Post by kinotherapy on Feb 8, 2019 16:44:05 GMT
I'm putting together ideas for my second set (and my first set with any real amount of planning put into it) and I'd like to make sure that what I've got is solid before I start making cards and hunting for art. While I'm fairly confident on the flavour side of things, I'm unsure about what mechanics to go with as it feels like something is missing. Feel free to respond to any section below with your thoughts and/or criticisms.
Oh also none of the names are decided yet because I name things last. That includes the names of the mechanics and actual set itself, which are working names. If you think you've got a cool name for something, pls share
Summary
Witch Hunt is loosely based on magical girl genre and MTG-ifies by blending it with the original setting of the fantastical witches which they were based on. (Don't worry, I'm not planning on using any How to Draw Manga art or anything like that.) Many elements of the genre will be preserved, but approached from a different angle due to the more gothic context; for instance, witches will still have both a civilian identity and a magical identity, not unlike superheroes, but only because they would be tried for witchcraft if their abilities were discovered. Double-faced cards will be a key theme to represent magical transformations, and instant and sorcery cards will have elevated relevance to represent their magic.
Setting
The plane, or at least the region of it Witch Hunt focusses on, has a unique weather phenomenon, unnamed as of yet, that occurs twice a year, where rainbow-coloured dust falls like snow and dramatically transforms any living creature that it touches. Here, magic is cryptic and terrifying, as there are no natural born mages, only a small number of people that manage to retain their identity after falling victim to this phenomenon. The story takes place in a single town/city which had thrived by proofing itself from the magical elements, but has since fallen to near ruin after an assault by a single rogue mage (i.e. a "witch"), against whom they were completely powerless to defend. Now, the townsfolk fear magic more than ever, and channel all of their resources into uncovering witches though Fair and Just legal tribunals.
The main characters (five of them, of course) will be ordinary townsfolk who were barely touched by the rainbow dust - not enough to distort them until but enough to unlock some power within them. The story will follow them as they try to use their gift for the good of their ungrateful community while desperately trying to keep their identities hidden.
On the topic of gender: Since the majority of people historically tried for witchcraft were female, and mahou shoujo is obviously a female dominated genre, it makes sense to me to make the majority of witches in the set female, with a couple of exceptions. I feel like this might be something people have stronger opinions on than I do though, so lemme know if you have a take here.
Mechanics I'm Almost Definitely Going to Use
Release is a very simple mechanic that lends itself to a specific strategy, the same as heroic from Theros. Unlike heroic, its somewhat more restrictive as it's not a pseudo, but the addition of double-faced cards adds a lot of variety onto what can happen when it triggers. Also unlike heroic, it's somewhat frontloaded as you can only benefit from release once, pushing the mechanic into more of a go-wide witchy army playstyle. Flavourfully, the spellcast represents a call to action, and the transformation represents the literal magical transformation from civilian identity to magical. Many cards with release will also have an ability that triggers after it transforms, e.g:
I know that I want a specific subtype for the transformed witches, but I'm still torn between Wizard, Shaman, or simply reintroducing Witch. Leaning towards Wizard purely because then I can make extremely pushed Wizard tribal cards, honestly
The set's band of protagonists will mostly likely be represented by release cards. I don't have any actual designs yet since I want to see what art I can find first, but the template I'm planning to use will add an enemy colour to them when they transform. Tell me if this is dumb or not.
Sign looks kind of and it is a little complex under the bonnet but it's pretty simple in practice. Here's an example:
Sign is an instant/sorcery mechanic that acts kind of like kicker on crack. You cast spells normally early, then you can sign a card to cast an empowered version. Unlike kicker, there are two key consequences to this: A) you can't sign cards for the rest of the game (barring shenanigans*), which sucks for your other sign cards, but B) any future copies of your signature spell will be empowered without you having to pay the sign cost, which is great. Since signing a card strengthens your other copies while weakening your other sign cards, it's encouraged to build around one specific sign card, which I kind of like as it reinforces the "signature" flavour without being one of those awful deck restriction keywords.
As a "multiples matter" mechanic I'm aware this has its problems though, but I think they can be largely mitigated with a smaller set size, good support, and fun sign commons that are still playable at just the base rate. I guess I'm making this a Limited focussed set. God help me
Mechanics I'm Considering
This the only mechanic I'm considering that I actually made. Magical girls need their monsters of the week, and fighting other people is a bit of a no-no, so Final form represents the people and creatures that have undergone irreversible transformation under the dust phenomenon. The biggest strike against this one, I think, is having two different creature keywords that transform, but I'm hoping that the different transform icons in the top left, subtype on the flipped side, and transformed art should all be enough to avoid confusion.
