Zero Point Energy

[OdinVanguard]

Aether spell / permanent
"The minimum value of the quanta pool for each player's mark is increased by 1."

E.g. if this were a permanent and you had 1 in play, your marks quanta pool would never fall below 1 (same for the quanta pool of your opponent's mark).
I.e. You would always have 1 point of that type to use and you could cast 1 point cards of that type as if they were free.

Any feedback on balance, mechanic, etc. is welcome but in particular:

-Does anyone know if this (or something very similar) has been proposed before?
-Should this apply to all quanta pools or would that be too OP?
-Should players be able to choose / redirect which pool is affected?
-Is it better as a permanent or spell... or maybe even a creature? If as a permanent or creature, should it stack?
-Is aether a good element or should it go somewhere else?

[Heavenscall]

Brainstormed it sounds like a interesting idea. But later i thought as a permanent that maybe use all marks that are played its too good for elite players, that farmed some marks. So the strongest players would get more advantage and that is not so smart.
As a spell its not too heavy advantage, if you can choose only 1 mark every card. That seems ok. Hope that helps a bit.

[waterzx]

  is a good element for Zero Point Energy because those energy is tapped directly from the dimension.

And if my memory serves correctly, zero point energy is an unlimited source of energy and this really fits the mechanics of your card.

I don't think the current effect of your card is powerful because it affects both sides. It's probably a bit weak because you only gain one quantum for one element, and you need to empty your quanta pool for it to work.

Here's my suggestion for the card description : (All elements should be affected)
"Refuel any quantum pool to one quantum whenever it is emptied each turn"

[OdinVanguard]

Brainstormed it sounds like a interesting idea. But later i thought as a permanent that maybe use all marks that are played its too good for elite players, that farmed some marks. So the strongest players would get more advantage and that is not so smart.
As a spell its not too heavy advantage, if you can choose only 1 mark every card. That seems ok. Hope that helps a bit.

Hmm... good point. I totally forgot about mark cards...

is a good element for Zero Point Energy because those energy is tapped directly from the dimension.

And if my memory serves correctly, zero point energy is an unlimited source of energy and this really fits the mechanics of your card.

I don't think the current effect of your card is powerful because it affects both sides. It's probably a bit weak because you only gain one quantum for one element, and you need to empty your quanta pool for it to work.

Here's my suggestion for the card description : (All elements should be affected)
"Refuel any quantum pool to one quantum whenever it is emptied each turn"

That could work also. It would definitely make it more useful.
Should the effect stack? I.e. refills empty quanta by 1 for each card on the stack
For example if you had 3 of these, any quanta pools that had under 3 quanta would get refilled to 3.

[waterzx]

That could work also. It would definitely make it more useful.
Should the effect stack? I.e. refills empty quanta by 1 for each card on the stack
For example if you had 3 of these, any quanta pools that had under 3 quanta would get refilled to 3.

Very careful balancing would be needed if you want it to stack.

If you go for the cumulative effect, the quanta pool should only be refilled when emptied no matter how many ZPE you have played. (Refill to 3 if you have 3 ZPE and zero quantum in certain pool) This avoids a lot of abuse and makes it much easier to balance.

[OdinVanguard]

That could work also. It would definitely make it more useful.
Should the effect stack? I.e. refills empty quanta by 1 for each card on the stack
For example if you had 3 of these, any quanta pools that had under 3 quanta would get refilled to 3.

Very careful balancing would be needed if you want it to stack.

If you go for the cumulative effect, the quanta pool should only be refilled when emptied no matter how many ZPE you have played. (Refill to 3 if you have 3 ZPE and zero quantum in certain pool) This avoids a lot of abuse and makes it much easier to balance.

So would something like this work for wording?:
"If an element's quanta pool for either player drains to 0, it refills to N (3 times per turn per player). N = Stack size"

In other words, if your enemy plays a black hole, this would refill up to 3 of your quanta types to N. It would also do the same for your opponent, however, if you were to play a black hole on them.

It would make a much softer counter to quanta denial than sanctuary.

3 seemed like a good number there since it would put a single one of these on par with a quantum pillar in terms of output. It could be set to a different value though. I see some possible issues with fractal, but they would likely require getting a decent sized stack built up to be effective (stack size would need to match or exceed creature cost).