What are the best RPG games that their dungeon can be translated into a card game?
Diablo 2. Always wanted to make a D2 card game myself. Actually, pretty much any blizzard game is just begging to be turned into a card game
So what do you think of the wowtcg? could this have a dungeoneering mode? and why diablo 2 dungeons, what's good about them?
Things from diablo I want to take:
The darkness - the field cards are all upside down and you only what's there when you enter a room.
The randomality - they are shuffled and distributed randomly, also the monsters and drops are placed on different decks so they are also random but indipendent of the rooms.
The bosses - overpowered boss cards in the opposite direction of the entrance
The quests - I want to add quests, which can be picked from a list related to the dungeon divided into 5 different types: kill, escort, explore, collect and diplomatic.
Original things I want to add:
A diplomatic system - I want to be able to tralk to the monsters and even being able to give them bribes to join you, help you or get from your way.
Any other things from diablo 2 I might add?
Any other quest types I might add?
I like the idea and often played with the tought making a Dungeon Crawl Card game. I would like to join a open-source project like this, if i had more time!
Things I would consider:
A. Using Diablo 2 as inspiration for gameplay/mechanics: YES
B. Using Diablo 2 as an inspiration for the background world: NO
I'd be very careful in just how much stuff you use for the rules. You don't want the game too complicated; people like things to be simple on the surface, and a little more complex under the hood. That's the way all the successful CCGs have gone. One of DBZ's main failings was how complex it was in some areas, notably with the Physical Attack Table. (Of course, completely obsoleting all previous sets later on, through either power level change or incompatible mechanics, didn't exactly help.)
Malagar, thanks for your comment. I am not basing the background world on diablo 2. This is a direct tie0in to the other game I've been developing, Ark Age.
DavidChaos, you are right. I'll make it less complex though there is a need for a bit more complexity. It will include cards to set the dungeon and all of its layers, a deck like you have but of the dungeon and treasure mini-cards.
BTW, does anyone know what is the preferred size for cards, and what is their thickness?
I'll post some rules once there finished.
About 9cm High, and 6.5cm in width :)
I had a thought crossing my mind quite frequently lately, and I need to share it. If dungeons can be made into a card game why not turn a full role-playing game, like warhammer fantasy roleplay that utilizes cards into a card game too? Can we make a full scale adventure using only cards?
Another idea, one player will play as the keeper, and his job is to make sure the other player, the raiders, fail. I wals thoght to make something similar to raids in wowtcg. What do you think?
@yudencrow
This is exactly how I thought a game like this should work. One player is the "gamesmaster" while the others are the "heroes". there could be a gamesmaster deck including traps, monsters, locations and events. there could be hero decks with skills, abilities and treasure. there could also be a quest deck or shared treasure decks.
and, yes - i think this could be turned into a full blown, card based rpg.
Thanks Malagar. Just had my first day of the year in the university today studying computer science (to much math, and not the one you get high from), so I'll have to slow down the game's progress. Hopefull I would still manage to squeeze hours.
Time is here also rare (im employed fulltime), keep it up and good luck!
I remember I had an idea like this some time ago...
Each player had a number of points to buy hero/skill/item cards. With limits on hero stats of course. And then had a deck with events & enemies. These can be countered by taking dice test with your heroes/skills.
I didn't remeber the goal, though. Something with taking an item and make a run for it.
Also, good luck in university. It is pretty much the reason why I take ICT in HBO instead of university :P
Thanks Dragoon. I guess all players start equally by building thier decks firtther customization will draw it of the topic, but the keeper will have a lot of room to f*ck the other players up.
What is ICT and HBO?
HBO is a school system in my country. It's the below university level. ICT is computer science :P
anything new here? sadly forum community is so small, we rarely get feedback on a regular basis. i really like to get more input about your game idea.
Thank you Malagar. I got a short breath from school this weekend only to be bombarded with linear alagebra and calculus (wish is a great name for a funny boss). The dungeon variant ia a special mode to the Ark Age Game, its strength will only be shown if you can tie other card games inside it so if the rules are a bit shady it's because its a husk of another game. Nontheless these only allows other makers to change it as tthey see fit.
Keeper vs. Raiders
Keeper
Keeper is the antagonist the other player trying to defeat. The keeper is amazingly overpowered compared to the other players. The keeper always follows handicapped rules. The keeper always wins by eliminating all the raiders.
Raider
Raiders are the players making a side against the keeper. They can openly communicate, but each raider makes its own decisions. An eliminated leaves the field, but he still count as a winner if the raiders win. It only counts as a survivor if the raider was not eliminated. The difficulty level is adjusted by the number of raider, the more the easier.
