Summoner CCG

[Typherion]

Hello, this is my first time posting here, but I've enjoyed reading this forum for a while.

I've been working on a design for a card game for several years now slowly in my free time. My dream would be to finish it and make it available to play online. I feel like I'm now at a good place to ask for some comments and feedback. So please check it out! Sorry for the wall of text...

SUMMONER
You are a Summoner...
A powerful sorcerer, yet you have an even greater power. You have the ability to bring forth mighty creatures to your service!
Summoner is a fantasy battle card game. Summon your creatures and support them with spells to defeat your opponent!

The Game
Summoner is a fantasy card battle game. Many of my ideas for Summoner came from the desire to change things I didn't like about popular card games. But I also intend for Summoner to provide its own unique experience. Ideally, Summoner will be about calling creatures to battle for you and casting spells to support them in a continuously escalating battle with your opponent until one player is defeated.

Victory Condition
You win when your opponent loses. A player loses when they have no cards in their deck at the end of a turn. When players take damage, cards are sent from the top of their decks to the Nether. Defeat your opponent by dealing damage with your creatures and spells!

Turn Structure - Updated 05/02/12
1   Start Phase: Draw Step, Energy Step
2   Action Phase: Actions
3   End Phase: End Step

Card Zones
I have renamed some card zones to be more interesting and thematic.
Deck : the deck of 40 cards (this one is the same as usual...may change to Aether)
Field: the play zone (inspired by Yu-Gi-Oh! and shorter than battlefield)
Hand: hand (also the same as usual)
Nether: the discard Zone (where destroyed, discarded and burned cards go)
Void: the removed zone (place of no return).

Card Types
There are only two main card types: Creatures and Spells, but each has four subtypes.

Creatures
The subtypes are: Beast / Mystic / Spirit / Warrior
Instead of having token creatures, there is a special subtype called Minion.

Every creature has a Name, a Subtype, a Colour, a Level, an Attack score and a Health score.

Colours are similar to those in Magic but with slightly different themes behind them.

Creature levels range from 0 to III.
Level 0: Minions are 2/2 creatures that don't have any effects.
Level I:  generally 3/3 creatures with an effect
Level II: generally 5/5 creatures with an effect
Level III:  generally 7/7 creatures with an effect

The intention with creatures is that the game will revolve around players trying to get their most powerful creatures onto the field and then crush their opponent. Each level III creature will be unique and function as one of the focal points of a player's deck.

Spells
The subtypes are: Conjuration /  Enchantment / Invocation / Ward

There is no limit to the number of spells you can play in a turn. Each spell subtype is mechanically different.

Most spell cards can be played in either of two ways:
Cast from your hand onto the field immediately, or Set face down onto the field.
(Note that Wards can't be cast and must always be set.)

Conjurations are magical artifacts or equipment that you or your creatures can use. They remain in play until they are removed.

Enchantments are magical blessings, curses and marks that are cast upon creatures. They remain in play until either they or the attached creature are removed.

Invocations are magical words, chants and songs. They have an immediate one shot effect upon activation.

Wards are magical protections, traps or triggers. They cannot be Cast and must always be Set before they can be activated. Wards usually have powerful one shot effects to negate or punish your opponent's actions.

The Action Phase - Updated 05/02/12
During the Action Phase you can perform any of the following actions in any order:
Summon / Attack / Guard / Activate Effect / Cast Spell / Set Spell

Summoning
You can Summon once each turn from the creature cards in your hand.
You can only Summon a creature if you have enough Energy of that creature's colour.
You generate 1 Energy at the start of each turn during the Energy Step.
The maximum Energy you can have at any time is 3.

Level I creatures cost 0 Energy - summon these while saving up for more powerful creatures.
Level II creatures cost 2 Energy - these can be great for attacking or defending.
Level III creatures cost 3 Energy - they are powerful archangels, demonlords, ancient dragons, legendary heroes and the like, use them to crush your opponent!

