LackeyCCG

Hi, I'm in the process of designing a game based on various tokusatsu (JPN: special effects, "live action anime"-esque) elements. I've always been interested in stuff like Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, and more recently GARO and Metal Heroes. I decided to make a card game based on the wacky worlds presented in these shows because the ones that exist are kinda...subpar, let's say. Since I don't own any of them, though, I had to do some creative implementation so that I wouldn't be using other people's products.

So basically, the cards are divided into two sorts: Combatants and Power Cards. Those themselves are divided further into:

Combatants, divided by Type:

• Astrocop - intergalactic fighters, usually lawful, work best solo
• Bugman - intergalactic insectoids, usually lawful or neutral
• Colossus - enormous humanoids, not mechanical in nature
• Droid - robotic or computerized character, generally an assist for another combatant
• Exo Striker - transforming hero, generally with some mutant/dark aspect, works best solo
• General - bipedal intergalactic fighter, usually lawful evil at best, in command of some group of combatants
• Grandroid - giant robot
• Human - exactly what it says on the tin
• Kaiju - fantastic or bizarre nonhuman creature, usually evil
• Mook - foot soldier, usually employed by evil aligned characters
• Overlord - Big Bad or Big Good character, usually very powerful but unable or unwilling to act on their own
• Paladin - transforming heroic character, works best with other Paladins
• Yokai - nonhuman creature, but based on some mythological or classical creature

Power Cards - Played once per turn, face-down or face-up

• Event Cards - One-offs
• Item Cards - Tied to specific Combatants/groups of Combatants
• Location Cards - Field Effects

The areas of play are as follows:

• Library: The main deck, 55-75 cards
• Hand: Where cards are kept in order to be played on the field
• Field: The main area of play and interaction between cards, divided into the Focus Zone, the Cell and the Homebase
• Graveyard: Where exhausted/destroyed/discarded cards are sent
• Escalation: A secondary deck almost entirely comprised of the combatants with the highest cost; starts at 0 at the beginning of the game and is populated over the course of the game

On the field:

• Cell: Basic area for Combatants to be Summoned (max 5)
• Homebase: Basic area for Power Cards to be played, either face-down or face-up.
• Focus Zone: Special area for 1 Combatant to be Summoned; allows that Combatant to get a "Boost," but the Combatant returns to the Hand during Reset Phase of that turn

In addition to Type, Combatant Card Elements are:

• Name
• Subtype - Magic/Tech/Spelltech/Wild, where Spelltech = Magical + Technological and Wild = animalistic or sometimes nature-based
• Theme - Varied - some cards belong to a specific theme, referred to as Theme Name in effects
• Strength - ability to do damage to enemy; represented by a numerical value
• Boost Strength - ability to do damage to enemy while Boosted
• Effect - special ability possessed by Combatant
• Boost Effect - special ability possessed by Combatant while Boosted
• Cost - numerical value, how many Power Cards it takes to Summon the Combatant through game mechanics
• Notes - misc. notes like alternate summon conditions, maintenance costs etc. if applicable
• Alignment - Hero/Neutral/Villain
• Set - what "expansion pack" the card comes from, completely irrelevant to gameplay

For effects of both Power Cards and Combatants, each effect has a Level 0-3. Level 0 effects are continuous, Level 1 effects are the slowest effects and can only be initiated in the turn player's turn, Level 2 effects are faster and can be initiated during either turn, Level 3 effects are the fastest and can be initiated during either turn, but only in response to another effect or an attack. These effects (other than Level 0) use a chain-based resolution system and the maximum number of links is 3. In chaining, an effect must be the same speed or faster than the effect activated on the previous link.

I've got more, but this is the basic stuff, and this post is getting quite long, so does anyone have any feedback? I'll post more of the rules, turn phases, and gameplay in my next post, as well as clarifications if needed.

Thanks! -obct

Usually CCGs have cards that boost specific attributes by a certain amount, but in your game it sounds like Combatants just have two sets of stats: boosted and unboosted. Is that correct? Is the Focus Zone the only way to gain the Boost?

I'm curious to see some examples of Power cards.

Are you using any sort of resource like mana to determine if a card can be played this turn?

Haha, I knew I forgot something basic. The Power Cards represent 1 Energy Block, and Energy Blocks are the main method of payment. One face-up or face-down Power Card will at minimum be 1 Energy Block, but certain cards (usually Location Cards) will have the effect of counting as 2 or more Energy Blocks. Of course, the more EBs it counts as, the more specific the applicable situations will be (Tower of Torment, for example, gains a counter that counts as an extra EB each time you perform a Villain Summon under normal game mechanics using that card, but only for the Summon of another Villain, and only once per turn, and only up to 3 counters). This is why you can only place one Power Card per turn. When I'm at my computer, I'll post some sample cards.

Also, re: Boost--

The Boost mechanic does in fact give a different set of stats, but I probably also will have something like "Item Power Card - Gun Maximus: Target Combatant gains 3 Strength Points." In addition, the Focus Zone is merely the easiest method, but not the sole method, of gaining a Boost. Certain effects will also grant Boost; there are a couple of cards that will come into play Boosted if you meet some criterion (like a Paladin might get a Boost if you have other Paladins of the same Theme or Subtype). Examples of the latter might be rare though.

Thanks for your response! I was a bit worried, lol ^_^ -obct