Dungeon
Cards
The floor deck is a set of cards determining the dogmas used by the dungeon on that level. "0" means ground, "+" means above the ground and "?" means underground. You can only stack them from 0 downward or from 0 upward. Usually there are 3 floor cards in a deck.
The quest deck is a set of cards determining what you need to accomplish to win. Every quest card is linked to a floor, and it adds area cards that must be on that floor.
The area deck is a set of card determining the rooms on the floor. Some of them are predetermined by the current quest cards, but most of them are random. The area deck has 20 cards times the amount of floor cards.
The treasure mini deck rewards player for accomplishing killing dungeon characters, finding treasure chests and completing quests.
Tokens
Party token is the location of the party in the dungeon
Quest Types
Combat quests are completed by killing a certain number of opponents.
Investigation quests are completed by gathering and looting certain items.
Garrison quests are fights against the clock in finding a certain object in a certain area and liberate them before they are destroyed.
Rescue quests are about finding certain individuals and escorting them to the exit.
Escape quests are about finding the exit 6 floors deep.
Dungeon Setup
A. Take the area cards required by the quest.
B. Add a staircase area card of the matching level.
C. Shuffle the area deck.
D. Add cards from it until there are 16 cards.
E. Shuffle them.
F. Place those in a 4X4 formation in any way face down.
G. Reveal Floor card and corresponding Quest card.
Keeper Setup
A. Place a party token on one of the corners.
B. Shuffle your Heart Deck and Trump Deck.
C. Draw 5 Heart Cards.
Dungeon Stage
A. Keeper draws a card.
B. The raiders may move to an adjacent are card.
C. Flip the card they move to if they did.
D. Keeper plays Heart and Trump cards.
Phases go along as the basic game.
The games in the dungeon are until 10 Glory +5 Glory for every extra player unless specified otherwise.
*. Room Elimination Conditions and Victory condition:
Keeper Elimination Cond. Each raider revives 3 cards
Raiders Elimination Cond. Raider is removed from play
Keeper Victory Cond. Each raider removes 5 cards
Raiders Victory Cond. Each raider revives 1 card
*. Raiders Complete a Quest:
A. Raiders need to look for the exit.
*. Raiders Move through an Exit:
A. Keeper reveals the next floor card.
B. Repeat the Dungeon Setup.
C. If there are no floor cards left, Raiders win.
Thank you Malagar. I got a short breath from school this weekend only to be bombarded with linear alagebra and calculus (wish is a great name for a funny boss). The dungeon variant ia a special mode to the Ark Age Game, its strength will only be shown if you can tie other card games inside it so if the rules are a bit shady it's because its a husk of another game. Nontheless these only allows other makers to change it as tthey see fit.
Keeper vs. Raiders
Keeper
Keeper is the antagonist the other player trying to defeat. The keeper is amazingly overpowered compared to the other players. The keeper always follows handicapped rules. The keeper always wins by eliminating all the raiders.
Raider
Raiders are the players making a side against the keeper. They can openly communicate, but each raider makes its own decisions. An eliminated leaves the field, but he still count as a winner if the raiders win. It only counts as a survivor if the raider was not eliminated. The difficulty level is adjusted by the number of raider, the more the easier.
Dungeon
Cards
The floor deck is a set of cards determining the dogmas used by the dungeon on that level. "0" means ground, "+" means above the ground and "?" means underground. You can only stack them from 0 downward or from 0 upward. Usually there are 3 floor cards in a deck.
The quest deck is a set of cards determining what you need to accomplish to win. Every quest card is linked to a floor, and it adds area cards that must be on that floor.
The area deck is a set of card determining the rooms on the floor. Some of them are predetermined by the current quest cards, but most of them are random. The area deck has 20 cards times the amount of floor cards.
The treasure mini deck rewards player for accomplishing killing dungeon characters, finding treasure chests and completing quests.
Tokens
Party token is the location of the party in the dungeon
Quest Types
Combat quests are completed by killing a certain number of opponents.
Investigation quests are completed by gathering and looting certain items.
Garrison quests are fights against the clock in finding a certain object in a certain area and liberate them before they are destroyed.
Rescue quests are about finding certain individuals and escorting them to the exit.
Escape quests are about finding the exit 6 floors deep.
