Prophet Mini-Expansion (printable)

[ACG]

After making some significant modifications to the prophet and his equipment, I thought it might be fun to put it together with some other cards to make a mini expansion. The file is too large to upload here, so I put it on BGG:

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/105433/prophet-fan-made-mini-expansion

It features some of my older cards with modifications, as well as a few completely new cards (themed around prophecy).

If you want to try it out, the cards are formatted 9 to a sheet on letter-sized paper, so all you have to do is print it out, cut out the cards, and put them in sleeves in front of official cards. If you do try it out, I would be interested to hear how the game goes.

[Myrddin]

Wow, great idea! I'm a bit confused about premonition, though: why would the opponent put down any markers?

[jacksmack]

Wow, great idea! I'm a bit confused about premonition, though: why would the opponent put down any markers?

i could not figure this out either,

[lettucemode]

The way the ability is worded, all spells cast by the opposing mage cost 1 extra mana unless they target a zone (or something in a zone) that has a Premonition marker. So if you don't place any markers, all your stuff costs 1 extra mana.

I like the idea because it introduces some cool mindgames, but I think the Prophet could gain a crushing mana advantage very quickly. Maybe remove the clause about him gaining extra mana for each unused marker? I haven't playtested him at all so maybe it's not actually a problem, but that's how it feels to me.

[ACG]

lettucemode is correct. Essentially, you can surprise the Prophet, but to do so will cost extra mana.

I should note that the prophet does not gain mana for each unused counter; he only gains 1 mana if there are any unused counters, i.e. there is a maximum gain of 1 (maybe this could be better worded).

As far as balance goes, I think playtesting is probably the best way to find out. The Prophet will only gain a crushing mana advantage if his opponent is too free or too stingy with his premonition tokens; the better his predictions about his own actions are, the less of a lead the prophet gets. My idea was to incentivize giving the prophet information without forcing the opponent to stick exactly to his plan.

[echephron]

Awesome stuff. I'd love to be able to play with it sometime. Time for me to criticize it all! hopefully i am constructive.

The Mage: Premonition seems good.
Prescient: I like it a lot

Xof: I feel like he should be an living illusion(rather than a "sees the future" type creature; otherwise he would  protect himself when he knows an attack is coming rather than gaining attack. knowing you arent getting attacked should make you ), who gets more powerful the more attention you give him. Based on that, I would make him a mind spell, and gain the illusion subtype(but meh, you can throw that out).

Card text could be cleaned up a bit, so i did that. I altered his function slightly to make wording easier. Yes, I hurt him by making him invisible, so you cant give him enchantments or such, but invisible is an easy to understand condition. Note that he doesn't lose invisible by attacking unlike [mwcard=FWC08]Invisible Stalker[/mwcard]. Yes, Vigilant may have some unintended effects, and it can give him 2 counterattacks a turn.

---- (this took me like 10 mins;I worry what the upcoming "true sight" paladin will do to this wording.)
Xof
Has Invisible Trait, Vigilant trait, and a 4 dice melee attack.
Xof has melee-2 while invisible. During the upkeep phase, an opponent may give him a visible marker.
"I've heard of animals feeding on attention, but this is something else..."
----

Voltaric rift: make it block line of sight? it seems all sight-blocky from the picture, but that would require making it cost more than wall of fog...
Voltaric beacon: I worry that someone could spam Voltaric Beacons to make a telepit strategy impossible. Or they could use it to retreat back across the board too easily.

Seems to me that Voltaric beacon should destroy itself at the end of the round like Brace Yourself. I assume it means "when subject to a teleport effect" so that this enchantment can prevent a [mwcard=MW1I01]Banish[/mwcard]. seems too strong if a facedown enchantment across the board can block a banish. Here comes another rewording from me:
--------
Voltaric Beacon
Unique, Arcane 1
2 mana to cast. 2 mana to reveal.

