Magic the Gahtering: Cosmere edition

[Silverblade5 he/him]

ooh, I like that.

another possibility for awakening would be allowing you to pull creatures from the graveyard back to play.

I was thinking more along the lines of living weapons.

[Dunkum he/him]

I was thinking more along the lines of living weapons.

sure, that would be one possibility, and that did occur to me, though I couldn't recall off the top of my head what that ability was called, and I think that works pretty well for your standard awakening.  for the one in my other post, I was thinking about how you could do lifeless.

[Lindel he/him]

Lifeless could work as graveyard return, I like that. You'd probably have to have it only work for creatures with a CMC of two or less, or something, though. For standard awakening, how were yo picturing the living weapons working? For artifact creature tokens, I was thinking something like:

 

T: Put an X/X Awakened Object artifact creature token onto the battlefield which reads, "When this creature enters the battlefield, Invest it. Sacrifice this creature: Invest [cardname]" 

 

That'd be a lot of reminder text for the Awakening ability, though. 

Edited May 10, 2016 by Lindel

[Silverblade5 he/him]

Lifeless could work as graveyard return, I like that. You'd probably have to have it only work for creatures with a CMC of two or less, or something, though. For standard awakening, how were yo picturing the living weapons working? For artifact creature tokens, I was thinking something like:

T: Put an X/X Awakened Object artifact creature token onto the battlefield which reads, "When this creature enters the battlefield, Invest it. Sacrifice this creature: Invest [cardname]"

That'd be a lot of reminder text for the Awakening ability, though.

If you've ever heard of a card called Lasherithe, something like that.

[Glamdring804]

Ah, I see. Makes sense. Ooh, now I want to see a Nightblood card with a mechanic that does something along the lines of removing charge counters from the equipped creature, and if they don't have any charge counters he starts adding -1/-1 counters, or something.

EDIT: Maybe have him be a double sided card, and have Nightblood, Unsheathed be extent extremely powerful, but he drains charge counters each turn, and if there are no charge counters left, you have to sac the creature, or start placing -1/-1 counters each turn, or something.

This is a good idea for Nightblood. We are planning on doing two: One in Warbreaker, and one in WoR, as a planeswalker. (since Nightblood is technically a worldhopper.) I'll run it by my partner. I like it a lot.

 

You could just give them a Graft-esque ability, where they enter the battlefield with a charge counter, or Invest immediately upon entering, but either way, you can later bump the counter onto another creature.

Lifeless could work as graveyard return, I like that. You'd probably have to have it only work for creatures with a CMC of two or less, or something, though. For standard awakening, how were yo picturing the living weapons working? For artifact creature tokens, I was thinking something like:

T: Put an X/X Awakened Object artifact creature token onto the battlefield which reads, "When this creature enters the battlefield, Invest it. Sacrifice this creature: Invest [cardname]"

That'd be a lot of reminder text for the Awakening ability, though.

We still haven't figured out what we are doing exactly for Warbreaker. We've been focusing on mainly Stormlight. Broadly, I want Warbreaker to have a "colors matter" theme. I'll want to bring Devoid back (to represent lifeless, etc) and also a new keyword Vivid that is sort of the opposite, i.e. "Vivid (This card is all colors)

It would be really interesting if you have a very limited number of charge counters for Warbreaker. We could have a keyword that has them enter the battlefield with charge counters, and then you remove those counters to do stuff. I think the best way to do it is to have all creatures enter with counters, and then have various awakeners to "process" those counters, kind of like Eldrazi processors.

Side note: All Lifeless, including tokens, would probably be colorless zombies.

 

Notes: For Elantris, I plan to have an instants and sorceries matter theme. Some mechanics I'm thinking of using include Kicker, and possibly something similar to Splice.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Glamdring804

[Dunkum he/him]

Lifeless could work as graveyard return, I like that. You'd probably have to have it only work for creatures with a CMC of two or less, or something, though. For standard awakening, how were yo picturing the living weapons working? For artifact creature tokens, I was thinking something like:

 

T: Put an X/X Awakened Object artifact creature token onto the battlefield which reads, "When this creature enters the battlefield, Invest it. Sacrifice this creature: Invest [cardname]" 

 

That'd be a lot of reminder text for the Awakening ability, though. 

yea, it couldn't be straight graveyard return, there would have to be some limitations.  I was thinking maybe they lose all abilities, so you retain power and toughness, but lose anything more complex than that.  also thinking that only a few high level creatures would be able to do it.  not sure how well that maps to creatign lifeless in the book, but for magic, you would want a bit of balance, and that is a potentially powerful ability.

