"The Merge" TCG

[Chiz Fri]

Currently I am attempting to create my own TCG, currently called "The Merge" (Previous name: "Guardians of the Gateway"). I already have the alpha set of the rules drafted, I just need some input and assistance on creating the cards as well as making the templates and playmat.

 

The Rules:

[spoiler='The Cards']

Four (4) types of cards exist in Guardians of the Gateway: Leaders, Soldiers, Shields, and Support.

[spoiler='The Leader']The Leader is the player’s incarnation in the battle. They do not attack, and can only be attacked if no shields are left on that player’s side of the merge (the battlefield). Each Leader has one thousand (1000) Life Points, and generally has an ability specific to them. When the Leader’s Life Points hit zero (0), that player loses.[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Soldiers']Soldiers are your fighters in the battle. They vary in strength and abilities, but all have the same basic information: Dimension, Race, Attack, Defense, and Cost. Dimension refers to the place that Soldier originated. It will generally be the same as the Leader’s. This will create a synergistic advantage to a deck. One example of Dimensions is the dragon-filled world of Drakhnovin. Race refers to the species and specialization of the Soldier. Again, this can be used to an advantage, as some cards will refer to this information in their abilities. One example of Race is “Fire Dragon.” Attack refers to the Attack Stat written on the Soldier cards. This is the amount of power the Soldier has when on the offensive. Defense refers to the Defense Stat written on the Soldier Cards. This is the amount of power the Soldier has when blocking or being attacked. Cost refers to the number of Soldier cards required to summon that Soldier into the Merge. Some Soldiers will also have an additional cost to their Summon, such as destroying a shield. The lowest Cost a soldier will have is zero (0), and the highest will be four (4). Only four (4) Soldiers can be in the Merge at any one time for any one player.[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Shields']Shields are the player’s second line of defense. Three Shields are placed on the field at the beginning of the game, and are damaged by the opponent’s Soldiers’ attacks, or by special abilities. Each Shield has five hundred (500) Shield Points, and can be repaired by special abilities. Shields are destroyed when their Shield Points hit zero (0), or by special abilities that destroy them. The Leader cannot be attacked while there are Shields are left on that side of the Merge.[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Support']

Support cards are used to change the flow of the game by activating special abilities or adding to a Soldier’s Stats. There are five (5) different types of Support cards:

·         Normal Support Cards can only be played during the controller’s turn. They are sent to the Cemetery after their effects are resolved.

·         Flash Support Cards can be played during either player’s turn from the Support Card Zone. During the controller’s turn, they can be played directly from the hand, but must be set face-down before they can be activated during the opponent’s turn. They are sent to the Cemetery after their effects are resolved.

·         Equipment Support Cards can only be played during the controller’s turn. They are placed vertically underneath a Soldier, Leader, or Shield, and give that card the abilities written on the card. They stay on the field until the equipped Soldier or Shield is destroyed, or when their turn count has expired.

·         Trap Support Cards can be played during either player’s turn, but must be set face-down until the controller’s End Step before they can be activated. They are sent to the Cemetery after their effects are resolved.

·         Impact Support Cards can only be played during the controller’s Main Step. They are Normal Support Cards with the special ability “Impact,” limiting the number of cards with that text to four (4) per deck. These cards are incredibly powerful and can change the entire flow of the game. They are sent to the Cemetery after their effects are resolved.

[/spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Playing the Cards']

Cards are played into the Merge in three (3) ways: Summon, Cast, and Set.

·         Summon refers to playing Soldier cards from the hand. The act of Summoning includes the payment of any costs that are required to perform the Summon, so if a Summon is negated, the Cost is not paid.

·         Cast refers to playing Support cards from hand or the Support Card Zone. The act of Casting includes the payment of any costs that are required for the Cast, so if a Cast is negated, the Cost is not paid.

·         Set refers to placing a Flash or Trap Support card vertically face-down in the Support Card Zone. Cards that are Set do not activate and are kept unknown to every player except the controller.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler='The Deck & Preparing for Battle']The Deck can have no less than fifty (50) cards and no more than eighty (80) cards. There can be no more than four (4) copies on any one card in the deck. Leaders and Shields do not count toward the number of cards in the deck. At the beginning of the Match, both players’ decks are shuffled and placed in the Deck Zone, the three (3) Shield cards are placed in the Shield Zone, and the Leader in the Leader Zone. Then, both players decide who goes first and draws their first five (5) cards. The game then begins with the first player drawing their first card. The player to go first cannot enter Battle Step during their first turn.[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Turns']

[spoiler='Turn Structure']Each turn goes by a set turn structure.