Attacking
You can have any creatures you control make one attack each.
Any opposing creature or player can be the target of your creature's attack.
A player can't be targetted with attacks while they control a guarding creature.

When a creature attacks, it deals damage equal to its Attack score to the attack target.
If the attack target is an opposing creature, that creature also deals damage equal to its Attack score to the attacking creature.
Damage dealt to creatures is permanent and cumulative.
Creatures that have been dealt damage greater than or equal to their Health scores are destroyed.

Guarding
You can choose to guard with any creatures you control in order to protect against the attacks of opposing creatures.
A player can't be the target of an opposing creature's attack while they control a guarding creature.
When a creature guards, the card is turned sideways until the start of that player's next turn.

Activating Effects
Many creatures and spells have activated effects that you can use. For example, dragons often have effects allowing them to use a breath weapon. You might also use a conjured crystal ball in order to get a glimpse of the future.

Casting Spells
You can cast any conjuration, enchantment or invocation spell from your hand in order to activate it.
Wards can't be cast and must always be set before they can be activated.

Setting Spells
You can set any spell card onto the field from your hand.
You can't activate a spell card during the same turn it was set.
Only ward spells can be activated during an opponent's turn in order to respond to their actions.
Non-ward spells may be set in order to bluff and make an opponent think you have set a ward, but they can only be activated during your turn.

Whew, thanks for reading this far! I have tons more notes and ideas, but I think this is the core of the game. I am currently working on designing some colour and type themed decks so I can begin play testing. I am also considering changing up the battle system by giving creatures a Health score.

I am interested to hear any thoughts you may have.

Edited 17/06/2011 to include updated mechanics.
- Summoning system updated to include the new Essence resource mechanic.
- Creatures no longer have Health scores
- Effects have been consolidated. No more Unlimited Effects.
- Battle system updated to include Attack Position and Defense Postion.

Edited 05/02/12 to include updated turn structure, guarding mechanic and permanent damage, Defense score has been replaced by Health score, also Attack and Defense positions have been removed.

[xchokeholdx]

the templates look very nice, I like it.

A few suggestions though:

1. I would look for ways to change the icons on the card. It is a bit hard to find out what it all means. now they all look like stars to me...
2. The setup of the combat rules need a lot of work. With the rules as they sand now, whichever player gets a III creature out first will win the game. For example. you against me. I start and get a level II out. your turn, you get a level II out. my turn, I play a level III and eat your lvl II for breakfast. Since you do not deal damage back, my creature lvl III will eat whatever creature you will play, which will always be a lower one, since you are not able to keep a creature long enough in play to use (lvl I or lvl II)...
Maybe you should change it into:
You ALWAYS attack the drawdeck of opponent, but opponent may assign defenders, just like Magic does..

[Dragoon]

I agree with xchokeholdx Combat needs work, as well with the only one creature per turn drop. Once one player gets a lead, it is hard to get back. Also, decking ISN'T good as a major victory route.

[Turonik]

A couple of critques. There are a ton of home brewed games based on magic and Yugioh. That's something to keep in mind since as it stands now. it just looks like a dime a dozen clones out there. Think of a unique story as to what's going on. Story is improtant in these games and an engaging one can help your game stand out.

Since it was brought up by Dragoon I'll give my opinion, decking can work as a major win condition and has for several games so I'm fine with it since each color could do something different with that. I even had a game idea that used that.

Combat could work as is since you have  ways of leveling the playing field so to speak. But I would be a bit cautious with the cards since many games I've seen made the cards too over powered.