Originally from herzi's A Tourney at Whiterun, this mechanic feels though it should be a perfect fit. It's a mechanic that goes exclusively on single target instants and sorceries, which is obviously great for the heroic-style release cards, and is double-faced, which fits in the transform theme. I worry, though, that it would somewhat of an A+B mechanic in Witch Hunt; its use in both TWR and GHQ is made more interesting by the Adorned and Embattled mechanics respectively, which rewards creatures being enchanted. Release cards simply want to be targeted, meaning that the fabled cost doesn't add as much. Additionally, I already have a spell mechanic in sign, and if I were forced to choose between the two I would likely choose between the mechanic I'd made myself, even if fabled is the better design.
Originally appearing in Mious, this mechanic feels to me like it would be an excellent representation for the hysterical townsfolk (witch trials? come on) I would limit it to the colours; Mious used it in , so I will too. Precedence
While I'm aware that keywording something an opponent does is a bit sketchy, I also think that browbeat-type effects are more interesting than most punisher effects since they get stronger in mass. With that in mind I've considered trial as an action keyword, which lets it be used in a more versatile fashion. If this isn't allowed, let me know.
Other Shit
So yeah, that's pretty much what I've got. I didn't expect this to be so long, but I also don't expect anybody to read all of it; just respond with any suggestions or concerns you might have about what you've seen. I pretty much skipped this step for Scar City and went with whatever random mechanics I had available to me; I'd much rather make sure I'm working with a solid foundation this time around.
Oh also none of the names are decided yet because I name things last. That includes the names of the mechanics and actual set itself, which are working names. If you think you've got a cool name for something, pls share
Summary
Witch Hunt is loosely based on magical girl genre and MTG-ifies by blending it with the original setting of the fantastical witches which they were based on. (Don't worry, I'm not planning on using any How to Draw Manga art or anything like that.) Many elements of the genre will be preserved, but approached from a different angle due to the more gothic context; for instance, witches will still have both a civilian identity and a magical identity, not unlike superheroes, but only because they would be tried for witchcraft if their abilities were discovered. Double-faced cards will be a key theme to represent magical transformations, and instant and sorcery cards will have elevated relevance to represent their magic.
Setting
The plane, or at least the region of it Witch Hunt focusses on, has a unique weather phenomenon, unnamed as of yet, that occurs twice a year, where rainbow-coloured dust falls like snow and dramatically transforms any living creature that it touches. Here, magic is cryptic and terrifying, as there are no natural born mages, only a small number of people that manage to retain their identity after falling victim to this phenomenon. The story takes place in a single town/city which had thrived by proofing itself from the magical elements, but has since fallen to near ruin after an assault by a single rogue mage (i.e. a "witch"), against whom they were completely powerless to defend. Now, the townsfolk fear magic more than ever, and channel all of their resources into uncovering witches though Fair and Just legal tribunals.
The main characters (five of them, of course) will be ordinary townsfolk who were barely touched by the rainbow dust - not enough to distort them until but enough to unlock some power within them. The story will follow them as they try to use their gift for the good of their ungrateful community while desperately trying to keep their identities hidden.
On the topic of gender: Since the majority of people historically tried for witchcraft were female, and mahou shoujo is obviously a female dominated genre, it makes sense to me to make the majority of witches in the set female, with a couple of exceptions. I feel like this might be something people have stronger opinions on than I do though, so lemme know if you have a take here.
Mechanics I'm Almost Definitely Going to Use
Release (Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, transform it.)
Furtive Civilian
Creature — Human
Release (Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, transform it.)
2/1
//
Elusive Broomrider
Creature — Human Wizard
Flying
When this creature transforms into Elusive Broomrider, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
2/3
Creature — Human
Release (Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, transform it.)
2/1
//
Elusive Broomrider
Creature — Human Wizard
Flying
When this creature transforms into Elusive Broomrider, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
2/3
The set's band of protagonists will mostly likely be represented by release cards. I don't have any actual designs yet since I want to see what art I can find first, but the template I'm planning to use will add an enemy colour to them when they transform. Tell me if this is dumb or not.
