MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Describe your planeswalker identity
If you have ever seen an official WOTC tutorial on how to play magic, or even if you haven't, you should know that "You are a planeswalker".
So, I'm curious about how people see themselves as a planeswalker. Are you a soldier-type? A hunter? Perhaps an eldritch cultist? How about what type of magic you specialize in? Do they have a specialty weapon? How does your "character" view others? Are they a hero or a villain? Have they been possessed by an obnoxiously high number of villains trying to take over/destroy the multiverse? Anything. You can be as specific as you like.
This isn't a card contest or anything (I'm just curious), so you don't have to make a card of yourself (but you can if you want), you can just describe your character.
Also, this may give some helpful information on what type of cards to make for other cardsmiths in the future.
So, I'm curious about how people see themselves as a planeswalker. Are you a soldier-type? A hunter? Perhaps an eldritch cultist? How about what type of magic you specialize in? Do they have a specialty weapon? How does your "character" view others? Are they a hero or a villain? Have they been possessed by an obnoxiously high number of villains trying to take over/destroy the multiverse? Anything. You can be as specific as you like.
This isn't a card contest or anything (I'm just curious), so you don't have to make a card of yourself (but you can if you want), you can just describe your character.
Also, this may give some helpful information on what type of cards to make for other cardsmiths in the future.
Comments
Caiden is a necromancer who specializes in resurrecting dragons. He has a scythe that reaps the souls of his enemies which he uses to resurrect his dragons. Although the scythe and souls aren't necessary for him to perform necromancy, it is a tool that he uses to help conserve his mana use. Originally, he was a dracomancer and a normal human, but after going to Tarkir, where he was affected by the shift in time there (I don't care if it's not how time travel works), he got a bit of dragon blood in him and gained the power of necromancy through the dragon tempest.
Being able to raise and control powerful zombie dragons, which are also zombified versions of some of the most legendary dragons in the multiverse, he looks down upon those who willingly follow those who he sees as weaker than him. He is a more quiet person but does talk to his friends or when otherwise necessary.
He is morally neutral but will fight back against those who threaten the multiverse. However, he has been possessed by three evil beings.
Three Evils -
Nekusar: While wandering through the ruins of a castle, Caiden comes across a crown that contains the spirit of Nekusar after being slain thousands of years ago. Once he puts on the crown, Nekusar takes over, returning to his conquest of taking over the world, but since his host can planeswalk, his ambitions reach to conquering the multiverse. While being possessed by Nekusar, he wields an Axe (since Nekusar doesn't really have a weapon, I just decided to go with a large axe) and can fire arcane missiles that both injure the target on a physical and mental level.
Lindroth: After being possessed by Nekusar, Caiden starts to notice that his reflection looks a lot more sinister and moves on its own, with the Sclera (The white part of your eye) being black, the iris being a glowing pink color, and a black ink-like liquid dripping from his eyes like tears. Technically, this isn't Lindroth's true form, but he takes this form in order to seem like a collection of all the negative emotions in Caiden's head. Over time, the demon torments him with words until he is mentally weak enough for the demon to take over. Once possessed, Caiden's usual clothing turns from a dark color to a light gray with a black to pink gradient as highlights. Lindroth specializes in memories and can reach into other's minds in order to copy/steal their abilities. He also has black shadowy tentacles that sprout from his back, which he uses to keep his victims still while stealing their memories. Wrexial the Risen Deep is basically his pet.
Rage: After a long time of being part-dragon, Caiden becomes easier and easier to provoke. Once being in this angry state, his draconic rage takes over, while Feralitator is unable to control himself anymore. While in this rage, Feralitator goes crazy, attacking anything that moves with a fury of claws, punches, and scythes. One time while in this state, he punched someone so hard into the ground, that it created a mile radius hole all the way to the core of the plane, resulting in the plane exploding.
--
Even after overcoming these three evils, they still remain in his mind and are unleashed on people whose punishment is worthy of their wrath. In fact, these three can merge-possess Caiden when he allows it, mixing all of their abilities together.
