Any Interest in a Turn-Based RPG Style CCG?

[killercactus]

Fellow CCG'ers -

I'm currently in the middle of creating my own CCG. The idea is to have it play exactly like a turn-based RPG battle (much like Final Fantasy, though I wouldn't dream of infringing upon their copyright if I ever tried to sell this).

Each deck would contain 3 Hero cards with stats (Hit Points, Magic Points, Strength, Defense, etc.) and abilities (including what weapons and armor they can equip, what spells they can cast, any maybe a special power or two), and cards that represent equipment for those heroes (weapons, armor, accessories, etc.) that begin the game on the table. The remainder of the deck would consist of Spells and Inventory cards (healing items, offensive items, etc.), along with some Hero-specific cards that are played on your hero's turn from your hand.

On each hero's turn, the hero could use their physical attack to attack another hero, use a special power, or play a spell/item/special card from your hand. The game would be over when all three of one side's heroes are out of HP.

Anyone think a game like this would be interesting? Pretty soon, I'll be looking for a couple more ideas and starting playtesting. If there is interest, I can give more details about the game.

[Disposable Hero]

Good idea. I don't think these concepts have been utilized in a CCG before. But making the cards themselves would be tricky...

[killercactus]

Good idea. I don't think these concepts have been utilized in a CCG before. But making the cards themselves would be tricky...

Yes - the Heroes especially have a lot of information to put onto a standard sized trading card with artwork. That will be a challenge, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I need to make a game that works and is fun first.

[Onacara]

Good luck with this killer...sounds like alot of fun. If you want a dual respective in the playtesting area I play with my 15 year old. If its simple enough to grasp my 8 year old will play too making it a triple perspective.

[yagyuninja]

Sounds great! Subscribing to this thread. :)

[killercactus]

OK - a couple of people care. Cool!

I've wondered why something like this hasn't been done before. It seems like people who play CCG's also enjoy that style of video game, so it feels obvious to me. Anyway....

I've tried to draw on my gaming experience with other games (including Scape) to try and create gameplay that would be fun, include some randomity that can be mitigated by skill, and hopefully easy to follow. I think that last part will be the toughest - there are a lot of moving parts to this. However, I'm envisioning that the starter sets wouldn't include all of the bells and whistles and I could introduce them in future expansions.

For example, I plan on using an Element system for the Magic, as most RPG's do. However, all characters will be able to use some level of Magic, thanks to their innate Element color - the element they are most in harmony with based on their dominant emotions. Magic comes only from manipulating the Elements, though the lower level spell casters will only be able to play emotion-based spells (i.e. something like "Heat of Passion"). The higher levels will be able to cast Element-based spells (i.e. Flash Fire). Players won't need to know all that - all they'll see is a color and a level on the Hero card, signifying what Element they can use and to what degree they can use it.
My Element system consists of 8 colors and Elements. Here is what they are and what they can do:

Red - Fire - Passion/Fury - Damage/Speed
Blue - Water - Peace/Calm - Restore/Slow
Gray - Wind - Confusion/Hyperactivity - Weaken/Disrupt
Brown - Earth - Steadiness/Patience - Strengthen/Prevent
White - Life - Love/Courage - Revive/Inspire
Black - Death - Hate/Fear - Destroy/Frighten
Green - Nature - Generosity - Cleanse/Coordinate
Yellow - Science/Artificial - Greed - Infect/Control

Each color has an opposite (they're listed next to their respective opposites - it's kind of obvious), and they affect each other more. For example, a Blue innate Hero will take more damage from a Red spell, and vice versa. I haven't decided how much more, but I want to make it as simple as possible. Anyway, I thought in the starter set, I'd only release Heroes and cards with the 4 original Elements - Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. I could bring the rest in with expansions.

I'm also working up a backstory for the game itself and each Hero. I'm fairly sure the basic premise will involve a future scientist that wants to gain power, and do to so he/she researches the heroes of the past, who have saved the world when it was in need. He/She finds out they could manipulate the Elements, and, through time travel, seeks them out to capture them and perform experiments to gain the power they had. Since the scientist becomes a threat to the world, the Planet empowers new people with Elemental powers to defeat her. The players will play as the old and new Heroes and Villains.

Here's an example of one of the heroes:

Kistri Gablon
Female Sorceress
Element: Blue 4 (element levels are 1-4)
Weapon: Staff
Armor: Dress/Cloak
HP: 6 (all stats are a scale of 1-10)
MP: 9
STR: 4 (used for physical attack)
DEF: 4 (defense against physical attack)
MAG: 7 (used for magic power)
RES (magic defense): 6
AGI: 6 (used for dodging physical attack or preventing dodge)
SPD: 7 (determines turn order)
Ability: When Kistri deals damage or restores HP to another Hero, she may recover 1 MP.

[SuperflyTNT]

Fellow CCG'ers -

I'm currently in the middle of creating my own CCG. The idea is to have it play exactly like a turn-based RPG battle (much like Final Fantasy, though I wouldn't dream of infringing upon their copyright if I ever tried to sell this).

Each deck would contain 3 Hero cards with stats (Hit Points, Magic Points, Strength, Defense, etc.) and abilities (including what weapons and armor they can equip, what spells they can cast, any maybe a special power or two), and cards that represent equipment for those heroes (weapons, armor, accessories, etc.) that begin the game on the table. The remainder of the deck would consist of Spells and Inventory cards (healing items, offensive items, etc.), along with some Hero-specific cards that are played on your hero's turn from your hand.

On each hero's turn, the hero could use their physical attack to attack another hero, use a special power, or play a spell/item/special card from your hand. The game would be over when all three of one side's heroes are out of HP.

Anyone think a game like this would be interesting? Pretty soon, I'll be looking for a couple more ideas and starting playtesting. If there is interest, I can give more details about the game.

This sounds a bit like the Munchkin franchise..no?

[killercactus]

This sounds a bit like the Munchkin franchise..no?

Nah - Munchkin is a different type of game. It has each hero fight monsters to get treasure. My game would have two teams of Heroes fighting each other, just trying to wipe each other out.

[viperhoops10]

It sounds like an interesting concept and I would gladly play test if you would let me. My only question is if those are going to be the only elements?

I realize that right now you probably just want to get the game going but if it works could you see new elements being added in?

[killercactus]

It sounds like an interesting concept and I would gladly play test if you would let me. My only question is if those are going to be the only elements?

I realize that right now you probably just want to get the game going but if it works could you see new elements being added in?

I think 8 elements is already quite a bit. I actually can't think of another game that has more.... Magic: the Gathering has 5, the FF series has 5 or 6, Chrono Cross has 6....?

I guess it all depends though. If the game feels like it needs more one day, I suppose I could add more, but I wouldn't know what to add. The toughest part of the game right now will already be keeping track of everything (HP, MP, status ailments, order of turns, etc), and it might make it even worse to add in more elements. But then again, it might make it better.

-----------

Here's another Hero, and then I'll give an example of a turn:

Garic
Male Vampire
Element: Black 2
Weapon: Not sure (it used to be Guns, but I'm trying to get away from Vincent Valentine)
Armor: Cloak
HP: 8
MP: 6
STR: 6
DEF: 6
MAG: 5
RES: 4
AGI: 7
SPD: 8
Ability: When Garic deals damage to an opposing Hero, Garic may recover 1 HP.

OK. Let's assume these two heroes (Kistri and Garic) were on opposing teams, fighting each other. Also, for simplicity, they're both totally unequipped.

In gameplay, the first thing to be determined is order of turns, which is based on Speed. The higher the Speed, the earlier in the round that Hero acts. It's based on all Heroes in play, which means that one player could have 2-3 turns in a row. Ties are broken by the Agility stat, then by a D20 roll. The turn order will remain the same for the entire game unless a spell/item/ability affects the Speed stat of a Hero.

In this example, Garic's Speed is higher, so his turn would be before Kistri's in the Round. A Round simply consists of each hero that's still alive taking a turn. If a hero is dead, his/her turn is skipped that round. Any Hero revived (that is, brought back to life) during a Round gets a turn at the end of the Round, but falls back into their normal place in the next Round.

On Garic's turn, he may use a Physical Attack, or play a Spell/Item/Special card from his hand. Let's assume he uses a Physical Attack on Kistri. Both players immediately roll a D20 and D6. The attacker's D20 roll is to determine a Critical Hit, which adds 2 to Strength that turn. The roll + the Hero's Agility must be > 20 for a Critical Hit. The Defender's D20 roll determines if the attack is dodged (i.e., does no damage). The roll + Agility again must be > 20. The D6 rolls just add to Strength and Defense respectively for that turn, to introduce a bit more luck. Here are the roll outcomes:

Garic, 14, 2
Kistri - 9, 3

Garic's D20 roll of 14 + his 7 Agility gives him a Critical Hit, while Kistri's D20 roll is too low to dodge it. The damage dealt is Garic's Strength of 6 + 2 (Critical) + 2 (D6 roll) - Kistri's Defense of 4 - 3 (D6 roll) = 3 damage. Kistri would lose 3 HP and have 3 left. Per Garic's Ability, if he had less than full HP, he could recover one HP.

Next, Kistri would take a turn. She has the same options as Garic had, but she'll choose to play a Spell from her hand. She plays Natural Spring, which is a Level 3 Blue/Green spell(which she can play thanks to her Blue innate color and level of 4. Someone with the innate color of Green and level of at least 3 could also play it):

Natural Spring
Blue/Green 3
Healing Power: 3
Cleanse any status effects from target hero.

The Healing Power: 3 lets the player know that this spell is meant to recover HP (as opposed to Damage Power, which is meant to decrease HP, or Manipulation Power which affects status), and the base amount of recovery is 3. To determine the true amount of HP recovered, the Caster's Magic is added, and the targets Resistance is subtracted. So, Kistri would recover 3 + 7 -6 = 4 HP (if you were calculating a Damage spell, it would work the same way, except the target could lose HP). If there were any affects on her status (positive or negative), they would be removed and her stats / status would return to normal. Per her ability, she would also recover 1 MP. No extra dice rolls are used with Magic or Items, unless specified in the text.

That's some pretty basic gameplay. I think it seems complicated to read, but wouldn't be too bad once you were playing. Thoughts?

[Dredd Stev]

an interesting idea KC, if you need play testers at some point I'd be happy to try the game out.

