See
this thread for current Gaian vs. Cthonic development.
PROJECT Gaian vs Cthonic : The Elemental Factions
Current Topic : Suggest and Reviews Ideas
We are now beginning to design the core Gaian/Cthonic cards.
We have received a lot of ideas, but a lot them need evaluation or could be improved on. See
this post for the ideas we need to review. All suggestions are still encouraged, but keep in mind we may be overloaded on ideas in certain elements and that both factions need cards to help even out the 'spread' of cards..
Abilities:
Gaian: Genesis counters (accumulate over time)
Cthonic: Reinforce (parts are salvaged when destroyed)
Gaian
Creatures:
Permanents:
Spells
Cthonic
Creatures:
Permanents:
Spells
Here's a summary post describing the idea of Gaian vs. Cthonic. For a complete breakdown and themes we can use to design cards, see
here.
Spoiler for Faction Backgrounds:
Wood, a following of eco-environmental peoples, a tribe of Life Synergy workers, who find the pinnacle of Element Enlightenment through cooperation and blending of elements through the faction/subelement 'Wood'
vs
Metal, a following of industrial technologists who feel that progress is created by mastery over Elements, with force and machinery being the path to Purity, of which the find the pinnacle within the sub-element of Earth, known as "Metal"
or cooperation with elements, vs purity or mastery over elements, lending to two different ideals of hard line 'machines' and soft line 'organics'
where Metal might make a tank, Wood would make an ornithopter. Wood is likely to 'grow buildings' Metal is likely to reinforce concrete with steel. This is somewhat nature vs tech, but can be expanded, Metal can have wizards, but wood would have shamans. Metal can have traditional technology, Wood can have organic technology, or to put it this way, physical vs 'life' science, or chemistry vs biology.
I see creatures far beyond elves and dwarves here.
Some ideas, that build on these notions
Cthonic - below the earth - Metal - immobile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chthonic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chthonic
Gaian - above the earth, alive - Wood - flowing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaianism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Offspring_of_Gaia
*snip*
So, we have a set of two groups,
The Cthonic(Cthoni/Ctonae/etc)
who are our Metal users from beneath the Earth. The praise Kelos, the notion of Glory, and follow a Hierophant, one who reveals the divine. They are believers in the immutable, pristine and mathematically defined world of physics and chemistry.
and
The Gaians
who are our Wood users from above the Earth. They praise Aidos, humility and acceptance, they follow the Eidolon, the great spirit. They believe in the flowing, transcendent nature of reality, the biological, the abstract
so, I see two factions, once both friends of the earth, who split, when one, the Cthon, believed that they were separate from the divine, and needed to obtain some form of purity, went into the earth and sought perfection through distilling the most simple, the most discrete aspect of matter, and engaged in Metallurgy, Alchemistry, and in Physics, creating strange machines beneath the Earth. The elected a Hierophant, a great teacher, who led the forward. The other faction, Gaian, sought the heavens and believed they were one with the divine, and were to weave together life and matter as they pleased, the lived among the trees, who provided the most sacred of things, Wood, in its endless varieties of composition, brought together by many forms of Quanta and matter, thus complete. The began to engage in growing and forming of various living technologies, through the use of biology, they formed mighty wooden forms, buildings and even machines, made of wood. Somewhere, at a great cleft in the Earth, where powerful forms of Quanta flowed, both sought to own this sacred place, where heaven and subterranean worlds met, the great canyon city, the mighty cleft, where a cave system has collapsed. In this place, they wage war, among the streets of the once great city, built into the cliffs, think alexandria, where the city extends into the earth in cave tunnels, and above the ground in forests, home to an ancient spring of water. Here, high in the mountains, both in the heavens, the forest and beneath the earth, do worlds come together, with both factions wishing to take hold of the place in order to gain some stronghold among the elemental planes. Here, there war engines meet, and armies vie for control, to determine which will be the most divine, purist, completionist, Cthonic or Gaian, Cold Steel, or Living Wood. Chemistry or Biology, Complexity or Simplicity, The Spirit Within, or The Spirit Above.
Element is Permanent Based
Element is a Wood vs. Metal theme.
Element directly opposes mind.
Current Issue : Faction seeks an identity, and can be defined in several ways (read the most recent posts of this thread for more detail.) Do we seek the age old conflict of nature vs. technology, a war between two different technological philosophies, or something else entirely?
