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Messages - Sailor Vulcan

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3091
Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: TEMPLE RUN!
« on: July 23, 2013, 10:05:52 AM »
Okay, updated list:

Warlord


Conjurations

2 Wall of Stone
2 Wall of Steel
2 Wall of Thorns
4 Tanglevine
2 Temple of the Dawnbreaker
2 Archer's Watchtower
1 Gravikor

Creatures

5 Goblin Builder
1 Grimson Deadeye, Sniper
1 Giant Wolf Spider
3 Dwarf Panzergarde

Enchantments

2 Mongoose Agility
3 Cheetah Speed
3 Hellfire trap
3 Teleport trap
3 Spiked Pit
1 Force Orb

Equipment

1 Defense Ring
2 Eagleclaw boots
1 Ivarium Longbow

Incantations

2 Dispel
2 Seeking Dispel
2 Dissolve
3 Force Push

3092
Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: TEMPLE RUN!
« on: July 22, 2013, 11:55:38 AM »
I completely forgot about climbing being a full action! With that in mind, Gravikor seems like a GREAT choice. And without the Eagleclaw boots, that means I can have a pair of Reflex Boots! Any other suggestions? Also, what do you think of the theme? This build was actually inspired by the game "Temple Run" for iPhone.

3093
Spellbook Design and Construction / TEMPLE RUN!
« on: July 21, 2013, 06:11:25 PM »
Warlord

Conjurations

3 Wall of Stone
3 Wall of Steel
4 Tanglevine
2 Temple of the Dawnbreaker
2 Archer's Watchtower

Creatures

5 Goblin Builder
2 Grimson Deadeye, Sniper
2 Giant Wolf Spider
3 Dwarf Panzergarde

Enchantments

1 Mongoose Agility
2 Cheetah Speed
3 Hellfire trap
3 Teleport trap
3 Spiked Pit
1 Force Orb

Equipment

1 Defense Ring
2 Eagleclaw boots
1 Ivarium Longbow

Incantations

2 Dispel
2 Seeking Dispel
2 Dissolve


If you like Tom and Jerry, you will like this spellbook. It's a chase build, but rather than chasing my opponent, I'm having my opponent chase me. The first thing I do is cast a cheetah speed on myself. Then over the next 2-3 rounds, I start moving and placing 3 of my walls in the center of the arena, to create a circuit. If my opponent or one of their creatures starts getting too close for comfort before I'm done placing the 3 walls, I'll cast a teleport trap or a tanglevine.

Then once the walls are down, I continue to run away from my opponent, placing Panzergardes and traps on the field to slow them down and do damage. I also use the Panzergardes to protect myself. At some point when I have enough mana I cast Temple of the Dawnbreaker in one of the two center zones. At another point when I have enough mana I either cast a Giant Wolf Spider while behind my opponent, or a Grimson Deadeye Sniper in the other center zone as well as an Archer's Watchtower. That way those wizards and priestesses and the like can't just stand still and will have to run after me.

If I'm threatened by a creature(s) with climbing or flying, or if I'm facing a Forcemaster, I will equip myself with Eagleclaw Boots, so I can climb over my own walls. If my opponent tries to swarm me with hindering creatures, I'll cast Mongoose Agility on myself and escape from the swarm. I have Goblin Builders to help me cast conjurations and protect them from destruction with their healing ability, and I have extra walls to replace the destroyed ones, and also so that I can choose between the two types of walls I have depending on what I'm up against.

I have Force Orb and Defense Ring to help defend myself from ranged attacks, and an Ivarium Longbow to make some of my own.

I win by dealing damage from a combination of creature attacks and Traps.

I think I've covered everything. So what do you think of my new spellbook build?

3094
Strategy and Tactics / Re: Starving the opponent.
« on: July 21, 2013, 10:01:13 AM »
I read an article somewhere on these forums about resources. According to the article, a Mage's mana is one of the highest order resources, since it is converted into every other resource in the game, ultimately in the end being converted into the final resource, damage on the opposing mage. I'm not sure you need to really control 2 out of 3, per say. Since if you control their mana supply, it's a lot harder for them to cast things, so the other two resources would also be controlled indirectly.

Maybe it's possible to focus on defensive strategies and mana denial, without thinking so much about controlling action advantage or damage output directly. Instead of using defensive creatures and familiars and stuff to protect yourself and generate action advantage, maybe one could try using things like mongoose agility, cheetah speed and a couple of teleports to be used on the mage, and probably a defense or two. That way you can get within range of the opposing mage and start the mana denial earlier. It would be a sort of "hit and run" mana denial strategy. Perhaps some familiars would be useful after all in a build like that for taking care of threats, such as having goblin builders cast things like tanglevine and quicksand, or using huggin to cast incantations like force push and to know when to seeking dispel a threatening enchantment. But for the most part I think those creatures would only need to be used earlier in the game to take care of threats, rather than for action advantage or to threaten the opposing mage with more damage, or for trying to control how much damage  you receive by choosing to guard from certain attacks.