[viperhoops10]

8 elements is almost assuredly enough I guess my real question was will there be any lightning/thunder spells as this was the only element I noticed was missing. Although I guess that can be put into the wind element if you felt the need to add them.

Another question is why does a character resist a healing spell? Wouldn't the effect be beneficial and thus the character would want it or is it merely for simplicity?

[killercactus]

8 elements is almost assuredly enough I guess my real question was will there be any lightning/thunder spells as this was the only element I noticed was missing. Although I guess that can be put into the wind element if you felt the need to add them.

I thought about that, since Lightning is kind of a staple in most games. I almost made it its own element, but then I couldn't think of anything to oppose it (it really has no weaknesses, even in most games. It beats water, but it doesn't really work the other way around). I figured if I added Lightning spells, they would probably be Gray/White, for some combination of Wind and Light, or Red because they would do more damage to Water-based characters. They would probably be Red (Magic: The Gathering is an example of a game that has Lighting in with the Red element. It fits well with the Fury trait of Red as well).

By the way - I highly doubt I'll attach more than 2 Elements to any card. That seems like enough.


Another question is why does a character resist a healing spell? Wouldn't the effect be beneficial and thus the character would want it or is it merely for simplicity?

As far as mechanics goes, its for simplicity, but my explanation in terms of the game world is that the Heroes' bodies have natural resistance to the Elements, and since all magic (even Healing magic) comes from the Elements, all magic will be naturally resisted to some degree. So, even though the Hero wants it, he/she can't do anything about their natural resistance.

It also makes for an interesting game twist, because those with higher Resistance will probably be the Heroes with higher Element levels, and vice versa. That means that big level Element users will have more difficulty healing themselves than they have healing a teammate that focuses more on Physical Attacks (high Strength and Defense, low Magic and Resistance). I'm hoping it makes for a blend of heroes, and also for a blend of Magic and Items.

[viperhoops10]

If I had an idea as to what opposed lightning I would share, my best guess would be that earth is the closest to opposite but that only works in one direction.

Thank you for the explanation on the resistance, that is what I figured but I wanted to see why it was made like that. It looks like a good game so far and I'm sure it will only get better as equipment and spells are revealed.

[Disposable Hero]

Interesting systems. But, what are the classes going to be? Mage, Vampire... What else?

[Dredd Stev]

Yea a class system would definitely help, as it would also give you a place to start with what a hero can and can't use/equip. I like the basic stat list you have for heroes, but with all the abilities/stats/items (the other cards you said that heroes could use) I think that hero cards might have to be a bit bigger than the rest of the cards in the deck. Just a thought.

[killercactus]

Interesting systems. But, what are the classes going to be? Mage, Vampire... What else?

I'm debating on a class system still. I kind of want to keep each hero unique, which discourages classes. But, without classes, you take away the ability to reference them on other cards, and I have to take up space on the Hero cards for Weapons and Armor. For now, I've just kinda stuck a generic class onto each Hero, though it's not needed for equipment purposes, since that's also on the card.

So far, the Heroes I have drawn up have these classes:

Fighter - Can use any weapon, Gray innate
Martial Artist - Fists, Attacks multiple times, Red innate
Scientist - relies on chemical weapons - Yellow innate
Cyborg - probably guns, very high defense, Brown innate
Necromancer - Staff or scythe, animates the dead, Black innate
Paladin - swords, balanced fighter and magic user - White innate
Thief - Knives, Steals cards out of opponent's hand - Yellow innate
Knight - Spears, can take hits for others, Green innate
Cleric - support/holy magic user - White innate

I've been thinking about a Pyromancer, some sort of Green innate magic using Elf, and a Blue fighter (probably a Monk).

Yea a class system would definitely help, as it would also give you a place to start with what a hero can and can't use/equip. I like the basic stat list you have for heroes, but with all the abilities/stats/items (the other cards you said that heroes could use) I think that hero cards might have to be a bit bigger than the rest of the cards in the deck. Just a thought.

Yeah - the only reason I would put a Class system in is to save some room on the Hero cards. The Weapons and Armor probably need less room for artwork, so it's definitely a thought.

[killercactus]

My fear about the game right now is that Physical Attacks will dominate it, because you don't need anything in your hand for a Physical Attack, where Spells or Items must be in your hand to be used.

I've thought of a couple of fixes to that if it becomes a problem:

1) Physical Attack cards - you can only use a Physical attack if you have that card in your hand. This would also allow for different types of Physical attacks (things like Bum Rush, Sword Thrust, Hit and Run, etc.) that could be stronger or weaker and have different attributes attached. It also takes away the advantage of Physical Attackers being able to load their deck with Items, some of which don't have a limit as to the amounts allowed in the deck.

2) Charging Spells - I've toyed with the idea of, on a Hero's turn, searching their deck for a Spell card and laying it face down and passing their turn. Then, after a period of time, the spell casts automatically. That helps with the "I need the spell card in my hand" problem, but it creates more stuff to keep track of, so I'm shying away from it.

3) Aggressive Card Drawing for Magic users - I could make it so that Heroes with higher Element levels draw more cards. The current card drawing rules are this: Begin the game with 5 cards in hand, and draw 1 card at the beginning of each Hero's turn. I could base that on the Element Levels of the Heroes instead. Something like: Begin the game with X cards in hand, where X = the combined Element Level of your Heroes. Then, at the beginning of each Hero's turn, Draw X cards, where X = that Hero's Element Level.

I really like both 1 and 3, and might do a combination of the two. 2 adds a different strategy to the game, but I think it would be tough to keep track of.

[KCU Master 2007]

This sounds really cool Killercactus. I'm normally against CCG's but this is one I could get involved in.

As many others have said, put my name on that list and I'll be more than happy to try it out with people.

[ElvenEnvy]

Good idea. I don't think these concepts have been utilized in a CCG before. But making the cards themselves would be tricky...

Yes - the Heroes especially have a lot of information to put onto a standard sized trading card with artwork. That will be a challenge, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I need to make a game that works and is fun first.

Make Heroscape sized cards and you'll be ok.

[killercactus]

Here's something I've been bouncing back and forth about and could use some input on - Deck restrictions.

I'm pretty set on a 60 card deck (Heroes not included in the 60, but equipment is). I'm also set on Spell (and Attack, if applicable) cards being shuffled back into the Inventory (deck) when used, and Items being discarded to a Dead pile when used.

What I'm not set on is limits on certain cards in the deck. For example, Magic: The Gathering allows infinite Land in the deck and 4 copies of any one non-land card. I want to go outside the box a bit on this, and these are my two ideas:

1) Rarity - Rarity is a term you often hear thrown around in CCG's, normally referring to how difficult cards are to find. I would use it for that, and to define how many copies of Item/Equipment cards would be allowed in a deck. It's obvious when playing RPG's that some things are very common (using Final Fantasy as an example, Potions and Phoenix Downs are everywhere) and some are very rare or unique (there's only one Excalibur in the game, and it's really tough to find a Megalixir). I could use this to limit the copies of cards in the decks.

Common = infinite
Uncommon = 3 copies
Rare = 2 copies
Legendary = 1 copy

That also prohibits a player from loading their deck up with Items that heal everything and forces them to use some Common and Uncommon cards.

2) Money restrictions - This is the one that I think is more thematic. All I have to do is assign a monetary value to each Item, piece of Equipment or Spell card, then place a monetary limit on the decks. This would signify the Heroes having to go to a Shop to purchase equipment before they set out to battle. For example, decks could be limited to 1,000 Gold. If the Excalibur sword costs 500 Gold, the other 59 cards in your deck need to be cheap. That way, I don't have to worry about keeping limits on the copies of cards allowed in a deck - it's built in because the strong cards will be more expensive (the Heroscape points system gave me that idea). That also gives me the ability to add powers to Heroes that increase the available Gold (would be a nice Thief ability, or would allow for an Investor-type Hero - sucks at fighting and magic, but he just pays for everything), or create Items that do so.

[killercactus]

Assuming I would start the game off with 8 heroes and just 4 elements, these are the other 7 heroes that would probably be released first - you already know Kistri. (by the way, the names are anagrams of my friend's and family's names for the most part).

Vade
Male Fighter
Gray 1
Weapon: Any
Armor: Any
HP: 8
MP: 3
STR: 6
DEF: 6
MAG: 2
RES: 4
AGI: 6
SPD: 6
Ability: You may pack Weapon cards in your Inventory. During Vade's turn, instead of acting, you may search your Inventory for a Weapon card, exchange the Weapon equipped on him with that card, and then use a Physical Attack. Shuffle the old Weapon into your Inventory.

Sejisca
Female Martial Artist
Red 1
Weapon: Claws, Gloves
Armor: Clothes
HP: 7
MP: 3
STR: 6
DEF: 5
MAG: 3
RES: 5
AGI: 6
SPD: 9
Ability: If Sejisca's Critical Hit roll is < 5, Sejisca may attack again this turn with a Physical Attack.

Chis Nesa
Male Monk
Blue 2
Weapon: None
Armor: Clothes
HP: 9
MP: 5
STR: 10
DEF: 6
MAG: 4
RES: 7
AGI: 8
SPD: 5
Ability: If Chis Nesa does not act on his turn, draw 1 card and he may recover up to 2 HP.

MKR-A
Male Cyborg
Brown 4
Weapon: Gun
Armor: None
HP: 6
MP: 8
STR: 5
DEF: 10
MAG: 5
RES: 8
AGI: 3
SPD: 3
Ability: When MRK-A's HP are reduced to zero, he is not considered dead until the end of the round.

Idoriyo
Male Enchanter
Gray 4
Weapon: Staff
Armor: Cloak
HP: 7
MP: 10
STR: 4
DEF: 5
MAG: 9
RES: 8
AGI: 6
SPD: 6
Ability: Once per game, Idoriyo may take an extra turn during a round. You may use this ability before any turn, even your opponent's.

Czar Riban
Male Pyromancer
Red 4
Weapon: Staff
Armor: Cloak
HP: 5
MP: 10
STR: 2
DEF: 5
MAG: 8
RES: 7
AGI: 4
SPD: 6
Ability: Instead of drawing a card for Czar Rabin's Draw Phase, you may instead search your Inventory for one Red spell and put it into your hand.