This forced me to start being more responsible and proactive, because if I wasn’t acting like that, neither would people near me, and I knew enough to know that that would be bad. Being a quiet person with no ambition to speak of, I had never before thought of doing anything, well, ambitious. I had never had a goal to strive for. But now, I thought, I could do whatever I wanted. If I gathered enough followers, he could do nothing for weeks with no repercussions. So I started training my “ability”, increasing the radius to which it extended, and getting better at adjusting how much my actions affected those within the radius.
No one ever noticed my influence, so it continued to spread. Soon it covered my entire city. At first I was satisfied, before realizing that there was a small part of the city where my control didn’t reach. No matter how close I got to that small section, the people there acted at odds with those under the influence of my power. They didn’t act lazy or fiercely intent on a purpose (As I now sometimes became), but neither did they act normally, either. They bustled about aimlessly, sometimes stopping to play games with each other, only to wander hurriedly away later. Upon walking into this small space, I was suffused with a sudden urge to walk around the corner of the next building for absolutely no reason. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and ran back to my own sphere of control.
I started training more and more, straining harder to overtake this clump of psychic rebellion. Soon, the person who controlled that other space (Because, of course, that was the only explanation) started pushing back. We engaged in a mental struggle, me striving to enclose and crush their mind within my own, they trying to cut through and separate my mind. This went on for nearly four months, before I settled for the whole rest of the city that I now controlled.
At first I decided simply to go back to bed, but this experience had changed me. I now needed to goal to achieve. I tried hundreds of different hobbies, but none felt right. I talked to my few friends about it, and though they were surprised at my sudden change of heart, went along with it. However, I still could not find an end goal that suited me. Finally I gave up trying to find a normal hobby. Instead, once again, extending my radius of influence, outwards from the city, to other cities. But the strain was too much. So it was that, six years after I had first discovered my ability, I planeswalked for the first time.
So much effort had I applied to the spreading of my control that my energy exploded outwards, and I found myself on a new plane, one not so different from my own. Kaladesh. I soon found a way into the Consulate and positioned myself as the right-hand man of the Consul. I had found a new goal: to overtake and consume every plane in the multiverse, or as many as I could. My original unmotivation and selfishness had turned to something different, a ferocious, almost zealous intent. It is from there I now command Eduhara, Mongseng, Kephelai, Rabiah, Belenon, and much of Kaladesh. No one in the multiverse knows of my ever-growing plan of conquest,
except for that one person. The person who was able to resist my assault at the beginning, who even now plots to free my the planes from the iron grip of my mental fist.
This is the story of Danoya.
Planes he has visited include Ahmonket, Zendikar and Kaldheim.
He is white-aligned, sometimes splashing into green or red. His abilities contain instant-hate abilities and abilities that help your attacking creatures.
This name comes from youth on the yet unnamed plane from which I came. While travelling the road one night, I found the signs of the struggle along the road. I found a couple of large, smashed eggs, which looked to be the work of dragon poachers. On my home plane, dragons were hunted for their hides, horns, and blood by nobles whose rank and respect was determined by the quantities of those items they possessed legitimately (you couldn't gain rank by stealing them, but you could by defeating another noble and taking his draconic memorabilia). One of the eggs, however, appeared to have been scattered from the others, and upon approaching it, it hatched. It was one of the more rare dragon types on the plane, called rune dragons. Most dragons could do things like breath fire, or ice, or lightning, etc. based on their anatomy, but rune dragons possessed a more intimate connection with mana which allowed them to also cast spells through the projection of draconic runes. On my home planes, only three of these type of dragons were known, and they were all considered gods.
Knowing that the hide of a rune dragon could give someone untouchable rank, I began to work to hide the dragon while I searched for some way to contact one of the three known rune dragons to inquire about this dragon's origins.
The journey took several years, in which time my dragon friend, who called himself Kvakngr, grew and became my friend. Along the way, I became attuned with white, blue, and red mana as Kvakngr taught me how to channel draconic runes, and later used that to develop my own techniques and spells.