But my biggest concern is the costing system or rather the lack there of one. Without an effective costing system in play, games like this suffer from what I like to call "strictly better Syndrome" where card X is in every way shape and form superior to card Y. in terms of magic it would be like  card X is a 4/3 while card y is 3/2 for the same exact costs and same abilities. Doing this makes card Y completely worthless. Not to say that there won't be, nor that there shouldn't be better cards to chose from but you should never design a card where it doesn't have a situation where it could be a bit useless more than another or to a personal taste. another example would be grizzly bear vs a another 2/2 for the same exact cost but has a useful key word like vigilance, life link, or first strike, thus making it  better is every way than grizzly bears. Ok end rant.

all in all, nothing new here so I would suggest using new mechanics, and maybe ditching a few of clunkier ones from  the other games, ie the different subtypes, I always hated that, they should just be different card types with all the special rules involved. It'd clean up the rules if you did it that way to. Another nit pick would be the different names of the zones. While I can support trying to be unique by using your own terms, unless they tie in to the world of the game like "sunken pile in 7th seas or boot hill.  but other times they just seem to get in the way of learning the game and come off as silly  like in mega man, magic (yes battlefield is a silly term for MTG to use.... ugh....) and marvel super stars....they are calling the discard pile the "bin"...  but again that's a nit pick, however I would suggest you taking a look at other card games out there since there's a ton out there and they may give you inspiration on doing something unique.

[Typherion]

Thank you for the replies and suggestions. I will attempt to reply to most of the main points raised in order.

Symbols
I really should have put up pictures with explanations. I listed all of the types of effects but neglected to match them to images. I hope to fix this soon. Also, the symbols seen on the red creature's box are actually larger, but they have been resized because the card has more text than is usual. For now, I will say that symbols with a white circle are effects you must activate. Symbols with black circles are effects that are automatically activated.

High Level Creatures
I think there was some confusion about how high level creatures are played. It is essentially the same as Yu-Gi-Oh's system, with a much tighter level spectrum and a color requirement. You cannot play a level II or III on your first turn. Before you can summon a higher level creature, you must summon a lower level, keep it alive until your next turn, then have the right card in hand to play your higher level.

Also, doing this is actually a loss in terms of card advantage and overall value in exchange for getting a single strong card. I had experimented with other resource systems before arriving back at this one, such as a time delay summoning system. But ultimately, as a Summoner, your resources are your own energy and power, and I want to preserve that independence.

Before making cards I attempted to create a costing system. With spell cards, generally the less permanent or flexible a spell type, the more points you have to work with.

Card Creation
Level      Creation Points   Averages
0      4         2/2
I      8         4/4
II      14         7/7
III      20         10/10
Conjuration   2         
Enchantment   4         
Invocation   6         
Ward      8         

I saw a couple of comments worried about runaway games. That is what your spell cards are there to stop. Of course your opponent will try to stop you stopping them, too. Removal and playing around it is one of the staples of the genre. I don't really anticipate any serious problems with this.

Combat
I agree with your comments that battle needs work. I don't like Magic's system of assigning blockers. I want to encourage attacking and I want the attacker to have more control than that.

However, I saw a system in another homebrew game called Elemental Clash that used Attack and Defense Zones that interests me. But as with other things, I want to test the current stuff more before making huge changes.

I may add a Health score to creatures in the future that I can see making for some really deep and fun gameplay. If I do switch, it would go like this:

Attack: used for dealing damage when attacking or countering.
Defense: reduces battle damage taken (but not effect damage) each turn, then refreshes.
Health: gets reduced by effect damage and battle damage (once Defense has been taken to 0 that turn).

So if a 3/3/3 attacks a 2/2/2, the first 2 damage smashes Defense down to 0 for that turn. The final point of damage hits Health, permanently damaging the creature and making it a 2/2/1 in later turns. 
This would open up more space for health restoration effects, as well as create interesting choices between battle damage and effect damage.

This is only an idea I had a short time ago, but it's pulling at me...might potentially make the board too complex, though. What do you think

Creature Types
I like them. For me they add a lot to the game, such as the ability to design more flavourful support cards. What I don't like is a million of them, which creates unequal card support and largely irrelevant types. Although tokens have become commonplace in many games, I frankly think they are weak and a relic from ages past. Why bother inventing tokens as distinct from cards, only to then go and make cards for them anyway?
I think making the small changes of calling them minions and standardising their stats are good ones.