Warden KF
Male Soldier
Brown 1
Weapon: Sword, Gun
Armor: Mail
HP: 8
MP: 4
STR: 8
DEF: 8
MAG: 3
RES: 8
AGI: 2
SPD: 2
Ability: Once per game, Warden KF may prevent all damage done on an opponent's turn after that turn has been resolved.

[killercactus]

The second wave of Heroes to round out the Elements - Garic is already posted.

Joh
Male Necromancer
Black 4
Weapon: Staff
Armor: Cloak
HP: 7
MP: 10
STR: 5
DEF: 5
MAG: 9
RES: 9
AGI: 6
SPD: 7
Ability: Before acting, you may roll the D20 once for each dead ally. If Roll > 10, that ally is Revived, recovers 5 HP and is considered Undead.

(Undead status is signified by turning the Hero card face up, but upside-down. They are weak against Red and White spells in addition to their innate weakness but healed by Black spells, and are damaged by any Restorative Spells or Items.)

Karf
Male Paladin
White 3
Weapon: Sword
Armor: Mail
HP: 8
MP: 7
STR: 6
DEF: 5
MAG: 5
RES: 6
AGI: 5
SPD: 4
Ability: Before acting, you may select one dead ally and roll the D20. If Roll > 11, that ally is Revived and recovers up to 7 HP.

(Karf and Joh are brothers - they obviously went down opposite paths in life...:D)

Draybel
Male Thief
Yellow 1
Weapon: Knife
Armor: Clothes
HP: 7
MP: 3
STR: 5
DEF: 4
MAG: 2
RES: 5
AGI: 9
SPD: 9
Ability: Instead of acting, you may attempt to Steal. Roll the D20. If Roll >5, randomly choose one card from your opponent's hand to take into your own. After you play the card, place it into your opponent's Lost Pile.

Rimitan
Male Knight
Green 1
Weapon: Sword / Spear
Armor: Mail
HP: 9
MP: 3
STR: 7
DEF: 7
MAG: 1
RES: 4
AGI: 5
SPD: 5
Ability: Once per round, if an ally is targeted by a Physical Attack, you may cause the Rimitan to be the target instead.

Nythaeb
Female Elf
Green 4
Weapon: Bow
Armor: Cloak
HP: 7
MP: 9
STR: 4
DEF: 2
MAG: 8
RES: 7
AGI: 7
SPD: 7
Ability: If any Ally is currently under a Status effect, before acting you may search your Inventory for any Green Spell with the word "Cleanse" in the text and put it into your hand.

("cleanse" is the term I've denoted for removal of status effects. The cool thing about this hero is positive status effects like Haste will trigger her ability too)

Adma
Male Scientist
Yellow 4
Weapon: Gun
Armor: Clothes
HP: 9
MP: 10
STR: 3
DEF: 4
MAG: 8
RES: 10
AGI: 6
SPD: 7
Ability: Instead of drawing a card, look at the top 3 cards of your Inventory, place one into your hand and place the other 2 onto the bottom of your Inventory.

Gemna
Female Priestess
White 4
Weapon: Staff
Armor: Cloak
HP: 6
MP: 10
STR: 2
DEF: 4
MAG: 9
RES: 10
AGI: 6
SPD: 7
Ability: Gemna's Allies are +1 to all stats. After you draw a card for Gemna's Draw Phase, you may reveal the drawn card to your opponent. If the reevaled card is not a Spell, you may draw another card.

When I created each of the heroes, I used their innate Element's attached emotions to create their Ability, to try and give each hero a personality (for instance, Draybel should feel greedy to you, Sejisca very passionate and Gemna very inspiring). Those will be all of the heroes that I'll playtest with for now. There should be two for each element - one geared towards fighting and the other towards magic. Also, I've tried to give the mages abilities that push towards drawing cards, since Spells need to be in hand to use (and I don't have Physical Attack cards in the works - yet). Any comments or thoughts on the heroes?

[Jexik]

As someone who played a lot of JRPGs when I was younger and likes card games, this sounds pretty cool.

The one worry I have with it, (of course without actually playing it) is the two dice rolls for every attack. It seems like it would add time and randomness to a game that would already have that from the card drawing aspect of it. I'm also wondering what would fill up 60 cards in a deck. Could it be possible to make the physical attacks into cards, just as the magic ones are, but make them all common or something? (or there could be unique or legendary attacks too I suppose, which are less frequent, but more powerful).

[killercactus]

The one worry I have with it, (of course without actually playing it) is the two dice rolls for every attack. It seems like it would add time and randomness to a game that would already have that from the card drawing aspect of it.

You're very right, but one thing I don't want is someone to be able to calculate out exactly how much damage an attack will do before they do it. Plus, without the rolls, the stats can be such that it's impossible to wound a certain hero with another. I like that the weaker hero at least has a chance through a critical hit or a lucky D6 roll. When I first wrote the rules, I thought along the same lines. But, I've played a couple of games and those dice rolls really don't take much time at all once you're used to them.

Plus, without Physical Attack cards, Physical Attacks really aren't random at all. They don't depend on what's in your hand, only what's already on the board. The dice make that part of the game random.

I'm also wondering what would fill up 60 cards in a deck. Could it be possible to make the physical attacks into cards, just as the magic ones are, but make them all common or something? (or there could be unique or legendary attacks too I suppose, which are less frequent, but more powerful).

That's exactly what I'm considering for Physical Attacks. Currently, the remainder of the Inventory would be full of Spells and Items, and maybe some unique cards for the heroes (representing something akin to Limit Breaks). What the game might need are Physical Attack cards and some sorts of Interrupts. Of course, if I added Physical Attack cards, I'd probably have to change some of the card drawing abilities for the magic users to keep them in line.

Here's kind of what I'm thinking as an example of each type of Inventory card.

Heat of Passion
Spell: Red 1
Manipulation Power: +19
Increase your Speed by 2 and draw 2 cards.
0 Gold

(When a Manipulation Spell is played, the D20 is rolled to see if it succeeds or fails. If D20 Roll + Manipulation Power > 20, it succeeds).

Inferno
Spell: Red 4
Damage Power: 2
Inferno targets all opponents.
70 Gold

The Healing Spell Natural Spring is already posted on Page 1.

Exotic Herbs
Item: Green
Healing Power: 6
20 Gold each

Meet Your Maker!
Technique: Black 3
Joh Only
Target one opponent and roll the D20. Add Joh's Magic and current MP. If Roll > 20, target is dead.
0 Gold

-------------------- (these are cards for things I haven't put into the game yet)

Thrust
Physical Attack: Melee
Damage Power: 0
0 Gold

Wild Swing
Physical Attack: Melee
Damage Power: 3
The defender may add 6 to their Evasion roll.
0 Gold

Fire!
Physical Attack: Ranged
Damage Power: 0
0 Gold

Sniper Shot
Physical Attack: Ranged
Damage Power: 0
If your Critical Hit roll is successful, target is dead.
50 Gold

Quick Reflexes
Interrupt
If your Agility is > 4, add 5 to any Evasion roll or Critical Roll.

[Jexik]

This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBOs1VdW4og&feature=PlayList&p=3DF115D3B6EF3E46&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=11) is going to be in my head all day now, with imaginary cards falling on every drum beat. I hope you're happy.

(Also, I can see how some randomness will help prevent situations where no damage can be dealt).

[killercactus]

This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBOs1VdW4og&feature=PlayList&p=3DF115D3B6EF3E46&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=11) is going to be in my head all day now, with imaginary cards falling on every drum beat. I hope you're happy.



Hehe, that's the idea.

I realized today that the Excel workbook I'd made with all of my original cards listed out in print-ready form is either lost, or buried somewhere on my home laptop. There have been many, many changes to cards since then, but it would've been a nice place to start rehashing. Ahh well, I can make another one fast enough.

I guess my next project is to get a card list (for the first two sets) in a printer-ready form and upload it to the site, or just e-mail it to those who would like to help playtest. I'll post a few more cards here and there as well (I haven't put up any weapons or armor yet) and get a complete copy of the rulebook. I'll also try to figure out some suggested deck builds, though I'll be counting on anyone to figure out some synergy or things that are broken that need fixing.

[KCU Master 2007]

I love finding things that are broken!

I get more excited every time I see this thread. Can't wait to help out with this. Jess has signed on to play some games with me to help as well.

[killercactus]

I love finding things that are broken!

I get more excited every time I see this thread. Can't wait to help out with this. Jess has signed on to play some games with me to help as well.

That's awesome! I can't wait to actually get you guys the cards to start testing.

As far as more cards go - anyone have some good Weapon / Armor names that haven't been used in every other RPG ever made? Here's what I have so far for Weapons and Armor, but I'd be willing to change them with any good ideas. I'm going for generic, but without just reusing the same thing made of a different material (i.e. Wooden Sword, Iron Sword, Steel Sword, etc.). I'll probably only have one or two legendary weapons/armor per class and a few other generic options. The Staffs (staves?) are all named with anagrams for now, but if anyone has some good generic stuff, I'll probably rename them):

Swords
Excalibur (I know, but I wanted a holy sword)
Samurai Sword
Claymore
Broad Sword
Blood Sword
Rapier

Claws
Dragon's Claw
Eagle's Talons
Leopard Claws
Raptor Claws

Guns
Laser Pistol
Machine Gun
Hunting Rifle
Shotgun
Bazooka

Knives
Dagger
Dirk
Stiletto
Switchblade

Spears
Heavy Lance
Javelin
Pike
Long Spear (I really ran out of ideas here)

Bows
Crossbow
Hunter's Bow
Arbalest (yay Protectors)
Bow of Lucen (anagram of my wife's maiden name. Will be a legendary Elven bow)

Staffs (Staves?) (these are also all anagrams, though I could probably use some generic ones)
Staff of Nemurteg
Staff of Zirteb
Staff of Gabol
Staff of Lupal
Staff of Ebnifald
Staff of Milhane
Staff of Bechseal
Staff of Chelbat

Mail
Plate Armor
Chain Mail
Bloodstained Mail
Shining Armor
Aegis
Kevlar Suit

Cloaks
Cloak of Invisibility
Vampire's Cloak
Magician's Cape
Superhero Cape
Volcano Cloak
Cape of Atlantis

Clothes
Karate Gi
Animal Skins
Ninja Garb
Lab Coat
Camouflage Gear
Wizard's Robe
Leather Vest
Bishop's Gown
Royal Dress(female only)

[BurnyFlame]

killercactus, I love your idea! Sign me up for playtesting. I can also help with artwork if you need it.

