The Last Homely House
Middle-Earth => Chamber of Mazarbul => Topic started by: menace64 on May 19, 2008, 01:13:35 AM
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To start, let me say that I'm actually kind of happy that sites won the last vote. Sites are only partially developed in my mind, and getting it taken care of now will open up a lot of design space as I progress through this project.
So what have I come up with so far?
Unlike their SWCCG counterparts, locations in the LotR TCG engine are under a broader scope, which is to say that most sites are planets. Rather than hone in on places like the Dune Sea, Mos Eisley, or the infamous Cantina, I will try incorporating all the flavor of the planet into a single card. By no means will this be easy, and I foresee slow-going through site design. (As a quick aside, some of the more "major" locales from the Star Wars mythology will likely be sites - the Death Star II throne room, for example.)
Site keywords will also be getting an overhaul. Not only will there be more site keywords here than in LotR TCG, but some of them may take on loaded abilities, and many cards throughout other cultures will rely on specific site keywords on the current site (take, for instance, the Creature culture to debut later).
Obviously, designing a site will be an evolutionary process - I know in advance that my first take on a given card will be far-off from its finished form. That's why reviews will be more important here than in any other aspect of this design. If you think a site doesn't encapsulate the planet it's representing, let me know first, then offer a suggestion second. I think sites are going to wind up being more of a group effort.
Let's go ahead and get started... with a planet everybody here will be familiar with.
(W) Tatooine [2]
Outer. Desert. The twilight cost of each card played at Tatooine is +1 (except cards with the desert habitat).
Oooh! Now there's a few things here that warrant an explanation. Hehe.
Originally, I was going to base the twilight cost of sites off of their respective planets' proximity to the center of the galaxy. But I knew off the bat that doing so would tip the scale of balance within game text. I tried my hand at something different and came to this: Outer, Inner, and Core. One of these three keywords is found on every site, and collectively these keywords are called 'rims'. Quite simply, if you move from one rim to another rim, you add an extra [1] to the twilight pool. Moving from Tatooine to, say, Coruscant, will cost you a little extra! Rim movement cost is in addition to the normal region costs, along with any other movement costs.
And then we come to habitats. Habitat keywords show up on cards like this: "Habitat:Desert", and generally find themselves only on characters. Further, the majority of habitat keywords fall into the Creature culture - a collection of the various bugs, beetles, and carnivorous man-eaters in the galaxy. There's nothing loaded with habitat keywords, but you can bet safely that a character with a habitat keyword will rack up some other sweet bonuses for being at his/her/its habitat.
What do you think?
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My problem with the outer/inner/core mechanic is that it changes the whole balance of the game by adding twilight and never removing. Could you perhaps have something like:
• Moving to the Outer rim adds [1]
• Moving to the Inner rim adds (0)
• Moving to the Core removes [1]
Or moving to an adjacent rim adds nothing, moving to the opposite rim adds [1] and moving to the same removes [1]?
Thranduil
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- Any ideas on how to incorporate on-planet locales? Reason I'm bringing it up now is because they might affect site text, perhaps to the point of rendering some unnecessary.
- Maybe more divisions can be added like the Mid Rim and the Unknown Regions, depending on your plans for them. Speaking of, perhaps use a keyword other than "rim," since the Core isn't a proper rim?
- Creating more than one version of a site could make the distillation process easier and open up some more gameplay. In that case subtitles could be added to set them apart.
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now if you had 5 divisions, Thrans idea would be useful....that would work quite well I think.
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I'll work the 'rim' keywords through my head a bit more. What I want more than faithfulness to the galaxy map is simpler gameplay. What I don't want is "moving to x site adds [1], moving from [y] site removes [1], moving from [z] site to [a] site adds [2], etc.". I think finding a better name for 'rim' and then making Core, Mid, Outer, Wild, and some better term for 'Unknown'.
In the meantime, here's a site that provides a bit of a preview for what's in store for the Mandalorian culture.
(W) Manda'yaim (0)
Outer. Forest. Each time your [Men] minion wins a skirmish, you may make another [Men] minion strength +2 until the end of that minion's skirmish.
Manda'yaim is the local name for the planet Mandalore. Since Mandalore is also a character name, I went with this more archaic title to differentiate between the two. I'm not going to divulge too much into how this site will work with Mandalorians, but keep in mind two things: First, that Mandalorians live or die from their strength in a skirmish (more-so than any other culture, LotR or SW-LotR); and Second, that Manda'yaim is the capital of the Mandalorian people.
