One more, this time with red.
And yeah I'm defaulting to a level of 3 every time cause I have no clue how balance works, forgive me.
Oh I love this! Really interesting actions here :0
Also yeah I don't even know what the balance is lol the best I can say is level 0s can be played no cost and you get 1 free Level 1 so the higher the level the harder it'll be to get on the board but also the better it can afford to be? So we'll see lol
I think there's an element of getting exponentially better as you increase levels. Like, a 3 on the Richter scale for earthquakes might be comparable to a semi truck driving by, but a 4 can shatter your windows.
As a player, If I take 2 turns to get out 2 level 1 cards, when I sacrifice them, I lose their abilities, so I want my level 2 card to have an ability that is worth the trade-off. I don't think this has to be a set-in-stone design principle, but without it, there isn't really a reason to not just have decks that are >90% levels 0-1 beyond other people's deck gimmicks.
Yeah it does seem like it'd be hard to escalate levels while still having more than one card in play, which is what would be needed for combos and just fun interactions in general. Exponential power is a good idea. Mechanics that let you play certain cards, like ygo (I don't play it so I don't really know tbh) ie. "(Backup): if this dies, you may play up to two level 1 cards." would help. Also 0-level cards can also serve as single use action cards (like instants or spells or something) so those can also be used to bring out more cards from your hand, ie. "(Cast): when this enters play, you may discard this card along with another from your hand and play a level 2 card."
hm yeah I might mess around and make some basic utility cards!
I saw on twitter someone was making cards that mess with the Materials mechanic (where you can play a card facedown and turn it into a blank, can't have actions, level 1 sacrifice token) and I think that's a good direction! I know I built this game with more Yu-Gi-Oh in mind than, say, MTG lol
That sounds like it'd work well. Other cards could use that mechanic to convert in-play cards to materials or vice versa.
This game gives me Dvorak and 1000 Blank White Cards vibes because of how community driven the card making is, which is a great thing. If anyone needs inspiration, there are Dvorak decks online which are a treasure trove of neat mechanics and ideas (try http://www.dvorakgame.co.uk/index.php/Infinite_Dvorak_deck).
Used https://2draw.me/random_ship_generator/index.en.htmto generate sprites for inspiration (the original sprite is to the right of the card's name), and tried to make some more designs addressing various needs I imagined decks might have in Basic TCG. Tried to go for a simpler art style but I actually ended up spending a good amount of work on the details, haha... might need to lay off shading and stuff next time! I also added backgrounds. : )
I'm thinking my deck for the jam might be "The Bartender's Kit"
I had read about this a few days ago but only got to seeing it today! Got really excited and made a few cards!
LEVEL 4 - BLANK BENDER
( BLANK-BENDING): When this card enters play, choose a word. You're now "bending" any card with that word in its name.
YEET TECHNIQUE: Choose a card you are currently bending. Sacrifice it to deal damage equal to its level against another card.
Bane of theme decks. Also very funny if there's ever a "Bender" theme (which I'll probably contribute towards).
LEVEL 5 - RAT PRINCET
(BLUE FUR): When this card would take damage, choose another Rat card lower in hierarchy to take the damage in its place.
GUARDS!: Play a Rat card from your hand, free of cost.
Great addition to Rat decks.
LEVEL 2 - ROCK PAPER WIZARD
(JUDGE OVER MATTER): Whenever a two-sided argument regarding the rules arises, it must be resolved through a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors, the victor also winning the argument. This card cannot be controlled, sacrificed or altered in any way except for its level rising or dropping.
A simple change to possible dynamics. Pretty situational but I think its a funny idea.
Here are a few more!
LEVEL 0 - THE FOOL
(JOIN THE PARTY): For the purposes of sacrifice, this card is considered Level 1.
JUGGLE ACT: Choose a player. They must shuffle their hand back into their deck, then draw a number of cards equal to the number of cards they had.
A bit of Tarot Major Arcana is always fun, and I don't think I saw many hand shufflers? Though I probably missed them. Sorry!
LEVEL 3 - RED FUNGUS
(HOMEGROWN): This card gains all Actions of a single card that was sacrificed to play this one.
(EATUS DETRITUS): When a card is discarded, this card gains 1 Level.
Basically a level regen buff for any one card, but Fun because its Fun-gi. Also doesn't have much innate synergy with Red Paint but potentially could!
LEVEL 2 - WAND OF SWAPS
STRANGE S'TURDAY: Swap the Levels of two cards of your choice. You can't choose this card.
(MAGIC WOBBLE): If this card takes lethal damage, the source takes equal damage.
Simple, fragile and probably pretty powerful. Don't really know!
LEVEL 2 - WAND OF BARRIERS
(LIGHT SCREEN): When played, attach to another card. Damage dealt to that card is transferred to this card.
(SOLAR-POWERED): This card gains 1 Level every turn, up to Level 6, as long as it isn't explicitly nighttime.
The second wand, with quirky recharge. Does real-life nighttime count as "explicitly nighttime"? Hmm...