A couple suggestions:

-Maybe the magic users could have "books" as their weapons.
-I would like to see armor like a "Volcanologist's Cloak" to protect from fire and "Feathertail Glider Cloak" which helps against ground/earth based attacks. Other elemental resistances would be nice, too.

[killercactus]

killercactus, I love your idea! Sign me up for playtesting. I can also help with artwork if you need it.


Thanks! I'll keep that in mind.



-Maybe the magic users could have "books" as their weapons.
-I would like to see armor like a "Volcanologist's Cloak" to protect from fire and "Feathertail Glider Cloak" which helps against ground/earth based attacks. Other elemental resistances would be nice, too.

As far as the Books go, I'm gonna stick with the Staff right now, though Books are definitely a possibility in the future. Also, I've thought about using Books as Accessories to allow heroes to use other Elements, so I'll have to decide if I want them as Weapons or Accessories.

There will be some Elemental protection in the Accessories (Accessories include some Shields, as well as Amulets / Talismans), and some of that Armor you see above does afford some (Lab Coat, Bloodstained Armor, Camo Gear), but I can probably go that way with the Cloaks too.

[killercactus]

It's been a while since I posted here, so I thought I'd throw a few Items and Accessories out for view / critique. I'm going to try soon to get an excel file back up and running with the first set of cards so I can upload it to the site soon to begin playtesting.

Medicine Capsule
Item: Yellow
Healing Power: 3
Removes Poison status from target Hero.
10 Gold each

Mana Vial
Item: None
Mana Healing Power: 4
20 Gold each

Healing Water
Item: Blue
Healing Power: 5
You may shuffle one non-Item card from your Lost Pile into your Inventory.
30 Gold each

Kindling
Item: Red
Damage Power: 0
Play on your side of the table. Until the end of the current round, all damage from the Red element is +1.
0 Gold each

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Talisman of Water
Accessory: Blue
MAG: +1
RES: +1
STR: -1
DEF: -1
Equipped Hero may play cards with the Blue element.
50 Gold

Japanese Headband
Accessory
STR: +1
When equipped Hero is attacked with a Physical Attack and his Evasion roll is < 7, immediately make a Physical Attack with the equipped Hero against the attacker.
40 Gold

Winged Sandals
Accessory: Gray
SPD: +3
When equipped Hero is the target of a Brown attack, you may roll the D20. If Roll > 14, equipped Hero takes no damage from the attack.
40 Gold

-------------------------------------------------------

Excalibur
Sword: White
STR: +4
May not be equipped by a Black innate Hero.
Raises equipped Hero's White innate ability by 2 levels, even if their innate color is not White.
450 Gold

Machine Gun
Gun
STR: +2
When equipped Hero attacks, if Critical Roll < 6, equipped Hero may attack again this turn.
150 Gold

Bloodstained Mail
Armor: Black
DEF: +3
RES: +2
AGI: -1
SPD: -2
When equipped Hero kills an opposing Hero, equipped Hero may take another turn immediately.
300 Gold

Wizard's Robe
Clothes
MAG: +2
RES: +2
When equipped Hero draws a card during their Draw Phase, they may reveal it to their opponent. If the card is not a Spell, they may draw another card.
170 Gold

[KCU Master 2007]

What are you looking at typical deck size being? Some of these cards are very expensive. I understand that you wouldn't want many of these cards in each deck but I'd like to know just how much of a hit my deck will take if I put Excalibur in there for example.

[killercactus]

I've been kicking around 1000 Gold to start with. I don't know if that's where I'll end up - the Gold amounts will probably be the toughest thing to adjust when it's all said and done.

Right now I'm kind of just slapping arbitrary numbers on them to have a starting point.

[Nikmis]

How open are you to suggestions/other viewpoints?

Do you mind suggestions for other options for basic game mechanics, or are you more looking for playtesting and minor detail suggestions?

[killercactus]

How open are you to suggestions/other viewpoints?

Do you mind suggestions for other options for basic game mechanics, or are you more looking for playtesting and minor detail suggestions?

I'll take any kind of suggestion, just as long as people aren't offended if I don't incorporate their ideas. I've been thinking about this for a while, but the game is nowhere near final yet so there's room for change.

[Nikmis]

Sorry with no follow up replies yet.

Just looking into a card creatation/template system.
"Magic Set Editor 2" http://magicseteditor.sourceforge.net/
Even though I did rediscover the program a second time, it was posted here first.
bmaczero's - Magic Set Editor - Easy, Realistic Army Card Creator http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=25594

I'm trying to work out the details of my suggestions for you, and I have a template I was working out of excel on, but in an effort to make it more simple I may have made it more complex :)

Here is a example of the unfinished rough draft. Surprisingly they dont look half bad for being done in excel.

http://www.eldritchforge.com/images/4killercactus/ccgexcelclose.jpg
http://www.eldritchforge.com/images/4killercactus/ccgexcelfull.jpg

[Nikmis]

I'm thinking that you may want to reverse your speed statistic to make it so lower numbers are faster. It would make it easer to implement things such as casting times, slow spells or effects, etc... (speed = action = ACT in my samples above).

A spell/skill with a casting time of 3 would allow for a speed 5 hero to begin casting on turn 5 then the spell would execute on turn 8. You could have interrupt rules as a possiblity as well.

A pyhsical skill such as "shield bash" could stun characters and add 2 to the targets speed on the targets next turn. The same for slow spells.

Haste spells could lower the speed rating by 3, if haste would reduce the characters action to less than the current turn they would act next in battle.

just some idle thoughts.

-nik

[killercactus]

I'm thinking that you may want to reverse your speed statistic to make it so lower numbers are faster. It would make it easer to implement things such as casting times, slow spells or effects, etc... (speed = action = ACT in my samples above).

A spell/skill with a casting time of 3 would allow for a speed 5 hero to begin casting on turn 5 then the spell would execute on turn 8. You could have interrupt rules as a possiblity as well.

A pyhsical skill such as "shield bash" could stun characters and add 2 to the targets speed on the targets next turn. The same for slow spells.

Haste spells could lower the speed rating by 3, if haste would reduce the characters action to less than the current turn they would act next in battle.

just some idle thoughts.

-nik

I don't think I want to incorporate casting times. My thoughts are that casting time is already somewhat accounted for by the fact that the spell card needs to be in your hand to cast it. Also it creates more to keep track of (i.e., now you have to track turns that the spell has been idle and remember on which turn it casts).

I think I also want to keep the Speed stat as higher = better, since that's the way all of the other stats work and there will be less confusion on items and equipment that boost Speed. Haste / Slow type spells will be a challenge - actually, any spell with a limited effect time will be a challenge. I've considered not implementing them at all - just include Spells / Abilities that permanently increase a stat, or cause a permanent status effect that can be removed by curative items. That way, again, there's less to keep track of. That's been the biggest peeve of people I've played early versions of the game with - too much to keep track of.

Still, thanks for the ideas!

[Nikmis]

Ignore the poor quality of my pencil sketch :)
http://www.eldritchforge.com/images/4killercactus/altcards.jpg

Well here goes, feel free to use all or none or anywhere in between.

I thought that since the hero cards will not be shuffled into the deck it allows you to use both sides of the card for information.

In an effort to simplify game play you can divide the card up into a side that contains character information and a side that contains battle ready information.

Battle ready stat card. Martial atk/def, Arcane atk/def, Ranged atk/def, Spiritual atk/def. (To narrow it down further you could combine Martial and Ranged, and Arcane and Spiritual) Hit Points, Magic Points, Speed, Element Level, and Special Ability. Element type signified by the color of the card, Name and class type text at the top, and a larger action pose artwork for the hero.

Reverse of Card. Character name, close up portrait, and short bio. followed by an area with detailed stats such as Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Wisdom and Equipable armor and weapon types.

What we gain:
Simplification basing attack and defense rolls on fewer stats.

Equipment allowed usage based on stats requirements, so a long sword might have a strength requirement of 5 and increase Martial Atk by +1 where as a two handed sword might have a strength requirement of 8 and increase Atk by +2. Wands could be based off of magic/intellect, and guns/bows off of Agility.

What we loose:
Equipment no longer really affects stats such as strength, magic, agility. It would need to primarily affect Atk/Def whether it be Martial, Magical etc.. It can retain the ability to add additional special effects.

Turn order tie breaker by agility, go directly from speed to die roll.

An example based on your first page battle between Garic and Kistri.

I prefer at least a 3 stat atk/def setup such as Martial, Ranged, Arcane (or Physical, Magical, Spiritual) since it allows for more of a paper/rock/scissor effect. For this example we'll just use Martial and Magical.

Kistri
Dress/Staff
HP:6 MP:9 Spd:7 Blue:4
Martial:4/4 Magical:7/6
Ability: When Kistri deals damage or restores HP to another Hero, she may recover 1 MP.

Garic
Cloak/Guns
HP:8 MP:6 Spd:8 Black:2
Martial:6/6 Magical:5/4
Ability: When Garic deals damage to an opposing Hero, Garic may recover 1 HP.

An example of a turn:
OK. Let's assume these two heroes (Kistri and Garic) were on opposing teams, fighting each other. Also, for simplicity, they're both totally unequipped.

I'm going to modify the original text to fit with the new card setup.

In gameplay, the first thing to be determined is order of turns, which is based on Speed. The higher the Speed, the earlier in the round that Hero acts. It's based on all Heroes in play, which means that one player could have 2-3 turns in a row. Ties are broken by a D20 roll. The turn order will remain the same for the entire game unless a spell/item/ability affects the Speed stat of a Hero.

In this example, Garic's Speed is higher, so his turn would be before Kistri's in the Round. A Round simply consists of each hero that's still alive taking a turn. If a hero is dead, his/her turn is skipped that round. Any Hero revived (that is, brought back to life) during a Round gets a turn at the end of the Round, but falls back into their normal place in the next Round.