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forest? otherwise seems fine...
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(W) Manda'yaim (0)
Outer. Forest. Each time your [Men] minion wins a skirmish, you may make another [Men] minion strength +2 until the end of that minion's skirmish.
Oya! Kandosii!
Looked through the other cards using "until the end of that skirmish" and "that skirmish" has always conveniently referred to the current one. So if a fierce minion receives this bonus after its first skirmish has already ended, do you intend for the bonus to carry over to the second? (I believe Decipher had to clarify a similar situation with the RoR being worn during the regroup phase, noting when to take it off.) Or would "until the regroup phase" be overpowered?
Fits with their culture. They're going to be crazy at skirmishing.
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Looks good to me, dude. ;D
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Well, it's good to get thumbs up reviews :mrgreen:.
Onto the next site!
(W) Kessel [1]
Outer. Each time you discard a card from hand, you may draw a card (limit once per phase).
Being a barren wasteland of a small, difficult-to-reach planetoid, Kessel has no 'terrain' keywords that most other sites sport. As such, no card will ever get a habitat bonus from being at Kessel (with the exception of the energy spider). Beyond that, I think Kessel is a solid mining site, geared to reward any player who digs deep enough into the rocky surface. I put the cost at [1] because I'm pretty sure the Dark Side could abuse this site more than the Light Side player.
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Needs a limit (discarding during the archery phase!) of maybe 2 or 3. Looks good!
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Yeah, but how best should that kind of wording be written? "Limit once per phase"? Hmm. lol. Well that worked easy enough. Does that sound good?
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Yes, that sounds about right. 8-)
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Okay, so these are a lot less difficult than I thought at first. I'll be posting more than 1 each update.
Here's another two.
(W) Fondor [2]
Core. Urban. At the start of the regroup phase, each player may discard 2 cards from hand to play a starship from his or her discard pile.
Fondor is, like Kuat, a massive ship-construction depot. Fondor worked on many projects, but is most-famous for its secret handling of the project to built Vader's enormous super star destroyer, the Executor.
(W) Yavin IV (0)
Outer. Forest. When the alliance moves to Yavin IV, add [1] for each Dark Side culture.
I like the simplicity of this site, and how well it ties into the storyline of A New Hope. Yavin IV is hidden from the Empire, which is represented by the (0) cost. But if you have too many 'eyes' looking at you, you're bound to get followed to the base and wiped out.
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(W) Fondor [2]
Core. Urban. At the start of the regroup phase, each player may discard 2 cards from hand to play a starship from his or her discard pile.
Regroup recursion is always dangerous (Steadfast Champion and Keeper of the Watchwood, Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor and Leaving forever etc.) At the start of the regroup phase, it's probably fine.
(W) Yavin IV (0)
Outer. Forest. When the alliance moves to Yavin IV, add [1] for each Dark Side culture.
Nice one!
Thranduil
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botha re great! its nice to see menace making SW DC"s again. gold to you.
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Well gosh. I might just stick to making sites from now on. Seems to be going well! :mrgreen:
(W) Vector Prime (0)
Outer. When the alliance moves to Vector Prime, each Dark Side player may play a [Raider] minion with ambush from his or her draw deck.
[Raider]? Ambush? Hmm... I suppose you should search for 'Vector Prime' if you don't already know what it is. Yes - as with most sites - this one can be a big punisher in the right deck. But flavor-wise it's spot-on, and I say it's fairly-balanced.
(W) Manaan [2]
Inner. Oceanic. When the alliance moves from Manaan, if it is a sanctuary site, you may add [2] to remove 2 wounds from companions.
Read about Manaan. (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Manaan) This one is a little sneaky. Sure, to get the 2 extra healing you have to net the Dark Side player a total of [4] from one site (moving to, moving from), but the text is a loophole around heal prevention (or, at least, most heal prevention). Manaan doesn't heal wounds, it removes them. Which is, of course, an entirely different thing!
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Well gosh. I might just stick to making sites from now on. Seems to be going well! :mrgreen:
(W) Vector Prime (0)
Outer. When the alliance moves to Vector Prime, each Dark Side player may play a [Raider] minion with ambush from his or her draw deck.
