TCD TCG - Playtesters wanted!

[Tigt]

TCD TCG

Welcome to the card game in the making, codenamed TCD TCG, as you can see above in the fancy type. This project aims to create a "open-source" card game that simulates a battle between two or more characters. They're intended to be preexisting characters that you've wanted to see throw down, but of course you can create your own specifically for the game.

This game is wholly unconcerned with originality. If something works to create the feel and fun we want, it's in, regardless if Wizards of the Coast owns a patent on it or if it's blatantly stolen from the World of Warcraft TCG. So to that end, here's the list of goals we're trying to hit, in descending order of importance:

• Simulate combat between two or more characters in a fun, flexible way
• Remain free and unlimited by rarity, price, or any other artificial scarcity
• Anyone can port their own characters and ideas to the game and submit cards they create to the official keepers of TCD TCG for possible inclusion within the "official" game
• Take full advantage of the LackeyCCG engine, like the instant shuffling, card spawning, effective errata, table markers, etc.

Table of Contents
1. Updatelist.txt, Plugin Info, and Other Resources
2. How to Play
--2.1 Basic Concept
--2.2 Game Areas
--2.3 Anatomy of a Card
--2.4 Card Types
--2.5 Arbitrary Element System
--2.6 Deckbuilding
--2.7 Beginning the Game
--2.8 On Your Turn
--2.9 Combat System
3. Sample Cards
4. Playtesting
--4.1 How to Apply
--4.2 Current Playtesters
--4.3 Playtesting Logs
--4.4 Current Goals/Issues
5. Game Formats
6. Magic Set Editor Template

Updatelist.txt, Plugin Info, and Other Resources

The updatelist.txt can be found at:

http://www.updatelist.txt/ (!!! - This is obviously not the real URL. I'm working on it, it should be up soon. - !!!)

There will be an official theme for Lackey a ways in, which will be optimized for TCD TCG and ideally look good to boot. The download information will be here when it goes live.

Additionally, there's a devblog on tumblr, for updates on what's changing within the game in a less formal, more frequently updated format. If you plan to playtest, I highly recommend following or bookmarking it.

How to Play

Basic Concept
TCD TCG is structured into two main parts: your Player Character, and the deck you build to accompany that character. The cards in your deck represent the skills, tactics, and items your character has prepared for the upcoming battle. Your goal is to reduce the HP (Hit Points) of all opposing characters to 0, thereby winning the battle.

Game Areas
Deck - The 60+ pile of cards you bring to the game.
Extra Deck - Some cards will interact with the Extra Deck, but including cards in it isn't necessary. Only put cards in this if a card in your deck asks you to.
Hand - You draw cards from the deck to put them here. Usually 5 cards, but the number fluctuates wildly. Use your energy cards in order to take cards from your hand and put them onto the Battlefield.
Discard Pile - Where cards that have been defeated, used up, destroyed, or otherwise rendered dead go.
Equip Zone - When you play Energy cards, Items, or Effects, they often go into your or other players' Equip Zones. Cards in the Equip Zone do not have a place on the battlefield.
Battlefield - The game board where your Player Characters, NPCs, Objects, and other entities duke it out. By default, a simple 10x10 grid.
Void - Cards that have been essentially removed from the game.

Anatomy of a Card
Name - The, uh, name of the card. This serves as the identifier of what the card is; no two cards can have the same name unless the cards are functionally identical.
Characteristics - These serve no immediate functional purpose, but identify the card as belonging to certain races, classes, or other subsets.
Type - Indicates what gameplay function the card has. More on these below.
Cost - Shows how many Energy cards you need to tap in order to play the card.
Element - Shows what elements your Player Character is either capable of, or required to be capable of to include the card in your deck.
Requirements - Indicates what characteristics your Player Character needs to possess in order to include the card in your deck.
Text Box - This is where game text that gives cards their abilities goes.

Card Types
Player Character - This card is you. It determines what cards you can put in your deck, and moves around the battlefield. Player Characters have the following parts on their cards:

• HP - How much damage the character can take before they keel over and lose the game. Stands for Hit Points, in case you didn't know.
• Speed - How quickly the character can move across the battlefield, and how fast their attacks are.
• Hand - How many cards the character's player draws at the start of the game. Default is 5; dumber characters tend to draw less, smarter characters draw more.

Combat - These cards represent attacking, and blocking in order to beat your opponent's face in, and hopefully prevent them from doing the same to you. Each card has two functions on them; each of which is one of the following types:

• Attack - The main method you'll use to beat your opponent's face in. Causes damage, and often other effects.
• Block - The main method you'll use to avoid getting your face beaten in. When used, nullifies an incoming attack.
• Feint - Sometimes you know your opponent has a hand full of Blocks. In that case, use a Feint, which completely messing up a blocker and deals damage to boot! Feints are totally beaten by Attacks though, so watch out for bluffing.
• Dodge - Why bother blocking when you can just avoid attacks? By using the Dodge half of cards, you can attempt to escape the range of any incoming Attacks of Feints.
  