On Garic's turn, he may use a Physical Attack, or play a Spell/Item/Special card from his hand. Let's assume he uses a Physical Attack on Kistri. Both players immediately roll a D20 and D6. The attacker's D20 roll is to determine a Critical Hit, which adds 2 to Damage roll that turn. The roll + the Hero's Martial Atk must be > 20 for a Critical Hit. The Defender's D20 roll determines if the attack is dodged (i.e., does no damage). The roll + Martial Defense again must be > 20. The D6 rolls just add to Attack and Defense respectively for that turn, to introduce a bit more luck. Here are the roll outcomes:

Garic: 14, 2
Kistri: 9, 3

Garic's D20 roll of 14 + his 7 Martial Atk gives him a Critical Hit, while Kistri's D20 roll is too low to dodge it. The damage dealt is Garic's Martial Atk of 7 + 2 (Critical) + 2 (D6 roll) - Kistri's Martial Defense of 4 - 3 (D6 roll) = 4 damage. Kistri would lose 4 HP and have 2 left. Per Garic's Ability, if he had less than full HP, he could recover one HP.

Next, Kistri would take a turn. She has the same options as Garic had, but she'll choose to play a Spell from her hand. She plays Natural Spring, which is a Level 3 Blue/Green spell(which she can play thanks to her Blue innate color and level of 4. Someone with the innate color of Green and level of at least 3 could also play it):

Natural Spring
Blue/Green 3
Healing Power: 3
Cleanse any status effects from target hero.

The Healing Power: 3 lets the player know that this spell is meant to recover HP (as opposed to Damage Power, which is meant to decrease HP, or Manipulation Power which affects status), and the base amount of recovery is 3. To determine the true amount of HP recovered, the Caster's Magical Atk is added, and the targets Magical Def is subtracted. So, Kistri would recover 3 + 7 - 6 = 4 HP (if you were calculating a Damage spell, it would work the same way, except the target could lose HP). If there were any affects on her status (positive or negative), they would be removed and her stats / status would return to normal. Per her ability, she would also recover 1 MP. No extra dice rolls are used with Magic or Items, unless specified in the text.

The outcome is pretty similar, Garic dealt 1 more damage. I'll post again with some follow up concerning equipment, spells/abilities, elemental scores and strengths/weaknesses.

[killercactus]

Thanks again for all the ideas, Nik! It's fun just to discuss this stuff. Please don't be discouraged by anything below...

For some reason, I envisioned the Hero cards as landscape based instead of portrait. I'm not sure why - maybe I feel like I can fit more information onto one side that way. Do you have an idea for a landscape-based card? I had one originally, but I'd have to find it again.

Also, I considered 2-sided Hero cards for a long time, and am still considering it. The only thing holding me back from doing it is that I have plans down the road for a doppelganger Hero and considered giving him an ability allowing the player to swap his Hero card with one from their hand. I'm not sure if I like that ability though, and may change it.

I like the idea of Martial and Magical attack and defense - using one name for them (instead of two separate stats called Strength and Defense, just using a X/X notation like in Magic), though I think I prefer Physical and Elemental as the names, just because I really want the game to revolve around Elements. Though, I will strongly consider replacing STR and DEF with Physical X/X, and ditto for Elemental X/X.

I think I still want to keep Agility in there though. The main reason is that I don't necessarily want the Heroes with high Physical Attack stats being the most likely to get a Critical Hit, and the Heroes with high Physical Defense being the most likely to dodge attacks. It seems like overkill, and I want to leave room for Heroes like Isamu, who don't really shrug off attacks, just dodge them.

Lastly, I'm against basing weapon usage off of stats. Again, it's because I don't necessarily want the highest attackers using the strongest weapons all the time. It also will narrow the focus of players when selecting weapons (i.e., why would someone with high strength choose a spear over a sword, if the sword is stronger?). I like the Class system (or some variation of it) to determine equippable weapons and armor. It does pigeon-hole Heroes into some things, but I kind of like it that way. I was a big fan of Final Fantasy IV because Heroes were what they were supposed to be - Yang couldn't cast Spells, and Rydia couldn't attack worth crap, and there wasn't really a way to change that. In Final Fantasy VI, Cyan was a great attacker, but you could make sure he was awesome at Magic too, which was kinda weird to me (still loved the game though).

[Nikmis]

What names for the game are you considering?

heh, this just popped into my head and I got a chuckle out of it.

M.E.R.C.S
Martial Elemental RPG Card System

Instead of heroes you could call them Mercenaries, or Mercs for short.

[killercactus]

What names for the game are you considering?

heh, this just popped into my head and I got a chuckle out of it.

M.E.R.C.S
Martial Elemental RPG Card System

Instead of heroes you could call them Mercenaries, or Mercs for short.

I've only thought about it a little. It'll be something to do with Heroes empowered by the planet/gods with Elements. I have no idea yet what to call it.

[killercactus]

Items have been giving me some problems lately. Any item I think of has some sort of Elemental affiliation (mostly because I made Science an Element, which encompasses all things artificial or man-made), but I don't think I want to outright restrict the playing of Items to those heroes who possess the Elemental knowledge. Plus, it's really difficult to come up with Healing items for Red or even Black.

Maybe those two colors are just out of luck when it comes to healing? Blacks want to destroy things and are fascinated with death, so they will have some "raise the dead" type powers that should be enough (i.e., they don't heal themselves - they just keep coming back as zombies when you kill them), and Red's just want to relentlessly attack with all of their passion and fury, so they don't need curative items. The other 6 elements would probably have these:

Blue - Various liquids (Healing Waters, springs, potions, etc) will be nearly exclusively curative or linked to slowing the enemy, as Blue's are patient and want to restore things
Gray - Cool breezes, though these are probably only for Level 3 and up, since Level 1 and 2 innates can't control the Wind - they're just stuck with emotional levels of discord and hyperactivity. Maybe some kind of adrenaline rush healing
Brown - Soils (the ol' rub some dirt on it) for 3's and up, but just protective items for the lowers - Browns want to keep things the way they are.
White - Various blessings for Level 3's and above, or some self-sacrificial acts for the lowers since Whites are so brave and selfless. They'll also have resurrection items and holy water (that's a blue/white)
Green - Various herbs and plants should provide for a lot of healing opportunities. They'll also be the main source for removing status effects (along with blessings / holy water) as Greens like to keep things clean and natural
Yellow - Various pills, capsules and mixtures will do all sorts of things, but not specialize anywhere, as Yellows want everything at the same time

[Nikmis]

Ok here is a rough draft (done in ms paint of all things) If you print it at 300 dpi it comes out ccg size and does not look too bad. My Very Generic Hero!

http://www.eldritchforge.com/images/4killercactus/cardtemp3.jpg

I think a landscape layout will work well, it leaves a good amount of room for both information and artwork.

Also I'm thinking that we can put the equipment cards portrait style behind the hero card sticking out from the edges showing the attack/defense bonuses and any added special abilities granted by arms/armor.

Sir Rothwick, 2E Brown, Knight. Final versions the card border would be brown but it messed with the text and icons etc...

Attack information is on the left. (sorry I just used 5 as a generic average)
5 Martial Attack with a prefered weapon type sword.
5 Elemental Attack no prefered weapons.

Defense information is on the right
5 Martial Defense with perfered armors of shields and plate.
5 Elemental Defense with no perfered armors.

AG=Agility, Sp=Speed, HP=Hit points, MP=Mana Points, stradle the special abitly text.

[KCU Master 2007]

Possibly for red and black have some sort of life stealing items. These couldn't be as good at healing as just healing items but it would be a good mechanic for these more ferocious heros.

As far as what to call them or how to make them work, I'm not too sure though.

[killercactus]

Possibly for red and black have some sort of life stealing items. These couldn't be as good at healing as just healing items but it would be a good mechanic for these more ferocious heros.

I love that idea for Black, though I'm not sure how to turn it into an Item. Would make for some great Level 1-2 Black spells though, or some accessories (Vampire Fangs or something along those lines...). Would probably also work for Yellow (though I have enough Yellow stuff).

I seriously think that Red just isn't going to be able to heal. Red innates don't care about that anyway - they're too passionate about what they're doing.

[KCU Master 2007]

Maybe just make it an effect of an item rather than a spell. Some items they can use have a life leech ability.

[killercactus]

Maybe just make it an effect of an item rather than a spell. Some items they can use have a life leech ability.

I think what I just might do is use Potion-type items for all Elements, with the type of potion varying based on the element. I was going to restrict liquids to Blue / Yellow, but I think this makes more sense.

Obviously there will be more items than just potions, but you get the idea

[Nikmis]

Items have been giving me some problems lately. Any item I think of has some sort of Elemental affiliation (mostly because I made Science an Element, which encompasses all things artificial or man-made), but I don't think I want to outright restrict the playing of Items to those heroes who possess the Elemental knowledge. Plus, it's really difficult to come up with Healing items for Red or even Black.

From earlier examples, I had kind of assumed that items would be elementally neutral except for the more rare examples like Excalibur.

Excalibur
Sword: White
STR: +4
May not be equipped by a Black innate Hero.
Raises equipped Hero's White innate ability by 2 levels, even if their innate color is not White.
450 Gold

Especially items such as potions, where perhaps a healing potion would require a blue/green/white/yellow user to create it, but any user could drink it. (except for perhaps a black/death element user drinking a white/life potion)

Other examples could be
Green Blade Light Saber
Sword: yellow
Martial Attack: +2
Special
Force Parry Green Once per round the heroes elemental rating may be added to their martial defense.
600 Gold

So while it is a highly scientific/technical weapon, yet wielded by a user that is in harmony with nature (ie the force, or aspect of the force). I would make the light saber itself

I have a lot more to say about equipment but it references the other posts, so I'll follow up in later posts

[Nikmis]

I think I still want to keep Agility in there though. The main reason is that I don't necessarily want the Heroes with high Physical Attack stats being the most likely to get a Critical Hit, and the Heroes with high Physical Defense being the most likely to dodge attacks. It seems like overkill, and I want to leave room for Heroes like Isamu, who don't really shrug off attacks, just dodge them.

Martial defense takes into account agility, as well as the other physical attributes. Don't think of it as merely blocking or shrugging off the attack, but also as dodging or partially dodging the attack. A high martial defense may be as much of a result from dodging abilty as it is a result of heavy armor or even parrying ability.

You may have a heavy armor user with a defense of 8 but due to the added movment restriction his speed is only a 3. While "Isamu" favoring cloth amor also has a high defense of 7 but his speed is 7.

