Custom Game Type: Campaign
The Kitchen Table forum
Posted on June 22, 2017, 11:21 p.m. by Runelore
Magic the Gathering - Campaign Mode
Core Idea: Mixing some elements of DnD with EDH.
Replacing the traditional commander in EDH would be a selection of reknown characters from the MTG world. Initially, this could be a selection of one for each mono, dual and triple colour combination. The commanders would be created through a process similar to DnD character generation. Players would pick from a multitude of effects and abilities for the card, each in turn increasing the cost of the commander. At the end of each game of the campaign player will receive experience points and be able to level and enhance their commander.
Gameplay
This game mode would be design for a series of 4 player FFA, 40 starting health, following current EDH rules. The difference will be in the commander which is player from a printed character sheet, but plays just like a commander in EDH and follows the same rules. Imagine it's simply your own customized commander, but aside from that it's EDH. Where things start to vary from normal EDH would be in the additional campaign settings. Possibly the location of the battlefield could move, giving battle-wide effects or a special win condition may be in place. Also, unlike normal EDH, the game would have a GM responsible for managing the campaign rules and effects. This could include activies such as rolling event dice each turn/round. Suddenly the hills erupt out a swarm of goblins randomly attacking everything in sight.
Due to the fact this is a 4 player FFA game, the balancing of the rewards for winning would be critical. You would want to reward the player that comes first in a game, but without giving them anything that would lead to a runaway victory in the consecutive games. This could be achieved by having an experience reward structure that scales to only give the player a possible one level lead on competitors. Such as; 400 first place, 360 second, 340 third and 330 fourth, 750 experience needed for level 2. Throughout the random events the GM is putting into place each turn/round, extra rewards could have a chance at entering the battlefield in destructable crates, example: 0/7. Attacking these could leave you open to attack but reward you for the effort.
Much more could be fleshed out, but overall I love the idea of this gamemode and how it allows for a form of fun recurring gameplay over multiple weeks. I'm sure there's some MTG lore junkies that could craft some awesome campaigns. MTG has been around for a long time, I wouldn't be suprised if someone has already thought of this idea, let me know if this is the case. Would love to hear what others thought, any suggestions and if you think I should go ahead with working on fleshing out the start of a basic rulebook for this game mode.
Seems fun, but incredibly difficult to balance. Just seeing what kind of cards people design in the custom card section makes me shiver at the horrifyingly OP commanders people can come up with
hyperlocke says... #2
For shifting battlegrounds and events you might want to look at the Planechase products.
Having a character sheet as Commander sounds interesting, but I foresee massive balance problems.
June 23, 2017 12:22 a.m.