The Spellbook of Tarot: The Magician

[MrNobody]

The Spellbook of Tarot: The Magician

C3G DC WAVE 38
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED



Card PDF

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Spell Bio - Tarot is an ancient art, dating all the way back to the 15th century. The cards are said to have mystical power, and can be used to gain insight into your past, present, or future.

The Magician is a representation of pure willpower. Drawing this card means it is time to take your inner potential and mold it into reality. Nobody is more aware of that than your local witch, wizard, or sorcerer.
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Spell Card: See the rules for playing with Spells here.

-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: MrNobody
• Second playtest: Lazy Orang
• Third playtest: tcglkn
• Art by japes

[MrNobody]

SPELL OF TAROT: THE MAGICIAN
Unique Spell
60 Points

You may not draft any other Tarot Spells unless you draft a figure with the Tarot Deck special power. Before placing Order Markers for the round, you may cast this spell. For the rest of the round, after revealing an Order Marker on the Army Card of a Unique Hero you control and taking a turn with that Unique Hero, during which it cast a Spell, you may take a turn with any other Unique Hero you control. You may not take any additional turns with figures you control.

[MrNobody]

Spoiler Alert!

[tcglkn]

Don't really know much about spells, so following but probably not participating here.

[IAmBatman]

I wonder if that last line should be "If no figures in your Army have the Tarot Deck special power (or whatever it's called) may not draft additional Tarot spells." and then that power specifies what happens when you do. That feels less awkward to me than having one power that's like "you absolutely can't do this" and one power that's like "you absolutely can do this." Since they're both powers on cards, that makes it muddled which has final say, IMO.

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

I wonder if that last line should be "If no figures in your Army have the Tarot Deck special power (or whatever it's called) may not draft additional Tarot spells." and then that power specifies what happens when you do. That feels less awkward to me than having one power that's like "you absolutely can't do this" and one power that's like "you absolutely can do this." Since they're both powers on cards, that makes it muddled which has final say, IMO.

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

I wonder if that last line should be "If no figures in your Army have the Tarot Deck special power (or whatever it's called) may not draft additional Tarot spells." and then that power specifies what happens when you do. That feels less awkward to me than having one power that's like "you absolutely can't do this" and one power that's like "you absolutely can do this." Since they're both powers on cards, that makes it muddled which has final say, IMO.

That’s the way I had it originally. I think the concern was with limited text on spell cards, but I get what you’re saying though.

[Yodaking]

As for the mechanics, I feel like when it is cast should be better defined. Before rolling for initiative. Before placing OM for a round. After rolling for initiative. Before any player reveals OM1.

Per the effect, bonding any UH in the game to any MD figure at any range seems fairly strong. N'Astirh with 3 Hellfire spells bonding with Darkseid is a pretty good round. Are all Tarot cards going to be on this level or are you just starting with one of the top ones first?

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

As for the mechanics, I feel like when it is cast should be better defined. Before rolling for initiative. Before placing OM for a round. After rolling for initiative. Before any player reveals OM1.

Hmmm..."at the start of the/each round" is an accepted term we've used on cards before without further definition (Bruce Wayne, Igor the Super-Ape, Abigail Brand, and Maxima for example), generally to mean at the very start of the round, but it also seems like we've used it plenty of times to mean other things.

The intention is for it to be at the very start of the round, before OMs are placed, etc. So maybe we can clarify it as "before placing OMs?"

Per the effect, bonding any UH in the game to any MD figure at any range seems fairly strong. N'Astirh with 3 Hellfire spells bonding with Darkseid is a pretty good round. Are all Tarot cards going to be on this level or are you just starting with one of the top ones first?

I do intend for this to be one of the marquee Tarot Spells. Like for the majority of them, I'm thinking fairly minor effects, hopefully costing under 20 points, so you can get a real deck of them without breaking the bank.

I'm hoping the once per game limit and the requirement to cast spells to use it will keep it in check, but I'm honestly not 100% sure. Worst comes to worst, it wouldn't kill me to slap some limiters on there, just worried about text space.

[IAmBatman]

We should probably go through and review the wording on those other "start of the round" cards to make sure their timing is clear. Good call on that, gents.

[Lord Pyre]

So you cast this at the start of the round, and then it's in affect for only that round, correct? Then you can use it's power at any point in the round? Just want to make sure I'm understanding the mechanics.

Also since I know nothing about actual tarot cards aside from the names and Impractical Jokers pranking people with them occasionally, what's the theme of a Sidekick turn with a magician card? Being called the "magician" makes me feel like it should be a boon to magic users or other spells.

Anyway I feel like the wording could be a bit more clear, so I took a shot. Obviously I'm not a wording guy but maybe it'll help. I think the drafting requirements should be first (And I assume they'll be on each tarot card). Not sure if you wanted to be able to cast before or after placing OM's, but you can just change that word based on intent.

You may only draft one Spell of Tarot into your army. You may only cast this spell at the start of a round before Order Markers are placed. During this round, after revealing an Order Marker on the Army Card of a Unique Hero you control and taking a turn and casting a spell with that Unique Hero, you may take a turn with another Unique Hero you control. You may not take any additional turns with figures you control.

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

So you cast this at the start of the round, and then it's in affect for only that round, correct? Then you can use it's power at any point in the round? Just want to make sure I'm understanding the mechanics.

Correct.

Also since I know nothing about actual tarot cards aside from the names and Impractical Jokers pranking people with them occasionally, what's the theme of a Sidekick turn with a magician card? Being called the "magician" makes me feel like it should be a boon to magic users or other spells.

The meaning of The Magician is about using your will to turn your desires and inner truth into reality. So to me, the bonding that is fueled by your own actions (casting Spells) and the connection to magic users sells that to me.

But ultimately I just like the mechanics of the power.

I think, taking all the suggestions into consideration, wording something like this makes sense;

You may only draft one Tarot Spell unless you control a figure with the Tarot Deck special power. At the start of the round, before placing Order Markers, you may cast this spell. For the rest of the round, after revealing an Order Marker on the Army Card of a Unique Hero you control and taking a turn with that Unique Hero during which it cast a Spell, you may take a turn with another Unique Hero you control. You may not take any additional turns with figures you control.

If it comes down to running out of text space, I'd argue for cutting the blue bit, but I think it's useful clarification and I like it there.