Design Deep-Dive #2: New Mechanics of the Unwell Kingdom
One of the first things I did when brainstorming for this set was to look for elements of our D&D campaign — be it lore, system rules, or whatever else — that would be good candidates for new card mechanics. These could give a distinct flavor to specific colors, and to the set as a whole! After lots of tinkering, I landed on these three:
(Examples and explanations below the cut!)
1. Inspire X/Inspiration Tokens
Create X Inspiration tokens. (An Inspiration token is an enchantment with “T, Sacrifice this enchantment: Target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn.”)
Main color identity: RED
For those unfamiliar with Dungeons & Dragons, there are two mechanics called "Inspiration" and "Bardic Inspiration", which lets a bard character give a bonus to any player that they can add to one of their rolls. I've conflated them here into a new type of token, which acts like a Treasure token but for temporary stat buffs!
This mechanic is impulsive and combat focused, so it seemed like an obvious fit for red. This naturally developed a Bard sub-theme across many of the set's red creatures. Of course, other colors would have access to a few Inspire options too, but most decks that build around it will likely want to splash in some red!
This mechanic bears obvious similarities to +1/+1 counters, which are ubiquitous in real Magic cards, and one of the most fundamental mechanics to the game. However, I realized that it could get tricky to keep track of lots of temporary buffs from Inspiration alongside the permanent counters... so I decided to keep +1/+1 counters out of this set entirely! This became another mostly pointless but fascinating design constraint going forward.
You may also notice that unlike most small, crackable tokens, this one is an Enchantment rather than and Artifact. This meant I could print some cool Enchantments-matter synergies and have them function with both Inspire and...
2. Concentration
If enchanted creature is dealt damage or targeted by a spell or ability, sacrifice this enchantment.
Main Color Identity: BLUE
Another mechanic pulled straight from D&D rules, Concentration spells demand that whoever casts them must maintain clear, steady focus or risk the spell being interrupted. I chose to translate this into a keyword for aura enchantments, as they're a perfect way to visually represent a persistent spell as well as tie it to the creature casting it.
A Concentration Aura can be knocked off whenever the creature it's attached to is damaged or merely targeted by anything (this will feel familiar to long-time Magic players, as some Spirits and Illusions have similar triggers on them). This can be a real restriction, as you could knock off your own Concentration spell by targeting your creature with an Inspiration token, or even attempting to attach an Equipment or another Concentration Aura to it!
This makes them strictly worse than ordinary Auras, but opens up some interesting design space. I can give them enters-the-battlefield effects, so they do something right away and don't feel like a waste of a card if an opponent can simply knock it off. Alternatively, I can create greedy spells with snowballing effects, which reward you for finding ways to protect your creature for as long as possible!
3. Hoard Counters
Exile one or more cards and put a hoard counter on each of them. Then cheat out hoarded cards, even from opponents!
Main color identity: BLACK
While this may not be a strictly new mechanic (ex. Tasha the Witch Queen stealing spells by exiling them with "page" counters), I really wanted to expand this idea and build support for it across the set.
Dragons are, unsurprisingly, a pivotal part of our campaign. In our story, they are born from the coalesced anxieties of people, literal manifestations of fear which compulsively hoard whatever they lack. As such, their hoards are not the stereotypical piles of treasure and gold, but can instead be a bit more abstract: knowledge, experiences, even the souls of the dead!
For this set, I've decided to add several cards in black which can put cards into the exiled hoard, and a key payoff card in each 'black + ___' color combo which allows you to play cards from the hoard of a specific card type. Stay tuned for examples of these.
This will be a tricky sub-theme to keep an eye on in playtests. There's a fine line between recurring value and accidentally creating and infinite loop, and the shared-pot structure of hoarded cards has the potential for trouble in cases where multiple players are trying to use it. But for now, it's very flavorful, a bit fiddly, and hopefully fun!
🔮NEXT TIME — Color Identities