Around this time, the hunt for Kvakngr has become a planar event, but we had evaded and/or defeated those that searched for him. Finally, a managed to get an audience with Mnox, one of the rune dragon gods. Mnox, a rune dragon with shimmering black scales (as opposed to Kvankgr's deep, midnight blue), said she knew not of Kvankgr's origin, but that his scales matched neither of the other rune dragons. She said, though that the three rune gods were unsure of their own origins, as they never had an indication of their own birth, so she couldn't be sure what happened. Upon leaving Mnox's palace, we found the palace being bombarded by human troops (which is significant because Mnox ruled a massive floating mountain above the clouds. With each impact, parts of the mountain sheared away and fell to the world below. With Mnox's blessing, we left, while she fought off the forces. Returning to the ground, Kvakngr and I worked to prevent the debris from Mnox's mountain from falling on the plane below. After watching a shard of the mountain impale Kvankgr, gripped by fear, I was hurled off to another plane.
On this plane, I met two other planeswalkers. The first was the Wanderer, who I met only briefly. The second was a planeswalker named Veshi Tuburr. I befriended Veshi, and she helped explain what had happened. Surprisingly enough, I felt my magic grow around her, and when the Wanderer briefly visited, it grew even stronger. I focused my magic and returned to my home plane, where I found that Kvankgr had ascended to godhood in my absence. Speaking to him, he said that though he was plane bound and I was not, we were linked forever. Though I was a human with a lifespan the speck of his, he used an ancient magic to halve his life to add it to mine, such that we would die of old age at precisely the same moment. He told me that my destiny lie beyond the plane with others like me, but my home was always there.
So I began to planeswalk, with my newfound magic, which was bolstered by the presence of nearby planeswalkers (and also began to turn towards buffing/dealing with those very people), with a mission simply help those that were the target of selfish people, devoted not to a binary opposition of good and evil.
tl;dr
The Dragoon, a planeswalker from an unnamed plane
Started jeskai while I raised the rune dragon Kvangr
Became WUBRG planeswalkers-matter after walking
My life force is tied to the dragon-god Kvangr on my home plane (if one dies, the other dies; will live half the life of a rune dragon before I die naturally)
Mainly motivated to help those who are the target of selfish individuals across the multiverse, not really concerned with major good v. evil dynamics
I've thought about this for a long time, many times, and the answer is different every time, based on the state I'm in, my headspace, and my aspirations when thinking about my planeswalker self. I'm going to try to create a "canon" for it, by taking elements from the most memorable incarnations of my planeswalker self, without making it feel noncommittal.
The "present" portion of the canon is going to, like in previous versions, reflect the state of me, as of considering this question. So buckle up, and get ready for the Saga of the planeswalker known as Ranshi!
"Once a nobody who was dead while his soul exiled into a dreamlike dimension called the Void... becoming its caretaker at the cost of being shackled there, but still he could visit another planes and granting 'void powers' to the others as a sort of a ̺̥͎̹̖̞̱d̀e̙̗͚̟̯l̙̀u̶͙͕͔s͚̝i̴͚̣͍̭̗o̘̜͟n̙͔͖̣͡a̷͍̠͙̠̣̝͇l̥̮̕ ̱͍e͞n͚t̪̰̬̺i͇̥̣̤̼ͅt͍̥̲̕y͓̦̬͞ ͕̜̹w̗̫h҉̺o̥ ̵̲y̞̟̠̼e̥̼̗̳͟a̞̝̯͔̬̫̜r͈̻͓n̼̳̭͙s ̵̙̻̳̙̩̣̜f̴o̖r̷̹ ͖̭͙̯̺̟͍n͔̬o͏͍t̳͓̰h̫̣̬̣̪̬i̶̲͉͙n̞͇̗̼g̹͓ ͚̥͚̹̪ͅo͚͍͍̦̮t͉̘͎̭̀h̞̞̗e̹̦͇̳ͅͅr͎̹͜ ̼͉̳̖̬̺t̹͡h͕̣̟̹͙̳a̜͚̭͞ͅn͖̲̰̜̭͚͡ ̥͕̠̯m͖̣͜a̗d͎̠͖͍̺̭n͇͓̘͖̭̬e̲̥̬s̰͓̖s̟̼̥ ͖̮͕̦͚̗a̶̱̞̰͔n̛̮͇̮̙̼̖ͅd̤͍̥͚͙̦͢ ̡͔̱̥ṟ͙e̵̹͍̗͇̞s̘͉̟̠͢e̟̗̰̙̼͓̩n̖̻͇͉̭̥ͅt̙̪̙̺͉̦m̥̗ę̭̜n͎͙̙̫̠̟͎t̰̫̩̗̻̀ͅ.̮̣̤̜͈̗ͅ.͏͎̼̘̝̯͈.̬̲̺̦ ̤̹̞̜̭̲ͅ"
