As someone who loves both very much, I've actually been taking time to make a conversion of MtG to DnD 5E. The idea was really not to change everything but to figure out how to integrate things into the game that would capture the essence of what MtG is. With Forgotten Realms becoming an official MtG plane is even more exciting now.
One thing I discovered is it definitely is a painful and extremely long process. I've actually created a wiki on this but I'll share that soon when it's more or less finished. I've taken a lot of the information provided by the Planes books and the 2 books that came out and use that as a basis. Right now it's a work in progress. In the meantime, let me share what I have so far in summary.
1) Definition of Planes - in traditional D&D, planes refer to different planes of existence but essentially within the same universe / campaign setting (Astral Plane, abyss, etc). Each universe has their own versions of those planes of existence. In fact, even within MtG, this is the case which was shown in Theros that there is the prime material plane and there is the underworld. Spellcasters within these universes can travel with the right spell within their own universe but do not have the power to travel beyond. This is even so for their gods. So Planeswalkers are essentially Universe/Campaign setting travelers. This Is the ability that truly sets them apart from every other person. I've had this confusion when i was running my campaign with regards how the players perceived it.
2) Planeswalkers - the way WoTC did their short description of Planeswalkers, is that it is an ability that simply allows them do the "Planes" walking through the Blind Eternities. In my game, i kept this but made them as some sort of template that any character could get. According to MtG lore, Planeswalkers were almost among the best and most powerful mages. This power did not come alone from being equivalent to high-level spellcasters but more that they were greater than the average spellcaster of that universe. With this in mind, some sort of magical bonus should be given to them. How powerful would depend personally on you as a DM. People have to remember though that the original Planeswalkers were akin to gods and the current incarnations of Planeswalkers are much weaker than they originally were. For me, I would provide them with a little bonus to their available spells slots (or points) and spell DC. Also, i agree that Summoning becomes available to all Planeswalkers as it is core to their power. As to what they summon is something ill discuss further below.
3) Spellcasting - when playing an MtG setting, using the Optional Spell Points would be more appropriate to the system. Spell Points are essentially mana and have a numeric value that corresponds to it somehow. At the very least, it simulates the idea of your mana pool (Spell point pool). The only problem though is in reality when running a game using spell points, it becomes more difficult for the player to do and manage. However, it does work. it does capture the "feel" of mana more.
- Also, for the sake of simplicity, i converted 1 mana = 1 spell level. It somehow worked and made sense when put into play, at least in our experience. What becomes apparent though that not all spells are equal. Some are more powerful than others. This is why spells converted from MtG would need to be given a rarity rating (common, uncommon, rare and mythic rare). Why is this, so that the DM can control what spells characters can possess as well as a basic why they can't get "Channel" easily. Common spells all characters can get as initial choices. Anything beyond common spells, a DM will have to let their players earn them.
- In terms of damage, 1 damage in MtG = 2d6 damage (or 2d8 depending on how powerful you want things to be). This somehow corresponds to the Challenge Rating system of DnD.
- A manapool is the same as Spellpoints in 5e though there are differences. The biggest difference is that the player has to decide what colors are the mana in his pool. (ex. if you have 50 Manapool, you can allocate 25 of those to be Green and the other 10 as Blue and 10 as Red and 5 as colorless)
- Each spell has a casting cost in terms of mana which includes a trigger color. When you use the mana, you use it up until it is replenished.
- The spells you can cast are limited to the spells that you choose as your color.
- When gaining your spellcaster class, you get to choose the colors you will have access to. Sometimes your class will limit what colors are available to your class.
- This cannot be changed on the fly though technically you change your color choices every time you level up. (Think of this as changing decks)
- The colors have spell-type affinities which means some colors are more prone to certain effects more than others. There are situations when 2 different colors can do the same effect though in a different way.
- You can only cast spells your character knows. (These are the cards in your library effectively)
- The limit on the number of concentration spells maintained is not limited to 1. However, this rule might break the balance in 5E because this is one of the limitations established. This rule is optional then. Realistically, a player normally has 1-2 enchantments active anyway so maybe increasing it by 1 wont break the bank (hopefully) You can say that the spell is sustained by mana in the land. This assumes of course the specific mana is available where you are.