To expand Elements storywise while taking into consideration new mechanics, we've decided to shift the idea of a 14th element project into an all-encompassing 'faction series' that could be implemented ingame.
Project goals:- Name and theme for this new
element faction. - Strengths and weaknesses of the factions
- Creating defining cards and defining mechanics (For example, Frog defines Life's aggression and ability to be above the balance standard at the cost of no PC/weak CC. Freeze is a defining mechanic for Water as it thematically fits in the element and appears on several water cards.)
- Faction synergy between elements : which faction favors what, how would 'negotiators' or 'turncoats' that interact with both factions favor.
- ~24-36 new cards from these two factions ("Approximate Build : 6 creatures, 3 spells, 3 permanents." doesn't really apply anymore since this is cross-element)
Spoiler for Hidden:
Although Elements getting another element any time soon is highly unlikely, it's still an interesting thing to consider. If there was an element that did not fit with the core 12, what should it be called? What kind of strengths and weaknesses it would have? What kind of cards it would have? etc.
It's time for the brilliant minds of the Idea Factory to come up with a new element that would fit Elements.
Project goals:- Name and theme for this new element
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Synergy with other elements
- 12 new cards from this new element (Approximate Build : 6 creatures, 3 spells, 3 permanents. This may change if the element is permanent or spell-oriented.)
- Optional: Since all current elements have their counterparts, find a name and theme for that opposing element.
There is absolutely no rush with this project. It can take weeks or even months, no problem. Even if the final cards are all Non-Core Elemental (and thus will not be coded by Zanz), they can be easily reworked into other elements given the appropriate theme.
Lets get started. Please post your ideas here. Thanks.
Here's the
Original 13th Element thread for those that need to brush up on what originally happened. (Warning : Xeno's Crawler broke the Mind Mark image in the OP and OT's 2nd post, so displays on the first page might have issues.)
Our current stage is
Step 1 : Theme - IFers are free to post ideas for a theme for our new element and what it will be called. Feel free to take unused suggestions from the old thread as well. Including a sample Mark might also be useful.
Spoiler for Suggested Abilities:
Transmute : - Gaian - Turns target permanent into a creature, or target creature into a permanent. Specifics such as retaining old identity or turning into a new card entirely depend on the card that is doing the transmuting.
Reinforce : - Cthonic- Is this card is discarded or destroyed, generate [benefit]/[effect] (like generate X quanta or a random ally creature gets +X/+X). Alternatively, if this card is discard/destroyed generate a "Salvage Ward" permanent.
The Spirit Without: absorb/obtain somthing.
The Spirit Within: Protrude something. Quanta perhaps? Damage?
Gaian:
evolutionary stages: cards that become other cards, like graboid or fate egg, but in multiple cycles, involving several kinds of elements, this is inline with zblader's transmute idea, which I fully support
biogenesis: biological based cards, such as cards that adjust and alter a cards stats, or add a specific skill/ability, similar to the fallen elf/druid.
Tree people: dryads, ents, etc, drawing from the greek, neirads and sylphs. I certainly see an Ent card, that becomes a Pillar or permanent, probably producing a certain amount of random quanta, that becomes a creature to attack and turns back into a permanent at will.
dodge based defense: avoidance or redirection of damage or abilities.
ability to regenerate and fly
Cthonic
augmentatoin: in line with zblader's reinforce idea, which I fully support, this is adding things directly to a card, equipment, such as the plate armor card.
combinatory effect: some pieces that ft together to make stronger things, like a cannon, that does damage and a special shell, that improves damage or a cannon that breaks, unless a certain engineer or enchantment is on it "combos", not forced, bt advised, like an engineer that adds enchant artifact to things, and a cannon that breaks unless enchanted, and removes the enchantment when it fires, or a creature that does momentum, but loses max HP and an armorer that adds max HP, cards that need multiple parts to achieve full ability
emplacements: permanents that interact with the creature fields, balista, battlements with hot oil, etc
strength based defense: armor, shielding, absorbtion
quanta ramp: permanents that produce select quanta, or specific quanta, for very high powered costs.
steam engines, cannons and metallurgy: mechanical, metal and stone based tech.
Ability to burrow creatures
