![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xaq_the_aereonWith Blade Clash, that is.
Yesterday, I proxied the bare essentials needed for a pair of decks out of a trio of Uno decks, and used my character creation templates to make a pair of characters; one representing my avatar, the other a five-headed hydra, with its 4 extra heads represented by 4 Minion Cards), in order to test out the mechanics of the game....and before I even finished the first game, I ran into a massive problem.
Mechanics-wise, the game's working perfectly...but it is massively mind-intensive and more complex than other TCGs go.
One example of this is the Initiative Phase of each turn, where you determine who's getting attacked. To do this, you use up to 4 of the Point Cards you have for that turn: you select them from your hand, set them down, and then, once both player's are ready, turn them up and add things up. Whoever has the highest total is on the offensive. Seems simple, right?
Well, it would be, if the face value of those cards was the only thing being taken into account. However, it's nowhere near that simple: first off, those Point Cards are divided into 3 Elements, or suits, which correspond to your character's Elemental Affinity stats: the face value of each card is increased by that corresponding Affinity. For example, a Blue 4 played by a character with a Blue Affinity of 6 is increased in value to a total of 10.
On top of that, the 3 Elements have a bit of a Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanic to them; Red's Rock to Blue's Paper to Green's Scissors, basically. Prior to figuring out the ENTIRE total of your Point Cards, you have to determine which Element has the highest total of the 3. Whichever one does becomes your "Dominant Element" for the turn, and then, whichever player's DE beats the other's (if they don't have the same one) gains an additional bonus to their total equal to their Affinity for that stat.
For example, 1 character has a Red Affinity of 4 and plays nothing but Red Point Cards, while their opponent has a Blue Affinity of 6 and plays nothing but Blue PCs, giving them Dominant Elements for the Initiative Phase of Red and Blue, respectively...Blue beats Red, giving the Blue player an additional 6 point bonus to their Initiative Total.
After that, the point totals are added up...and then the character's Agility stats are added, as well as any effects gained from Action Cards, Equipment, and innate abilities of the characters.
So, to run you through this, let's take the demo card I made based on my avatar as an example:
For simplicity's sake, I won't factor in anything more than her Affinities and Agility. She has no effects that directly alter her Initiative anyway, and we're not using any Action/Equipment Cards here.
On a given turn, she draws the following Point Cards:
Blue 5, Blue 2, Blue 0, Red 3, Green 0.
For the Initiative Phase, she plays the Blue 2 and the Green 0. For argument's sake, we'll say her opponent got an all-Red-Point-Card Initiative Total, including Agility, of 20, with a Dominant Element of (surprise) Red.
Willexia's Inititative Total:
Blue: (2+6) 8
Green:(0+3) 3
Red: 0
Total: 11
Dominant Element: Blue. Blue beats Red, so she gets a +6 bonus for her Blue Affinity.
11 + 6 + 4(Agility) = 21.
Willexia wins the Initiative.
The Combat Phase works pretty much exactly the same, so basically you have to go through that chain of calculations twice per turn, every turn. I'd be okay with them writing the adjusted totals directly on the Point Cards, as then they would only have to factor in Action/Equipment Cards and innate effects (like if Willexia had a weapon equipped, adjusting her BLUE Total), but that's about all the simplification I can think of.
I just can't help but feel that will be too complex for my target audience to be comfortable with. A friend of mine on Gaia referred to it as "D&D on acid," and I have to admit...I think he's got a point. :[
Some input from my gamer friends would be appreciated.
Yesterday, I proxied the bare essentials needed for a pair of decks out of a trio of Uno decks, and used my character creation templates to make a pair of characters; one representing my avatar, the other a five-headed hydra, with its 4 extra heads represented by 4 Minion Cards), in order to test out the mechanics of the game....and before I even finished the first game, I ran into a massive problem.
Mechanics-wise, the game's working perfectly...but it is massively mind-intensive and more complex than other TCGs go.
One example of this is the Initiative Phase of each turn, where you determine who's getting attacked. To do this, you use up to 4 of the Point Cards you have for that turn: you select them from your hand, set them down, and then, once both player's are ready, turn them up and add things up. Whoever has the highest total is on the offensive. Seems simple, right?
Well, it would be, if the face value of those cards was the only thing being taken into account. However, it's nowhere near that simple: first off, those Point Cards are divided into 3 Elements, or suits, which correspond to your character's Elemental Affinity stats: the face value of each card is increased by that corresponding Affinity. For example, a Blue 4 played by a character with a Blue Affinity of 6 is increased in value to a total of 10.
On top of that, the 3 Elements have a bit of a Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanic to them; Red's Rock to Blue's Paper to Green's Scissors, basically. Prior to figuring out the ENTIRE total of your Point Cards, you have to determine which Element has the highest total of the 3. Whichever one does becomes your "Dominant Element" for the turn, and then, whichever player's DE beats the other's (if they don't have the same one) gains an additional bonus to their total equal to their Affinity for that stat.
For example, 1 character has a Red Affinity of 4 and plays nothing but Red Point Cards, while their opponent has a Blue Affinity of 6 and plays nothing but Blue PCs, giving them Dominant Elements for the Initiative Phase of Red and Blue, respectively...Blue beats Red, giving the Blue player an additional 6 point bonus to their Initiative Total.
After that, the point totals are added up...and then the character's Agility stats are added, as well as any effects gained from Action Cards, Equipment, and innate abilities of the characters.
So, to run you through this, let's take the demo card I made based on my avatar as an example:
For simplicity's sake, I won't factor in anything more than her Affinities and Agility. She has no effects that directly alter her Initiative anyway, and we're not using any Action/Equipment Cards here.
On a given turn, she draws the following Point Cards:
Blue 5, Blue 2, Blue 0, Red 3, Green 0.
For the Initiative Phase, she plays the Blue 2 and the Green 0. For argument's sake, we'll say her opponent got an all-Red-Point-Card Initiative Total, including Agility, of 20, with a Dominant Element of (surprise) Red.
Willexia's Inititative Total:
Blue: (2+6) 8
Green:(0+3) 3
Red: 0
Total: 11
Dominant Element: Blue. Blue beats Red, so she gets a +6 bonus for her Blue Affinity.
11 + 6 + 4(Agility) = 21.
Willexia wins the Initiative.
The Combat Phase works pretty much exactly the same, so basically you have to go through that chain of calculations twice per turn, every turn. I'd be okay with them writing the adjusted totals directly on the Point Cards, as then they would only have to factor in Action/Equipment Cards and innate effects (like if Willexia had a weapon equipped, adjusting her BLUE Total), but that's about all the simplification I can think of.
I just can't help but feel that will be too complex for my target audience to be comfortable with. A friend of mine on Gaia referred to it as "D&D on acid," and I have to admit...I think he's got a point. :[
Some input from my gamer friends would be appreciated.