4) Mana Colors equals Color Alignment - Everything the game must be given its color affinity. Be they be people, creatures, items, planes, land, locations, etc. Color is a fundamental organizing principle of the Multiverse, closely linked with everything from physical geography to human personality. The following are just some of the correlations between color and other aspects of existence:
- Lands: Different types of terrain generate mana of different colors. For example, mountains produce red mana,while plains produce white mana.
- Philosophical Principles: Each color is associated with a set of ideals, values, and principles. White is connected with protection and order, and green with life and nature.
- Magical Effects: Different colors of mana are used to power different kinds of spells. Spells of fire, lightning, and speed draw on red mana, while spells of water, ice, and the mind use blue mana.
- Races and Creatures: Humans are exceptional, in that they don’t have a particular aptitude or affinity for one color of mana. For other races, and even for nonsentient creatures, the connection is much stronger. Elves, for example, are typically green-aligned. They use nature magic, and they value things like balance, stability, and interdependence. Hydras are also green aligned, though they don’t use magic directly and they don’t have values— even as they can be seen to embody those values. So if you wanted to summon a hydra, you’d use a green spell to do it.
- Metaphysical Essence: Sometimes magic or even powerful emotions can change the basic nature of people or creatures in a way that alters their color alignment. A vile curse might change someone from green aligned to black aligned (or both green and black aligned). A terrible loss that spurs someone to vengeance might add red to the person’s color alignment—temporarily or even permanently.•
- Personality Traits: Different colors of mana are associated with different qualities of personality. It might be that a person who is emotionally driven, creative, and energetic is naturally drawn to the use of red mana; or perhaps using red mana brings out those qualities in a person. Most likely, the effect runs both ways. A character’s or creature’s “color alignment” is a sort of shorthand that sketches out its personality, alignment, and power suite—the kinds of effects that it creates with its magic or through its behavior
WotC actually came up with detailed information about this though you have to put them together to make sense of it more. Maybe I can post what I've compiled in another thread if anybody is interested.
Lastly, the planes (and specific locations) have available mana based on their colors. There are some planes where specific mana is very little or even non-existent. No mana to draw upon, then no mana. Another concept that can be integrated is drawing upon the land to replenish your mana. This is the equivalent of doing short rests or long rest depending on how fast you want your game to move.
5) Planewalker Summoning - this si the process where the spellcaster calls forth or "summons' a creature to do their bidding. Normal mages get to cast normal summons spells as 5E summon spells but Planeswalker summon spells are different. To differentiate let's call them Planar Summon Spells. So the question is what happens when one summons a creature. You do not actually summon the creature itself, but your spell summons a simulacrum of sorts of the creature idea you have in mind and is not the actual creature. In the lore of MtG, this concept was actually discussed by
Lim-Dul to Jodah in such a faux entity based on the concept of that creature is pulled from the Aether. These summoned creatures have no will of their own and vanish when no longer needed. You can work out a duration of sorts that works for you as a DM. This concept was actually explained in the book The Eternal Ice. Again, this concept was further strengthened when Kiora went around different planes to find the biggest and meanest sea creatures she could find so she could summon them. In essence, she was getting an "idea" of what these creatures are so she can summon them when she needs them. There is a cost to use the summons though which draws from the mana pool as well. The DM and player would need to determine what creatures the player can summon. In a way this is similar to the Druid's ability to wild shape wherein they can only wild shape into creatures they know or have a clear idea of. For the sake of simplicity, you can use the creature's mana cost to summon as the amount of points needed to summon its equivalent in the spell. (Ex. Shivan Dragon would be equivalent in cost to casting a 6th level spell in spell point cost.)
Anyway, this reply is pretty long now. There's still a lot more though I'll probably make a separate thread for it so you guys can parse through it and i"ll get your feedback and suggestions for it soon. I'll probably get on that after I finish my current Kickstarter.
