So, here's the scenario: I cast Teleport on myself, intending to go 2 zones away. The opponent uses Enchantment Transfusion and Reverse Magic in response. Since they make "new choices" and "pay additional costs", how does that work out in this case? Do I still have to pay 6 mana?

Quote from: JasonBourneZombie on January 15, 2017, 01:21:16 PM

A cool concept, it would probably be too difficult to fully RPG-ize Mage Wars without a major overhaul. One way I think this system would shine is in long-term playgroup format. All players start at Apprentice level and gain experience that can be applied towards a level up to the next mage strength. Minor boosts between mage levels may be necessary, but the idea of mages leveling up definitely has appeal.

This would work so well with the original Archmages you introduced as well as each current mage could level up into their own Superman's before the final growth into the dual class epic mage. The one thing I'd  like to see carry over from class to class are abilities.

The concept I made here is intended to work with his Archmages.

To this I say: Can't it be both?

Hmm. This seems to be halfway between two different kinds of play. An important question to ask yourself when making a new variant format is what the purpose of this particular variant is? What role does it serve? What would the gameplay be like and how does it set itself apart from other variants? What makes your variant fun, and who is it most fun for? Normally I don't ask those questions because it's fairly easy to grasp it on an intuitive level.

Thing is your variant kinda looks like an amalgamation of two different possible variants with no reason to combine them in this way. Why not just do one of those two variants?

I suspect that you were trying to come up with a way to combine Mage Wars combat with rpg mechanics in a way that was more natural and didn't feel forced?

Here are the two directions you can take this in as I see it:

-Make it a pen and paper rpg with Mage Wars combat for the encounters. You could also do something slightly similar to this but without any storyline if you just want to focus on customizing your Mage including their ability card. Unfortunately there's no easy way to balance custom abilities without testing them ahead of time. I would recommend using regular Mage abilities but with altered starting stats which increase as the Mage levels up.

-alternatively you could just have a tournament where players play a variety of formats and versions of Mage Wars including academy, arena, apprentice arena and arena domination. The first match would be academy, second would be and apprentice, third would be Arena and fourth would be domination. And players wouldn't be locked in to using and editing the same spelbook for all four matches because strategies that work well in one version or variant of Mage Wars don't necessarily work well in another.

I myself have not yet made a good rpg format, although I've come close a few times I think. Ability cards are the sticking point I think. Ability cards which change over time are very hard to balance. Would probably need some testing.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the feedback. There was a reason for some of my choices though. Because each round carries over the cards and school from the previous round, you have at least some idea of what your opponent might be doing. This allows you to customize your new deck with this in mind to prepare to counter it and deal with potential problems, as well as to try and catch them off guard with any creative solutions to the problems you might face based on the information you gained.

In this way, its a multi-round format that creates a level of strategy that is very dynamic. At least, that was my intention. It is also an attempt at a more natural "RPG Mode" as well, that is true, but the retaining of previous decks was meant to allow for that strategic deck-building between rounds.

Alright, so I'm going to need some community help to really make this concept work.

The core idea: Players start a match as Trainee (or Apprentice if you prefer) Mages, which when designed would be Level 4 mages with the same power scale as Academy roughly. Only 1 ability, limited mana, low health, 40 SBP, that sort of thing, but only 1 School. Might have some of the rules from Academy incorporated, but I don't know how it works as I've never played it, so I don't know for sure yet.

Winner of this round is the first player to win the battle by normal mage wars rules.

Round 2 ups the ante: Players choose 1 Mage from the Arena who shares their School, changes their mage to that one, and adds 80 SBP worth of cards to their deck, keeping the same 40 they started with. Play continues as normal until the winner of this round is decided. If a player has won both this round and the previous round, the match ends immediately. In the event of a tie (that is, one win each), play continues to Round 3.

In round 3, players take on the role of Archmages, as designed in the Archmage thread. The Archmage must share any Schools your Mage is trained it, keeping the same deck and adding 240 more points as you have done with the last 2 rounds. Play proceeds following the rules for Archmage until there is a final winner to break the tie.

Obviously as this will take a LONG time, play can be split up over multiple matches, and not all at once. Matches are played on a 3x3 board at Trainee level, 4x4 at Mage level, and a massive 5x5 grid at Archmage. The game is always reset between rounds, so any mana and cards cast are returned to books.

Thoughts?

I realize this hasn't been done yet, but the game mechanics do already support this. This is just a wall with the Blocks Passage trait. That does not automatically add the Blocks LoS trait, which is a separate trait that pretty much shares an icon with the Passage Attacks trait.

If you are worried about a cardpool for a new mage, my suggestion is make the cards to make the mage work!

It's not just the card pool, but redundant cards that are basically v2 of existing cards made to work with the new mage. There are already a lot of really good cards that work for it, but they're out of school if I change the school from what I've set it to. That's why I chose to make it compatible with all poison-based creatures. To flesh out that card pool using existing cards, rather than redundantly making more cards that didn't really need to exist.