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Post by Xenagos on Mar 16, 2020 0:20:45 GMT
Hello All!
I'm beginning previews of District of Kestner, a set based loosely on the mechanics and aesthetics of Darkest Dungeon, Dishonored, and Thief. I've been documenting my progress on Multiverse here, and you can find the full set on PlaneSculptors as well. Despite having technically released the set already, I'm going to make an effort to showcase the various mechanics and archetypes in this thread over the coming week or so.
Without further ado...
Welcome to Kestner!
Set 1 of 2 in the Districts of Kestner block
Development & Playtesting : Xenagos Set Code : DOK Cards : 244 Release : March 19, 2020
Mechanics : Experience Counters - A returning mechanic with new reminder text. (A player with one or more experience counters is experienced.)
Level Up - Another returning mechanic to describe creatures gaining experience. (<N>: Put a level counter on this permanent. Level up only as a sorcery.)
Spare - (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this one dies this turn, you may return that creature to its owner's hand. If you do, you gain life equal to its toughness.)
Ulterior Motive - (Whenever this creature would deal combat damage to a player, you may have it fight target creature that player controls instead.)
Under Cover - (This creature is under cover as long as no opponent controls a creature with less power.)
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Post by fluffydeathbringer on Mar 16, 2020 0:34:15 GMT
quick scan comments: not super into there not being any Solemnity-style counter hoser that can prevent people from just accruing uninteractable resources all game long
will give more detailed comments later
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Post by Xenagos on Mar 17, 2020 4:53:54 GMT
Good point fluffydeathbringer thanks for the feedback. That might be something to address in the second set in the block. Today's showcase is about general set feeling, aesthetic, and mechanical tropes that emerged from the artistic direction.  As I mentioned before, my main inspiration were the video games Dishonored, Darkest Dungeon, and Thief. From these came central themes of lightness and darkness, trickery, and treasure. I also worked to emphasize various characters, events, and systems that cropped up in those games as flavorful cards. Through the direction the first few cards I designed took, I decided to give this set a strong three-color wedge theme, with each wedge having their own mechanic to base an archetype on. This also meant I could expand the world and create more locations with three-color fixing mechanically with a common and uncommon three-color cycle.
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Post by Xenagos on Mar 17, 2020 22:53:04 GMT
Mechanics
Returning : Experience Counters Experience is a recurring theme in video games. Characters earn experience through practicing skills, which they can use to level up and upgrade their skills accordingly. Experience Counters appear in    .
Returning : Level Up Speaking of leveling up, Magic already has the perfect mechanic to illustrate this trope. I think it speaks for itself... Level Up appears in  as well as on Artifacts and Equipment.
New : Spare A major theme I strove to emphasize was that of player choice. In Dishonored, choice is especially important because the player can choose who they want to kill and who they want to neutralize peacefully. Spare appears in  .
New : Ulterior Motive However, spare your enemies carefully! Some may not forgive you for their shame. Ulterior Motive came about as a mechanic since trickery plays a central role in the narratives of Thief and Dishonored. Ulterior Motive is the mechanic of the set.
New : Under Cover
Light and darkness are pivotal in the gameplay of Darkest Dungeon as well as Thief. The light level dictates how powerful monsters are and how easily one can see a hidden character. Under Cover appears on cards.
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Post by gateways7 on Mar 18, 2020 4:37:52 GMT
It feels a bit weird to put Level Up and Experience in the same set, as they're flavorfully the same and experience probably wants as much room as possible. That said, big fan of cover up, it seems like a really fun mechanic to play with.
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Post by Xenagos on Mar 18, 2020 23:03:37 GMT
Archetypes I generally aimed to have five archetypes; one for each wedge. I did not pay attention much to the two-color decks (for better or for worse) and trusted in the set's mana fixing to bring it all together. Since Spare was this wedge's mechanic, the strategy with these colors is to gain life and generate tempo. In this wedge, keep your creatures light on their feet and keep your opponent distracted so you can strike Under Cover of darkness.
Beat your opponents till they cower with these colors' aggressive guards, and maintain the offensive long enough to Level Up. Keep your opponents on their toes with your Ulterior Motives while the creatures fight it out. Since yours are generally more bulky, you have higher odds of coming out on top.
This wedge focuses on skill-building through mastery of the arcane arts. Build up Experience by casting instant and sorcery spells, then unleash your prowess! |
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Post by fluffydeathbringer on Mar 19, 2020 0:29:44 GMT
so the thing about these "[effect]. if you're experienced, [better effect]. then get experience counters" spells is that basically, you get above-rate spells for the rest of the game (these spells, the "if you have X or more experience counters" spells) in a way that can't be interrupted for the low admission price of casting one below-rate spell. at least ascend had a higher admission cost
also ulterior motive is dubiously in-color for blue and dungeon fatigue's -2/-0 should probably be optional given how the arch will want you to be playing lots of small-power creatures anyway
that being said, you have managed to find three reference pools that match each other aesthetically, which is an improvement from the don't starve block you did. fine set otherwise but the don't starve style clashed some with the more realistic style most available fantasy art online employs
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Post by ameisenmeister on Apr 4, 2020 17:30:43 GMT
I guess the set is all finished already but might I ask why you didn't use morph as one main ability? It seems like the perfect mechanic for a thief/stealth theme, especially as one of Emily Kaldwin's abilities, Shadow Walk, in DH2 is basically morph.
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guitarweeps
0/0 Germ
Posts: 28
Favorite Card: Birthing Pod
Favorite Set: Khans of Tarkir
Color Alignment: Black, Green
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Post by guitarweeps on Apr 22, 2020 18:30:59 GMT
Nice work so far overall. I have a couple things to note.
Dungeon Fatigue - I am not a rules expert but the way you present under cover I think this also has to give each creature the ability under cover?
Ulterior Motive is out of color in blue. I don't think there is any way around that. If you want to keep it in the same faction I think you can only use it on gold cards. However blue can be used for support to make creatures unblocked or get more benefits from creatures not being blocked.
Spare is very interesting. I love Kin of Odessa. Great design.
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