Dungeon Setup
A. Take the area cards required by the quest.
B. Add a staircase area card of the matching level.
C. Shuffle the area deck.
D. Add cards from it until there are 16 cards.
E. Shuffle them.
F. Place those in a 4X4 formation in any way face down.
G. Reveal Floor card and corresponding Quest card.
Keeper Setup
A. Place a party token on one of the corners.
B. Shuffle your Heart Deck and Trump Deck.
C. Draw 5 Heart Cards.
Dungeon Stage
A. Keeper draws a card.
B. The raiders may move to an adjacent are card.
C. Flip the card they move to if they did.
D. Keeper plays Heart and Trump cards.
Phases go along as the basic game.
The games in the dungeon are until 10 Glory +5 Glory for every extra player unless specified otherwise.
*. Room Elimination Conditions and Victory condition:
Keeper Elimination Cond. Each raider revives 3 cards
Raiders Elimination Cond. Raider is removed from play
Keeper Victory Cond. Each raider removes 5 cards
Raiders Victory Cond. Each raider revives 1 card
*. Raiders Complete a Quest:
A. Raiders need to look for the exit.
*. Raiders Move through an Exit:
A. Keeper reveals the next floor card.
B. Repeat the Dungeon Setup.
C. If there are no floor cards left, Raiders win.
hey yudencow, thats quite a post! Its good to see that you are still working on this.
1. keeper - overpowered yes, handicapped yes, and he has no communication as he fights alone
2. raiders - when there are many raiders who could grant the keeper another bonus, it might become unfair when 8 raiders fight a keeper on a low level dungeon
3. floor deck - dont know if i understood this correctly. the idea of -/0/+ sounds nice. but it would also be an option to let each game take place only on one dungeon level, the raider then descent deeper into the dungeon (or higher) in the next game. floor cards could also include real rooms, corridors, bents and the like. no need to overcomplicate things with another deck that just sets the below ground / above ground setting of the current game.
3. quest deck - is good idea in my eyes. it would be enough to draw one quest card at the beginning of the game to determine the main quest, and may 1-2 additional quest cards to determine optional subquests. they must all be tied to the rooms/monsters in the dungeon or it would not work. there could be basic quest cards, and there could be special cards linked to character classes (e.g. the priest has a special quest called "purgatory" wich is shuffled into the quest pile only if a priest is part of the raiders).
4. area deck - this is what i thought the floor deck would be. alltogether your idea of floor and area deck sounds nice - but you could really join it all together and make a "dungeon deck" from it. this deck would just contain rooms, traps, enemies and so on. again this thought assumes that dungeon levels are handled differently by a scenario/campagin system, where below/above ground levels are not part of the deck itself.
5. treasure deck - yes i also wanted to work with something like that in my idea. like with the quests, there could be special treasure shuffled into the deck: if there is a "paladin" in the party, the sword "holy avenger" could be shuffled into the deck. but - treasure could also be divided between minor treasure and major treasure.
6. quests - perfect, makes a good starting base for various quests.
7. dungeon buidling - in my (old) idea it was like that the "keeper" (or dungeonmaster) draws cards from his dungoen deck and then builds the dungeon like he sees fit. this lowers randomization and allows a human to give the dungeon a more logical layout. of course - you are bound to the cards you draw. it would also be an idea not to place the whole dungeon at the beginning of the game. only when players move from one room to the next, the keeper reveals another cards from his hand. but now im drifting completely from your idea - this was how my old game was supposed to work.
hope i was able to give you some input. it sounds very good alltogether!
Thanks Malagar.
The keeper follows handicapped rules meaning s/he get more cards compared to the number of opponents. It is completly fun to run a dungeon on yourself.
The floor and area deck build the dungeon it self. the -/0/+ was just ment for people to see from which floors they can start until the next one. they can go both up and down. The area decks puts the room randomly so both keeper and raiders are unaware of which room might be next. Random dungeons like in Diablo 2 though there are special rooms always present due to the chosen quest.
About the subquests, originally the raiders win by completing the corrisponding quest of each floor thus they are forced to venture to the end every time. We can create special subquest rooms for considerate bonus on each floor, incliuding tied up to the hero's tags.
The monsters, traps, events etc. act as the keeper's deck, as he fights the raiders. With each floor they pass through he gains stronger cards and revives all the dead ones just to pressure the raiders more.
About the treasure deck, the heroes in my game are like dota characters with 4 unique abilities (or pokemon), so I felt hasitant in the start to afd effects from equipment because this will shrink down their unique combo, but with passive effects and recepies I can really see it done. I think your idea really holds on to have the dungeon respond to the players' choices.