[Raider]? Ambush? Hmm... I suppose you should search for 'Vector Prime' if you don't already know what it is. Yes - as with most sites - this one can be a big punisher in the right deck. But flavor-wise it's spot-on, and I say it's fairly-balanced.
Which culture is [Raider] again?
(W) Manaan [2]
Inner. Oceanic. When the alliance moves from Manaan, if it is a sanctuary site, you may add [2] to remove 2 wounds from companions.
Looks good!
Read about Manaan. (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Manaan) This one is a little sneaky. Sure, to get the 2 extra healing you have to net the Dark Side player a total of [4] from one site (moving to, moving from), but the text is a loophole around heal prevention (or, at least, most heal prevention). Manaan doesn't heal wounds, it removes them. Which is, of course, an entirely different thing!
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(W) Manaan [2]
Inner. Oceanic. When the alliance moves from Manaan, if it is a sanctuary site, you may add [2] to remove 2 wounds from companions.
Read about Manaan. (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Manaan) This one is a little sneaky. Sure, to get the 2 extra healing you have to net the Dark Side player a total of [4] from one site (moving to, moving from), but the text is a loophole around heal prevention (or, at least, most heal prevention). Manaan doesn't heal wounds, it removes them. Which is, of course, an entirely different thing!
Are they? The comprehensive rulebook says this:
"When a wound is removed from a character, this represents resting or healing."
This suggests that removing wounds is synonymous with healing.
The cards fine without circumventing healing preventions though.
Thranduil
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Thanks for clarifying that for me, Thran. Gold for you!
Oh, and [Raider] is Yuuzhan Vong.
All right... I'm dead-beat tired, but I'll throw down two more sites.
(W) Geonosis [2]
Outer. Desert. Each character bearing a ranged weapon is strength +2.
A basic vanilla site (partly because I really am quite exhausted, partly because I think it represents Geonosis' role in the Clone Wars pretty well).
(W) Mustafar (0)
Outer. Volcanic. At the start of the regroup phase, if you can spot a minion, wound each unwounded character.
All right, so I'm not too sure about this one. The minion clause is to ensure that all players stand to get hurt by the site. The cost is set at 1 because I'm feeling more alliances being hurt by this site than minions. But, either way, this is a planet nobody likes to visit.
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Mustafar could completely annihilate an alliance. For balance reasons, the site has to be (0) and it should wound each 'unwounded character' which would decimate alliances, but at least would not outright kill them.
Thranduil
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Thanks for clarifying that for me, Thran. Gold for you!
Oh, and [Raider] is Yuuzhan Vong.
All right... I'm dead-beat tired, but I'll throw down two more sites.
(W) Geonosis [2]
Outer. Desert. Each character bearing a ranged weapon is strength +2.
Looks good.
A basic vanilla site (partly because I really am quite exhausted, partly because I think it represents Geonosis' role in the Clone Wars pretty well).
(W) Mustafar (0)
Outer. Volcanic. At the start of the regroup phase, if you can spot a minion, wound each unwounded character.
Nicely done, though maybe incorperate jedi into it.
All right, so I'm not too sure about this one. The minion clause is to ensure that all players stand to get hurt by the site. The cost is set at 1 because I'm feeling more alliances being hurt by this site than minions. But, either way, this is a planet nobody likes to visit.
???
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Eh. If I limit the site to Jedi it'll be nerfed. I mean, *anybody* stands to get a lava-bath on Mustafar, not just Jedi.
Thanks for the help on that one, guys. I knew it needed some balancing.
(W) Ithor [1]
Mid. Forest. When you take control of Ithor, it loses forest and gains volcanic, and at the start of each of your Dark Side phases, you may discard a card at random from the Light Side player's hand.
Ithor is a planet that has shown up many times throughout Star Wars lore, and I had a terrible time trying to decide which era to focus upon for its site. Eventually, I chose the Yuuzhan Vong war (as I haven't yet thought of many sites to write for Vong). Ithor suffers a sad fate at the hands of Yuuzhan Vong bio-weapon technology, and is reduced to a smoldering, ashen waste of a world. I tried reflecting that. There aren't many sites that give bonuses for being controlled, so I'm not too sure how balanced Ithor is.
Oh, and Yuuzhan Vong - it appears - are going to use volcanic sites like Rohan uses plains. They love destroying stuff.
