Hawke
Explorer
I know there's not a lot of details about GW yet, and I'd rather not devolve into arguing about what GW will or wont be, but there will definitely be a clear emphasis on cards in the core game.
I thought a little bit about cards and your stock D&D game and what future stuff Wizards is considering doing, then it hit me: If psionics thing is the power point system, what if the elemental power source has to do with using cards more heavily?
Your elemental character will have powers and will be compatible with other D&D characters, but their thing could be having a hand of cards that is managed somewhat similar to the augment system, but having the added bonus of spending various cards to "counter" other elemental attacks or nonelemental attacks. The goal of an elemental character would be to utilize their powers, but also manage their hand in to inflict damage or prevent damage at the right pace. The added complexity goes in line with WotC seeming to embrace different play styles with psionics as well as a good followup for the "old school" players after a year of working to gain new players through the Essential lines.
I also got thinking about "Terrain Powers" in DMG2, and having decks of cards that could allow for additional elemental cards coming into play from a terrain perspective. The DM throws down a fire with randomly drawable fire cards available to fire-based characters to draw from, allowing them to use the fire in the room to augment their attacks. The water in the pool next to the troglodytes could provide additional abilities for elemental characters.
The key with the terrain powers is that they could also have features useable by non elemental characters, but provide some options. Because of the exception based model, water terrain cards could be used by powers with the ice keyword to enhance damage or attack, etc.
So the model would be a PHB4 that would include decks of cards needed for elemental characters. There would also be cards available to DMs to create more rich environments. Depending on the element chosen, there may be more or less reliance on terrain (I can see Air being a fairly consistent class - their powers are less reliant on the terrain, but fire and water gaining more benefits.)
In addition, I think "Terrain Power" decks that aren't element-based and "Trap decks" could also be pretty useful for DMs in the future. Buying a 60 card deck of terrain powers for $5-10 seems a better usage of my money than buying a book of terrain powers as they're easy to include in game and you can pass around to characters. The same for traps, hazards, etc.
Any thoughts about this?
(I'd like to assume we're not talking about collectible or random decks to avoid too much complaining about how Wizard$ is trying to take our money, etc. but consider the concept as a non-collectible power source for conceptual sake. )
I thought a little bit about cards and your stock D&D game and what future stuff Wizards is considering doing, then it hit me: If psionics thing is the power point system, what if the elemental power source has to do with using cards more heavily?
Your elemental character will have powers and will be compatible with other D&D characters, but their thing could be having a hand of cards that is managed somewhat similar to the augment system, but having the added bonus of spending various cards to "counter" other elemental attacks or nonelemental attacks. The goal of an elemental character would be to utilize their powers, but also manage their hand in to inflict damage or prevent damage at the right pace. The added complexity goes in line with WotC seeming to embrace different play styles with psionics as well as a good followup for the "old school" players after a year of working to gain new players through the Essential lines.
I also got thinking about "Terrain Powers" in DMG2, and having decks of cards that could allow for additional elemental cards coming into play from a terrain perspective. The DM throws down a fire with randomly drawable fire cards available to fire-based characters to draw from, allowing them to use the fire in the room to augment their attacks. The water in the pool next to the troglodytes could provide additional abilities for elemental characters.
The key with the terrain powers is that they could also have features useable by non elemental characters, but provide some options. Because of the exception based model, water terrain cards could be used by powers with the ice keyword to enhance damage or attack, etc.
So the model would be a PHB4 that would include decks of cards needed for elemental characters. There would also be cards available to DMs to create more rich environments. Depending on the element chosen, there may be more or less reliance on terrain (I can see Air being a fairly consistent class - their powers are less reliant on the terrain, but fire and water gaining more benefits.)
In addition, I think "Terrain Power" decks that aren't element-based and "Trap decks" could also be pretty useful for DMs in the future. Buying a 60 card deck of terrain powers for $5-10 seems a better usage of my money than buying a book of terrain powers as they're easy to include in game and you can pass around to characters. The same for traps, hazards, etc.
Any thoughts about this?
(I'd like to assume we're not talking about collectible or random decks to avoid too much complaining about how Wizard$ is trying to take our money, etc. but consider the concept as a non-collectible power source for conceptual sake. )
