Polynesian Set - Design Phase

Hello everyone.
A while back I started a Polynesian themed set called La’akea, and the thread died fairly quickly.
However I still had a little idea in the back of my head for a Polynesian themed set, and now after seeing what @ningyounk has done with his Renaissance set, I’ve decided to start from scratch.

I intend to make this set a top-down Polynesian themed set, Polynesians meaning people who lived on islands in the Pacific, like Hawaiians. Notable examples of Polynesians in pop culture are “Moana” and “Lilo and Stitch.”

I DO NOT NEED CARDS OR CONCEPTS RIGHT NOW.
I need people who:
- want to make a set
- know how to make set skeletons
- have mechanic ideas
- can help with creating the world and finding (edit: OR CREATING (!)) art
- are good at building characters
- can help me think of a theme (e.g. land matters, multicolor matters, graveyard matters)


Themes and tropes I hope to explore:
- Surfing
- Volcanoes
- Sailing
- Exploring

Creature types I hope to integrate:
- Pirates
- Spirits
- Crabs and/or homarids (I like crab people and I love Tamatoa, so...)
- Warriors
- Shamans
- Gods / Demigods (I plan to use "Lesser" for "Lesser God" for a demigod, kind of like "Elder" for, say, "Elder Demon")

I plan to use a 263 card set skeleton - 15 basic lands, 101 common, 80 uncommon, 52 rare, 15 mythic.

I would appreciate any help with the set based on these tropes, but like I said, I don't need random card concepts.
If you can help me develop this set in any other way, I would greatly appreciate it!

EDIT:
Creature types from La'akea - credit to @NokiSkaur with a few edits:

W (Flying): Spirits, Elementals, Birds

W (Non-Flying): Cats, Dwarves

U (Flying): Spirits, Birds

U (Non-Flying): Elementals, Leviathans, Mystics, Homarids

B (Flying): Horrors

B (Non-Flying): Shamans, Scarecrows, Tiki, Pirates

R (Flying): Dragons, Elementals

R (Non-Flying): Tikis, Humans, Beasts, Dwarves

G (Flying): Insects

G (Non-Flying): Artisans, Cats, Beasts, Boars

Chrome: Humans, Gods, Lesser Gods (Demigods)
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Comments

  • @TezzeretofCarmot21, what are the mechanics?
  • @MagicChess I haven't figured them out yet. I'm open to ideas.
  • edited April 2018
    Umm an idea:

    Spirit talk N (you may reveal a (non-legendary ?) creature card from your hand with a converted mana cost equal to or lower than N. If you do, create a token that is a copy of it, except it is a spirit in addition to its other types, has haste and "sacrifice this permanent at end of turn/beginning of next turn")

    It's an action keyword: when(ever) ____, spirit talk N; Or as part of a spell's effect.

    A mechanic to capture the shaman-esque part, combined with spirit cards that would benefit from being revealed, through spirit talk or other means : shamans would commune with the unseen spirits (in hand), and the spirits would briefly express themselves.

    I made that up in like 5 mins, so feel free to give your opinion.
  • @ASubtleGhost
    My opinions on spirit talk: It’s a pretty good mechanic, though it might have to be really limited to prevent it being a pseudo-Sneak Attack that allows you to keep the creature in your hand. I like how it could involve shamans and spirits, but I’m not a hundred percent sure that it would fit with the Polynesian theme of the set. So spirit talk is a maybe.
  • edited April 2018
    I would love to be involved in this set if you're looking for help! Also, can I recommend a jump to 80 uncommons from 60?
  • @Arceus8523 I’m looking for all the help I can get. If you can do anything on the list above to help me, that would be great. Plus I know you have some experience creating sets :P
  • @TezzeretofCarmot21
    Great. Like I said, I would up to 80 uncommons in the total and drop to 15 lands UNLESS you're doing full art lands, then you can keep it at 20.

    I can help you build a set skeleton and design commons in particular, but I'd like to help design some higher rarities too, of course.

    What platform are you designing this set on? MSE or MTGCS?
  • @Arceus8523 I fixed the design skeleton in my original post. I’d appreciate help with the set skeleton and commons, and you can design some bomby rares and mythics too :) I intend to design this set on MSE, but I’m not sure how I’ll do it as the computer I use MSE on has been having trouble.
  • @TezzeretofCarmot21
    I can design the set to MSE when the time comes if you'd like that, but I don't want to steal your set from you.