(W) Bestine IV [1]
Inner. Oceanic. At the start of each maneuver phase, if you control Bestine IV, you may play an [Uruk] starship from your draw deck.
Like Ithor, Bestine IV appears frequently over the various eras. This card is designed around its recession from the Republic during the Clone Wars and its alignment with the Separatists. Separatists will most-likely wind up being the undisputed kings of site control, since they use politics and money to convince planets to join their cause instead of going down the costly route of subjugating. In response, the Republic culture will excel at 'freeing' planets and pushing the Separatists back.
Now, Bestine IV was used for starship construction. I think all of the cultures will get their own 'shipyard' site. Shipyard sites will key off of their respective culture's strengths (in this case, controlling it) in order to bring out more ships.
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I think Ithor could probably cost [1].
Thranduil
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Done and done.
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I think ithor should discard 1 card at random
bestine is fine
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Eh. If I limit the site to Jedi it'll be nerfed. I mean, *anybody* stands to get a lava-bath on Mustafar, not just Jedi.
Thanks for the help on that one, guys. I knew it needed some balancing.
(W) Ithor [1]
Mid. Forest. When you take control of Ithor, it loses forest and gains volcanic, and at the start of each of your Dark Side phases, you may discard 2 cards at random from the Light Side player's hand.
Limit to one card at random turn.
Ithor is a planet that has shown up many times throughout Star Wars lore, and I had a terrible time trying to decide which era to focus upon for its site. Eventually, I chose the Yuuzhan Vong war (as I haven't yet thought of many sites to write for Vong). Ithor suffers a sad fate at the hands of Yuuzhan Vong bio-weapon technology, and is reduced to a smoldering, ashen waste of a world. I tried reflecting that. There aren't many sites that give bonuses for being controlled, so I'm not too sure how balanced Ithor is.
Oh, and Yuuzhan Vong - it appears - are going to use volcanic sites like Rohan uses plains. They love destroying stuff.
(W) Bestine IV [1]
Inner. Oceanic. At the start of each maneuver phase, if you control Bestine IV, you may play an [Uruk] starship from your draw deck.
Looks good
Like Ithor, Bestine IV appears frequently over the various eras. This card is designed around its recession from the Republic during the Clone Wars and its alignment with the Separatists. Separatists will most-likely wind up being the undisputed kings of site control, since they use politics and money to convince planets to join their cause instead of going down the costly route of subjugating. In response, the Republic culture will excel at 'freeing' planets and pushing the Separatists back.
Now, Bestine IV was used for starship construction. I think all of the cultures will get their own 'shipyard' site. Shipyard sites will key off of their respective culture's strengths (in this case, controlling it) in order to bring out more ships.
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(W) Hoth [2]
Outer. Tundra. The twilight cost of each card is +X, where X is the number of cards in the Light Side player's hand (limit +4).
Representing the planetary shield the Rebels erected as defense against the Empire's Death Squadron, Hoth is a site not to be trifled with. In the right circumstance, it can rip apart a Dark Side player's strategy; but the harsh conditions of the frozen surface will take their toll on the next turn, when all of your own cards start off costing +4.
(W) Nal Hutta [2]
Mid. Urban. Each time you play a [Gollum] card, you may make the next [Gollum] card you play during the same phase twilight cost -1.
[Gollum] is the Fringe culture, which is split across both Light and Dark sides. This site doesn't have a normal ability, but I wanted something 'festering' about it. Nal Hutta is the Hutt homeworld, and its moon - Nar Shaddaa - is a haven for criminal vagrants and those wishing not to be found. Together, they form a criminal paradise. Each act of violence or wrongdoing (playing a card) makes it easier to do it again.
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(W) Hoth [2]
Outer. Tundra. The twilight cost of each card is +X, where X is the number of cards in the Light Side player's hand (limit +4).
Representing the planetary shield the Rebels erected as defense against the Empire's Death Squadron, Hoth is a site not to be trifled with. In the right circumstance, it can rip apart a Dark Side player's strategy; but the harsh conditions of the frozen surface will take their toll on the next turn, when all of your own cards start off costing +4.
Awesome, and makes perfect sense. What could REALLY tip the scales would be cards that stifle sites' text.
(W) Nal Hutta [2]
Mid. Urban. Each time you play a [Gollum] card, you may make the next [Gollum] card you play during the same phase twilight cost -1.