I'd been doing experiments with magic to reach my perfect self for a while, but eventually had a witch-hunt started up against me. These people had been friends and I had helped them with their injuries and ills. The trigger that activated my spark was the destruction of all my work and research and the murder of the only thing that I ever loved, my hound (now eratta'd to dog). My knowledge of mutations and mutilations, malformities and anatomy, and my dark, icy hatred at those I had once helped caused my first dark work... a plague that devastated my homeland, transforming some into monsters and just killing others. I walked into the sea at one point, intending to end myself, but instead walked to another plane... a nicer one. I was in a cave at the start, and, having lost my nerve to end myself, started to try and rebuild a life. Eventually I found a bit of happiness there, and was able to start helping others again, but I was careful to make sure that I wouldn't form enough of an attachment to get hurt. More time passed, and I started to explore my walking powers a bit further. Seeing opportunities from it, I started to play around a bit, doing things here and there to manipulate things. My goals were to better things always, but the first person to reap the benefits would be me.
From a youthful age, Ranshi had understood that his gifts were rare in this world, and was careful to keep to himself, until one day, as an adolescent, he was attacked by a group of criminals, wishing to take what was his, even if it meant killing him. In a fiery flash, the muggers were but piles of ash, and Ranshi was wanted himself!
Since that day, Ranshi decided not to hide his gifts, that he would openly utilize his magic, in spite of the hate it drew towards him. By engaging himself with his powers, Ranshi began to grow stronger, day by day, harnessing the magic we would know as Evocation. That was... until it happened.
On a day as fine as any other, the evoker heard a voice, like a whisper at the base of the skull. It guided him through the town he had called home for about a year before it went silent. Confused, Ranshi looked about, only to stumble into a militia unit from his home, who had come looking for him. They bore weapons engraved with antimagic runes, crippling the young sorcerer.
It was then, that the voice returned and said, "You live in defiance of my design, of the land you walk upon. I intend for these servants to end the mistake that was your realization!"
An unknown fury rose with Ranshi. Was it the will to live on, or perhaps hate for this demon speaking to him? Whatever it may have been, it sharpened his senses and annealed the very fabric of his being. With a tremendous shout, a power woke within the mage, a spark within!
"No! What are you doing!?" Cried the voice but to no avail. The runed weapons began to glow brighter and brighter in reaction to the swelling magical presence until their light blinded all who could witness the event.
Then all was still and silent...
The light faded as quickly as it appeared, but the fugitive was gone, maybe never to be seen again...
Thereafter, Ranshi wandered the lands, doing what he could to impart the lessons of magic wherever he roamed amidst the Blind Eternities.
Thank you so much for reading! If you want to know what inspired this version of the story, and what some of the more vague things were all about, let me know, and I'll be happy to talk about it!
Ranshi Nise
Demographics
Race: Human Planeswalker
Birthplace: Sylne, Meltharin
Lifetime: Mending Era
Colors
Base: R
Secondary: U, Tertiary: G
If this was at all confusing, or maybe even raised more questions, don't be afraid to ask!