1.      Start Step: In this step, the Turn Player Readies their Soldiers and draws a card from the top of their deck.

2.      Preparation Step: In this step, any effects that activate during this step are resolved.

3.      Main Step: In this step, the Turn Player can Summon, Cast, or Set cards from their hand to the Merge. Any effects that activate during this step are resolved.

4.      Battle Step: In this step, the Turn Player can assign Soldiers to attack the opponent’s Soldiers, Shields, or Leader. Any effects that activate during this step are resolved.

5.      End Step: This is the last Step of a turn. In this Step, any effects that activate during the step are resolved.[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Battle']The Structure of the Battle Step can be broken down even further:

1.      Deployment Step: The turn player Deploys a Soldier by turning it horizontally and declaring a Shield, Soldier, or Leader as a target.

2.      Boost Step: The turn player Boosts a Soldier by moving other Soldiers underneath the attacking Soldier. These Soldiers add their Attack Stat to the attacking Soldier.

3.      Defend Step: The non-turn player can assign Soldiers to defend a Shield card. If the attacking Soldier is targeting a Soldier, skip this step.

4.      Battle Step: If the turn player deploys a Soldier to attack a Soldier, or if the non-turn player assigned a Defender to block an attack on their Shield, the Attack Stat of the Attacking Soldier and the Defense Stat of the Blocking Soldier are compared. If they are equal, or if the Defense Stat of the Blocking Soldier is greater, nothing happens. If the Attack Stat of the Attacking Soldier is higher, the Defending Soldier is destroyed. If the turn player deploys a Soldier to attack a Shield or Leader and no Defending Soldier is assigned, the Soldier’s Attack Stat is subtracted from the Shield Points or Life Points of the Shield or Leader.

5.      Damage Step: The damage from the battle step is applied, and Soldiers that are destroyed are sent to the Cemetery and Shields are sent out of play.

6.      End Step: Boosting Soldiers are moved back to their original position and flipped face-down (Face-down soldiers cannot attack or be attacked, and cannot block. They are flipped face-up during the Start Step).[/spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Ending the Game']The game ends when a player’s Leader’s health is reduced to zero (0), if a player is unable to draw due to no cards being left in the deck, or if a special effect states it, the game is over and that player has lost.[/spoiler]

 

[spoiler='The Dimensions in Brief']

Verusia: Fire World; full of dragons, dragon worshippers, and pyromancers

Solaria: Light World; full of angels, benign spirits, and holy warriors

Citadel: Magic World; full of mages, conjurers, tacticians, and their servants

Kingdom: Knight World; full of medieval knights, kings, queens, and paladins

Zauberwald: Forest World; full of wild beasts, hunter/gatherers, fairies, and plants

???????: Water and Ice World; full of merpeople, fish/other aquatic beasts, ice nomads, and polar animals

Eclipsus: Dark World; full of demons, shadow creatures, poltergeists, and evil spirits

???????: Cybernetic World; full of large mechs and vehicles.

[/spoiler]

 

[spoiler='Example Card (Soldier) (WARNING: ROUGH BETA)']

In this super rough as hell version, everything should be self-explanatory. The Cost Gauge, however, is different. It shows how many soldiers need to be tributed to summon that soldier.[/spoiler]

[werewolfjedi]

since it seems the leaders will be the core of a deck, I think these cards need to be concept tested first.

what kind of abilities will the leaders have? will they be, in general, triggering, constant, repeating at the start?

in addition, since it seems that defense stats are static, but you have life totals as well in the form of player life and the shields, perhaps it would be more conceptually simple to make that stat also a life point stat, with it being like in magic where it resets every turn. then, you can give abilities to units that help out when they boost, like how when you create an attacking army in legend of the five rings.

also, with LOT5R, they have a way of utilizing cards from other clans, through the honor and cost system, in their game, when you play a unit from your clan you have 3 options to my knowledge, you may ether pay their gold cost ( which kind of like mana for the game) and gain honor, allowing the use of stronger cards, ( and leads to the honor win in that game, but that number is far and above the highest honor numbers needed to summon) pay their cost -minus 2, and play it without honor gain, but you must already have enough honor to play it normally for any clan, or if you don't have enough, you can pay their cost +2, but only if it's your clan, and again, you gain no honor. to play cards of other clans, you need to meet the honor requirement, and if you pay their cost+2, you can gain honor from them as well.