[Gollum] is the Fringe culture, which is split across both Light and Dark sides. This site doesn't have a normal ability, but I wanted something 'festering' about it. Nal Hutta is the Hutt homeworld, and its moon - Nar Shaddaa - is a haven for criminal vagrants and those wishing not to be found. Together, they form a criminal paradise. Each act of violence or wrongdoing (playing a card) makes it easier to do it again.
Is this supposed to build upon itself? Like, the third [Gollum] card would be -2, and the next -3, and so on? Not clear if it does right now or not.... Still love the flavor, though.
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(W) Hoth [2]
Outer. Tundra. The twilight cost of each card is +X, where X is the number of cards in the Light Side player's hand (limit +4).
Nicely done!
Representing the planetary shield the Rebels erected as defense against the Empire's Death Squadron, Hoth is a site not to be trifled with. In the right circumstance, it can rip apart a Dark Side player's strategy; but the harsh conditions of the frozen surface will take their toll on the next turn, when all of your own cards start off costing +4.
(W) Nal Hutta [2]
Mid. Urban. Each time you play a [Gollum] card, you may make the next [Gollum] card you play during the same phase twilight cost -1.
IMFO the site should only be [1].
[Gollum] is the Fringe culture, which is split across both Light and Dark sides. This site doesn't have a normal ability, but I wanted something 'festering' about it. Nal Hutta is the Hutt homeworld, and its moon - Nar Shaddaa - is a haven for criminal vagrants and those wishing not to be found. Together, they form a criminal paradise. Each act of violence or wrongdoing (playing a card) makes it easier to do it again.
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(W) Nal Hutta [2]
Mid. Urban. Each time you play a [Gollum] card, you may make the next [Gollum] card you play during the same phase twilight cost -1.
[Gollum] is the Fringe culture, which is split across both Light and Dark sides. This site doesn't have a normal ability, but I wanted something 'festering' about it. Nal Hutta is the Hutt homeworld, and its moon - Nar Shaddaa - is a haven for criminal vagrants and those wishing not to be found. Together, they form a criminal paradise. Each act of violence or wrongdoing (playing a card) makes it easier to do it again.
Is this supposed to build upon itself? Like, the third [Gollum] card would be -2, and the next -3, and so on? Not clear if it does right now or not.... Still love the flavor, though.
No. Each time you play a [Gollum] card, you can make the very-next [Gollum] card cost 1 less. But playing that second card will make the third [Gollum] card cost -1. The reason I wrote it as I did was to give a player the option to play non-[Gollum] cards throughout the phase without losing the bonus.
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(W) Hoth [2]
Outer. Tundra. The twilight cost of each card is +X, where X is the number of cards in the Light Side player's hand (limit +4).
Representing the planetary shield the Rebels erected as defense against the Empire's Death Squadron, Hoth is a site not to be trifled with. In the right circumstance, it can rip apart a Dark Side player's strategy; but the harsh conditions of the frozen surface will take their toll on the next turn, when all of your own cards start off costing +4.
Sheer stroke of genius. :gold: Alternatively hiding behind the shield is the equivalent of displaying a huge "Here we are; come get us!" banner. The attention the LS player attracts is going to shoot through the roof.
(W) Nal Hutta [2]
Mid. Urban. Each time you play a [Gollum] card, you may make the next [Gollum] card you play during the same phase twilight cost -1.
[Gollum] is the Fringe culture, which is split across both Light and Dark sides. This site doesn't have a normal ability, but I wanted something 'festering' about it. Nal Hutta is the Hutt homeworld, and its moon - Nar Shaddaa - is a haven for criminal vagrants and those wishing not to be found. Together, they form a criminal paradise. Each act of violence or wrongdoing (playing a card) makes it easier to do it again.
Looks good!
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Hehe, thanks for all the kind words, folks. It spurs me on!
(W) Byss (0)
Deep Core. Each time a (B) card adds a burden, you may make the Light Side player wound a destined companion.
Byss. Currently the only deep core site in my designs, and the dark heart of Palpatine's plotting. Byss is a planet completely drowned in dark side energies. Byss was the capital of Palpatine's reborn Empire, and - as such - was the location of the epic showdown before its annihilation by New Republic forces. So this site is directed at those people destined to stand up to fight evil, and also those who are forced to fight the temptation to join with it. Oh yeah... (B) is the Dark Jedi culture.