Caiden Dragonbane
Demographics
Race: Human-Dragonblood Planeswalker (Similar to Kaalia of the Vast in the way that I'm human, but can have dragon wings and claws at any time)
Birthplace: Born on Ravnica as a human, became part dragon on Tarkir
Lifetime: Mending Era
Weapon: Scythe
Magic specialty: Necromancy & a small bit of pyromancy
Colors: Base: R, Secondary: B
I guess I'll add on a little for each of the times he is possessed.
Conquerer King Caiden
Demographics
Possessed by: Nekusar, the Mindrazer
Weapon: Giant Axe, Mind Missiles
Magic specialty: Arcane pain magic or other control-type magic (Not the Kamigawa arcane, more like WOW or Hearthstone arcane)
Colors: URB
Corrupted Demon Caiden
Demographics
Possessed by: Lindroth, Mind Tormentor (Just came up with the name, may make a card later)
Weapon: Shadow Tentacles, Scythe normally used by Caiden, and whatever he steals/copies from others.
Magic specialty: Corruption mind control (Not turning people into mindless slaves, but putting thoughts into their mind that they are convinced by him), Clone magic
Colors: UB
Raging Caiden
Demographics
Possessed by: Internal draconic rage/bloodlust (Not a character, but a dragon-fueled hyper emotion)
Weapons: Mana-infused draconic claws (Looks like something out of the pokemon tv show), Scythe (Without the soul reaping)
Magic specialty: Other than draconic power, practically none. Most of Raging Caiden's power comes from physical strength.
Colors: R
Not as simple, but eh...
Demographics:
Race: Human
Birthplace: Mercadia
Lifetime: Mending Era
Relevant Magical abilities: Increased skill in ascertainment and acquisition of valuable items, thoughts, and people, as well as being able to directly convert monetary wealth into charisma, influence, and good luck through smaller magical sub-abilities.
Colors:
Base: B
Secondary: R
Tertiary: U
Del Rynn was born into a wealthy family on the plane of Mercadia, and from a young age was taught how to lie, cheat, and steal his way in life. He was a sweet talker, words flowing like honey, money like eddies in a river, and, although it rarely happened, blood like deep red wine.
Del knew that if he truly put a lot of effort in, he could rule whatever and wherever he wanted. But he wasn't a fan of putting effort into things, and so instead slithered his way into the role of advisor. He would pull the strings behind the scenes, then get bored and leave the ruler he assisted looking the fool. He found it very entertaining.
One day, however, he was attacked by a group of Kyren that had caught on to him. He managed to fight them off with his dagger, but they managed to disarm and corner him. It was as they were approaching, blades drawn, intent on sticking him like a pig, that his planeswalker spark flared up for the first time.
Del was hurled through the blind eternities, eventually ending up on Kaladesh. He set out looking for a politician to use, but instead, he found Gonti. Meeting Gonti was like reuniting with an old friend. Del let himself be easily persuaded to work for the crime lord, and almost immediately went about his mission of helping to bring about the revolution.
The revolution came, and went, and while things were all fine and dandy, Del felt bored now that the rebels had won. It would be much harder to infiltrate them a second time. So he bid farewell to Gonti and travelled on. He leapt from plane to plane, but none of them had interesting enough politicians.
Sure, he had fun watching the Lunarch council's panic over his musings about demonic lore, and sure, the Obzedat were interesting company, if however brief, but nothing caught his attention like Kaladesh had. Until he found Fiora.
Del loved Fiora like one might love a spouse, or a child. He viewed it as a grand playground to cause trouble, a kitchen full of bubbling pots, each on the verge of overflowing.
Del had great admiration for Marchesa. She was like him: Cunning, charismatic. Truly influencing her would be his hardest challenge yet. Surprisingly, he managed to work his way up, eventually ending up as her advisor.
She told him them that she had seen through him all along, but instead of having him executed, she offered him a job. And so he took up the mantle of advisor, but for the first time, actually with the intent to advise. At least, for now. Who knows what the future holds?
I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the galaxy multiverse.