Villains

[Tokimo]

I'm aware of two games that use villain cards as a separate card type from heros: Rage and Sailor Moon. Anyone have any other card games they know of that use this style of conflict?

I'm pondering how I want to implement a villain system into Mahoujo and I feel supporting villain you play in some way makes a more interactive game, but I feel that requiring players to provide villains for their opponents reduces some of the flexibility of the victory card system.

Edit: current Villains system.

[Ripplez]

Neopets has a villain card type....

[Tokimo]

Is there a neopets plugin? I didn't realize neopets had a card game, I really probably should learn to play that too.

Edit: Just ordered a starter box and a code stripped booster box of Neopets.

[Howl]

question...? umm is this going to be a game that includes famous characters such as sailor moon per say. im just wondering i saw ur previewcard but i wasnt sure exactly what you were getting towards with the game.

[Tokimo]

Wholly original universe. Similar genre to sailor moon, although perhaps with some flavor closer to Wedding Peach or Magical Doremi.

[Howl]

oh i see cool.!

[briggs]

Lord of the Rings tcg and Stargate tcg both had a villain system.

[Tokimo]

The old LOTR or the newer one?

[Cyrus]

Star Wars by Decipher had it set up so you could only make a deck of either light side or dark side cards. For a tournament you had to have both. Made the metagame CRAZY

[briggs]

The old LOTR or the newer one?

I think they both had it, actually... but I was referring to the new one

[Tokimo]

It looks like I have a coherent villain system for my game. It's based around drawing and discard cards to support the villain (with a temporary combat hand actually drawn from your regular deck).

Villains

The major idea is the villain has abilities that you can pay for by discarding cards and spells that it can cast if you draw them. You draw cards, then discard and cast spells from your combat hand, then discard any leftovers and resume normal play mode.

[HotLimit]

Ani-mayhem had villains. The game had physical locations, and the enemy cards could move around and attack autonomously (or so I recall). You can read some details here: http://www.ani-mayhem.com/

I personally love the idea of villains because a lot of my games focus on solo play. Ideally I think both sides should be able to attack villains from either deck. In addition, neither side should be able to control the villain cards in any way. This causes a dilemma in terms of strategy (why not just stock your deck with villains that are easy for you to kill), but can be balanced out with rewards (stronger villains give greater bonuses).

[reelhotgames]

Fight Klub uses Hero / Villain and two different card backs decks for players to use - I must say I actually hate the 2 card back system for signification of cards, because you essentially have to print equal cards for heros and villains - I prefer cards that give advantages to characteristics as oppossed to only certain characters or decks.

Like Highlander which duplicates the same card for every single persona they print.

I really dislike useless cards in a game. By useless I mean if I want to play X character (persona, hero, villain etc...) but only "A" cards can be used by "A" characters and "B" for "B" type ro so on...

Instead it should be (1) harder for a character to use a certain card based on type (out of character, but still can be done, or (2) extra features for characters / types - like a bonus for using the card one which isn't granted to those who aren't of the proper type / character . name etc...

[Tokimo]

I think controlling the villains is important for hidden information. If the villain operates on it's own then there is no capacity for a player to utilize deck building and strategy to leverage it against their opponent.

The villain system I worked out for example has information neither player knows when someone chooses to attack a villain (which cards will be in the combat hand). Sure, they might have nothing that the villain can use, but they might also be packing a spell that flips the balance of the battle from a win to a loss.

[aardvark]

Just got through reading dev journal 3. The whole villains thing is kinda cool, gotta admit and I like how you put it into action. The player draw the villain from the regular deck, right? Then draws the villains hand limit from the same deck? I didn't see a listing for a separate villain deck so I guess so, oui? What about cards drawn for the villain... just the x cards of the top of the deck?