3095
Alternative Play / Re: 3 Player Game
« on: July 18, 2013, 07:52:14 PM »
The arena in the triangle shape sounds good. However, I'm not sure how you'd be able to make the Points instead of damage system work. There are a lot of cards dedicated to life gain or direct damage as well as the strategies that use them that would become obsolete in such a format. Furthermore, having such a points system punishes slower playstyles, and therefore makes the game unbalanced in favor of aggressive mages like the beastmaster or the warlock.

Also, what's wrong with trying to hang back while your opponents fight each other? That's a perfectly fine thing to do for a player with a defensive playstyle, or a strategy that requires some preparation to set in motion. Also, part of the fun of 3+ player games is that it adds a new dimension of strategy, particularly psychological strategy. It's asking yourself questions like "Who's the bigger threat?" or "Will this bluff work against both of them?" or "should I deal with this threat myself, or let one of my other opponent's handle it?"

Aside from a differently shaped board, I don't think that there's anything else that would inherently impede a 3 player game of Mage Wars from working and being enjoyable, at least I can't think of any of the top of my head.



Note: if your intention is to discourage people in your playgroup from playing slowly or defensively, I strongly advise that you don't do that. Mage Wars is supposed to be a customizable strategy game. Part of what defines a customizable strategy game and makes it so fun is the great diversity of playstyles and the amazing level of customization. If you can customize your spellbook to suit your strategic preferences, then you should accept and respect that so will your opponents. The "third one" you described is not going to be happy with you for essentially telling them that they have to play like you do.

If you want to play a game where everyone plays aggro but there's still some gameplay diversity, I don't know of many options in board and card games, though there probably are quite a few. However, I can think of one that's a video game off the top of my head that I really like: Super Smash Bro Brawl. It's an amazing and addicting video game, and I've been playing it for several years. It's AWESOME.

3096
Extra options:

-Objective can be changed to capturing the enemy's flag. Your faction loses when your flag is captured.

-game can be changed to a free for all with no factions. Everyone would still start somewhere on the outer walls of the room. Winners are the last person in the game, the person who defeats the most opponents, and the person who defeats their first opponent the fastest.

3097
There is not a single Arena. Just a huge battlefield for Mages to fight on. The only walls are the ones that occur naturally in the surrounding environment, or the ones that the Mages themselves create. However, there is an imaginary line that the battlefield is surrounded by. If a Mage steps outside of this line, he or she forfeits his place in his or her faction's army. All Mages are part of a faction, and each faction is a team that tries to win the war.

Since it would be difficult to use or find a ginormous enough table to play a game like Mage Wars in large numbers (not to mention it wouldn't work since people's arms aren't long enough and it would be a nightmare to keep track of whose objects are where on the table), players would have to carry their own little mini tables: a piece of cardboard with six zones on it and outer rims to prevent cards from falling off, strapped to their arm. The limited space of these six zones represent a loose magical barrier that is placed on you by your enemies to prevent escape. You could flee, but if you do you will be forsaking your duty, and will be cast off from your faction's army (forfeit)

To keep the game balanced between different playstyles, each mini-table's zones would have to be arranged differently depending on the Mage using them. For instance, a wizard might want his zones to be arranged like this:

    ZZZ
  ZZZ

While a priestess might prefer it like this:

  ZZ
ZZZZ

Of course, this would require modular tiles. During the Encounter Resolution step (explained in a bit), the surviving players would have the option to strategically rearrange their empty zones (tiles with no cards on them). This represents taking control of the barriers your enemy placed on you when they are killed. It also gives you the element of surprise to keep them in place under your control, since it masks your magical abilities so your enemies cannot sense you from a long distance.

The real-life room will be divided into zones also, and whenever two or more opposing players enter the same zone, their mages must do battle. Players sit down on the floor of the real-life zone for this. (hopefully you would bring your own cushion to sit on)

After the battle, a Mage's stats all remain the same, and any cards on their 6 zones remain there. Any cards that a player owns that are in someone else's set of zones go back to the spellbook. Players would not be allowed to leave a real-life zone until this has occurred. This step is called the "encounter resolution" step. If a player is caught moving their cards outside of battle or the encounter resolution step, they are disqualified.

Each faction would be led either by a Mage Wars ambassador or by someone that is otherwise deemed trustworthy. The faction's leader would be able to cast giant versions of certain zone-exclusive conjurations at strategic locations, and also send other players to protect them. Depending on the size of the factions, it might be useful to delegate leadership over distance measured in real-life zones.