Protagonist
Legendary Creature — Human ]
[Red ability]
Release (Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, transform it.
p/t
//
Protag Magica
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
When this creature transforms into Protag Magica, you may pay [white cost]. If you do, [white effect]
[Amped up version of the red ability except now it's red/white hybrid]
When Protag Magica dies, return it to the battlefield tapped.
p/t
Legendary Creature — Human ]
[Red ability]
Release (Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, transform it.
p/t
//
Protag Magica
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
When this creature transforms into Protag Magica, you may pay [white cost]. If you do, [white effect]
[Amped up version of the red ability except now it's red/white hybrid]
When Protag Magica dies, return it to the battlefield tapped.
p/t
Sign [mana] (Rather than cast this, if you have no signature spell, you may pay [mana] and exile this as your signature spell. Then cast a copy of it without paying its mana cost.)
Sign is an instant/sorcery mechanic that acts kind of like kicker on crack. You cast spells normally early, then you can sign a card to cast an empowered version. Unlike kicker, there are two key consequences to this: A) you can't sign cards for the rest of the game (barring shenanigans*), which sucks for your other sign cards, but B) any future copies of your signature spell will be empowered without you having to pay the sign cost, which is great. Since signing a card strengthens your other copies while weakening your other sign cards, it's encouraged to build around one specific sign card, which I kind of like as it reinforces the "signature" flavour without being one of those awful deck restriction keywords.
As a "multiples matter" mechanic I'm aware this has its problems though, but I think they can be largely mitigated with a smaller set size, good support, and fun sign commons that are still playable at just the base rate. I guess I'm making this a Limited focussed set. God help me
Mechanics I'm Considering
Final form (When this creature dies, exile it. You may cast it for as long as it remains exiled this way. It enters the battlefield transformed.)
Candlebright
Creature — Elemental
Haste
Final form (When this creature dies, exile it. You may cast it for as long as it remains exiled this way. It enters the battlefield transformed.)
1/1
//
Lingering Flame
Creature — Elemental Horror
Trample, haste
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Lingering Flame.
3/1
Creature — Elemental
Haste
Final form (When this creature dies, exile it. You may cast it for as long as it remains exiled this way. It enters the battlefield transformed.)
1/1
//
Lingering Flame
Creature — Elemental Horror
Trample, haste
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Lingering Flame.
3/1
This the only mechanic I'm considering that I actually made. Magical girls need their monsters of the week, and fighting other people is a bit of a no-no, so Final form represents the people and creatures that have undergone irreversible transformation under the dust phenomenon. The biggest strike against this one, I think, is having two different creature keywords that transform, but I'm hoping that the different transform icons in the top left, subtype on the flipped side, and transformed art should all be enough to avoid confusion.
Fabled [mana] (Then, if you cast this for its fabled cost, put it onto the battlefield transformed attached to that creature.)
Trial N (As you cast this spell, an opponent of your choice may pay N life. If they don't, they fail the trial.)
While I'm aware that keywording something an opponent does is a bit sketchy, I also think that browbeat-type effects are more interesting than most punisher effects since they get stronger in mass. With that in mind I've considered trial as an action keyword, which lets it be used in a more versatile fashion. If this isn't allowed, let me know.
Despotic Prosecutor
Creature — Human Advisor
Whenever Despotic Prosecutor attacks, trial 2. If the trial was failed, draw a card. (To trial 2, an opponent of your choice may pay 2 life. If they don't, they fail the trial.)
2/1
Creature — Human Advisor
Whenever Despotic Prosecutor attacks, trial 2. If the trial was failed, draw a card. (To trial 2, an opponent of your choice may pay 2 life. If they don't, they fail the trial.)
2/1
Other Shit
- Rabbit tribal. This is non-negotiable. What is negotiable is how I go about it, since I don't really like the idea of forcing a new tribe with lords when there's no existing support for it. I've been thinking about instead giving Rabbits a "1/1 matters" theme, which I've made a few examples of before, but I'm not sure how feasible it is in practice.
- * shenanigans. Basically, this an archetype that revolves around a couple of uncommons that allow you to either delete (shuffle into your library) your signature spell, allowing you to sign a new one, or an enchantment that straight up lets you switch your signature spell on the fly. I believe this would make for a really fun and interesting deck, but again I'm not sure how feasible it is.
- transform matters. Apparently this was tried for Shadows Over Innistrad, but failed to make it through playtesting. Luckily, I won't be playtesting this set so I can get away with it.
- faeries. I'm planning for this to be a minor element mechanically (like 5 or 6 cards max) but let those cards represent the witch's familiars. They will be fairly important in the story.
So yeah, that's pretty much what I've got. I didn't expect this to be so long, but I also don't expect anybody to read all of it; just respond with any suggestions or concerns you might have about what you've seen. I pretty much skipped this step for Scar City and went with whatever random mechanics I had available to me; I'd much rather make sure I'm working with a solid foundation this time around.