LEVEL 0 - THE MAW
(SUMMONING FEAST): When played, you may sacrifice any number of your cards. The Maw's level is equal to the combined total of your sacrificed cards' Levels. Additionally, once per turn you may sacrifice one card and add its Level to The Maw's.
DEVOUR: Deals damage equal to its Level, then loses 1 Level.
Build-a-Sweeper kind of card. Don't forget to feed it a steady diet.
Well, I found some free time, so here's a big big batch. I'll probably chill with cards for a while now, haha!
LEVEL 3 - CATOPUS
(PSSPSSPSS): Rats and Fish of Level 0 count as Level 1 when sacrificed to play this card.
CONSUMER OF FISH: Deal lethal damage to a Fish.
DEVOURER OF RODENTS: Deal lethal damage to a Rat.
A more specialized theme counter. I wanted to do some edited cat photo card and this was the best I thought of!
LEVEL 3 - GORGOBLIN
(HEAD OF THE GORGOBLIN): When defeated by an opponent, they may give the STONE GAZE action to one of their cards by attaching this card to it.
STONE GAZE: Choose a player. All of their cards of Level 1 or lower become Level 1 Materials.
I always like figuring out how to adapt gorgons into game mechanics. Made into a goblin for some extra flavour!
LEVEL 0 - EJECT BUTTON
(KEEP IN MIND): When you play this card, attach it to another card. This card cannot be targetted by attacks.
(OUTTA HERE): If the card this is attached to is defeated, instead return it to your hand and sacrifice this card.
I could swear I saw a card that did this somewhere, but when I checked again I couldn't find it. Maybe I imagined it. Anyways, classic failsafe effect!
LEVEL 6 - RED DRAGON
(YOU'VE GROWN SO MUCH!): You may sacrifice just a Baby Dragon to play this card.
SNEEZE: Deal 3 damage to one card, and 1 damage to any adjacent card.
I guess baby dragons may change color or something! The wording is a bit off I think, if anyone has any suggestions I'll happily take them!
LEVEL 1 - RED HIMARK MARKER
"PAINT": Target card you DO control becomes red.
(OH HI MARK): Nullifies the effects of The Mark's (MARKED FOR DEATH) for the player that controls this card.
Silly card for a silly joke and a very specific deck. Dunno if its cool using a brand but I think some other cards did so I'll go for it.
LEVEL 0 - SEED OF POTENTIAL
(WHAT COULD IT BE!): At the end of your turn, put a counter on this card.
SHOWTIME: Sacrifice this card to play a card of equal or lower Level to the amount of counters on this.
Another card that serves as Sacrifice mulch, but doesn't actually contribute the levels until it pops. Needs to be protected!
LEVEL 1 - DEATH
(UNDEAD): This card is undead.
ACCOMPANYING: Discard this card, and discard an opponet's card.
(ONE OF MANY DEATHS): This card cannot be discarded except through ACCOMPANYING. If it's defeated, it's instead shuffled into deck.
Keeping the Tarot theme, Death! Obviously the idea lends itself to be OP so I tried to make a simple gimmick instead. Also its second passive's title is meant to not discourage other people of making their own versions of Death! Would be greedy to claim all of the potential properties to myself!
LEVEL 3 - SEAN
YAWN: Choose a card. Turn it sideways as it falls asleep until your next turn. It regains all Levels lost to damage.
SEAN-CE: Use an Action from a card in your discard pile.
The idea of just a dude being a card ain't a new one, so I stuck some effects I thought interesting into this person, who does not exist.
LEVEL 3 - NAES
(NAESTY FELLOW): Whenever a player performs an interaction with this card, they discard the top card from their deck.
OPEN-MOUTH CHEWING: Choose a player to show you their hand, then discard one card there, of your choice.
Bound to happen when a dude is introduced, their anti-dude. This one is very quirky with discards, and what defines an interaction is bound to cause confusion (just as NAES intended).
(Edit) EVIL LEVEL 3 - NAES
Same as regular NAES but uses evil Levels, which I started messing with a good while after. Basically you need to remove from game 1 card from your discard pile per evil Level required, but no sacrifices are needed.
LEVEL 0 - THE LOVERS
(AMIDST THE CHAOS): This card cannot be defeated. When this card enters play, choose one of your cards and an opponet's card of equal or lower level, and put them together along with this card. They can no longer be controlled. If either is defeated, both the remaining card and this one are discarded.
Third Tarot card! Now you can have your own enemies-to-lovers. Most likely serves as a two-way method of making a card's passive into a "field effect", as not being controlled means the opponent won't fear its actions, therefore less likely to attack. But who cares! It's fun flavor!
I must admit I forgot ingredients existed when I wrote that! But that does create some interesting narratives so I'll leave it that way. Thanks, glad you had fun!
Also I lied! Haha! I did one more!
LEVEL 5 - EYE OF SORE ONE
ALL SEEING: Look at the top 5 cards in your deck. Pick 1, and put it on top of the deck. Put the other 4 at the bottom.
(ALL TEARING): Whenever this card is damaged, it takes a minimum of 2 damage.