 

if this is about a clash of dimensions, what if calling your units bring more of your dimension into the battleground, giving you more fuel to play bigger units, and more easily play your smaller ones.

if you'd like to bounce cost and 'mana' ideas off me for this, I'd be more than happy to help. card game R&D is a job goal of mine.

[werewolfjedi]

if you'd like, I would start on this kind of stuff for you here just to test where you want to start power wise.

I would be working under these assumptions about the game

a basic shield at 500, should be able to survive on avg, 3 hits from lower power monsters, 2 hits from mid game monsters, and 1 hit from big monsters.

units generally are geared towards defense or offense.

the same unit can not normally defend twice in the same battle phase.

numbers are going to generally move in intervals of 100.

 

I am also creating a mana system, called stability. the leader units gain their listed stability every turn at the start, it does not carry over between turns. since you want units to be sacked to play bigger units, they would have a stability cost, and a stability worth. that worth number is basically what the mana it's worth when you sack it for a bigger unit.

considering the 3 usual archtypes of the TCG, the control, the agro, and the combo, I present these leader units.

Leader unit.

gateway shield master.

dimension: gateway (aka generic)

hit points : 1000 (the norm)

starting stability : 2

abilities.

your gateway units require one less stability.

during Preparation , if you control 2 or less shields, you may place a 300 hit point token shield into an empty shield zone, if you do, lose 100 hit points.

when you Defend a shield with a unit, if that unit would be destroyed, you may instead subtract the defense of that unit from the attack of the attacking unit(s), and apply the difference to the hit points of the shield defended.

when one of your units would be destroyed, you may sacrifice a shield instead

 

leader unit

Gateway legion commander

dimension: gateway

hit points: 1000

starting stability: 2

your gateway units require one less stability.

during Preparation, you may remove a unit on your field from play, if you do, search your deck for a unit with an equal stability cost.

during battle, when you boost a unit, the boosting unit may gain second strike ( a unit with second strike declares an attack on any legal target if the unit it boosted does not destroy it's target. makes it strong against shields, but generally weak against units.) if the unit attacks using that ability, it does not refresh at the start of your next turn.

when you summon a unit, you may pay 100 life points, if you do it gains rush ( it can attack this turn, but not use an activated ability.)

 

Gateway strike leader

dimension: gateway

hit points: 1000

starting stability: 2

your gateway units require one less stability.

during Preparation, you may dismiss a unit (send it to the graveyard), if you do, gain it's stability cost to your stability pool.

during battle, if your unit attacked a shield and a unit was sent to defend it and was defeated by your attacking unit, deal the difference between your unit's attack and their units defense to the shield you attacked. (piercing damage/trample)

when you cast, you may rest 1 unit instead of dismissing it for it's stability worth.

[werewolfjedi]

next up, some units

 

lower tier

gateway defender

stability cost 3. worth 2

ATK 100 DEF 300

when this unit leaves the field, restore 200 hit points to your leader or a shield you control.

 

gateway attacker.

cost 2, worth 2

ATK 200, DEF 100

when this unit boosts, the boost increases by an additional 100 ATK.

 

gateway striker.

cost 3, worth 0

ATK 300, DEF 0

when this unit is dismissed for a summon, the summoned unit gains rush.

 

mid tier

gateway warden

cost 5, worth 3

ATK 200, DEF 700

when a shield is attacked, this unit may defend it, even if it has defended before this turn.

 

gateway warrior

cost 4, worth 2

ATK 500, DEF 200

this unit has rush. is this unit is boosted by a unit with second attack, this unit may then boost that unit when it attacks.

 

gateway chanter.

cost 5, worth 4.

ATK 300, DEF 400

during your start step, gain +1 stability.

rest this unit, pay 2 stability: draw a card.

 

high tier.

gateway sentinel

cost 7, worth 5

ATK 400, DEF 900

no other units or shields may be attacked as long as this unit remains on the field.

can not be removed from the field by effects controlled by your opponent(s).

when this unit leaves the battlefield, place a 500 hit point shield in your shield zone.

 

gateway berserker.

cost 6, worth 2.

1000 ATK. DEF 400.

if this unit is boosted, and it defeats a defender, it may make another attack, but it can not be boosted during that attack.

if a unit performs a second attack after boosting this unit, your opponent can not respond with a set card.

when this unit leaves the battlefield, deal 300 points of damage to your opponent's shields.

 

Gateway sabatour.

cost 8, worth 5

ATK 500, DEF 500

your opponent can not target this unit with any effect.

when this unit attacks, your opponent may discard a card, if they do not, the target is destroyed before defenders are declared.

