation on every face of every member of the Navigation Crew. "Looks good to me, what do you think Adamis?" "The Protector Crew is on standby, ready to jump, sir!" Xulah nodded as Adamis saluted him. "Well....jump stations everyone!" A sigh of relief quickly turned into seers and imagers shuffling about, making contact with the Engine, Rot, and Creation Crews to prepare for launch. Several hours later, Xulah sat at his helm, deep in telepathic communication with the powerful being on the other side. The Dawn hummed and buzzed expectantly, ready for the go ahead. Finally, its purpose can be achieved. Finally, the denizens of Quadrant Beta will receive the understanding that follows with the ability to planeswalk. The high council can only guess the extent of understanding this Quadrant needed however...major instabilities have been recorded in the years before. Planes colliding, planes being destroyed, powerful beings escaping planes and bringing souls from the outside in. All bad happenings that the Dawn was designed to fix. Its distance, however, made it difficult for the Dawn to make its way there. But that was all about to change. The mission of the Dawn is simple: stabilize interplanar interactions and teach the understanding required to responsibly travel the Blind Eternities to those who travel them. Finally, Quadrant Beta will receive that mission. Frenzel tapped Xulah on the shoulder. Xulah slowly raised his eyes, looked to the helm, and smiled. "Punch it."
So why would a ton of planeswalkers meet in one place? What would change in the "spark acquisition process" that would cause a bunch of 'walkers to be made at once? The planes we have been to with planeswalkers have all been pretty stressful, yet not many receive sparks. This lends credence to the fact that planeswalkers are an oddity in the multiverse; a very select minority despite what happens internally in the planes from which they come from. So I gravitated towards having the setting of this set/block not be on a plane, per se. Then I found an angle that is similar to another setting that some are familiar with: Star Trek. In that series, Earth limped along until we got our shit together and went faster-than-light for the first time. The Vulcuns noticed that, then came to us, told us we were not alone, and then began the long process of allying with us humans. I'm generalizing heavily (and probably getting some details wrong), but the point is that it gave me inspiration to draw a similar parallel: the Magic universe was chugging along until the Mending, then planeswalkers started receiving their sparks at a regular pace, going between planes and started interacting with those planes' denizens (and causing havoc in some cases). What if a similar large body of planeswalkers "flew" in on a giant ship and did the same thing the Vulcuns did for these newly-endowed planeswalkers? It could be a massive artificial plane that can move through the Blind Eternities and be able to attract nearby planeswalkers to come visit and learn from them. They could have a large host of planeswalkers and other creatures/humanoids to interact with. They could have an academy to learn combat tactics and deep magics from. Since the plane has to move, they could have navigators, engine specialists, and crews dedicated to the production and recycling of mana. And finally, several of the regular standby 'walkers can come up and check out what's up with the Dawn.
This is very much an brief overview of the flavor of Dawn. I hope it gave you a picture of the vision I had for this planeswalker block and how to rationalize why there are a whole host of them in one place. Next, I will go into detail about the mechanics of the block.
Dawn Part 1: The Beginning
Hello, fellow Magic players and designers, to the Dawn. This is my first major Magic: the Gathering set design and it has been a looooong labor of love. The first card designs for this set date way back to 2009 not long after I began playing Magic in full-force. I learned to play when I was younger, but I became a card-carrying member of the DCI right during the release of Zendikar. As for my game design aspirations, they date all the way back to my exploits in the Age of Empires series, trying (and often failing) to create maps, cinematics and "eye candy". I guess it was only natural to gravitate towards Magic design so early.
As for progress on my first set, it was very slow and steady. I often wouldn't touch my MSE file for months as I had other pursuits (including my college studies) to often bring my attention away. But I would always remember my set and work on it at little chunks at a time. For the last 6 months though, I've been upping my efforts simply to get it out the door. I kinda know how Wizards must feel: you can spend eons trying to perfect your set, but I now know that you need to set deadlines of you want to get shit done. My problem is also compounded: I don't have a large staff to playtest these designs on the fly either. I can sit here and debate designs in my head all day without anyone telling me to put pen to paper.
On to my set premise and design philosophies:
So Dawn is the planeswalker set.
Many people will shake their head at this. "Planeswalkers are mythic for a reason", which are the following:
1. Flavor-wise, they are super-legendary and can exist and travel to any plane in existence unlike any creature in the multiverse. Hence, they should only appear at the highest rarities.
2. Gameplay-wise, they are often very powerful and exciting to play. Hence, they should only appear at the highest rarities.
So we have to resolve two main issues with a planeswalker-focused set: flavor and gameplay. I have a pretty convincing story setup for Dawn which takes care of the flavor, but the gameplay will require good mechanics and balance to make the set work. Let's find out how I tackled each issue...
As for progress on my first set, it was very slow and steady. I often wouldn't touch my MSE file for months as I had other pursuits (including my college studies) to often bring my attention away. But I would always remember my set and work on it at little chunks at a time. For the last 6 months though, I've been upping my efforts simply to get it out the door. I kinda know how Wizards must feel: you can spend eons trying to perfect your set, but I now know that you need to set deadlines of you want to get shit done. My problem is also compounded: I don't have a large staff to playtest these designs on the fly either. I can sit here and debate designs in my head all day without anyone telling me to put pen to paper.
On to my set premise and design philosophies:
So Dawn is the planeswalker set.
Many people will shake their head at this. "Planeswalkers are mythic for a reason", which are the following:
1. Flavor-wise, they are super-legendary and can exist and travel to any plane in existence unlike any creature in the multiverse. Hence, they should only appear at the highest rarities.
2. Gameplay-wise, they are often very powerful and exciting to play. Hence, they should only appear at the highest rarities.
So we have to resolve two main issues with a planeswalker-focused set: flavor and gameplay. I have a pretty convincing story setup for Dawn which takes care of the flavor, but the gameplay will require good mechanics and balance to make the set work. Let's find out how I tackled each issue...
(Re)Launch
I'm restarting up this blog mostly as a platform to discuss Magic: the Gathering design in lengthy form not suitable to Reddit posts and whatnot. I may discuss MtG in general plus my other pursuits (namely League of Legends and Guild Wars 2) in gaming. I make no guarantees about how often I will post, but when I do it will have substance. The first major order of business is to discuss my first completed Magic set codenamed Dawn. I will go into my design philosophy of the set, the evolution of the mechanics and card creation, potential improvements, and possible playtesting. Afterwards, I intend on starting up a different set which has some exciting potential flavor-wise so after putting the final details on Dawn I intend to sink my teeth into my new ideas. For the few that come, I hope you enjoy what you read.
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