(W) Carida [2]
Core. When the alliance moves to Carida, each player may make Carida gain one of the following keywords until the regroup phase: forest, desert, tundra, or urban.
Kind of a wacky site. I intended, at first, for Carida to represent the Imperial training facilities there and to help Imperial minions directly in some way. But on further investigation, I realized I could do the planet more justice by representing how diverse its terrain is (which explains why there are so many training facilities to start with). So Carida is the jack-of-all-sites, able to exhibit the particular planetary feature you happen to need at the time.
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Seems good. Presumably Destined is ring-bound equivalent?
Thranduil
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Yep, look good to me.
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lookin good! :gp:
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(W) Carida [2]
Core. When the alliance moves to Carida, each player may make Carida gain one of the following keywords until the regroup phase: forest, desert, tundra, or urban.
So could each player pick a different keyword?
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Yup yup, Mr. Lurtzy. Pretty fun site, eh? :hey:
Well, I've done 15 sites so far - if I've counted right - and I think doing 10 more will set up a really good foundation for the adventure path.
Now, because I'm really anxious to start spoiling the Mandalorian culture, I'll be doing 3 sites at a time! Try to keep up! :mrgreen:
(W) Coruscant [2]
Core. Urban. When the alliance moves to Coruscant, each player reconciles his or her hand.
I knew from the get-go that Coruscant needed to have a movement-based effect. Being the capital, its highlight is its placement in the galaxy, and after figuring that much, I decided to focus on the fact that Coruscant was a draw for any space-traveling citizen. Coruscant has it all. This site makes everybody reconcile their hand (an obvious boon for a double-moving LS player). This, however, can lead any player intro trouble, as his or her deck may be running low, or maybe there's a card in play that keys off of hand reconciliation (wink wink).
(W) Death Star II [1]
Outer. Vacuum. When the alliance moves to Death Star II, if it is in region 2 or 3, no player may play events or conditions from his or her hand, draw deck, or discard pile until the start of the regroup phase.
This was one of those sites I was both looking forward to and dreading at the same time. It's hard enough to summarize a planet into a sentence or two of gametext; the climactic superweapon of the last installment of the original trilogy is a much taller order. My first instinct was to give this site a generic bonus for piloting characters, but I felt that would lack the "oomph" the site needs. So I wrote something else, basically off the top of my head. After a lot of toiling, I arrived at what you can see above. A site that forces every player to run with what they've got out already. It represents how the Rebels had "one shot" at destroying the superweapon, and how the Emperor held the Imperial fleet in check, choosing to play mind-games with the heroes first.
But I had a different gametext lined up for Death Star II, which migrated to another site:
(W) Endor [3]
Outer. Forest. Each time your companion is killed or discarded from play, you may pay his or her twilight cost to return him or her to your hand instead.
I thought this was a pretty good Death Star II text, until it dawned on me that I was writing to describe the Battle of Endor more than anything else. I mean - throughout that prolonged engagement (ranging from the Rebel insertion on the surface to Lando's escape from the core of the behemoth) - how many "close calls" did all the characters have? I could list them all day... Leia being saved by Wicket, Luke/Threepio saving everyone in the Ewok village, Lando's aforementioned escape. The Force certainly was with our heroes that day, and I felt it pertinent to translate that sense of destiny/purpose into card form.
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(W) Coruscant [3]
Core. Urban. When the alliance moves to Coruscant, each player reconciles his or her hand.
I can't quite see this at [3] - because it helps Shadow players as well, it should be [2].
(W) Death Star II [2]
Outer. Vacuum. When the alliance moves to Death Star II, if it is in region 2 or 3, no player may play events or conditions from his or her hand, draw deck, or discard pile until the start of the regroup phase.
Because this is a much bigger deal for the FP player than the Shadow, I reckon it should probably be [1].
(W) Endor [2]
Outer. Forest. Each time your character is killed or discarded from play, you may pay that character's twilight cost to return that character to your hand instead.
This looks good!
Thranduil
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Nothing new to add...Thran already covered it. Will vacuum require some special cards for characters to survive there?
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Will vacuum require some special cards for characters to survive there?