Elemental users would likely be using weapons that focus there elemental energies, staves that release elemental energy when striking or wands that blast elemental energy at a range.

On a very basic level it makes it so that elemental focused heroes are weak against martial attacks and martial focused heroes are weak against elemental attacks.

Heroes can enhance their strengths or shore up their weaknesses with equipment selection.

[killercactus]

Items have been giving me some problems lately. Any item I think of has some sort of Elemental affiliation (mostly because I made Science an Element, which encompasses all things artificial or man-made), but I don't think I want to outright restrict the playing of Items to those heroes who possess the Elemental knowledge. Plus, it's really difficult to come up with Healing items for Red or even Black.

From earlier examples, I had kind of assumed that items would be elementally neutral except for the more rare examples like Excalibur.



That was the idea, but it got harder as I came up with Items to not assign an Element to them. However, what I might do (similar to what you say above) is not restrict the use of Items, but rather the inclusion of Items in the Inventory.

For example, maybe the Exotic Herbs item from a couple of pages back cannot be included in your Inventory unless you have a hero with at least Green:2 in your party. Additionally, the Element would still have it's priority effects on the target (i.e., using Exotic Herbs on a Yellow innate would produce poor results, on a Green innate would produce great results, and the others get average results).

That makes the Element Levels signify the following:

Level 1 - Emotions linked to Elements produce a certain effect
Level 2 - Can create / mix Items to keep in Inventory
Level 3 - Can control emotions and begin to influence the Elements themselves
Level 4 - Has complete control over an Element to produce supreme effects
Level 5 (will only be achieved by use of an Accessory) - can summon the god of an Element to do their bidding

[Nikmis]

For example, maybe the Exotic Herbs item from a couple of pages back cannot be included in your Inventory unless you have a hero with at least Green:2 in your party. Additionally, the Element would still have it's priority effects on the target (i.e., using Exotic Herbs on a Yellow innate would produce poor results, on a Green innate would produce great results, and the others get average results).


This is a bit at odds with the Elemental spell system, where here using an item such as a healing potion, a green gets a better heal from the potion than a red.

Where as in the sample battle between Kistri and Garic, Kistri casts a heal on herself and is basically penalized for a higher elemental resistance to her own element.

The thing that keeps it somewhat alive would be that the spells add Elemental Attack rating to the amount of healing done, where as the potions would be a static amount.

Natural Spring
Blue/Green 3
Healing Power: 3
Cleanse any status effects from target hero.

Exotic Herbs
Item: Green 2 (to be in inventory from previous example)
Healing Power: 6
20 Gold each

Well use Kistri, Sejisca, and Nythab. Kistri wil cast Natural Spring on all 3 and they each will use an Exotic Herb. (well assume that when casting against an elemental opposite that the caster adds 1 to the Healing/Damage Power, and for potions same color adds 1, opposite subtract 1, and other elements are neutral)

NS Natural Spring: Healing Power + Elemental Attack + Element advantage - Elemental Defense = Heal Amount

EH Exotic Herbs: Healing Power + Element Advantage = Heal Amount

Kistri
NS = 3 + 7 + 0 - 6 = Heals 4
EH = 3 + 0 = Heals 3

Sejisca
NS = 3 + 7 + 1 - 5 = Heals 6
EH = 3 + (-1) = Heals 2

Nythab
NS = 3 + 7 + 0 - 7 = Heals 4
EH = 3 + 1 = Heals 4

Resisting Beneficial spells seems a bit out of whack for me, what about beneficial spells that do not heal at all, do they have a resist roll?

[killercactus]

For example, maybe the Exotic Herbs item from a couple of pages back cannot be included in your Inventory unless you have a hero with at least Green:2 in your party. Additionally, the Element would still have it's priority effects on the target (i.e., using Exotic Herbs on a Yellow innate would produce poor results, on a Green innate would produce great results, and the others get average results).


This is a bit at odds with the Elemental spell system, where here using an item such as a healing potion, a green gets a better heal from the potion than a red.

Where as in the sample battle between Kistri and Garic, Kistri casts a heal on herself and is basically penalized for a higher elemental resistance to her own element.

The thing that keeps it somewhat alive would be that the spells add Elemental Attack rating to the amount of healing done, where as the potions would be a static amount.

Natural Spring
Blue/Green 3
Healing Power: 3
Cleanse any status effects from target hero.

Exotic Herbs
Item: Green 2 (to be in inventory from previous example)
Healing Power: 6
20 Gold each

Well use Kistri, Sejisca, and Nythab. Kistri wil cast Natural Spring on all 3 and they each will use an Exotic Herb. (well assume that when casting against an elemental opposite that the caster adds 1 to the Healing/Damage Power, and for potions same color adds 1, opposite subtract 1, and other elements are neutral)

NS Natural Spring: Healing Power + Elemental Attack + Element advantage - Elemental Defense = Heal Amount

EH Exotic Herbs: Healing Power + Element Advantage = Heal Amount

Kistri
NS = 3 + 7 + 0 - 6 = Heals 4
EH = 3 + 0 = Heals 3

Sejisca
NS = 3 + 7 + 1 - 5 = Heals 6
EH = 3 + (-1) = Heals 2

Nythab
NS = 3 + 7 + 0 - 7 = Heals 4
EH = 3 + 1 = Heals 4

Resisting Beneficial spells seems a bit out of whack for me,

I didn't type this back on the page where I illustrated a spell, but I think I want the same element = benefit on spells too (i.e., Kistri gets an additional +1 when cured with Natural Spring, as does Nythaeb), which will make it similar to how the Items work.

Resisiting beneficial spells does seem a little odd, but:

1) if we're assuming all magic comes from Elements, and the Heroes Elemental Defense represents natural resistance to Elements, we have to take it off. It's just like taking medicine in real life - once you've taken enough, you have to take more to get the same effect because your body naturally builds up resistance.

2) it makes calculating Healing Power and Damage Power the same, which is good.

I'll redo your calcuations above with the benefit for spells (plus I think I see a mistake or two - Exotic Herbs have a Healing Power of 6)

Kistri
NS - 3 + 7 + 1 - 6 = 5 HP
EH - 6 + 0 = 6 HP

Sejisca
NS - 3 + 7 - 1 - 5 = 4 HP
EH - 6 + 0 = 6 HP

Nythaeb
NS - 3 + 7 + 1 - 7 = 4 HP
EH - 6 + 1 = 7 HP

Joh (neutral to both Blue and Green)
NS - 3 + 7 + 0 - 9 = 2 HP
EH - 6 + 0 = 6 HP

Note: I'm also contemplating using Elemental Power / Resistance for Items that have a related element as well. If that were the case, the formulas above would be exactly the same as the Natural Spring formulas, except using the Healing Power of Exotic Herbs instead. That would put a premium on generic items to heal those with high Elemental Resistance, and Elemental Items (especially of the matching color) to heal those with low Elemental Resistance. I'm not a big fan of that though, because adding Elemental Power doesn't make a whole lot of sense there.... I think it's probably better just to exclude those numbers from the formula (as it is above).

what about beneficial spells that do not heal at all, do they have a resist roll?

No - those spells will use Manipulation Power instead of Healing / Damage Power, and will only require a D20 roll to either succeed or fail. See Heat of Passion a couple of pages back.

[killercactus]

Some of my first thoughts on Weapons and Armor for the first set....

All Weapons require 1 Hand unless stated otherwise in the card text.

Broad Sword
Sword: None
PHY: +3/+0
SPD: -1
??? Gold

Rapier
Sword: None
PHY: +2/+0
AGI: +1
If equipped Hero's Critical Roll < 4, (s)he may Attack agan this turn.
??? Gold

Samurai Sword
Sword: None
PHY: +2/+0
If equipped Hero's Dodge Roll < 5, (s)he may immediately Counterattack.
??? Gold

Claymore
Sword: None
PHY: +5/+0
SPD: -2
Requires 2 Hands to equip.
??? Gold

Dragon's Claw
Claw: Red
PHY: +3/+0
ELM: +1/+1
Equipped Hero may equip an additional Weapon, up to a maximum of 2.
??? Gold

Eagle's Talon
Claw: None
PHY: +2/+0
SPD: +1
Equipped Hero may equip an additional Weapon, up to a maximum of 2.
??? Gold

Raptor Claws
Claw: None
PHY: +2/+0
ELM: +0/+1
Equipped Hero may equip an additional Weapon, up to a maximum of 2.
??? Gold

(Machine Gun is already posted)

Hunting Rifle
Gun: None
PHY: +3/+0
Deals one additional damage if Target has the same Innate as equipped Hero.
??? Gold

Shotgun
Gun: None
PHY: +5/+0
AGI: -1
SPD: -1
Requires 2 Hands to equip.
If equipped Hero's Critical Roll < 4, choose another Target for that attack to affect.
??? Gold

Bazooka
Gun: None
PHY: +7/-2
AGI: -3
SPD: -3
Requires 2 Hands to equip.
Target may add 3 to their Dodge roll.
??? Gold

Staff of Gabol
Staff: Blue
PHY: +1/+2
ELM: +3/+1
If the top card of your Lost Pile is a Spell, equipped Hero may skip their Draw phase and put that Spell into their hand.
??? Gold

Staff of Milhane
Staff: None
PHY: +1/+0
ELM: +3/+1
After equipped Hero deals damage, Target is PHY: +0/-1.
??? Gold

Staff of Zirteb
Staff: None
PHY: +1/+0
ELM: +3/+2
When equipped Hero draws a card for their Draw phase, they may place it on the bottom of their Inventory and draw a card.
??? Gold

Staff of Lupal
Staff: Gray
PHY: +1/+0
ELM: +4/+1
When equipped Hero deals damage, you may count the number of cards in your hand, shuffle your hand into your Inventory and draw that many cards.
??? Gold

Staff of Ebnifald
Staff: None
PHY: +2/+0
ELM: +3/+2
When equipped Hero casts a Spell, both players roll a D6. If your roll is higher, add the difference to Damage. If your roll is lower, the spell is not affected.
??? Gold

Staff of Bechseal
Staff: Brown
PHY: +1/+0
ELM: +4/+1
AGI: +1
SPD: +1
Equipped Hero may choose to ignore any Status effect inflicted on them.
??? Gold