 

silverblade mentioned an example of the living weapon ability (though there was a typo, should be lashwrithe).  though looking at it more closely, I am not sure it is the best route to go, it is a complicated ability and I am not sure the way it is phrased actually works with how awakening would have to work.  if you would have to modify it anyway, better to just invent a new one from scratch that works how you want it.

 

glamdring, I kinda like both of those ideas for warbreaker and elantris, they make a fair amount of sense to me.  you may want to look into other multi-color based abilities.  sunburst, from the original mirrodin block, might be a good fit for a warbreaker set.  you may also want to consider requiring awakening based abilities to be payed with colored mana, if they need mana at all, anyway.   (though white counting as a color will be fudging the rules a bit here)

[Glamdring804]

yea, it couldn't be straight graveyard return, there would have to be some limitations.  I was thinking maybe they lose all abilities, so you retain power and toughness, but lose anything more complex than that.  also thinking that only a few high level creatures would be able to do it.  not sure how well that maps to creatign lifeless in the book, but for magic, you would want a bit of balance, and that is a potentially powerful ability.

 

silverblade mentioned an example of the living weapon ability (though there was a typo, should be lashwrithe).  though looking at it more closely, I am not sure it is the best route to go, it is a complicated ability and I am not sure the way it is phrased actually works with how awakening would have to work.  if you would have to modify it anyway, better to just invent a new one from scratch that works how you want it.

 

glamdring, I kinda like both of those ideas for warbreaker and elantris, they make a fair amount of sense to me.  you may want to look into other multi-color based abilities.  sunburst, from the original mirrodin block, might be a good fit for a warbreaker set.  you may also want to consider requiring awakening based abilities to be payed with colored mana, if they need mana at all, anyway.   (though white counting as a color will be fudging the rules a bit here)

Which specific rules are you referring to? White is a color in Magic. It isn't a color in Warbreaker. Technically, in real world physics, it's all colors.

 

In any case, we have to be careful with the complexity of all this, especially at common. This is a custom set, so we have more leeway with rules and complexity than with normal sets, but I do want them to be playable. Radiance would also be very flavorful, though the mechanic was rather poorly received.

[Dunkum he/him]

by fudging the rules, I meant the ones in the book, where white is not a color.  for the purposes of a magic set, I would count white as a color and colorless as not a color, since those definitions and mechanics already exists in the game, its just that it wouldn't perfectly match up with the book.

 

i think sunburst fits better, flavor-wise, since it is an all colors thing, and isn't concerned with any specific color, whereas radiance (or chroma for another example) is more limited in scope.

[Glamdring804]

by fudging the rules, I meant the ones in the book, where white is not a color.  for the purposes of a magic set, I would count white as a color and colorless as not a color, since those definitions and mechanics already exists in the game, its just that it wouldn't perfectly match up with the book.

 

i think sunburst fits better, flavor-wise, since it is an all colors thing, and isn't concerned with any specific color, whereas radiance (or chroma for another example) is more limited in scope.

Yeah, there's a fair number of color oriented mechanics. Devotion is another one. We can decide which ones work best when we get closer to designing the set.

[Lindel he/him]

If you've ever heard of a card called Lasherithe, something like that.

I'm familiar with living weapons, but I was curious to see how you'd apply it to Awakened objects. 

 

This is a good idea for Nightblood. We are planning on doing two: One in Warbreaker, and one in WoR, as a planeswalker. (since Nightblood is technically a worldhopper.) I'll run it by my partner. I like it a lot.

 

We still haven't figured out what we are doing exactly for Warbreaker. We've been focusing on mainly Stormlight. Broadly, I want Warbreaker to have a "colors matter" theme. I'll want to bring Devoid back (to represent lifeless, etc) and also a new keyword Vivid that is sort of the opposite, i.e. "Vivid (This card is all colors)

It would be really interesting if you have a very limited number of charge counters for Warbreaker. We could have a keyword that has them enter the battlefield with charge counters, and then you remove those counters to do stuff. I think the best way to do it is to have all creatures enter with counters, and then have various awakeners to "process" those counters, kind of like Eldrazi processors.

Side note: All Lifeless, including tokens, would probably be colorless zombies.

 

Notes: For Elantris, I plan to have an instants and sorceries matter theme. Some mechanics I'm thinking of using include Kicker, and possibly something similar to Splice.