A faction (or pieces of it called battlegroups) can surrender if they're losing really badly. Surrender occurs by majority vote within a faction or battle group. A faction can continue playing if their leader is defeated, but it will probably be challenging, especially in particularly large games.

A real-life zone is only allowed to contain as many players as can comfortably fit in it sitting down, with their mini-table zones all connected. It is allowed for multiple teammates to fight against a single opponent, but it would not always be a good strategic option.

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

What do you think of my idea so far? Just thinking about it makes me so excited!

3098
Disclaimer: I do not own Mage Wars.



----------------------------
The young man stared up at the enormous tower in front of him. There was a sign bolted above the enormous wooden door:

Tower of Battle--home to Maegis University's School of WAR

He gulped. He still wasn't sure if he had what it took to follow in his father's footsteps to be a Warlord. He did not want to displease his people, but he was a runner at heart. He wasn't the most talented mage. What was he doing in Sortilege, a nation full of powerful mages?

He felt the urge to run away, far away, in the opposite direction of this imposing building.

No, he thought. I must run forward, not backward.

Hesitantly, the young man stepped inside the Tower of Battle.

He found himself in a lounge area, complete with comfy chairs and framed pictures on the walls. Behind the front desk was a tough-looking lady with her hair in a ponytail and some sort of crossbow slung over her shoulder. It looked rather lethal.

The sniper receptionist looked up from her paperwork as the front door loudly creaked shut behind the young man.

She quickly sized him up with a bored expression on her tough face, seeing how little armor he was wearing, how scrawny his arms were, and how skinny he was. The young man blushed from self-consciousness.

"You look lost," she said, simply. "If you're looking for the schools of Arcane, Nature, or Mind, I'm afraid I can't help you. Each school in our university is magically hidden from students of all the others, to prevent unecessary conflict. Your student handbook should have a map inside."

"Um," the young man started. "I know that."

"What?" asked the sniper receptionist, not quite sure she heard right. "Then why are you here? Are you saying that you're not lost?

"I'm not." he said, staring at the ground. "My name is Lee. I'm here to study the art of War."

The receptionist burst into laughter.

"What's so funny!?" Lee demanded, defensively.

"I never thought I'd see another one," said the receptionist. She calmed down and wiped a tear from her eye.

"A few words of advice: Someone like you has three possible outcomes here. Do you have any idea what they are?"

"Um, that I'll become a Warlord or a soldier...or flunk and get kicked out of the University?" Lee asked.

"Well yes," said the receptionist. "But that's not what I meant. Someone like you has three outcomes here. You could succeed beyond anyone's expectations. You could fail miserably and be the embarrassment of your people. Or, you could go halfway between the two options, and become a great magical sniper like me."

"And what do you mean when you say someone like me?" Lee asked, half-indignantly.

"Does it really need to be said?" the receptionist asked, pointedly. "You have weak arms and a thin body. That means that you will have to rely on your wit, focus, and leg strength, if you are ever to succeed here. Also, each year at Maegis University begins with a campus-wide battle tournament for the Freshmages, after which is the initiation ceremony."
She slammed her fist onto the counter, startling Lee, before she pointed at him. With a flash, Lee saw a number write itself onto his shirt: WAR-235671

"That is your tournament registration number," she said. "Your first five rounds will be held here with other War Freshmages. The best Freshmages will get to compete with Freshmages from other schools in our university. Your first match will begin soon. Go down the hallway on the right and climb the stairs to the first arena hall. Good luck!"

"Thank you," said Lee. He bowed before starting to jog towards his first match. Before he'd gotten very far though, he turned around and said loudly, "I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

"Izayoi!" she said.

"Thanks Izayoi!" Lee's voice echoed back, as he rushed to the staircase to the first floor Arena hall. In spite of his great fear, Lee was oddly excited. He had spent the last three years travelling the world, running and running without looking back, before he finally returned to his people as an adult. Was it all worthwhile? Soon, he would see. He had taken the first step on the road to his destiny. There was no turning back, even if he wanted to...

The price of tuition was too high for that.
--------------------



So what do you think? Reviews please!

Also, you can submit characters! Freshmages are Level 1 and have a maximum of 20 points in their spellbook, Sophomages are Level 2 and have 40 points max, and so on. Only Senior and Junior Mages have Mage abilities. When submitting a character, you should include:

--Their name
--Their Age
--Their gender (if they are transgendered, write the whole word label for their type of transgender, otherwise just put M or F)
--Their Level (1-4 for undergrads, 5-6 for Graduate students and teachers)
--Their physical appearance
--Their background story
--What type of Mage they are

The more information you fill in, the more I'll have to work with, the less likely I'll fill in the blanks of your character with something you don't like. But the less information you give, the more creativity I'll be able to use to flesh out their character. It's a win-win situation either way.  :)

In any case, don't expect all of the information you provide on your submitted characters to stay the same over the course of the story. Characters grow and change. That's why Freshmages have a limit of 20 spellbook points!