Cloak of Invisibility
Cloak: None
PHY: +0/+1
ELM: +0/+2
AGI: +5
Equipped Hero cannot be the target of Spells with Manipulation Power.
??? Gold

Cape of Atlantis
Cloak: Blue
PHY: +0/+2
ELM: +0/+3
Whenever equipped Hero rolls the D20, and Roll > 15, recover 1 HP. If equipped Hero is Blue Innate, also recover 1 MP.
??? Gold

Magician's Cape
Cloak: None
PHY: +0/+1
ELM: +0/+5
??? Gold

Superhero Cape
Cloak: None
PHY: +0/+3
ELM: +0/+2
SPD: +2
??? Gold

Volcano Cloak
Cloak: Red
PHY: +0/+2
ELM: +0/+3
If Equipped Hero takes Damage, roll the D20. If Roll > 17, that Damage also hits the opposing Hero who dealt it.
??? Gold

Plate Armor
Mail: None
PHY: +0/+5
ELM: +0/+3
AGI: -2
SPD: -2
??? Gold

Chain Mail
Mail: None
PHY: +0/+4
ELM: +0/+1
SPD: -1
??? Gold

Aegis
Mail: Brown
PHY: +0/+4
ELM: +0/+3
Equipped Hero may choose to ignore any Status effect inflicted on them.
??? Gold

Kevlar Suit
Mail: None
PHY: +0/+3
ELM: +0/+2
If equipped Hero is attacked with a Gun, subtract 2 from the total Damage dealt.
??? Gold

Karate Gi
Clothes: None
PHY: +0/+1
ELM: +0/+2
AGI: +2
SPD: +3
??? Gold

Leather Vest
Clothes: None
PHY: +0/+2
ELM: +0/+2
AGI: +2
??? Gold

Ninja Garb
Clothes: None
PHY: +0/+1
ELM: +0/+2
AGI: +4
SPD: +2
??? Gold

Royal Dress
Clothes: Gray
PHY: +0/+1
ELM: +0/+3
May only be equipped by Females, regardless of Hero Armor Requirements (Class).
In order to Target the equipped Hero with a Physical Attack, the opposing Hero must Roll the D20. If Roll < 10, opposing Hero must choose a different Target.
??? Gold

[KCU Master 2007]

I like this list. However, one thing in noticed is the two handed requirement on the broad sword. In most cases, the broad sword is a single handed weapon and the Claymore is a two handed weapon.

[killercactus]

I like this list. However, one thing in noticed is the two handed requirement on the broad sword. In most cases, the broad sword is a single handed weapon and the Claymore is a two handed weapon.

Good call - I accidentally reversed them. They should be the other way around.

EDIT: fixed

[Nikmis]

I like this list. However, one thing in noticed is the two handed requirement on the broad sword. In most cases, the broad sword is a single handed weapon and the Claymore is a two handed weapon.

I concur with the above statement. how is this for a spin, the bastard sword (hand and a half type) PHY+3/+0 if wielded 1 handed and Phy+4/+1 wielded 2 handed.

Also I was curious about this on the claws.
Equipped Hero may equip an additional Weapon, up to a maximum of 2.

I'm assuming this allows for dual wield, rather than meaning that they can also hold a sword in the same hand as the claw is attached to.

Maybe use something on all weapons such as mainhand, offhand, dual wield, two hand, etc...

[killercactus]

Accessories. I think I want some more, but here's 15 for now.

Also, a note that I don't think I've brought up yet anywhere: If a Weapon, Armor, or Accessory has an Element linked to it, it cannot be equipped by someone of the opposite Innate. (i.e., Kistri could not equip Talisman of Fire)That's why some Accessories have Elements attached.

Talisman of Water
Accessory: Blue
PHY: -1/-1
ELM: +1/+1
Equipped Hero may play Spells with the Blue element, up to level 3.
50 Gold

Talisman of Fire
Accessory: Red
PHY: -1/-1
ELM: +1/+1
Equipped Hero may play Spells with the Red element, up to level 3.
50 Gold

Talisman of Wind
Accessory: Gray
PHY: -1/-1
ELM: +1/+1
Equipped Hero may play Spells with the Gray element, up to level 3.
50 Gold

Talisman of Earth
Accessory: Brown
PHY: -1/-1
ELM: +1/+1
Equipped Hero may play cards with the Brown element, up to level 3.
50 Gold

Japanese Headband
Accessory: Red
PHY: +1/+0
When equipped Hero is attacked with a Physical Attack and his Evasion roll is < 7, immediately make a Physical Attack with the equipped Hero against the attacker.
??? Gold

Winged Sandals
Accessory: Gray
SPD: +3
When equipped Hero is the target of a Brown attack, you may roll the D20. If Roll > 14, equipped Hero takes no damage from the attack.
??? Gold

Seashell Necklace
Accessory: Blue
ELM: +1/+0
Before equipped Hero's Draw phase, you may place the top card of your Lost Pile on the bottom of your Inventory.
??? Gold

Stone Pendant
Accessory: Brown
PHY: +0/+2
Equipped Hero may ignore any Status effects inflicted upon them.
??? Gold

Laser Sight
Accessory: None
PHY: +1/+0
When equipped Hero is also equipped with a Gun, their Attacks cannot be Dodged.
??? Gold

Rabbit's Foot
Accessory: None
When equipped Hero rolls the D20, you may add 2 to the roll.
??? Gold

Silver Shield
Accessory: None
PHY: +0/+3
ELM: +0/+1
AGI: -1
Requires 1 Hand to equip.
May only be equipped by a Hero whose Hero card allows them to equip Mail.
??? Gold

Buckler
Accessory: None
PHY: +0/+2
Requires 1 Hand to equip.
May not be equipped by a Hero whose Hero cards allows them to equip Cloaks.
??? Gold

Golden Earrings
Accessory: None
ELM: +2/+0
??? Gold

Power Ring
Accessory: None
PHY: +2/+0
??? Gold

Wallet
Accessory: None
You may only have one Wallet equipped in your Party.
The Gold limit used for building your deck is increased by 100 Gold.
0 Gold

[killercactus]

the bastard sword (hand and a half type) PHY+3/+0 if wielded 1 handed and Phy+4/+1 wielded 2 handed.

A sword like this is definitely coming - probably in the next set.


Also I was curious about this on the claws.
Equipped Hero may equip an additional Weapon, up to a maximum of 2.

I'm assuming this allows for dual wield, rather than meaning that they can also hold a sword in the same hand as the claw is attached to.

Correct - it's allowing the equipped Hero to use 2 Claws. They would be restricted by their Hero card from equipping other types of weapons. However, a Hero like Vade could equip both a Claw and a Sword. He's a master of weaponry, after all.


Maybe use something on all weapons such as mainhand, offhand, dual wield, two hand, etc...

Admittedly I hadn't thought of that, but I'm not sure I want to incorporate it. It's another thing to track, and most of the time you're just going to see a weapon in a dominant hand and maybe an accessory in the other. Heroes that have abilities allowing them to use 2 weapons would likely be ambidextrous anyway.

[Nikmis]

Killer,

While forums serve as a good medium for disussion, I don't feel that they work very well to keep track of information, especially if it changes during the discussion. As this thread becomes longer and longer it is becoming increasingly difficult to find previous information.

To help resolve this I've created a wiki page on my site to house the information hopefully in a more logical manner. The discussion is easily continued here, but I believe the wiki wll serve as a data repository much better.

http://hswiki.nikmis.com

I started to put in some basic information, starting with the information from the front page. I started entering it with the original information and we can edit it to use current data such as the possible migration to Phy:x/x and Ele:x/x play stats.

This will enable us to look at previous revisions of the pages and see the progression of each component and even possibly revert to earlier revisions with a simple cut and paste.

I can set you up with an ftp directoy to upload graphic files etc, and I have pretty much unlimited storage and bandwidth.

If you don't want to use the wiki let me know and I will remove it entirely.

-thanks Nik

[killercactus]

Killer,

While forums serve as a good medium for disussion, I don't feel that they work very well to keep track of information, especially if it changes during the discussion. As this thread becomes longer and longer it is becoming increasingly difficult to find previous information.

To help resolve this I've created a wiki page on my site to house the information hopefully in a more logical manner. The discussion is easily continued here, but I believe the wiki wll serve as a data repository much better.

http://hswiki.nikmis.com

I started to put in some basic information, starting with the information from the front page. I started entering it with the original information and we can edit it to use current data such as the possible migration to Phy:x/x and Ele:x/x play stats.

This will enable us to look at previous revisions of the pages and see the progression of each component and even possibly revert to earlier revisions with a simple cut and paste.

I can set you up with an ftp directoy to upload graphic files etc, and I have pretty much unlimited storage and bandwidth.

If you don't want to use the wiki let me know and I will remove it entirely.

-thanks Nik

Actually, while I appreciate it, I'd rather not do a wiki. With a wiki, it starts coming up under searches, etc., and is much more out in the open. I'd rather keep it on here.

I know it's not the best place to gather data, but I have that taken care of myself in Excel. I just post stuff here to get a couple gamers' ideas and input, and to see if I can find some gamers interested in playtesting. Once I have all the cards in the first set ironed out into a somewhat workable fashion, I'll uploan an Excel file here on Heroscapers that the playtesters can download, print out cards and play with.

Once I have a couple of sets ironed out and solid, I'll think about something like a wiki. I think I have a pretty good idea here and don't want to put it too far out into the open quite yet.

EDIT: In other news, I have 40 Spells on paper (10 for each of the first 4 Elements), which leaves me needing 5 more Accessories, 36 Items and 8 Specials (one for each Hero) to round out a 150 card first set. From there, after playtesting, if Physical Attacks prove to be too dominant, I'll add some Physical Attack cards, adjust the rules and try to get the set up to 200 cards.

[Nikmis]

i removed the information from the wiki page. man that was a pain from the cell phone ;)

[KCU Master 2007]

I'm really excited about this. Can't wait till you get the cards us and I can try these out.

[quozl]

A suggestion to replace the dice:

Just add random numbers to the cards so that when you need to "roll the dice", just flip over a card from your deck and check the random number.

[killercactus]

A suggestion to replace the dice:

Just add random numbers to the cards so that when you need to "roll the dice", just flip over a card from your deck and check the random number.