Clones
I think you are dead right about there being a lot of clones. But I'm making this because it's fun for me. If you're making a game about monsters battling, then you will be in the shadow of the major games. But I don't think that the major games got it perfect. I made a massive list of things I'd change from both games, as well as new stuff I want to try. I also have pretty clear goals for the kind of experience I want Summoner to deliver, and I think one day I'll finish it and it'll be an awesome game.

Questions
Why do you think that decking isn't a good way to win?

The main issue I see is when your key cards get decked without you being able to draw them. I had planned to handle this by having effects that let you add cards that got decked to your hand. This would add depth to deck building in my opinion. It also makes every single card in your deck relevant and more interactive in every single game. I think I like the idea of this rather than build a 50 ? 60 card deck only to never see or use most of them in the game.
         

[Typherion]

Update
New mechanics: Health,  Battle Positions.
Templates updated to include Health.

Health
Creatures now have Health scores. Damage to Health is permanent. When Health hits 0, the creature is destroyed. Defense protects Health from battle damage, but not from effect damage. Defense refreshes each turn as before.

Battle Positions
Every creature in play will be in either attack position (vertical) or defence position  (horizontal). Creatures in attack position can attack, but they cannot protect you from direct attacks. Creatures in defence position will prevent you from being attacked directly, but they cannot attack your enemies.

Any creature in play can be the target of an attack. However, players can't be attacked while they control a creature in defence position.

During the Main Phase, you can shift any of your creatures from one position to the other. However, creatures that have attacked can't change position during the same turn.

Problems and Solutions (I hope)
After comments about the previous battle system, I did a lot of thinking and now I believe I have a  system that better supports the play style I want to achieve.

Old Problems
1) Creatures not staying in play long enough and killing each other too fast.
2) Not tactical: Direct attacks only possible when opponent has no creatures.
3) Low chance of epic battles between opposing Level III creatures.

New Solutions
1) Now that creatures have Health, they will have more staying power.
2) With Battle positions, only an opponent's Defence position creatures must be removed before attacking directly. This should make battle more tactical.
3) Summoning high lvl creatures should be easier with more durable low lvls. Generally, a lvl X creature will not die from one attack by a lvl X+1 creature.

Lastly, here is an updated level I creature. This one is part of a dragon cycle. The venom of green dragons can slowly petrify the victim.

[Dragoon]

Let me check if I got new combat right...

When attacked, the attack damage first depletes defense, and when defense is equal to 0 it will take down health. If a creature is attacked the second time, it's defense is still 0, so attacks will deplete health.

Positions is interesting. So you can always switch positions if the creature hasn't attacked yet?

[Typherion]

Yup that's exactly how combat works.

Generally, the only time a creature will die in one hit is when a lvl I gets attacked by a lvl III. Even then, a lvl I with high Defense might be able to survive.

However, spells and creature effects will deal effect damage that isn't affected by Defense. So a lvl III could still die from two damage effects.

The battle position mechanic breaks down if creatures can attack an opponent, and then switch to defend you. I am still developing the position concept. Future changes may be to classify creature effects as useable when in attack position or in defense position. For example, perhaps the venomtail drake could only use its poison effect when in attack position.

If you attempt a big attack with a few creatures and your opponent activates a Weakening Ward that reduces all their Attacks by 4 that turn, you may want to abort that plan and switch some back to defense position.

[Dragoon]

I just saw you forget something important on your cards: ART CREDITS!

Different abilities in attack/defensive position adds additional strategy. However, if you do so, you may force creatures into positions and don't switch them at all. Also, allowing attackers to switch back makes it to easy to attack.

[Typherion]

Art issue fixed, how foolish of me. I think I agree that it ruins the flexibility of the system to tie abiltities to positions. Now to continue testing and working on starter deck lists...