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Secrets of Satheaux
Hey everybody! As some people may have stumbled across on my page, I've been working for a while now on a set called Secrets of Satheaux, and today I hit 150 cards made for it, so I wanted to get some feedback on the set/cards/lore and anything else about it.
To start, here's the link to the set: https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/RohanDragoon/sets/16408
In terms of lore, here's a basic rundown:
Satheaux is a plane of unmatched political prowess, controlled by the two great empires of Kirvitch (br) and Denasai (wu). Kirvitch is a nation dominated by a political game where ambition is met with ferocity. Many players make dark pacts with demons in order to rise to power and eliminate their enemies, and all hostilities between rivals are openly expressed (even death threats/contracts). Denasai, on the other hand, is a nation dominated by a political game where ambition is met with tact. In Denasai, all moves are made behind closed doors and true intentions are always hid. Many players secretly employ assassins to take out rivals and rise to power, and open declarations of ill-will are condemned.
Though Denasai and Kirvitch dominate the plane of Satheaux, their influence covers very little of the actual plane. Beyond the borders of the two great empires lie the Outland Wilds, an unforgiving clime where Denasai and Kirvitch perceive nature to have total control. Exiles from Denasai and Kirvitch are sent into the Outland Wilds as a pseudo-death sentence, though Kirvitch and Denasai fail to recognize the true nature of the Wilds. Living out in the Wilds are several groups of people, and several cities that trade amongst themselves. In this land, Kirvitch and Denasai have no power, and people live in relative peace. Or at least they normally did.
Recently, the highest powers of Kirvitch and Denasai have made a pact with a strange power from the Void. The Void being suppresses magic outside the borders of Kirvitch and Denasai, and Kirvitch and Denasai turn a blind eye. But now, the Void being has seemingly become even more bloodthirsty, and the Wilds have become a place where Voidstorms have come to be.
Those outside of Kirvitch and Denasai have begun to band together against this otherwordly foe, and seek to bring the revelation of the horrors to the two great Empires. And those within Kirvitch and Denasai are beginning to see cracks in their power and leaders. And some even realize that in the shadow of the Voidborn, Kirvitch and Denasai are weak. While the political schemes continue, will the Outlanders of Satheaux bring the empires to a knew revelation, or will they strike them down in their newfound weakness? What being is ultimately behind the empire's manipulations, and will it pacifically sit by as the empires begin to tear at the edges? And can the fate of the world be stopped from imminent, bloody warfare?
Set Mechanics: Each empire has two new mechanics to go with them
Denasai mechanics:
Conceal (cost): (cost: Turn this creature face down. It becomes a 2/2 morph creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost.)
Typically, after a card is turned face up, it has another effect.
Example:
Unavowed: (This card doesn't trigger the abilities of permanents)
Example:
Kirvitch mechanics:
Enmity X: (As this creature enters the battlefield, choose a player. Whenever this creature attacks that player, it gets +X/+X until end of turn.)
Example:
Vengeance: If you were dealt 5 or more damage this turn...effect
Example:
Any feedback on cards that aren't balanced great (like really badly balanced, minor imbalancing is fine as I'm aware several cards are a little more powerful than if they were real mtg cards), or on any cards that seem like they don't belong, or even on types of cards that are lacking for the set would be much appreciated! Thanks
To start, here's the link to the set: https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/RohanDragoon/sets/16408
In terms of lore, here's a basic rundown:
Satheaux is a plane of unmatched political prowess, controlled by the two great empires of Kirvitch (br) and Denasai (wu). Kirvitch is a nation dominated by a political game where ambition is met with ferocity. Many players make dark pacts with demons in order to rise to power and eliminate their enemies, and all hostilities between rivals are openly expressed (even death threats/contracts). Denasai, on the other hand, is a nation dominated by a political game where ambition is met with tact. In Denasai, all moves are made behind closed doors and true intentions are always hid. Many players secretly employ assassins to take out rivals and rise to power, and open declarations of ill-will are condemned.
Though Denasai and Kirvitch dominate the plane of Satheaux, their influence covers very little of the actual plane. Beyond the borders of the two great empires lie the Outland Wilds, an unforgiving clime where Denasai and Kirvitch perceive nature to have total control. Exiles from Denasai and Kirvitch are sent into the Outland Wilds as a pseudo-death sentence, though Kirvitch and Denasai fail to recognize the true nature of the Wilds. Living out in the Wilds are several groups of people, and several cities that trade amongst themselves. In this land, Kirvitch and Denasai have no power, and people live in relative peace. Or at least they normally did.