 

"god" tier.

gateway Vanguard

cost 10. worth 6

ATK 700 DEF 1300

attacks against this unit can not be boosted.

this unit may defend any shield or unit attacked that you control.

rest this unit: this turn, your opponent can not attack deal any damage to your life points.

if this unit is removed from the battlefield but not defeated in battle, place 4 1000 hit point shields in your Shield zone.

 

gateway blade master.

cost 9, worth 3.

ATK 1300. DEF 700

when this unit attacks, you may choose 3 targets. conduct battle against all of these targets ( you may not target the same thing twice)

if this unit is boosted, double the boost.

 

gateway dragon

cost 12. worth 0.

ATK 1000. DEF 1000.

when this unit attacks, deal 200 points of damage to your opponent's life points.

when this unit declares attack, sacrifice another unit or a shield: this unit attacks all legal targets on your opponent's field. your opponent can not defend any target.

you may not summon any other units as long as you control this unit

[Chiz Fri]

While I am glad that you are enthusiastic about this game, I'd like to explain why a few of your suggestions would not work for me.

 

-I am trying to make this game as unique as possible. As such, I would like to refrain from anything "generic" as well as using a "Mana" system. The mana system and soldier health system would make the game too similar to Magic the Gathering, one lawsuit I would like to avoid.

 

-As I said, I want to avoid anything "Generic" and therefore, as an edit to the original post, I am adding the Dimensions that already exist. Besides, what would a "Generic" Dimension look like?

 

-The Defense stat is static because every battle between two or more Soldiers would have a definitive ending, with a victor and a loser, as opposed to a stalemate.

 

However, you did have a good point in your first post containing guides for either offensive or defensive Soldiers, as well as how powerful the soldiers should be. Also, the Leader cards would have differing types of effects, based on Dimension, Race, and Clan (archetype). For example, a Wizard from the Citadel would have an activate ability that allows the user to force their opponent to discard if certain requirements are met, whereas a Dragon from Verusia would have a trigger effect that deals damage to a shield or leader whenever an opponent's soldier was destroyed.

[Dog King]

hi im official trading card creator ceo, i see your ideas and since they arent officialy copyrighted i am stealing them and making it into a card game which will make my companys worth well over millions
Have a great day

[Chiz Fri]

Well Mr Dog King, the fact that you want to take my idea just tells me that either it's a brilliant idea or you are heading toward a long road of rejection. 

[Dog King]

nah all my post was sarcastic and i wouldnt steal it,
I do like the idea of new card games and your is interesting but the whole idea of msin step, battle step, end step, win by reducing life to 0 or unable to draw its just too similiar to ygoh and wouldnt give a reason for players to play that instead of ygoh,
I think you need to re think it and make it completely different,

[Chiz Fri]

nah all my post was sarcastic and i wouldnt steal it,
I do like the idea of new card games and your is interesting but the whole idea of main step, battle step, end step, win by reducing life to 0 or unable to draw its just too similiar to ygoh and wouldnt give a reason for players to play that instead of ygoh,
I think you need to re think it and make it completely different,

 

I understand what you mean (sort of). The thing is, most TCG's share those common traits. The only ones that I've heard of that don't count empty deck as a win condition is the Bandai Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG and Weiss Schwartz.

 

EDIT TO OP: Example card image for Soldiers has been added for critique.

[Chiz Fri]

B.U.M.P.

[Sander]

You can't place your own name over an image that you do not own. |:

[Chiz Fri]

I in no way claimed the artwork as my own, I credit the artist in the main text box. As for the watermark, I own/created the main part of the card myself from scratch.

[Sander]

Then just post template, without the image. Giving credit to the artist doesn't do jack shit when it doesn't fall under fair use. It's still using it without their consent, and you pasting your name all over the art does not make it any better.

[Chiz Fri]

I edited the card to be less of a quality example though more legal.

And I didn't fucking feel like putting the watermark back on.

 

If there is anything else you want to pick at, don't hesitate.

[SunKistRebelution]

@ReneTCG I'm not sure I completely understand the cost system which you have detailed in your original post. Would you care to elaborate upon that subject for a lower intellect like myself? Thanks.

[Chiz Fri]

Sadly I hoped I'd be able to explain it to someone of equal or greater intelligence in a slightly to moderately condescending tone.

But in all honesty I do need to go back and revise everything's wording. In essence the cost system is similar to yugioh except the number of sacrificed monsters are shown by the cost number instead of a number/range of levels.

[SunKistRebelution]

Got it. Well, the whole idea certainly intrigues me. I'll be watching and waiting for the updated post.

