Commerce and Trade set Idea. (Give me feedback and ideas)

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  • @mantis17 while you're here, not sure if you've realized but I never received you card for the phyrexian arena thing. Let me know if you want to leave the competiton, almost everyone has already fought.
  • @Pepperoni Sorry, I was away for a week! If it's alright with you I might leave. Sorry if that causes any complications.
  • @mantis17 No worries, your opponent simply gets a free pass on the next round.
  • edited September 2019
    STATE OF THE SET SO FAR:

    Mark Rosewater has said that each set contains on average 3.5 mechanics.

    1. The abundance mechanic is TEMPT. It will benefit all players and quickly raise the stakes.
    2. The trade mechanic is PRICE. Either paid in mana or permanents.
    3.
    ...
    _____________________________________________________
    The lore will center around the most ambitious merchants in the multiverse, they are already using planeswalkers to trade powerful and valuable things accross planes. The gatewatch's attempt of regulating them only resulted in a race for finding Tezzeret's Planar Bridge design, with massive wealth in the line, this puts people's (specially planeswalker's) morals to the test.

    There are no "bad guys" here, just interplanar regulation vs. Pure capitalism and trade, there Is no government of the multiverse, someone has to play the police. However, who knows what people in [Plane name] have been trading. They are playing a huge price for whoever brings Tezzeret's Planar bridge to the plane or figures out a way to make artificial planeswalking.


    ____________________________________________________
    The plane is a vast ocean of turqoise water inspired by the Caribbean sea and filled with Islands. Culturally inspired by Cuba, Venezuela, indigenous cultures like the Maya and central american inabitants.
    ____________________________________________________
    Factions so far are:

    White-black capitalists: Financial and capitalist rich b*stards that basically own most of the plane, they have ammassed the most capital and are paying the highest amounts for powerful objects brought by planeswalkers.

    Green-White "Indigenous" Agricultors: They are peaceful and have little to no interest in interplanar commerce, however, the Gatewatch has disturbed their lifestyle that has been already hard enough with all the land acquisition lately. They have hidden knowledge on ancestral power within the land and won't be afraid to use it if threatened.

    Red-Black Gamblers: They own casinos and hotels in all of the plane, they are also involved in some of the shadiest business here, including weapon manufacturing. They have great prospects for the construction of the planar bridge, from creating interplanar tourism to selling weapons to planes in armed conflicts.

    Red-Blue Inventors: They are the main market for devices across planes, they have no problem reverse-engineering most artifacts coming to the plane and make good money replicating them, They are already theorizing on the functioning of the Planar Bridge.
    ____________________________________________________
  • @Pepperoni I know you're not the biggest fan of Monopoly, but I think the synergy is a bit too good with Barter. Also, I'm thinking we change Settle slightly so it differentiates from Barter, or else scrap it. We're keeping tempt, it works too well, and there aren't any major issues. We still need defining playstyles for Selesnya, Rakdos, and Simic though, if they don't have mechanics. How about we go the Ixalan route:
    - 2 major mechanics that define the whole set (Explore and City's blessing)
    - 2 sub-mechanics on different factions (Enrage and Raid.)

    Here's what that would look like on ours (we need a name btw)
    - 2 major mechanics (Monopoly and Barter)
    - 2 faction mechanics (Tempt and Populate)

    Otherwise, we could ditch Monopoly and add in a revised version of settle or somehow figure our that cursed Rakdos gambler mechanic.
  • Before you settle (no pun intended) on Barter just think about this:

    1. as a player I wouldn't ever really except a barter, maybe it's just my playstyle but I figure that if my opponent wanted something I should keep it for myself.

    2. Even if I did barter the only thing I'd be willing to trade are 1/1s, resource tokens, or maybe a strong card if they offered a really strong creature.

    3. It would be almost impossible to build around since it would just make it harder to trade for instance if you had a creature that said "Whenever you successfully barter draw a card" your opponent would be even less likely to Barter since you'd be getting the added bonus of drawing a card.

    4. I think Tempt works much better to represent trade, The fact that it's more simple and easier to use makes me as a player more likely to accept my opponents tempt.

    Sorry about being blunt I think barter is a really cool mechanic on paper but in practice I don't see it working.
  • edited September 2019
    @Izitru I came accross that problem when testing yesterday. You are absolutely right, the fundamental problem with Barter is that maximizations fall into the hands of the opponent, unlike Tempt, the exchange rate isn´t fixed to make the opponent say yes and take risks.

    I do think we should keep Barter but if the problem is fixation, then maybe I have a solution:
    ___________________________
    Hired Hand 1ww
    ___________________________
    Creature - Human Mercenary
    ___________________________
    Double strike, lifelink

    Price - Three lands (At the
    beginning of each opponent's
    upkeep, that player may
    exchange control of this
    permanent and three lands
    they control)

    ________________________(2/4)


    I'm working on the wording. Basically, it is a net downside, your permanents (maybe even sorceries?) may change sides if the opponent can pay the price. The only balancing issue is making sure the Price is something every player has, like lands. The fact that it is a fixed net downside can be used as an excuse to raise the power level.