I like the Colors matter theme for Warbreaker, very thematically appropriate. Somehow building that into Awakening processor mechanics would be cool, though I'm not sure how you'd do so. Vivid sounds cool. Splice would be a great mechanic for Elantris!

 

I think Sunburst or Converge would fit best, flavor-wise, for preexisting mechanics. Definitely Devoid, too. Also, as Dunkum suggested, having Awakening require colored mana, like generic mana but without colorless, could be cool, though you do have to be careful about over-complicating things and piling on too many mechanics. 

[Glamdring804]

I'm familiar with living weapons, but I was curious to see how you'd apply it to Awakened objects. 

 

I like the Colors matter theme for Warbreaker, very thematically appropriate. Somehow building that into Awakening processor mechanics would be cool, though I'm not sure how you'd do so. Vivid sounds cool. Splice would be a great mechanic for Elantris!

 

I think Sunburst or Converge would fit best, flavor-wise, for preexisting mechanics. Definitely Devoid, too. Also, as Dunkum suggested, having Awakening require colored mana, like generic mana but without colorless, could be cool, though you do have to be careful about over-complicating things and piling on too many mechanics. 

Exactly. It's easy to go overboard with these kinds of things.

 

A note regarding the usage of Splice: It's almost perfect flavor-wise, but when it comes down to gameplay, it's not very popular, due in part to it's repeatability. I would like to fix this. My current best idea is have it functionally work like splice, but the cards spliced onto the spell also end up in the graveyard. They would be cheaper to cast in combination with other spells, and/or have an added effect.

 

Btw: Hi Ryth!

Edited May 11, 2016 by Glamdring804

[Dunkum he/him]

Exactly. It's easy to go overboard with these kinds of things.

 

A note regarding the usage of Splice: It's almost perfect flavor-wise, but when it comes down to gameplay, it's not very popular, due in part to it's repeatability. I would like to fix this. My current best idea is have it functionally work like splice, but the cards spliced onto the spell also end up in the graveyard. They would be cheaper to cast in combination with other spells, and/or have an added effect.

 

Btw: Hi Ryth!

that seems like a good compromise ability for splice.  another alternative would be to have the splice cost be expensive or use up limited resources.  if you had to remove charge counters from creatures you control in order to splice it could work, provided charge counters aren't too easy to come by.  plus it would fit thematically, with the charge counters, representing investiture, being used up for your spells

[Lindel he/him]

that seems like a good compromise ability for splice.  another alternative would be to have the splice cost be expensive or use up limited resources.  if you had to remove charge counters from creatures you control in order to splice it could work, provided charge counters aren't too easy to come by.  plus it would fit thematically, with the charge counters, representing investiture, being used up for your spells

Yeah, but with AonDor you're tapping Investiture from the Dor, so having it come from cards you have, while a useful limitation, wouldn't quite fit with the flavor. I think discarding the card and maybe having an extra effect when Spliced would work.  

[Dunkum he/him]

Yeah, but with AonDor you're tapping Investiture from the Dor, so having it come from cards you have, while a useful limitation, wouldn't quite fit with the flavor. I think discarding the card and maybe having an extra effect when Spliced would work.  

yea, I could see that working.  then you would have your invest mechanic used for elantrians and dakhor monks (probably they'd have some abilities that can only be used while they have a charge counter)

[Glamdring804]

yea, I could see that working.  then you would have your invest mechanic used for elantrians and dakhor monks (probably they'd have some abilities that can only be used while they have a charge counter)

Indeed. I could see the Elantris set relying less on charge counters, as Sel magic tends to just pull investiture straight out of the shard, with minimal intermediary.

 

One thing I'm currently trying to work out is various creature types. I plan on including a few with each block, and one for each magic system. This is what I have so far.

 

Stormlight Archive

Spren

Duh. They are all enchantment creatures.

Listener

I decided it made more sense both mechanically and flavor-wise to include all the Listeners as a single type.

Surgebinder

Currently the rarest type, only found on the flip sides of a handful of mythic rares. This might change in future sets, when the Radiants start to appear en-masse.

Fabrial

Not 100% sure on this one, but fabrials seem unique enough in their operation to warrant a new subtype.

 

I haven't yet decided if I want to do a Voidbringer subtype. Thoughts?

 

Mistborn

A new subtype for each of the three metallic arts.

Allomancer

Obvious.

Feruchemist

Again, obvious.

