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Need Feedback on Custom Mechanics
So I'm starting to work on a personal set that I've had in mind for a while and I just need a way to interpret the personalities of these three factions without doing anything outrageously ridiculous. I'll try and keep it short and simple and provide examples.
Ingenuity X (Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, it takes and deals no damage. Instead, you may move up to 4 counters of any kind on permanents you control to other permanents.)
Workshop - X can't do [effect] unless you control Y colorless non-land permanents.
So the idea here is that the Vaal, a group of artificers and brilliant minds are trying to study and figure out the plague that is looming over their world. So, why not some experimentation? Move the infection from host A to host B (-1/-1 counters), or even try to improve the natural system of a person's body (+1/+1 counters)? By rules text, this also works for Loyalty counters and others, but it should be noted they can only be moved to legal targets, so a creature can't for whatever reason end up with 3 Loyalty counters on it.
Workshop, simply put, is basically "X can't do this unless you have Y", which involves colorless or non-land permanents.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/eiben-blind-artificer
Faith - If you control X or more white permanents, [card] costs X less to cast.
Heresy - Whenever [type] that doesn't share colors / types / abilities as [card] is cast / etb / attacks / etc., do X effect.
The Great Church is all about keeping their innerworkings pure and hopeful, never tampering with anything outside of comfort. Faith favors White, and with a massive following such as they, they can unite themselves to reach a greater goal, such as casting an 8 mana spell for 5 or 4 instead. Heresy is the opposite, and is basically all-round hate to anything that them. This idea sprung up from watching a video that mentioned Hate Bears in Magic, so I thought a hate-focused ability could be interesting. Ranges from anything to tapping a creature as it comes into play, making a spell cost more, or even negating it entirely.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/great-churchs-trinity
Calamity - If you didn't cast [card] from [library/hand/graveyard/exile], do X effect
Scourge - When [card] is put into the graveyard, you may [pay mana/discard/pay life/etc.]. If you do, put [card] onto the battlefield/hand/library.
The Afflicted are the undead and problem running through the world. The first taken by this spread was their queen and since then the people have divided into ways of figuring out how to be rid of them. The Church only mourns their queen and keeps their great city safe while the Pyromancers burn bodies and purge any who show signs of being Afflicted. The Vaal seek to study and adapt to it, trying to not destroy it, but instead ascend beyond it. The Afflicted are a problem, and near impossible to be put down. Calamity demonstrates that when they return unnaturally, they are a threat to you, your opponent and anything you hold dear. Scourge is a way to show how they return, for a price they come back one way or another. there's many ways to use these abilities, and they're probably the most vanilla of them all.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/octavia-first-fallen
Kindle - As you cast this spell, you may pay an additional X mana.
Stoke - Until end of turn, you may recast this spell by paying X mana/X life/discarding/ etc.
I don't have a lot of info I want to put out about the Pyromancers other than they're certain the only way to remove the Afflicted is physically, and that means burning the bodies that carry the diseases. Kindle is like kicker, where as an additional cost, you can do a bonus effect, but here it mostly revolves around adding another spell on top of what you're already casting. Stoke is 'stoke the flames', so you're feeding a spell that lingers for a while to make it bigger and or stronger.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/mastery-of-incineration
(I as of now do not have an example for Stoke. This may be updated later to include such a spell)
Let me know what you think! Any changes, tweaks, or ideas that should replace or improve them?
Ingenuity X (Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, it takes and deals no damage. Instead, you may move up to 4 counters of any kind on permanents you control to other permanents.)
Workshop - X can't do [effect] unless you control Y colorless non-land permanents.
So the idea here is that the Vaal, a group of artificers and brilliant minds are trying to study and figure out the plague that is looming over their world. So, why not some experimentation? Move the infection from host A to host B (-1/-1 counters), or even try to improve the natural system of a person's body (+1/+1 counters)? By rules text, this also works for Loyalty counters and others, but it should be noted they can only be moved to legal targets, so a creature can't for whatever reason end up with 3 Loyalty counters on it.
Workshop, simply put, is basically "X can't do this unless you have Y", which involves colorless or non-land permanents.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/eiben-blind-artificer
Faith - If you control X or more white permanents, [card] costs X less to cast.
Heresy - Whenever [type] that doesn't share colors / types / abilities as [card] is cast / etb / attacks / etc., do X effect.
The Great Church is all about keeping their innerworkings pure and hopeful, never tampering with anything outside of comfort. Faith favors White, and with a massive following such as they, they can unite themselves to reach a greater goal, such as casting an 8 mana spell for 5 or 4 instead. Heresy is the opposite, and is basically all-round hate to anything that them. This idea sprung up from watching a video that mentioned Hate Bears in Magic, so I thought a hate-focused ability could be interesting. Ranges from anything to tapping a creature as it comes into play, making a spell cost more, or even negating it entirely.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/great-churchs-trinity
Calamity - If you didn't cast [card] from [library/hand/graveyard/exile], do X effect
Scourge - When [card] is put into the graveyard, you may [pay mana/discard/pay life/etc.]. If you do, put [card] onto the battlefield/hand/library.
The Afflicted are the undead and problem running through the world. The first taken by this spread was their queen and since then the people have divided into ways of figuring out how to be rid of them. The Church only mourns their queen and keeps their great city safe while the Pyromancers burn bodies and purge any who show signs of being Afflicted. The Vaal seek to study and adapt to it, trying to not destroy it, but instead ascend beyond it. The Afflicted are a problem, and near impossible to be put down. Calamity demonstrates that when they return unnaturally, they are a threat to you, your opponent and anything you hold dear. Scourge is a way to show how they return, for a price they come back one way or another. there's many ways to use these abilities, and they're probably the most vanilla of them all.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/octavia-first-fallen
Kindle - As you cast this spell, you may pay an additional X mana.
Stoke - Until end of turn, you may recast this spell by paying X mana/X life/discarding/ etc.
I don't have a lot of info I want to put out about the Pyromancers other than they're certain the only way to remove the Afflicted is physically, and that means burning the bodies that carry the diseases. Kindle is like kicker, where as an additional cost, you can do a bonus effect, but here it mostly revolves around adding another spell on top of what you're already casting. Stoke is 'stoke the flames', so you're feeding a spell that lingers for a while to make it bigger and or stronger.
Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/mastery-of-incineration
(I as of now do not have an example for Stoke. This may be updated later to include such a spell)
Let me know what you think! Any changes, tweaks, or ideas that should replace or improve them?
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Workshop, Heresy, Calamity, and Scourge all seem like ability words (like Landfall); reminders that a certain mechanic is in play, but ones that hold no particular rules value. If you were to choose one of the modes or make them more specific, they could be fine abilities, but right now they're more concepts for groups of cards than proper abilities.
I'm not sure how Kindle is different from Kicker, honestly. The effect it has on the spell is the same. Stoke seems like a lot of fun, reminiscent of Storm decks.
Currently working on reworking some abilities, mostly Kindle. The intended effect hopefully will act uniquely, perhaps pay a different mana cost, cheaper or greater, and have an altered effect of the spell? Not entirely sure yet. Ingenuity might just be whenever it blocks or attacks, move counters. Or like outlast, an activated ability. I'm working on some other mechanics for the cards down the road to elaborate on the collected personalities of the factions as a whole.
Thanks for the advice!