So why didn't WotC release a setting based on Magic the Gathering?

[Gentlegamer]

It is only certain players that do this. I haven't seen any "twinking" advice in Wizards books though. So, if this is a problem and if it comes directly from MtG (which it really doesn't because gamers have been doing it longer then CCGs were around) it isn't Wizards that is pushing it on us. Sure it is an aspect of the game but only because there are enough people around that like that aspect. This falls squarely on the shoulders of the players.

Weren't there official articles on this very topic in Dragon (PowerPlay, or somesuch)?

 

[Knight Otu]

Weren't there official articles on this very topic in Dragon (PowerPlay, or somesuch)?

Those typically resolved around minor stuff, such as "How to make your dwarf even more resistant to poison than he already is," and often weren't very optimized for actual play, and rather dealt with very specific situations. A far cry from "true twinking". And article is a big word for sidebars that were probably 1/8th of a page.

 

[TGryph]

I must have missed this. 3.x is nothing like MtG so you must be talking about something else.

Like my earlier post said, they DID playtest a MTG RPG

 

[Barak]

To this day, my very favorite D&D campaign happened in a Homebrewed world that was heavily M:TG inspired. Note that it happened a few months after the Legends set release, and therefore before 3rd edition. It was a heavily home-ruled AD&D 2nd edition game.

The 5 Gods who existed in the setting were the 5 Legendary Dragons in the Legends set (I really forgot their names). There were 4 'countries', each ruled by a god, and the fifth God was an Overgod, and somewhat Neutral. Other than that, the M:TG influence came in the way of homemade monsters based on M:TG monsters (hypnotic specters really stand out there) and artefacts (Our Campaign goal was to get the Chaos Orb, for reasons I forgot).

Anyway, the point is, the campaign setting was awesome, and that was in part due to the M:TG influence. At that time, I (and the other players and DM) were heavily into M:TG, and the references to the game were awesome. Some of it were also due to the DM (who was awesome) who managed to modify AD&D enough to make it really, really good.

But anyway, his setting as written would never have been published. It was inspired by M:TG, no doubt about it, but not enough for the company that owned M:TG to be happy about it. Planeswalkers didn't exist, many things were modified, etc.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Huh?? Eberron is very pulp. It doesn't have any Humphrey Bogart characters. Specifically what in Eberron do you see as Noir?

Of the nine movies mentioned as inspiration on page 7 of ECS, Humphrey Bogart stars in two - Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, both classic film noir.

Eberron is described (also on page 7) as combining 'traditional medieval fantasy with pulp action and dark adventure'. I see the dark adventure part as being noirish. The term is used explicitly on page 251 - 'Intrigue, disguise and deception are staples of the noir world.'

Personally I prefer to emphasise the pulp aspects, but the authors seem to intend both as being equally important.

 

[Crothian]

Personally I prefer to emphasise the pulp aspects, but the authors seem to intend both as being equally important.

It doesn't matter what they say is inspiration for the setting, reading the setting and the many books they have for it there is really no noir feel. It does have some dark fantasy tendencies, but that is a far cry from noir. Just like wil intrigue, deception, and disguise are parts of noir; there are many other parts that aren't here. I wouldn't say it is close to being equal pulp and noir.

 

[Solarious]

Anyone who thinks Eberron is too noir needs to look at megamania's The Creation Schema Storyhour. It is the single pulpiest Eberron game I've ever heard about, and probably the most fun. Tesseract-like dungeons, being plunged into the midst of the Eternal Battle, Draconic Prophecy, the Lord of Blades, his Sixty-Four, the Emerald Claw, and much, much more running amok.

It helps that mega is a RBDM.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I think the "building your character" (twinking) idea that d20 Fantasy encourages dovetails with MTG (and other CCGs) . . .

Why?

Wizards seems to estimate that less than a third of Magic afficiandos are so-called "Spikes" (players who optimize their decks for maximum effectiveness in tournament formats); the majority are "Johnnies" (who like cool combos that may work only one time in twenty but are totally sweet when they do work) or "Timmies" (who like big, impressive looking cards, especially creatures, regardless of their power). Recently, Magic's site, which is basically its official e-zine in terms of scope and influence, has begun talking about a fourth player type, "Vorthos," who is primarily interested in the flavor and setting of the cards in his deck.

 

[Relique du Madde]

It's the noir part that makes it so un-D&D-like. Like watching Mickey Mouse turning his Fantasyland castle into a place for Goths.

*Cough* Batsday at the Funpark... *Cough* But anyways, I'd hate to see the conclusion of a Noir DnD campaign expecially if the GM decides to go down the "hero/protagonists get screwed over in the end route" of noir.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

or that the hero is as dark and twisted as the "badguy". Or the burth of the (or reburth) of the anti hero. I had a really good xerox of what nior was, i wonder if i can find it.