Recently, the highest powers of Kirvitch and Denasai have made a pact with a strange power from the Void. The Void being suppresses magic outside the borders of Kirvitch and Denasai, and Kirvitch and Denasai turn a blind eye. But now, the Void being has seemingly become even more bloodthirsty, and the Wilds have become a place where Voidstorms have come to be.
Those outside of Kirvitch and Denasai have begun to band together against this otherwordly foe, and seek to bring the revelation of the horrors to the two great Empires. And those within Kirvitch and Denasai are beginning to see cracks in their power and leaders. And some even realize that in the shadow of the Voidborn, Kirvitch and Denasai are weak. While the political schemes continue, will the Outlanders of Satheaux bring the empires to a knew revelation, or will they strike them down in their newfound weakness? What being is ultimately behind the empire's manipulations, and will it pacifically sit by as the empires begin to tear at the edges? And can the fate of the world be stopped from imminent, bloody warfare?
Set Mechanics: Each empire has two new mechanics to go with them
Denasai mechanics:
Conceal (cost): (cost: Turn this creature face down. It becomes a 2/2 morph creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost.)
Typically, after a card is turned face up, it has another effect.
Example:
Unavowed: (This card doesn't trigger the abilities of permanents)
Example:
Kirvitch mechanics:
Enmity X: (As this creature enters the battlefield, choose a player. Whenever this creature attacks that player, it gets +X/+X until end of turn.)
Example:
Vengeance: If you were dealt 5 or more damage this turn...effect
Example:
Any feedback on cards that aren't balanced great (like really badly balanced, minor imbalancing is fine as I'm aware several cards are a little more powerful than if they were real mtg cards), or on any cards that seem like they don't belong, or even on types of cards that are lacking for the set would be much appreciated! Thanks
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Yeah, I arranged the actual set page by each empire, so the first few pages are Denasai themed, then the next few are Kirvitch based, and then Outlands, and then non aligned
As for your mechanics:
Conceal is an interesting idea, as reverse Morph, but it's maybe a little strangely worded. I think it should be "Cost: Turn CARDNAME face down and it becomes a 2/2 creature. Turn it face up at any time for it's mana cost." However, this mechanic doesn't "conceal" the creature as the name suggests; if your opponent has a decent memory, they will know what the creature is. Also, it brings up memory issues, which is never something we want in a set. Despite this, it can have some awesome interactions, so you might want to consider changing the name to something more appropriate.
Unavowed is a bit vague, but I see the intent, and it's cool. I think the idea is that the card is a loner, in a way, so it doesn't contribute to "team" effects that help out other creatures. The only possible issue is that some players might be a little confused by it, but I think it's workable. Also, it's very unique; the only thing that really comes close to it is shroud, and that arguably, so it's a good awe factor for the set
I'd reformat it as follows to make it shorter and more comparable to morph's formatting. Although, I think this mechanic is too similar to morph overall.
---
Conceal {Cost} (Turn this face down as a 2/2 creature for its conceal cost. Turn it face up at any time for its casting cost.)
---
This version allows for costs such as gaining life or adding mana to you mana pool. Thus making it a more open design-space. Normally you would be able to infinitely pay the cost causing issues with this idea.
Yeah, I originally made the design for conceal so that you would have an army of just 2/2 morphs, and if several of them are threats, your opponents could get confused, but I ran into problems even there, so there are some blink cards that I've incorporated into the set to make conceal actually "conceal" the true nature of the cards (primarily Prism of Clairvoyance and Movements of the Ballroom). I wanted to make it confusing for opponents because they constantly have to keep track of which of your creatures are which, but I can see how that can be an overall annoying feature of the set
@modnation675
What's the difference between using "mana cost" and "casting cost"? Does casting cost include things like if the card says "as an additional cost to cast"?
As to the similarity to morph, that was partly intended. I started playing magic in Khans of Tarkir, and that had some really fun morph creatures, but to me it kind of felt weird in the set, so I wanted to make a set where purposefully taking a creature and making it a vulnerable 2/2 morph had some benefit. Is it too close to morph where it's a problem though?
As for the similarities to morph, I think it's lacking something making it distinct enough to be a necessary addition.