That's a good suggestion, quozl, and one that I thought about at the beginning. The old Star Wars CCG game used that system (called the numbers "Destiny") and I liked it a lot. My only issue with it is that a person can build their deck in such a way that the vast majority of the numbers are high, and tilt the luck in their favor. That's a good problem in that it forces players to think about something else when deck-building, but it takes a little bit of the "luck" factor out of it. However, I still hadn't completely ruled it out as I like deck-building challenges.

If that is incorporated, imagine how much thought needs to go into building a deck! What does the player need to consider?

- Which Heroes? How do they work together?
- Which Elements am I basing the deck around?
- What equipment do I need to go with those Heroes and Elements?
- Am I looking for physical damage or Elemental damage?
- How do I stay under the Gold limit?
- Is my "destiny" (I'd have to find a new name for it..., probably Luck, as that's a normal RPG stat) average high enough to ensure that I'm not always on the losing end?

Also, since each Spell and Item has an inherent cost to pack it (gold), I can always build their "luck" value into the cost of the card in an effort to control the numbers.

I'd obviously have to change the Rabbit's Foot card.... probably to something like "All of your Luck draws are +1" or something.

EDIT: Nikmis, thanks a lot for taking down that wiki for the time being. I do appreciate the enthusiasm greatly!

[MechaBeast]

You know "luck value" could be a valid stat in your game so if you make your cards as such. Of coarse it would be a @#$% to balance out but hey what are friends for

[Nikmis]

Along the same lines I was trying to come up with a rock paper scissors method to integrate into card design. possibly using rules like attacker wins its a crit, defender wins its a dodge and ties would resolve normally. still working on it in the recesses of the grey matter.sorry for poor formatting and spelling, but when i post from the cell phone its difficult.

[NecroBlade]

Killer: I just found this thread and it sounds like the plan is to have a 3v3 fight to the finish, with characters and equipment starting on the table and players drawing spells/abilities/events/etc, right?

Nikmis: I recently discovered this card game that's a rock-paper-scissors contest at its core: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43022

[killercactus]

Killer: I just found this thread and it sounds like the plan is to have a 3v3 fight to the finish, with characters and equipment starting on the table and players drawing spells/abilities/events/etc, right?



Pretty much, though they can also draw and play items and have inherent abilities built into each hero.

[NecroBlade]

Right. I don't know if you've ever heard of Corunea (http://corunea.com/news.php), but that's what this reminds me of (though it's 1v1). I haven't played it yet myself, but it calls itself the first RCG (Role Card Game) and it looks awesome.

[killercactus]

Here are the spells I think I'm going to release in the first wave. Some terminology first:

Burn = overturn one card from your Inventory into your Lost Pile.
Recover = shuffle one card from your Lost Pile into your Inventory
Return = Place one card from your hand on top of your Inventory

Fury Status = Hero is PHY +2/+0 and uses a Physical Attack every time it's their turn.

Silence Status = Hero may not play Spell cards.

Confused Status = Before Hero's turn, roll the D6:
1 - Hero does nothing
2-3 - Hero uses a Physical Attack on a random Target
4-5 - Hero plays a Spell from hand on a random Target (if no playable Spell in hand, Hero does nothing)
6 - Hero uses an Item from hand on a random Target (if no playable Item in hand, Hero does nothing)

Petrify Status = Hero is PHY +0 / +2 and may not act on his turn. You still draw a card.

Only the text directly under "Manipulation Power:, Damage Power: or Healing Power:" is subject to them.

I think the Return text on the Gray spells might be broken, because by playing a lot of Wind spells you *might* be able to effectively halt their card drawing, but I'll let playtesting sort that out. If it is, I'll change Return to putting cards on the bottom of the Inventory.

Heat of Passion
Spell: Red 1
Opponent burns 1 card.
Manipulation Power +19:
Target is ELM +0/+1 but may not play Spells that are not Red.
0 Gold

Blind Rage
Spell: Red 1
Opponent burns 2 cards.
Manipulation Power: +16
Target gains Fury or loses Silence.
0 Gold

Hot Temper
Spell: Red 1
Opponent burns 2 cards.
Manipulation Power +19:
Target's Physical attacks gain the Red Element.
0 Gold

Relentless Assault
Spell: Red 2
Opponent burns 2 cards.
Manipulation Power +15:
You may act twice more this turn.

Controlled Fury
Spell: Red 2
Opponent burns 1 card.
Manipulation Power +17:
Target loses Silence, is PHY +1/+0 and SPD +1.
0 Gold

Burning Wrath
Spell: Red 2
Opponent burns 2 cards.
Damage Power: 1
0 Gold

Wild Fire
Spell: Red 3
Damage Power: 1
Targets all opponents.
0 Gold

Blazer
Spell: Red 3
Opponent burns 2 cards.
Damage Power: 3
0 Gold

Inferno
Spell: Red 4
Damage Power: 4
Targets all opponents.
0 Gold

Lightning Strike
Spell: Red 4
Opponent burns 2 cards.
Damage Power: 6
0 Gold

Calm, Cool and Collected
Spell: Blue 1
Recover 2 cards.
Manipulation Power: 16
Target gains Silence or loses Fury.
0 Gold

Chill Out!
Spell: Blue 1
Recover 2 cards.
Manipulation Power: 15
Target skips their next turn.
0 Gold

Soothing Touch
Spell: Blue 1
Recover 2 cards.
Healing Power: 1
0 Gold

A Calm Washes Over...
Spell: Blue 2
Recover 3 cards.
Manipulation Power: 16
Target loses Fury OR skips their next turn.
0 Gold

Relaxation
Spell: Blue 2
Recover 2 cards.
Healing Power: 2
0 Gold

Brain Freeze
Spell: Blue 2
Manipulation Power: 13
Target skips their next 2 turns.
0 Gold

Flash Flood
Spell: Blue 3
Recover 2 cards.
Damage Power: 0
Targets all opponents.
0 Gold

Healing Splash
Spell: Blue 3
Healing Power: 3
0 Gold

Whirlpool
Spell: Blue 4
Damage Power: 3
Targets all opponents.
Manipulation Power: 8
Target skips their next turn.
0 Gold

Ancient Pond
Spell: Blue 4
Recover 4 cards.
Healing Power: 4
Targets all allies.
0 Gold

Swept Off Your Feet
Spell: Gray 1
Opponent returns 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 16
Target gains Confused OR loses Petrify.
0 Gold

Blown Off Course
Spell: Gray 1
Opponent returns 2 cards.
Manipulation Power: 18
Target's turn comes at the end of the round, regardless of SPD.
0 Gold

Hyperactivity
Spell: Gray 1
Opponent returns 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 19
Target is AGI +1 and SPD +1.
0 Gold

Run Like the Wind
Spell: Gray 2
Opponent returns 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 18
Target is SPD +3
0 Gold

Misdirection
Spell: Gray 2
Opponent returns 3 cards.
Manipulation Power: 7
Targets all opponents.
Target is PHY -2/-0.
0 Gold

On Cloud Nine
Spell: Gray 2
Opponent returns 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 13
Target is PHY +2/+0, AGI +2 and SPD +2.
0 Gold

Winds of Change
Spell: Gray 3
Opponent returns 1 card.
Both players shuffle their hand to their Inventory and Draw the amount of cards that were shuffled in.
Manipulation Power: 6
Targets all opponents.
Target gains Confused.
0 Gold

Blistering Wind
Spell: Gray 3
Opponent returns 1 card.
Damage Power: 2
Manipulation Power: 15
Target is PHY -1/-1.
0 Gold

Tornado
Spell: Gray 4
Opponent returns 2 cards.
Damage Power: 4
Manipulation Power: 10
Target gains Confused.
0 Gold

Hurricane
Spell: Gray 4
Opponent returns 2 cards.
Both players shuffle their hand to their Inventory and Draw the amount of cards that were shuffled in.
Damage Power: 3
Targets all opponents.
0 Gold

Hard as a Rock
Spell: Brown 1
Draw 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 19
Target is PHY +0/+1 and ELM +0/+1.
0 Gold

My Way or the Highway
Spell: Brown 1
Draw 3 cards.
Manipulation Power: 18
Target loses all Status effects and gains all Status effects of caster.
0 Gold

Slow and Steady
Spell: Brown 1
Draw 2 cards.
Manipulation Power: 18
Target loses Confuse and Fury.
0 Gold

Hold Your Ground
Spell: Brown 2
Draw 2 cards.
Manipulation Power: 16
Target loses any Status effects.
When Manipulation Roll is successful, you may place this card under Target instead of shuffling it into your Inventory.
When this card is under a Hero, that Hero is protected from Status effects.
0 Gold

Immovable Object
Spell: Brown 2
Draw 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 15
Target is PHY +0/+2, ELM +0/+2 and AGI -2.
0 Gold

Steadfast Resistance
Spell: Brown 2
Draw 3 cards.
Manipulation Power: 19
When Manipulation Roll is successful, you may place this card under Target instead of shuffling it into your Inventory.
When this card is under a Hero, that Hero may ignore future adjustments to their stats.
0 Gold

Falling Rocks
Spell: Brown 3
Draw 2 cards.
Damage Power: 1
0 Gold

Rock Wall
Spell: Brown 3
Draw 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 12
Target is PHY +0/+5.
0 Gold

Earthquake
Spell: Brown 4
Draw 2 cards.
Damage Power: 4
Targets all opponents.
0 Gold

Stare of Stone
Spell: Brown 4
Draw 1 card.
Manipulation Power: 10
Target gains Petrify.
0 Gold

I'm interested in comments about whether any of this seems broken just from reading them, and also if the spells seem in line with the themes of each Elemental color, and anything else that might be helpful.

[Nikmis]

Nice, it's going to take a bit to get through all of those.

[killercactus]

Nice, it's going to take a bit to get through all of those.

Nah - a quick spreadsheet and they'll be ready to print.

[kboleen]

Just a bump and a question as to the status of this game?

[killercactus]

Just a bump and a question as to the status of this game?

It's still alive, but it's taken a back seat to taking care of my son. I've made some changes though and have started back up with it again as of late. I'll try and post an update soon.

[Scapemage]

Any completed cards yet? This thread sparked my interest.

[killercactus]

Sort of. A lot of the cards I posted are very close to where I have them now. I think about this project every now and them and just can't find time to work on it.