It's possible, but most likely not. Back on Decipher's old forums, there was a SW/LotR contest, and the cards in that contest were almost literal in function. For instance, characters couldn't do almost anything in "space" sites, characters could stack on starships/vehicles and pilot them free from the alliance. Well, what I'm getting at is sometimes function has to come before form. And vacuum sites scream that to me.
If someone wants a reason why vacuum sites don't straight-out kill people who aren't using starships, I'd say you should imagine them all on some transport or something. Since Star Wars is a galaxy ripe with freighters, starliners, destroyers, and every other term under the sun, I think assuming everyone can afford transport is a given.
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endor is the one bugging me...I think it should only apply to freeps and be 3 cost.
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I made all the suggested changes, but raised the twilight cost on Endor to [3], seeing as it strictly benefits the LS player now.
Well, since I got 3 reviews already, I may as well move right along...
Ooohh... here's one that should be fun!
(W) Tython [1]
Deep Core. When the alliance moves to Tython, you may play a [Gandalf] artifact or possession from your discard pile.
([Gandalf] = Jedi.)
Tython is the planet from which the oldest Jedi emerged. The knowledge of its location is retained only in the Jedi Archives, and - due to its placement within the Deep Core - it is nigh unreachable without precise coordinates. The site only costs [1] because, even though it only helps the LS player, its power is pretty limited. Unless you can control the site path well (I'm still on the fence for whether or not the Jedi culture will be good at that).
(W) Lwhekk [1]
Wild. Forest. Swamp. Skirmish: Exert X of your Ssi-ruu to make your Ssi-ruu strength +X.
The Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium is a subculture within the Wild Space culture ([Dunland]). I've done little with this culture beyond some [very] brief brainstorming sessions. I know that the Ssi-ruuk will work together to overpower their foes. Now, Wild Space is a 'neutral' culture (the only LotR equivalent being [Gollum]), so at some point I might make some Ssi-ruu companions. The Chiss also show up in Wild Space.
(W) Alderaan [3]
Core. Each time an opponent takes control of a site (even if Alderaan is controlled), you may spot your (R) companion to take up to 2 (R) cards into hand from your discard pile.
((R) = Rebel.)
Alderaan, as a planet, sympathized with the Rebellion's situation until its fall by the hands of Tarkin in A New Hope. I wanted to capture the feel of "systems slipping through the fingers" as best as I could, and I think I did a pretty good job. No matter where Alderaan is - captured by the Empire or liberated by the Rebellion - it supports freedom in any way it can.
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(W) Tython [1]
Deep Core. When the alliance moves to Tython, you may play a [Gandalf] artifact or possession from your discard pile.
It should still be [2], though, because it helps the FP player.
(W) Lwhekk [1]
Wild. Forest. Swamp. Skirmish: Exert X of your Ssi-ruu to make your Ssi-ruu strength +X.
Looks good.
(W) Alderaan [3]
Core. Each time an opponent takes control of a site (even if Alderaan is controlled), you may spot your (R) companion to take up to 2 (R) cards into hand from your discard pile.
This one I have some confusion with. A site's gametext is only active if it is the current site (Trollshaw Forest, for example, doesn't happen every turn) or if otherwise it's obviously otherwise (like Nurn or Mount Doom). So, I don't understand the relevance of your parentheses. If you want the ability to continue even when the alliance is not there, you need to say something like 'until the end of the game' or 'while the alliance is in the current region' in which case the brackets become important.
How are you going to represent the Death Star destroying planets? :evil:
Thranduil
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I swear, one of these days I'll have something new to add, but dangit! Thran beats me to the punch again.
I like 'em, but beyond his comments, I really don't have anything to add.
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(W) Tython [1]
Deep Core. When the alliance moves to Tython, you may play a [Gandalf] artifact or possession from your discard pile.
Needs to cost [2].
(W) Lwhekk [1]
Wild. Forest. Swamp. Skirmish: Exert X of your Ssi-ruu to make your Ssi-ruu strength +X.
Does this make all Ssi-ruu in play strength +X?
(W) Alderaan [3]
Core. Each time an opponent takes control of a site (even if Alderaan is controlled), you may spot your (R) companion to take up to 2 (R) cards into hand from your discard pile.
Looks good.
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Hmmm, I guess I fouled Alderaan up. Well, instead of dodging around a few rules, I'll spend some time this afternoon thinking of a better, less-difficult, text.