  • edited September 2019
    @Pepperoni, Price does seem a lot more usable it reminds me of a Mercenary Company that just works fo the highest bidder. It could be interesting if it allowed the other player to pay mana take control of the creature and then it’s owner gets to make some Treasure or Food tokens like this:

    Hired Hand 1WW
    ______________
    Creature - Human Mercenary
    ______________
    Double Strike, Lifelink

    Price-(At the begging of each opponents upkeep they may pay (3) if they do they take control of this creature and you may create 3 Treasure Tokens)
  • edited September 2019
    @Izitru Hmmm, interesting. I will continúe testing both. Wichever form we choose, this mechanic Is likely to stay, it feels safer and more likely to be fun now. (Thanks, btw!)

    We now have a mechanic that makes players richer and one that makes player's trade permanents. We can safely make the other mechanic not-related to the former.

    As @Steampunkdragon has been tirlessly trying to do, the last mechanic might be about gambling, but it is proving harder than we expected.
  • @Pepperoni no problem! I really like the idea for this set so I’m glad I can help out.
  • Populate has not been problematic so far but neither has it been the most interactive. It can create interesting scenarios if combined with:

    -Quasiduplicate effects.
    -Twinflame Effects.
    -Powerful Tokens.
    -Gives creatures to trade if against a permanent with Price.
  • So this uses the Mercenary creature type? I'm interested.
  • @Pepperoni I'm busy so I likely won't do another big contribution soon, just a matter of a few days though. Gambling mechanic is proving tough but I'm also trying to get all factions to feel good.
  • is there a definite list of factions or are you still deciding?
  • edited September 2019
    Poss. 'Class*' creature types:
    -Mercenary
    -Assassin
    -Citizen
    -Artificer
    -Coward
    -Elder
    -Nomad
    -Pirate
    -Rebel
    -Rogue
    -Serf
    In addition to the ones in practically every set: Cleric, warrior/soldier, knight, wizard etc.
    *As in not based on species/type of being
  • edited September 2019
    Ok. Since this is a plane based on Cuba, Central america, and other caribbean regions, art must include *mostly* african and amerindian ascent humans. In case someone tries to do example cards.


    That being said, and cannonizing @korandangels list:

    RACES creature types canon so far:
    Human
    Bird
    Sea-creatures ( Krakens, Serpents, Fish etc.)
    Merfolk
    Spirit
    ...

    CLASS creature types so far:
    Mercenary
    Druid (Farmers are druids)
    Advisor (Financial advisor, lol)
    Pirate
    Aritificer
    ...
  • All of those are real types.
  • @Pepperoni
    You have said that there was a struggle with the gamble mechanic, but I think I may have an idea. I didnt really look into how balanced it could be, but it could help move along the process.

    Gamble {reduced cost} (You may cast this spell for its gamble cost. If you do, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, counter this spell.)

    Just an idea. I really like the look of this set and I am interested to see how it turns out.

    (I have no idea if the reminder text for the example is at all accurate. )
  • On a side note: @steampunkdragon thank you so much, you added A LOT for this set already, this might not have taken shape if not for you.
  • @Pepperoni no problem, it was an idea that had a lot of potential and you seem to have a very strong and clear vision for the set and I'm sure it'll progress just fine without me.
  • edited September 2019
    @tigerfang8 The gamble mechanic might be scraped in the end. regardless, yours is surprisingly simple and elegant, making random chance is hard. Most likely we can add it as a not-mentioned mechanic. Like Ferocious and Heroic in Ravnica recently, they were there, just not mentioned.

    My problem with it is that loosing your spell completely is a hard hit for a player, I will test it anyways.
  • @Tigerfang8 @Pepperoni As a parting gift, how's this as a more lenient version:
    Gamble {reduced cost} {line} You may cast this spell for its gamble cost. If you do, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, when [CARDNAME] enters the battlefield/resolves, NEGATIVE EFFECT.
    It's rough, but I hope it helps. Pirates would work nicely in this faction, I believe. I like mercenaries enforcing the anti-bridge boys (for now) in Orzhov.
  • @Pepperoni I mean losing the spell was part of the gamble. Its whatever though.

    @SteampunkDragon That looks cool. I think that would be very interesting to use, even if its not in this set.
  • edited September 2019
    My faction in Colonizers 3 was basically all about establishing economic dominance over the other factions, (at least initially,) and I have a ton of cards that reflect that goal!

