Hello fellow card designers,
I'm working on a series that revolves around a 'Marked card' mechanic.
The idea to add a 'Mark' on cards in the game (this could be anywhere, i.e. field, deck or hand depending on the needs of a given card).
The marks (which may or may not be visible) would do nothing in and of themselves but would serve as triggers for cards that make use of this mechanic. The marks would be retained when a card moves from one location to another. E.g. if a marked creature is rewound, it retains the mark when it good put into the deck and also when it gets drawn and eventually played again.
I already have a few cards made to help get a feel for some of the ideas, but the options seem nearly endless here.
blood shieldpsychic battle bladegraviton defense satelliteSerpent of ParadiseI am opening this thread to get some feedback on this idea, and also to hopefully inspire some other card designers to make use of it too.
The first challenge is in how to handle the impact of triggering based on various conditions (i.e. in terms of cost theory and utility):
E.g. Abilities can be triggered when a marked card is:
1)Drawn
2)Played
3)Killed / Destroyed / Leaves Play
4)Is Discarded
Another challenge is abilities that scale based on marked cards in various locations. E.g.
1) Scaling vs Number in play (field or permanent slots) vs Not in play (hand or deck) - see serpent of paradise for example
Finally, should the marks be visible? There are pros to having them not be visible, such as adding an element of guessing and mind games (i.e. act as a trap like mechanic) when placed in the opponent's deck / hand / field, but on the other hand, its harder for the owner to make strategic decisions as well.
