Magic: The Gathering - A 3.5 Rules Module

Michael Morris said:

What of the guilds of Ravnica?

So, if I want a character who is Golgari he can be black and green. There will be a certain cognitive dissonance to his philosophy and actions, but all the same the character can work.

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I explicitly thought about Ravnica. I seriously considered letting you take two colors. Doing so would mean that you couldn't use feats or spells from the other three colors. I decided against it for the follow reasons.

1. I wanted to keep things simple
2. I wanted your choice of color to limit your options

The simple things is pretty straight forward. Multi-colored alignment is going to, by its nature, require a more complex set of rules. KISS baby.

Using color to limit options is, in my mind, showing respect for the color wheel and the player's choice. Your color choice becomes a defining aspect of your character, both mechanically and from a role-playing point of view.

I like the challenge, and I've thought about this myself. I disagree with merely tacking things onto the existing rules, and with the general way you've sorted the spells.

1) Mana: the way you have it, everyone is the same class/CR, PLUS they have color-based powers. Every critter has them, too. That's more work buffing every single critter, for the GM to balance vs. PCs. Everyone is basically the same, plus powers.

...Sorry, interrupted by family time, gotta cut the analysis short.

I think you should make a Color-based spellcaster class, and re-sort all the spells in new color lists. The generalizations you've mentioned have holes in them (ie: Red casts Evocation, which means they cast Ice spells; Blue/Water can't do this).

Not every PC or creature should have Mana.

More later!!!

Otherwise, neat question and glad you're doing this.

Not every PC or creature should have Mana.

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I disagree, if for no other reason than some classic artifacts & creature enchantments require mana to activate or use fully. It doesn't have to be much, but it should exist.

fireinthedust said:

I like the challenge, and I've thought about this myself. I disagree with merely tacking things onto the existing rules, and with the general way you've sorted the spells.

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I agree, I disliked the way I sorted spells. I've since gone through the d20 SRD and sorted all spells by color instead of sorting spells by assigning a color to each school. I'm much happier with the results. For example:

Fly (3rd Level Transmutation) would have been placed in Green because of it's school. Fly obviously belongs to blue, thus, that's where it is now.

I'll post the spell list at some point and we can hash out stuff (like where to put Flesh to Stone). I'm not afraid to put a spell into two colors (example: Green and White got all the Cure X Wounds spells).

1) Mana: the way you have it, everyone is the same class/CR, PLUS they have color-based powers. Every critter has them, too. That's more work buffing every single critter, for the GM to balance vs. PCs. Everyone is basically the same, plus powers.

...Sorry, interrupted by family time, gotta cut the analysis short.

I think you should make a Color-based spellcaster class, and re-sort all the spells in new color lists. The generalizations you've mentioned have holes in them (ie: Red casts Evocation, which means they cast Ice spells; Blue/Water can't do this).

Not every PC or creature should have Mana.

More later!!!

Otherwise, neat question and glad you're doing this

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One of the rules I set for myself was that Mana must be important and used by all classes. I think it's important for every PC to have the opportunity to use Mana, not just the spell casters.

Color + Spellcaster Class: I've been tossing around some ideas in my head for how I want spell casters to work beyond just the new spell list. There are four main spell casters: Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard. I'm pretty sure Green and Druids go together. Cleric seems to fit well with White and possibly Green. Wizard seems a fit for Blue and Black. Sorcerer seems a good fit for Red and Black.

I've not thought about NPC Monsters. Obviously, they'll have a color associated with them. Beyond that, I've been focused more on the rules for PCs.

Dannyalcatraz said:

I disagree, if for no other reason than some classic artifacts & creature enchantments require mana to activate or use fully. It doesn't have to be much, but it should exist.

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I agree with you Danny, especially about the artifacts. There are going to be artifacts that produce or consume mana, it would be nice if these were open to all classes, not just the spell casters. Furthermore, in the more recent sets, every creature has some sort of special ability (be it just a Keyword or some Mana Activated effect). I think it's important to have these options for players if they want them.

On another note, how did your Magic the Gathering set game turn out?

Cleric can be any, but do u need them if all spell lists are resorted?

Unearthed arcana has optional rules for generic three. Classes: combat, caster, skillmonkey. Every level pick a class abilityor feat from your class list. Warriors got armor, rage, feats, that sort of thing.

You could do that, and have lists of color based powers they can pick.

Similarly, star wars saga edition has class talents. What if these were color based?

As for mana: it is used by players, not the cards. And found in lands. Only some cards grant mana. If all have it u r off theme.

Idea: mana as action or force poiints? Color powers can be feats, talents.

Warforged can be artifact pcs.

Good topic, keep it coming.

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On another note, how did your Magic the Gathering set game turn out?

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Well, I'm still working out the details, but it will probably never be used. When I mentioned the project to my group, you could have heard the crickets chirruping in the background.

fireinthedust said:

Cleric can be any, but do u need them if all spell lists are resorted?

Unearthed arcana has optional rules for generic three. Classes: combat, caster, skillmonkey. Every level pick a class abilityor feat from your class list. Warriors got armor, rage, feats, that sort of thing.

You could do that, and have lists of color based powers they can pick.

Similarly, star wars saga edition has class talents. What if these were color based?

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Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Sorcerer all have different mechanics for spell access (all spells, spellbook, innate knowledge), hit points, weapons, and armor. If spell access is not an issue, Cleric seems like the obvious class to take (good armor, BAB, weapon selection).

I originally had the idea of making Mana Effects for each class, but scrapped that idea. However, I find the idea of Talents very interesting (but question if feats are still not the correct way to handle it).

As for mana: it is used by players, not the cards. And found in lands. Only some cards grant mana. If all have it u r off theme.

Idea: mana as action or force poiints? Color powers can be feats, talents.

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Since Mana is the currency of the Magic, I really want to find a way to represent it in the game itself. I've shifted Mana from the currency of the Planeswalker (Magic Player) to the Adventurer (Player-Character) in order to keep the flavor of Magic. Thus, the Player is still in control of the mana, Player's position in the world has just changed slightly.

Obviously, some concepts in Magic would be hard to duplicate; card drawing, discard, graveyard manipulation, blocking, effects like Buyback, Phasing, or Affinity, land destruction, etc. Mana is something I feel like I can translate directly, using it to power Feats, Spells, Special Abilities, and Artifacts.

Warforged can be artifact pcs.

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That's an interesting idea

Love the feedback and the ideas

card drawing, discard, graveyard manipulation, blocking, effects like Buyback, Phasing, or Affinity, land destruction

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Card drawing is just a way to gain more options in M:tG- it could be a specific spell, perhaps something in the "Wonder" category.

Discard reduces a targets' options, so would be an effect like the Soulknife's Knife to the Soul or Level draining effects.

Graveyard manipulation is functionally the same as gained from spells that let you recall spells you already cast or reanimating the dead.

Phaseing is somewhat like Blink.