    Are you intending on following Hawaiian legends more closely in this? I'm fairly familiar with them (more general knowledge than specifics, but I could do some research) and could perhaps do a bit of character design if you need it. Usually I tend to keep back from that and let others do it, though.
  • @Arceus8523 I plan to mostly stick to Hawaiian myths, but I need a bit of creative license too. I don’t know much about Hawaiian myths, so I’m probably going to research them, but it would be good if you could also research and help me out.
  • Personally the only character I really want in the set is a Maui equivalent. Maui is my favorite character in what I know/recall of Hawaiian legends, and this liking rooted back to before Moana was even announced.
  • I’d like a Māui as well. Maybe the legend of Kaulula’au? He was a prankster banished to a cursed island of ghosts and goblins who exorcised it of its spirits.
  • Well there's a decent start. I think an important aspect will be figuring out our planeswalkers, both new and returning, and how they fit into the set story.
  • Planeswalkers who we haven’t seen in a relative while or are underdeveloped:
    Nahiri, Tibalt, Nixilis, Dovin, Saheeli, Kaya, Dack, Garruk, Daretti, Koth, Domri, Samut, Sarkhan, Narset, Kiora, Arlinn, Ashiok, Ral, Samut, Tamiyo, Ugin
    Planeswalkers who would require a major plot twist: Xenagos, Elspeth, Sorin
  • Kioea seems like a good add in, possibly Tamiyo, and Narset would be neat.
  • edited April 2018
    Because I have to...and You're Welcome!

    image
  • @TezzeretofCarmot21, @Arceus2653, definitely Kiora.
    Also, what is the basic story of the set? A war between tribes? Trying to prevent such a war? The gods are taking sides? Mortals vs. gods? Trying to save the gods? Trying to stop the end of the world? Divine War? (The legend of the Divine War involved the struggle of the divine sons of Papatūānuku, the earth goddess, and Ranginui the sky god, to separate their parents from their eternal embrace which threatened to crush all of the world. The god of storms, Tāwhirimātea, defeated all of his brothers except Tumatenga, god of humans and warfare, and their battle continues to this day. The massive storms that Tāwhirimātea unleashed during the war explains why so much of the world the Polynesians knew was water between islands.)
  • @MagicChess I agree. Kiora as a water mage seems like the best fit. My recommendation for the story is a war between the gods - maybe some mortals are warring because of it, maybe some mortals are trying to stop it.
  • @TezzeretofCarmot21
    I know it's early in the set, but I have a Kiora design stowed away from a little while ago. Would you like to see it?
  • @Arceus8523 Sure, you can show me.
  • edited April 2018
    All right, everyone, I just had an idea for the set theme. It's kinda skeevy but it fits with Kiora and seems sort of Polynesian...
    What if the set was tokens-matter?
    By which I mean: lots of token-producing cards, "As long as you control a token, {effect}" stuff, mechanics that make tokens.
  • this sounds awesome! i'd like to join
  • edited April 2018
    @kandra127 That's fine. Right now we need mechanic ideas and story/creative ideas
  • Tokens matter sounds cool. It's very original!
  • edited April 2018
    Mechanic idea from my previous thread that just so happens to make tokens:
    Weave (Create a colorless Basket artifact token with "Sacrifice this artifact: Add G.")
    Another possible form:
    Weave [color] (Create a colorless Basket artifact token with "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of the woven color.)
    Flavor is that you're "weaving" a basket with a certain color of mana so that the artifact can produce mana of that color.
    What do you think?
  • i like it!
  • (the second one)
  • edited April 2018
    Does anybody have any other ideas?
  • Okay, here's a sailing themed mechanic I created for chiefly blue:
    Seaworthy {cost} ({cost}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. It becomes seaworthy.)
    Seaworthy should commonly be used with "As long as this creature is seaworthy, effect."
    For instance:
    Big Fisherman 1U
    Creature - Human Pirate
    Seaworthy {2}{U} ({2}{U}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. It becomes seaworthy.)
    At the beginning of your upkeep, if this creature is seaworthy, create a 1/1 blue Fish creature token.
    1/1
This discussion has been closed.