[Chiz Fri]

BUMP updated the card template

[werewolfjedi]

I still don't see why I'd want to play a unit that gets rid of multiple units to pay for it unless it was broken as shit.

I think you may want to consider an evolution style of sacrifice instead, like vanguard grade increases, one on top of another. then you could use the lower copies to fuel abilities like an XYZ.

giving powerful but limited use effects keeps a player wanting to increase at least one unit section a round, creating their own boss unit as they build an army around that.

hell. I'd love for an ultimate level that ate my leader card too, and just put everything on the line.

great now I"m thinking about digimon.

di di di di.... digmon digital monsters....

[werewolfjedi]

the secondary reason why you could work it like that, is so that then you could use special abilities and spells that let you 'skip ahead' in the levels, because then they would have none or almost no fuel for their biggest abilities, meaning you'd be paying for little more than just their stats, which while useful, may not be all you want or need.

also, I would suggest adding in a rank 0 level for tiny feeder units so you can give decent level 1 unit abilities.

 

for example, Verusia

being about big dragons and those who worship them, they could definitely work that angle.

if you take a page from buddyfght, you can type cards further, giving magic under types special to the group.

(stats will be ignored for the example.)

baby dragon

level 0. verusia dragon

if you summon a Verusia human unit on top of this unit, you may search your deck for a ritual magic and add it to your hand.

grand dragon cultist

level 1 verusia human

consume 1 soul (take a unit from underneath this card, and remove it from the game): summon a level 1 human type Verusia from your deck, it can not attack, use an ability, and is dismissed at the end of the turn.

grand dragon worshiper

level 1 Verusia human

if this card is used to pay the cost of a ritual spell card, if the summoning is successful, add this unit to the soul of a dragon unit you control.

spell card. dragon summoning

undertype:ritual

from your field, dissmiss 2 level 1 Verusia human type units. call from your hand one level 3 or lower dragon unit to the field.

*unnamed big ass dragon*

level 3 verusia dragon

consume 1 soul: deal 250 points of damage to a shield, or destroy a level 1 or lower unit.

 

see, if you play the cards in combo, you get one shot off, which is better than nothing, but, if you decided to grind from level 0/1 to 3, you would have several shots, and be able to completely destroy a basic shield, or wipe the field of lesser units.

[werewolfjedi]

also, that ultimate level. doesn't have to be "level 5" it would be more like special condition summoning, it would give the decks a goal for their field setup.

for example, one ultimate unit would need 4 level 1s of the same type to be given up, while another might want a level 1 2 3 and 4, while a third just wants a level 4, but that the level 4 has to possess at least 2 souls. I think the biggest point would be that it shouldn't be something that you could make in just the opening turn of the game. it's meant to be a deck's end game.

which is why I would also limit how many ultimate level cards should be in a deck, because they don't have to be units, they could also be magic or a legendary weapon equipment.

[Chiz Fri]

also, that ultimate level. doesn't have to be "level 5" it would be more like special condition summoning, it would give the decks a goal for their field setup.

for example, one ultimate unit would need 4 level 1s of the same type to be given up, while another might want a level 1 2 3 and 4, while a third just wants a level 4, but that the level 4 has to possess at least 2 souls. I think the biggest point would be that it shouldn't be something that you could make in just the opening turn of the game. it's meant to be a deck's end game.

which is why I would also limit how many ultimate level cards should be in a deck, because they don't have to be units, they could also be magic or a legendary weapon equipment.

I apologize, I kinda tl;dr-ed your second post (that's a trend you have, super long second posts) but I really do like the idea you have. Especially since I changed the cost to look more like a progress bar on its side, it would make more sense to have it represent progression instead of a cost. I also like the idea of that "Ultimate Card" system of end game, and maybe have those cards be high cost and have some sort of a keyword that prevents them from being used too many times a turn or having too many in a deck (which could also help with deck building). 

 

I'll get to editing my master docx file soon, and edit the OP when the editing is done. Much thanks, WWJ

[werewolfjedi]

I apologize, I kinda tl;dr-ed your second post (that's a trend you have, super long second posts) but I really do like the idea you have. Especially since I changed the cost to look more like a progress bar on its side, it would make more sense to have it represent progression instead of a cost. I also like the idea of that "Ultimate Card" system of end game, and maybe have those cards be high cost and have some sort of a keyword that prevents them from being used too many times a turn or having too many in a deck (which could also help with deck building). 

 

I'll get to editing my master docx file soon, and edit the OP when the editing is done. Much thanks, WWJ

it's generally how my thoughts go, I make comments and then after the idea comes to form I put it down

[.Rooster]

This needs more posts.