  Additionally, Combat cards have the following parts on their cards:
• Damage - How much HP an Attack or Feint takes off when it connects.
• Range - How many squares the Attack or Feint can reach, or how many squares a Dodge will let you traverse.
• Speed Modifer - Some cards let you strike faster than your character usually can, or sacrifice a speedy attack in order for extra power.

Technique - Abilities and tactics that your character uses once, and then are placed in the Discard Pile. These also possess Range and Speed Modifier values.
Effect - Abilities and tactics that stick around. These have no additional parts to their card.
Item - Like Effect cards, but are able to be used by any character. Likewise, they have no additional values.
NPC - These act like Player Characters, but don't lose you the game when destroyed. All of their abilities and attacks are printed on their card; they don't use cards from your hand. Like Player Characters, they possess HP and Speed values.

Arbitrary Element System
Unlike games with a closed system of Colors, Types, Elements, Affinities, Factions, whatever, TCD TCG can contain an unlimited amount of elements. This requires a little more effort on the part of the designers to ensure that each element has its own identity and weaknesses, but we felt the unlimited definitions were important for including any character. The desire for unique elements may cause element inflation, but this is opposed by the force of wanting to use already existing cards within existing elements.

Deckbuilding
Decks must contain at least 60 cards, not including your Player Character. You may bring additional cards along in your Extra Deck, which can contain any number of cards you wish.

You may have a maximum of 4 copies of an individual card within your deck. That is, you may only have up to 4 cards that have the exact same name. The basic Energy card is excluded from this rule; you may include as many of those as you wish in your deck.

You may only include cards in your deck if their requirements match your Player Character. Most commonly, this means making sure the elements match up, but some cards require certain types, abilities, or even a particular character.

Beginning the Game
Each player starts with their Character Card in play and shuffles their decks. Usually each player draws 5 cards to begin the game; your character?s Hand modifier can change the amount. Roll a die, flip a coin, use /playerchoice, or some other method to decide who goes first.

On Your Turn
Your turn is divided into the following steps:

• Ready - The beginning of your turn. You perform the following actions, in this order: 1.) Choose whether you want to untap this turn, or move. If you choose to untap, untap all permanents you control. If you choose to move, skip untapping your permanents and instead move your Player Character a number of squares equal or less than your Character's Speed value. 2.) Draw a card. (This is not optional.)
• Set - This is where the bulk of your turn will happen. You may play one Energy card per turn, and then use your available energy cards to play any other cards, except for Combat cards.
• Go - This is when you get to use your Combat cards. See below for more information on this step.
• End - Finish your turn, and the next player begins theirs.

Combat System
When your Go step begins, you may choose a Combat card from your hand that you want to play. Put that card face down next to your Player Character, and orient the card depending on how you wish it to be used. Other players may then choose other Combat cards and place them face down next to their characters. When everyone has finished placing a card next to their Character if they want to, flip all the face-down cards face up. Then, all hell usually breaks loose.

If any of the revealed cards are NOT Combat cards, they have no effect. (This means non-Combat cards are useless except for bluffing in this step.)

For the remaining Combat cards, each player may pay the cost of which side of the card is facing away from their character. If they don't, nothing happens. (Another bluff.) If they do, their character performs the action on that card. (For more explanation of what Combat cards can do, please see the Card Types section above.)

You may repeat this process as many times as you like, or until you run out of cards in your hand.


Sample Cards
--coming soon!--

Playtesting

How to Apply
Applying to playtest is easy; just post in this thread saying you'd like to do so. Make sure to include your LackeyCCG username, what times you tend to be online so we can coordinate playtests, and some form of contact information to accomplish same. I urge you to download/bookmark the resources available here if you become a playtester.

List of playtesters:

• Tigt - 7pm or later Eastern Standard Time - taylorhunt@fuse.net

Playtesting Logs
Playtesting logs should be uploaded to pastebin. When we get underway with the playtests, I'll collate and link them here.

Current Goals/Issues
--coming soon!--

Game Formats

∞ Unlimited
You may use whatever cards that you can legally put in your deck.

⊂ Block
Like Unlimited, but the card pool is restricted to specific card sets. Allows for the crafting of unusual metagames in lieu of a rotating "Standard" format.

✍ Canonical
This one is a non-competitive "just for fun" format, but encouraged due to the nature of the game. Decks should only include cards that represent the actual capabilities of the character you're using.

Unfortunately for fans of Limited, TCD TCG will not be created with a way of playing that resembles Limited formats. All formats are constructed, i.e., where you bring a deck already built to the game. This may eventually change, but is not a concern for now.

Magic Set Editor Template

In fitting with the "anyone can submit" philosophy of the game, we plan to offer a template for MSE that will make the card-creation process easy. However, this can only be developed once the game engine is finished, so this won't exist until then.

[magekirbys]

Sign me up, I always like trying new CCG/TCG's. My username on lackey's magekirbys(s), with the extra S being there only due to lackey connection problems sometimes.