    First was my set of zero attack trade vehicles:

    image

    image

    image

    image

    And to support them:

    image

    image

    And then a card depicting world peace (more or less)

    image
  • @derain2 I wasn't around for whatever Colonizers 3 was. It looks interesting. Cargo ships can be subtheme since they are evergreen now, steampunk has suggested it, I didn't pay much attention then.

    Maybe Izzet Artificers can have it. Not to say the definitive factions will be those.

    So far they are:
    GW, WB, RU, GU and RB but maybe we could replace some or make 3-color factions. Who knows.
  • Unfortunately since I left not a lot has happened here, so here's what I've been thinking:

    How big is this set? Here's what I think the factions should be based off of this*.

    FACTIONS (large set):
    GW Farmers
    WB Mercenaries
    RU Merchants
    GU Scientists
    RB Gamblers
    BRG Explorers
    WU Corporates

    FACTIONS (medium set):
    GW Farmers
    WB Mercenaries
    RU Merchants
    GU Explorers
    RB Gamblers

    FACTIONS (small set):
    GW Farmers
    RU Merchants
    BRW Mercenaries
    UBG Explorers

    *Medium or small are almost interchangeable, and you could try to do a large set with the medium factions or a medium set with the large factions. These are just general guidelines.


    GW FARMERS
    You start the game with waves of farmers, using some sort of artifact token and populating. This combined with fetching lands creates a mix of go-wide and ramp, spreading your board before dropping spells like Finale of Glory and big threats to win the game.
    Main Mechanic: Populate and/or a new artifact token that fetches lands (maybe land tokens???).

    WB MERCENARIES
    Not sure how this'll play, but I imagine it'll be midrange-y and then turn into a crazy board towards the later part of the game.
    Main Mechanic: Hire {COST} -- {COST:} Gain control of this creature. [Positive effect for previous controller.] Any player who doesn't control this creature may activate this ability.

    RU MERCHANTS
    Usual stuff for Izzet, very aggressive. The facton has to be fast enough to stop your opponent from using all the cards you draw them and utilise your bonuses to their best advantage.
    Main Mechanic: Tempt (we know this one, trades off card draw for an opponent for good stuff for you.)

    GU SCIENTISTS
    This will feel more blue, and will be less aggressive than usual Simic, settling for building crazy combos and powerful effects towards the late-game while surviving until then. So basically control, but not as fully-fledged as some other control factions.
    Main Mechanic: Card-in-hand synergy (draw triggers, lots of card advantage effects, maybe surge from zendikar to help with this.)

    RB GAMBLERS
    This, like all of Rakdos, will focus on winning the game before all your lost coin flips will kill you. This should have some options for refueling after some unlucky flips.
    Main Mechanic: Still not sure on this one, but I think my Gamble cost variant is the most playable of these, losing the spell seems harsh. There's a lot of possibility here.

    BRG EXPLORERS
    Less agressive than normal Jund, this seems like a midrange build.
    Main Mechanic: We could straight up use explore for this one. Otherwise, land synergy would work just fine. We'd have to differentiate it from WG, though.

    WU CORPORATES
    As this is new, I'm not sure. It should feel like good o' Azorius most of the time, though.
    Main Mechanic: Punishing opponents for casting spells? It seems new and I think it works great in terms of flavor.

    GU EXPLORERS
    Nooooooo idea how this should play. I prefer scientists, honestly.
    Main Mechanic: Settle or explore. We'll have to decide.

    UBG EXPLORERS
    Controll-y graveyard Sultai. Not too controll-y, mind you, because then it won't feel like explorers. Maybe dumping lands in graveyards? Most of these new ones need work.
    Main Mechanic: Explore seems great here, but I fear it might be too similar to Ixalan. Just graveyard synergy would totally do.
  • @Steampunkdragon

    1.My vote would be for Medium so it's not to complicated and we have more flexibility although I would change BR to pirates

    2.If we do end up going large then it would be cool if the WU faction was an Armada that protected the seas. The flavor of the control archetype being them taxing people and confiscating "contraband"

  • @Steampunkdragon this is going to sound crazy but, on the way home I wrote some lore following the events on this set and a skeleton on how it would look like, THAT ONE would be a lands matter set with three main mechanics and an additional to-become-evergreen: Settle, Creature (or nonlegendary) planeswalkers, Proliferate.

    1. Basically, people on this plane got away with creating artificial planeswalkers, thus creature planeswalkers.
    2. They are actually settling (buying real-state) on new planes, thus settle.
    3. This actually has benefited the economy of all involved planes, thus proliferate.

    Additionally there would be an attempt at making Fortifications evergreen like Kaladesh made Vehicles evergreen.

    __________________________________________

    Aside from that, I don't really have the time to make a large set, so this one is either small or medium. WU could be the Gatwatch trying to impose the law in the plane. I think I didn't mention it but the plane is basically a complete capitalist anarchy.
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