This story idea was inspired by a conversation I had about a possible Mage Wars RPG format.

I think I've said everything that I needed to. Post away!

3099
General Discussion / Story points?
« on: July 15, 2013, 09:00:18 PM »
So I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that people can earn story points in organized play for Mage Wars. What are story points, how do people earn them, and is anyone actually awarding story points? I have suspicions about the answers to these questions, but I don't know for sure.

The reason I ask this is that Mage Wars is a long game, and I've spent several of the games I've played in relative silence except for questions or comments about what's going on in the game being played. While it's still VERY fun, it would be nice if there were some more conversation. However, the game is very engaging and requires deep thinking, so conversation would be a distraction more often than not. But if there were any way to incorporate some roleplaying elements into the planning phase or something, that would be great. I'm worried that it would increase the game time by A LOT, though, although I don't know by how much.

What do you think?

3100
General Questions / Re: Blue Gremlin and Teleport
« on: July 15, 2013, 06:05:39 PM »
ringkichard, I hope you're right. If BG can move through walls and ignore hindering creatures, then the only effective way for my current new build to deal with them is restraining them.

I'm relatively new to the game, so I can't say this for certain, but I think that having such a low mana cost creature that can always move up to two zones every single action phase no matter what under any conditions is a bit OP, especially when you add the defense and the armor. If people interpret Blue Gremlin that way, then I imagine that maybe just 3 of them are enough to "swarm"! And he only costs 7 mana. I completely agree that the intended meaning is more important than the literal meaning.

I hope this gets resolved soon!

3101
Rules Discussion / Re: A question on guarding and defenses
« on: July 14, 2013, 05:30:21 PM »
Really? I had no idea. I stand corrected. I just realized if a melee attack like a punch misses, then it could leave the would be attacker vulnerable to being, perhaps, hit as their fist/arm/body moves past the defender. That probably also explains why you can't counterattack a ranged attack, even when the ranged attack targets a creature in the same zone as the attacker.

Everything makes sense now. :)

3102
Rules Discussion / Re: A question on guarding and defenses
« on: July 14, 2013, 05:03:55 PM »
I'm pretty positive they don't. The rules for Mage Wars are usually pretty intuitive. Even in real life, part of the definition of a counter attack is a response to an attack. Without the first attack, the counterattack would just be an attack, and you can't use an enemy creature's action phase for your own creature's non-counter attack.

Imagine someone trying to punch you but missing. If you punched them after that, you wouldn't be punching them back since they never managed to punch you in the first place, only tried to punch you.

3103
League / Tournament Play / Re: Suggested Rule change for cons
« on: July 12, 2013, 07:46:05 PM »
I think any sort of time limit will make the game imbalanced for us less experienced players. Some playstyles take more thinking to use than others, and with less experienced players this might give the rush strategies more of an advantage. I think a time limit might not be the best idea. I know that time for a tournament isn't infinite, but let's not forget that Mage Wars was designed to be a relatively long game--usually over an hour for just one.

My idea is to break up tournaments a bit. Depending on the number of people who preregister for a tournament, make more than one tournament, and then have the winners either be invited to face each other in another tournament later, or just have them be the winners of their respective tournaments.

Having tournaments for multiple formats of play and having an attendance cap for each one might work better for this. Anyone left over can play against anyone they want who isn't in another tournament, and the ones with the highest win percentages get prizes (with a minimum number of games, depending on the total tournament time). However, they'd only be able to play against each of the "leftover" participants once.

So you would have to register for an event ahead of time, and then if there are any open spots still left after the event starts, then people could come and register onsite.

While this might not work if the game becomes insanely popular, I don't know if there's a better alternative, since time limits for organized play in Mage Wars would probably suck. That's part of the problem with Mage Wars being such a long game, I think.

3104
Alternative Play / Re: How long do demos take?
« on: July 11, 2013, 09:46:10 AM »
Would it be advisable to limit total time to 30 min? Even if not everyone gets to finish their games, that should be enough time for them to get a feel for the game and see if they enjoy it, right?

I don't know if I'll have anyone to help me demo or not. There is a chance I'll be demoing by myself, in which case there will only be two people learning the game at a time.

3105
Alternative Play / How long do demos take?
« on: July 11, 2013, 08:25:41 AM »
How long do mage wars demos in apprentice mode normally take? I'm considering teaching some people how to play at the college I'm currently attending for a possible game day event.

I would like to know sometime today, since someone from student engagement is awaiting my response.

Thanks!

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