The following applies to any friendly creature within 2 zones: Counter any teleport spell or effect which targets or teleports this creature.  If a spell or effect is countered this way, teleport this creature to Voltaric Beacon's zone. Destroy Voltaric beacon at the end of the round.
-------

But I would make it work similarly to [mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ06]Rolling Fog[/mwcard] in how it functions.
--------
Voltaric Beacon 2
Epic, Arcane 2 Conjuration
7 mana. Incorporeal, Indestructible, Dissipate 3
teleport subtype.

Counter every other teleport spell and effect in the arena. Any creature targeted by a teleport spell or effect is teleported to this zone unless its controller pays 2 mana.
-------

Magisbane Lily: I am concerned that the Magisbane lily is too awesome. Seems to me that it should be similarly priced(in mana and spellpoints) to [mwcard=DNJ02]Corrosive Orchid[/mwcard] since it has a similar effect.
Green Slime: doesnt get an acid attack? Awww, but that's ok.

I would have laid out the print sheets the same way that Arcane Wonders does. By that i mean, rather than having 6 copies of a level 1 equipment, have 4. Also have 2 lazy apprentice instead of one. Here is an excerpt of what i have written before:

If DvN and KUMANJARO are indicators:
6 copies: level 1 nonequipment cards
3 copies: legendaries, equipment which is single school and level 2+
2 copies: epic, unique, legendary cards with a mage restriction, Mage specific equipment(Necromancer only rather than Dark Mage only ie death ring but not cloak of shadows)
4 copies: everything else
Based on the above system, i will guess the number of copies of each card as well. Yes, equipment is treated like its unique for the most part.

[ACG]

Thanks for your feedback! Some replies:

Xof: I feel like he should be an living illusion(rather than a "sees the future" type creature; otherwise he would  protect himself when he knows an attack is coming rather than gaining attack. knowing you arent getting attacked should make you ), who gets more powerful the more attention you give him. Based on that, I would make him a mind spell, and gain the illusion subtype(but meh, you can throw that out).

Card text could be cleaned up a bit, so i did that. I altered his function slightly to make wording easier. Yes, I hurt him by making him invisible, so you cant give him enchantments or such, but invisible is an easy to understand condition. Note that he doesn't lose invisible by attacking unlike [mwcard=FWC08]Invisible Stalker[/mwcard]. Yes, Vigilant may have some unintended effects, and it can give him 2 counterattacks a turn.

---- (this took me like 10 mins;I worry what the upcoming "true sight" paladin will do to this wording.)
Xof
Has Invisible Trait, Vigilant trait, and a 4 dice melee attack.
Xof has melee-2 while invisible. During the upkeep phase, an opponent may give him a visible marker.
"I've heard of animals feeding on attention, but this is something else..."
----

That does make the text considerably more concise, and accomplishes more or less the same effect. But as you say, there may be some unintended consequences if cards that interact with the Invisible trait come out (vigilant is fine; it makes a lot of sense for this creature). Thematically, it is not invisible, just prescient of coming danger, so I don't know if I want to give it the invisible trait (for similar reasons, one should be hesitant to call on teleport when doing something that is definitely not a teleport, which is why my Tentacle of the Kraken is worded the way it is).

The reason he gains melee when an attack is coming isn't so much a thematic concern (although you can certainly justify it with the Xof becoming aggressive), but rather to stop the opponent from simply placing a Warning marker every turn, which would defeat the point of the card. Since warning the Xof makes it stronger, your opponent is only likely to do it right before an attack.

Also note that the Xof is currently only warned against attacks, whereas Invisible would warn it against everything.

As far as being a living illusion - well, that is theme. I personally prefer to reserve illusion status for creatures like the Illusory Tormentor, where the unreality of it is reflected in its attacks as well as its intangibility.

Voltaric rift: make it block line of sight? it seems all sight-blocky from the picture, but that would require making it cost more than wall of fog...

I considered blocking LOS, but as you say, it would increase the cost. Think of it as a rift on the ground, that you can step across or into. If it's too expensive, it won't be used, so I can't really allow much overlap with fog bank.

Voltaric beacon: I worry that someone could spam Voltaric Beacons to make a telepit strategy impossible. Or they could use it to retreat back across the board too easily.

