Mounts

[jallenw]

You can view all the mounts together at this image: http://meowsquish.webs.com/junk/cards/allmounts.GIF

Air: Thundermare http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5456.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5456.0.html) (In Crucible!)
Gravity: Trojan Pony http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5474.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5474.0.html)
Entropy: Chaos Stallion http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5471.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5471.0.html)
Death: Ghost Stallion http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5477.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5477.0.html)
Earth: Terrasque http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5478.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5478.0.html)
Water: Seahorse http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5479.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5479.0.html)
Time: Mare Crisium http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5480.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5480.0.html)
Darkness: Midnight Tiger http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5482.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5482.0.html)
Light: Divine Pony http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5485.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5485.0.html)
Life: Emerald Unicorn http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5489.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5489.0.html)
Fire: Charcoal Stallion http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5498.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5498.0.html)
Aether: Energy Pegasus http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5500.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5500.0.html)
Other: Pony / Elite Pony http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5543.0.html (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5543.0.html)

The basic idea is that a mount is a creature but you can only have 1 mount in play at a time, like shields and weapons.

I would like to see mounts in the game as some sort of quest reward similar to the way you get a weapon for the 500 point quest.

Mounts, like nymphs, typically have abilities that are card effect from the same element.  The idea is for mounts to be powerful, and I know that my designs will be overpowered at first and we'll need to tweek them a bit to make sure that they are balanced.

As you can see, mounts have the capacity to be very powerful, and I am still in the process of designing them and working out the balance issues.  The drawback of only having 1 in play at a time makes it possible for mounts to be more powerful than typical creatures. 

Of course they would not be available for purchase at the bazar, but rare and only obtainable from false gods, possibly some sort of quest reward, or from the oracle.

Please keep replies to THIS post specific to the Mount concept.  For discussion about my individual mount designs, please go to my forum posts about those specific mounts.

I will update this list as I finish designing the rest, and I look forward to hearing your ideas for possible mount designs and abilities.
Edit: All cards have now been added.  Please leave feedback for specific mounts on the appropriate topic.  Leave feedback for the general 'Mount' concept here.

Additional Information:
If you have a mount in play and you cast another mount, the original mount is replaced.  It does not 'die' so it will not activate abilities such as scavenger, bonewall, or boneyard.
If you target your mount with parallel universe the original disappears and the copy remains.
Fate Eggs can not hatch into mounts. 
Mutation can not create mounts. 
I'm not sure if mutants should be able to have all the mount abilities, but I'm thinking that many mount abilities would be too strong and should not be available to mutants.

Peace,
Jallen

Edit: Post edited to remove redundant information and make it more organized.

[rotface]

nice i really like these great idea

[Demagog]

They are interesting, but completely unbalanced. Entropy gets lycanthropy while water gets purify? lol

I think that if mounts were introduced, they should have completely new abilities.

[jallenw]

What abilities should they have?  I am open to your suggestions.

And a creature with the purify ability would be much more useful than the purify card, which is pretty much useless.

[Demagog]

A permanent with purify would be almost just as useless, probably even more so. Purify is free to cast when upgraded. You would have to spend quanta to summon the mount for purify, then wait a turn to be able to cast it.

Anyway, perhaps look through the card ideas section and find abilities that look good. Just credit the people that suggested those abilities or they may get mad lol...

[jallenw]

But a creature with the purify skill would have the following benefits over the purify spell itself:

1) No need to waste a card slot on purify.  Against opponents that do not use poison, you still have a creature that can attack.
2) You can remove poison each turn, instead of only removing poison once with just one card.

Personally, I would consider using a creature that had the purify skill in my anti-fg deck, since it would give me a distinct advantage over a couple of the fgs.

But I haven't finished designing the water mount, so it may end up with a different ability.  We'll see what feedback I get once I post the initial design.

Peace,
Jallen

[yaladilae]

I wouldnt expect it to be a spell on a stick

I would expect a mount to be something you ride, like a warhorse, to increase your speed / atk / hp

So for example Fire mount can be (given the characteristic of fire's high atk and low hp)
1 Link it to a fire creature, the creature gets +3|0 (you can re-link it to another creature next turn by re-casting the skill, or keep it linked to the same creature)

And this mount itself is a permenant where you wield it next to your shield slot (new slot)

Or to make it to another extreme, you can see it as your avatar (you controlling the creaturs etc) rides the mount.
So it could be something like 2 all your FIRE creature gets +3|0 until the end of turn
Where the mount makes you better at commanding your fire creature and hence the boost

Cost etc of coz are subject to changes

[icybraker]

Completely new abilities? Let's do this. Are you thinking defensive or offensive? I'll do all.

Gamble: Every time target creature uses its skill, it becomes -1|-2.
Ritual: Sacrifice target creature. Ghost Stallion gains +1|+1.
Galvanize: Target creature becomes -2|0 but gains Momentum.
Block: Target loses 5 HP. Anything that targets it has a 25 % chance of missing and attacks directed at it also have a 25 % chance of missing. Can target players or creatures.
Sympathy: This creature becomes -1|-1. Target creature gains +3|+3.
Frenzy: Target creature becomes +1|-1.
Tidal Wave: Target creature becomes 0|-2. Gain .
Advent: Target creature gains +1|0 for every card summoned to the field.
Wings: Target creature loses its active ability and gains the Dive ability.
Revert: Target creature is restored to the form it was in when it was originally summoned.
Shadow Bond: Gain . This ability can be used multiple times per turn.
Mirage: Summon a copy of the target creature. The copy has 0 health.

Some ideas are similar or are simply pulled from other ideas I found in the forums. Their costs should be scaled due to their relative power. For example, Mirage is quite powerful and should cost 3 while Frenzy is not too powerful and should cost 1 .

[bigbadbanana]

Wings= OMFG with sky dragons

[jallenw]

I love all of those abilities, but I'm going to finish all my original designs as I intended them first, then we'll see what we can change/improve after that.. 

The idea is that the player is riding the mount, but it is difficult to think of abilities that relate only to that fact. 

I elected to not constrain myself to tightly to that part of the concept, in favor of creating abilities that I felt could be powerful, but balanced. 

I'm sure each mount will change drastically before it ever gets implemented, if they even do.

[Demagog]

I think mounts should increase quanta production.

Perhaps one quanta for every two or three pillars of the mount's type you have.

[jallenw]

I considered giving the Entropy mount the nova ability for 2 entropy, but I liked the lycanthropy idea better.