Really good question, Lurtzy. This is a great time to give the lay-down on some Ssi-ruuvi grammar. Ssi-ruu is an individual of the Ssi-ruuvi race, Ssi-ruuk being the plural form. So when a card says "Ssi-ruu" it refers to just 1 character. I know it can be a little confusing, but not everything in Star Wars is peas and carrots!
About the Death Star, let me go ahead and say that I haven't really given it much consideration. There's almost no way to do it justice... the closest thing I can think of off the top of my head is some kind of souped-up Grond. But, even then, the Death Star is not a scalpel. It shouldn't be blowing cards up one at a time. If you have a good idea for a Death Star site, go ahead and post it!
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I think the Death Star would work better as a condition or artifact or something...perhaps one that plays ON a site. :up: Perhaps it could then have some expensive text that would let it MOVE from one site to another, albeit slowly. If it catches up again...BOOM!
I dunno *shrug* Just a thought.
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I just think it has to literally blow up sites in some sense or another. Perhaps it could remove sites from the game as well as any support cards that happen to be there (such as cards that play on sites and other active cards while the alliance is there with a few exceptions like characters).
I like DI's mechanic of moving through the site path, though. Particularly reminds me of how the Death Star in SWCCG plays.
Thranduil
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For Alderaan would a "This site is always active" clause fix it? Still musing over the DSII. If things get too wonky, the superweapon could always be separated from a broader effect--its mere existence was supposed to keep systems in line.
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Well, Dain, you earned a gold piece for that thought. I will pursue a Death Star card that can move around the adventure path (too cool). As for Death Star II, seeing as it never made it past construction, it will remain as a site.
And with that... the grand finale of the adventure path portion of this project... FOUR sites! There are still a lot more to do, but my goal right now is to get a solid foundation for each culture in this game.
Here we go!
(W) Asteroids of Hoth [2]
Outer. Vacuum. The twilight cost of each starship played at Asteroids of Hoth is +2.
Originally I was going to write some complicated card that wounded your characters for each starship you had in play, but in the end I went with something much more simple. Not every card can be flashy, ya know.
(W) Rhigar III [2]
Wild. Oceanic. Each time you play a Chiss, you may make another one of your characters strength +2 until the end of the turn.
Rhigar III is home to the Chiss military academy. Uh, well... not much more need be said about the place. It's in the unknown regions (which, gameplay-wise, has been lumped together with wild space to become the Wild keyword). Like Ssi-ruu, I plan on eventually making both Chiss companions and minions; for now, though, Chiss are Light Side only.
(W) Alzoc III (0)
Outer. Tundra. If Alzoc III is in region 2 when the alliance moves from it, the Light Side player chooses an opponent to take control of a site.
Let's see. Alzoc III is an out-of-the-way planet that the Empire kind of walked into. The planet, nearly untouched by the galactic corporations, is a fat stockpile of natural resources (and defenseless aliens that would become slaves). This site is as close a representation of that as I feel possible.
(W) Eos [1]
Mid. Volcanic. Dark Side: Play a [Uruk] card and remove [2] to play a [Uruk] droid from your discard pile.
([Uruk] = Separatists.)
On Eos is located a sizable droid foundry. So yeah. If you think this should cost (0), let me know.
And with that, the adventure path segment of this phase of the SW/LotR project is finished. Next up: Mandalorians!!
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(W) Eos [1]
Mid. Volcanic. Dark Side: Play a [Uruk] card and remove [2] to play a [Uruk] droid from your discard pile.
Definately needs to cost (0).
All others look good.
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Agree with Lurtzy. I'd also consider making the strength boost on Rhigar III +1 if there are to be minions of that race.
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For Alderaan would a "This site is always active" clause fix it?
No it doesn't. Sites are always active, in support areas and on the site path. The problem is that a site's gametext is not, only its terrain keywords.
Thranduil
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*agrees with dain and lurtzy*
*spams with himself*
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For Alderaan would a "This site is always active" clause fix it?
No it doesn't. Sites are always active, in support areas and on the site path. The problem is that a site's gametext is not, only its terrain keywords.
Thranduil
Alas, too true; next suggestion would be "This site's gametext is always active," but this is one rule that's kind of iffy to break anyway. Knowing Menace, he'll probably cook up something even better down the line. ;)
The site path looks most impressive. ;D