There are already some cards that work nicely with lucky draws, so why not fill the niche of controlling what you draw? + a bad pun (and probably overdone? idk I've never seen it at least).
I'm back at it with some silly ideas.
LEVEL -1 - OLD AMBER
CRETACEOUS BARK: All cards of higher Level than this lose 1 Level.
(CLEVER GIRL): This card knows the answer to any math operations that need to be performed. Can't speak though.
As a negative level card, it should be instantly discarded, and how is amber supposed to bark anyways? Well, that's with a little help from...
LEVEL 3 - NECROMANCER
(UNDEAD): This card is undead.
CHECK THIS OUT: Choose a card from your discard pile. Play that card, which now has a Level equal to half of this card's Level (rounded down). That card also has the (UNDEAD) passive now.
A way to introduce more undead into the game, possibly make zombies even stronger than their living selves. The key is the necromancer's skill, not the ingredients!
LEVEL 2 - SPIRAL DOMAIN
TWISTING REALM: All players count the cards in their hands, then put them all in a neat pile. Shuffle the pile and give out the same amount of cards they had to each player.
(UNREAL DOOZY): At the start of your turns, everyone draws their card from the player to their right's deck, instead of theirs.
This card only works if you are playing in such a way that makes deck mixing not a hassle, such as if you are playing with a single deck (in which case its passive is useless). I always think all-player-shuffles are fun, though!
LEVEL 2 - SELF-HELP BOOK
(VISUALIZE YOUR LIFE): Undead cards you control gain 1 Level.
(VISUALIZE YOUR DEATH): This card takes a maximum of 1 damage when attacked by a card that isn't undead.
Another addition to the undead theme, some needed guidance for those poor souls!
LEVEL 1 - BATRACHIAN
(NICE AND FRESH): If it's currently raining, this card gains 2 Levels.
LONG TONGUE: Deal lethal damage to a Bug.
(CROAK): When this card is defeated, give whoever is responsible a long and disapproving look.
Simple card, also good against specific opponents (unintentionally building some "type effectiveness" kind of rap). I wanted to draw a funny frog tongue.
LEVEL 3 - BABY CHILD
(HELLO WORLD): When Baby Child is first played, choose two cards. Baby Child inherits a Passive from one of them, and an Action from the other. Those cards are considered Baby Child's parents, and cannot harm Baby Child in any way, unless Baby Child defeats another card, at which point they see the monster they've brought upon this world.
I really like making this sort of """modular""" cards that allow for lots of possible combos and synergies.
Back at it.
LEVEL 2 - CIRCULAR KARATE CHOP
CIRCULAR KARATE CHOP: Perform a (careful) Circular Karate Chop on another player's hand, discarding it and also this card. This Action can only be countered by a Telescoping Roundhouse Kick or another Circular Karate Chop.
(I'VE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS): If another player uses a Telescoping Roundhouse Kick or another Circular Karate Chop, you may counter it, discarding both that card and this one.
LEVEL 2 - TELESCOPING ROUNDHOUSE KICK
TELESCOPING ROUNDHOUSE KICK: Perform a (careful) Telescoping Roundhouse Kick to the air, shuffling back into their deck up to 6 Levels worth of cards of another player and discarding this card. This Action can only be countered by a Circular Karate Chop or another Telescoping Roundhouse Kick.
(I'VE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS): If another player uses a Circular Karate Chop or another Telescoping Roundhouse Kick, you may counter it, discarding both that card and this one.
These two are a pair, just a little TMBG reference.
LEVEL 6 - NO EYES WIGHT DRAGON
(UNDEAD): This card is undead.
(YOU'VE GROWN SO MUCH!): You may sacrifice just a Baby Dragon to play this card.
(NO EYES): Players cannot see their hand or cards drawn from their deck. Players may now play up to 2 cards each turn, for free.
This card should shake things up a little. Makes decks full of high level cards very useful. Also punny.
LEVEL 4 - TELEPORTER
TELEPOOF: Choose a card in play you control and return it to your hand. Play another card from your hand for free.
(LIKE IN THE MOVIE): If the card you play via TELEPOOF is of a higher Level than the one you returned to your hand, or if an opponent attempts to stop TELEPOOF, flip a coin. If heads, TELEPOOF works just fine. If tails, instead the returned card stays in play and fuses with the other, gaining its abilities.
You can now send a little goblin and then switch them out for a big dragon that breathes fire! Unless the process messes up, then you have a little goblin that breathes fire.
LEVEL 2 - VOLTABOT BURGUNDY
TWEAK: You may permanently change a single letter in another card's text. It now operates accordingly.
(SOLD SEPARATELY): If this card is used as a sacrifice for other Voltabot cards, treat its Level as doubled.
I wanted to contribute to the voltabot archetype, but dang I didn't have any ideas for some of the nice colors, so maybe someone better will take care of that. In the meantime, Voltabot Burgundy, with a yucky (but powerful on the long game) ability. At the bare minimum it can disrupt benders and text-based controllers.