Hemalurgist

Not sure on the name for this one, but I want Inquisitors, Kandra, and Koloss (the originals at least) to have the same type. Kandra would, for example, be Hemalurgist Shapeshifters.

 

This scheme has a couple problems, especially with the Era 2 block. "Legendary Creature - Human Feruchemist Allomancer" is waaaaayy too long to fit in the type line. Might have to add a Twinborn subtype. And don't get me started on the craziness of BoM.

 

Elantris

For this one, I actually want to reuse the existing Spellshaper subtype. There are numerous practitioners of Selish magic, and they each have different names. However, their abilities all involve specialized manipulation of magic, which closely matches the description of a Spellshaper. Also, it works in lieu of an official name for Selish magic systems in general. As an umbrella term, it would include Elantrians, Dakhor, Forgers, Bloodsealers, and everything else on Sel.

 

Warbreaker

Awakener

Another one that is fairly intuitive. While everyone has Breath, only awakeners have the know-how to use it.

Returned

While the Returned are *technically* zombies, this doesn't flit flavor-wise at all.

 

Arcanum Unbounded

Threondy only has the Shades, which, conveniently, are an existing creature type. First of the Sun has the Aviar, but I'm not sure if these are different enough to warrant a new type. I think calling them birds will work fine.

 

White Sand

I've read the manuscript, but I won't make any decisions with this until at least the first graphic novel is out.

[Lindel he/him]

For Feruchemy and Allomancy, you could call all of them Metalborn, which might feel weird in Era 1, but would help streamline the subtypes in Era 2.

[Glamdring804]

For Feruchemy and Allomancy, you could call all of them Metalborn, which might feel weird in Era 1, but would help streamline the subtypes in Era 2.

That fixes some problems, but causes a few of it's own. Copper mistings, for example, might grant hexproof to other Allomancers you control. There is no flavor reason, however, as to why this would work with Feruchemists as well.

[Lindel he/him]

Ah, that's true. I guess having Twinborn, which count as both Allomancers and Feruchemists works, I suppose.

Medallions are gonna be kinda complicated...

[Dunkum he/him]

medallions are only complicated because they grant so many abilities.

 

for the hemalurgy creatures, it might be best just to have the subtype just be kandra, koloss, and inquisitor, and have a separate keyword to reference the hemalurgy.  so a kandra would be creature - kandra and it would have a keyword type ability referencing the hemalurgy somehow.

 

for elantrians, I wouldn't necessarily say they have to be reliant on the charge counters, but maybe something like "as long as this creature has a charge counter it has [some ability/abilities]"  same for dakhor monks.  or possibly make them flip cards, requiring that they be invested before thye can flip.  so they aren't using them up to use thier abilities, but they do need to have one.  i'm thinking of this as a sort of parallel to the shaod/whatever the dakhor were doing.

[Glamdring804]

medallions are only complicated because they grant so many abilities.

for the hemalurgy creatures, it might be best just to have the subtype just be kandra, koloss, and inquisitor, and have a separate keyword to reference the hemalurgy. so a kandra would be creature - kandra and it would have a keyword type ability referencing the hemalurgy somehow.

for elantrians, I wouldn't necessarily say they have to be reliant on the charge counters, but maybe something like "as long as this creature has a charge counter it has [some ability/abilities]" same for dakhor monks. or possibly make them flip cards, requiring that they be invested before thye can flip. so they aren't using them up to use thier abilities, but they do need to have one. i'm thinking of this as a sort of parallel to the shaod/whatever the dakhor were doing.

I like the idea of having abilities that hinge on the presence of investiture. The dual faced cards could also work. I've already done something similar with Surgebinders. They start as normal creatures, and once you charge then up, they transform into Radiants.

[Lindel he/him]

Have you considered using the Level Up mechanic for Surgebinders, to represent the Oaths? Not saying it's a perfect fit, but it might work.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Lindel

[BrightVoid he/him]

Rashek.

 

Game breaks.

[Glamdring804]

Have you considered using the Level Up mechanic for Surgebinders, to represent the Oaths? Not saying it's a perfect fit, but it might work.

I did consider that, but I decided that I wanted more complexity than I could fit on a level up card. I'm still considering using the mechanic for Awakeners, and different amounts of Breath.

[Dunkum he/him]

I could see that working.  I don't personally like the mechanic, but it does seem like a good fit for the different heightneings

[WayneSpren he/him]

Stick card: 2 brown mana

0/1

'Your opponent gets annoyed and leaves. You win."