Friday, April 6, 2012

Temptation and Virtue Cards




A good chunk of gameplay in Battle For Souls will take place with Temptation and Virtue cards, which are drawn and played by the side of evil and good respectively.

Each player will have a deck that consists of 45 temptation/virtue cards -- 6 cards of 7 different colors that correspond to the 7 deadly sins, or 7 holy virtues, and 3 wild cards. In addition, each player will have 5 reaper cards in their deck, and 2 victory point cards for a total of 52 cards.

These cards will be shuffled and a 5 card hand drawn. We will have to see how it plays, but the idea is that holy/unholy points can be added to souls based on what you play from your hand.

For example:

3 cards all of a different color = 1 holy/unholy point added to any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness in common with one of the colors played

4 cards all of a different color = 1 holy/unholy point added to any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness in common with one of the colors played OR 1 holy/unholy point subtracted from any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness in common with one of the colors played.


5 cards all of a different color = 2 holy/unholy points added to any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness in common with one of the colors played

3 of a kind = 1 holy/unholy point added to any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness of the same color

Full House = 1 holy/unholy point added to any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness in common with one of the played colors OR 1 holy/unholy point subtracted from any soul that has a heavenly virtue / mortal weakness in common with one of the colors played

4 of a kind = 1 holy/unholy points added to any soul

5 of a kind = 2 holy/unholy points added to any soul AND a victory point card to your discard pile if you so choose

If you use cards on your turn you keep what is left in your hand and draw back up to 5 on your next turn.

A player may also discard any amount of cards if they cannot play, or choose not to.

In addition, a player can buy a victory point card at the end of their turn at the cost of 1 holy/unholy point from any soul they control. This victory point card must however, be placed on top of the player's deck, effectively reducing their next hand to 4 cards.

All cards including any victory point cards purchased or won, must be reshuffled once the deck is played through.

This is how will will begin playtesting anyway. I will update here once we see how it works out.

What do you think of this mechanic?


4 comments:

  1. This mechanic is obviously an important one, and I really have no idea how playtesting will go.

    On first glance, I feel like the mechanic can be an effective one but might currently have too many combinations to track.

    My other concern is that purchasing victory points with 5-of-a-kind will happen so rarely to be unneecessary. I definitely enjoy the tension in Dominion that comes from victory points clogging up your deck. It's fundamentally different in Dominion, though, because all the victory points are achieved that way. It seems like the majority of victory points in Battle for Souls will be obtained through angels/devils/souls/relics.

    Just some food for thought while you playtest! I really appreciate you taking the time to update the blog regularly, and am always trying to be constructive through praise or criticism.

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  2. I would have quick reference cards that would list the combos for players. They could use these until they learn them after a few plays.

    5-of a kind will be rare, but it will happen, and I would like to offer a reward for getting there. Luck is involved, but since cards not used stay in your hand, and since you can discard to redraw on your turn if you choose, good hands can be built over multiple turns.

    This way players can be rewarded for taking on the risk of drawing instead of playing on their turn and it introduces a bit more strategy to the game.

    The majority of victory points will be obtained through souls/angels/devils and relics. But single points can be important in close games.

    I can't tell you how much I appreciate your input so early in the process. As soon as I have rules I am comfortable with, would you be willing to play test if I send you a copy?

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    Replies
    1. I like the idea of thinning your deck with five-of-a-kind (or an even easier combination, if necessary). Would there ever be incentive to remove certain colors from your deck because you don't want/need them? Or would that be too risky because the souls are turned over randomly?

      Having the ability to build your hand is definitely important. I've only played a few games of Eminent Domain, but it really provided tension as I needed to decide what to keep and how much risk to take.

      I would definitely be interested in playtesting, but it would primarily be with my wife (although she could provide some good outside criticism) because I don't have a regular gaming group at the moment. Even solo play against myself can be helpful.

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  3. As I think about it more, I think 5 of a kind should allow a player to remove any card from their deck and add it to their "bank" - cards that can no longer be used, but can be counted for victory points at the end of the game. S

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