Seems to me that Voltaric beacon should destroy itself at the end of the round like Brace Yourself. I assume it means "when subject to a teleport effect" so that this enchantment can prevent a [mwcard=MW1I01]Banish[/mwcard]. seems too strong if a facedown enchantment across the board can block a banish. Here comes another rewording from me:
--------
Voltaric Beacon
Unique, Arcane 1
2 mana to cast. 2 mana to reveal.

The following applies to any friendly creature within 2 zones: Counter any teleport spell or effect which targets or teleports this creature.  If a spell or effect is countered this way, teleport this creature to Voltaric Beacon's zone. Destroy Voltaric beacon at the end of the round.
-------

But I would make it work similarly to [mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ06]Rolling Fog[/mwcard] in how it functions.
--------
Voltaric Beacon 2
Epic, Arcane 2 Conjuration
7 mana. Incorporeal, Indestructible, Dissipate 3
teleport subtype.

Counter every other teleport spell and effect in the arena. Any creature targeted by a teleport spell or effect is teleported to this zone unless its controller pays 2 mana.

The primary reason I created Voltaric Beacon was to counter telepit strategies. The problem is, simply making an object immune to teleport is only useful if your opponent uses teleport, so the card is wasted otherwise, hence the dual use (to retreat, as you say). I think your point about it destroying itself is a good one; I may just add that in. I prefer not to go the Epic route, since as a counter or escape spell it works best as a surprise. I don't think it should have a maximum range, though.

Magisbane Lily: I am concerned that the Magisbane lily is too awesome. Seems to me that it should be similarly priced(in mana and spellpoints) to [mwcard=DNJ02]Corrosive Orchid[/mwcard] since it has a similar effect.

Well, in general the consensus seems to be that equipment is stronger than enchantments; it is harder to remove and is not subject to mass removal. The Magisbane Lily will allow you to remove 1 enchantment (and only once), whereas the Corrosive Orchid removes 1 piece of equipment, so if you accept that equipment is more valuable, I think the lower cost (in mana and level) is justified. Note also, that its attack is less useful; the Orchid can potentially strip away armor, whereas the lily just has the chance to drain mana.

The reason I created it was to give the Warlord a more reasonably priced dispel option (also, I love conjurations with attacks). The only potential problem might be the level (6 cheap conjurations with attacks could be quite powerful), but as it stands I am not terribly worried. If you test it and find otherwise, let me know.



Regarding card counts, my main concern was to fill the sheets evenly so as not to waste space. I considered putting 2 Lazy apprentices, but it would have necessitated another sheet. I might need to review how many of each I put in, but I am more concerned about how the cards play than the distribution.


If you print these out and try them (any of them), I would love to hear a battle report. Unfortunately, I have been too busy lately to do much design, so it may be a while before I update these.

[echephron]

Xof: I'm glad you liked vigilant. it should eliminate some text. I disagree about the importance that he be targettable by enemy enchants and incants though since they are aggressive and potentially lethal.

I do have trouble conceptualizing this prescient dog. I cant think of any lore examples either. He knows if he will be attacked in advance, and it makes him mad? what about when he knows he wont be attacked? maybe he is a pacifist when he is not being attacked, so you have to pay 2 mana. Or maybe when he is being attacked, he loses the pest trait and guards the zone.


and my imaginary non-living illusory dog would instead gain a permanent growth marker every time he is made visible .


Magisbane Lily: I didnt rule it based on what is powerful. I rulled it on how all other plants with a spell effect have been created. The flowers cost 1 spellpoint plus the spellpoints of its effective spell. [mwcard=DNJ06]Nightshade Lotus[/mwcard] costs 1 plus sleep(2).  [mwcard=DNJ02]Corrosive Orchid[/mwcard] costs 1 plus dissolve(1). so dispel flower should cost 1 plus dispel(1)

I figured 1/2 chance of a corrode is equal to one extra dice is equal to one mana drain...well equal enough. It could also cost 7 mana and have 7 hitpoints to be uniform with the others. You could also give the flower attack the ethereal trait since its all magic-y.

[sprz]

what kind a creature is xof? is xof a name or an english term to represent a particular creature.

IS it just an animal, canine who sees future?